moving to America?

Eimear1234

Heya, im 15 years old and my dad and i've always wanted to live in america, im planning to attend college there. I have an aunt in long island, I visited her for the summer and loved nyc (nyu, fit), although, it was pretty cold (living in ireland, i love the sun). I love florida and housing is cheap. Whats it like living there? Is crime a big issue? Overall, where's the best place to live? I like Boca Raton, Miami or Tampa.. Does the weather get irritating? What is the fishing like as my dad loves to fish and boat? My mum hates snakes, she screams if you talk about it, are they a troublesome? Is there any other state that's great to live? My dad thinks he'd like texas, we have family in arizona and south carolina, and i love california but the cost of living is so expensive! and how hard it is to get a green card? thank you so much!!

iusedtoknow

hold your horses!

There is a lot for your family to think about before making the leap - namely visa's etc. Most get visa's through their work or through marriage to an American. There is also a green card lottery that you can enter, but it can take years until your number comes up (if at all). It isn't easy as anyone here can attest to - but that's for your parents to worry about, not you.

However....

America is massive and it is almost impossible to generalize (it would be like asking an Irish resident what it's like to live in Finland). I live in San Francisco, California and have daily temperatures of 18c- 20c pretty much year round but I can be skiing 4 hours away in Tahoe or in a desert 5 or 6 hours away towards Arizona. There are a lot of posters that live in states that are buried under 4 feet of snow for half the year and batting away mosquito's for the other half. Florida is great at this time of year, but you get a rainy season that brings vicious thunderstorms and the possibility of hurricanes for 6 months or so. Arizona gets very hot, as does Texas, but it's also bearable as life is lived around the heat, and after a couple of years you get used to it.

Crime is only an issue if you want it to be. Most people live their lives without experiencing much of it. I live in the middle of a city and have had my car broken into a couple of times, but that is pretty normal in any city world wide. There are bad parts of every city, much like there is in Ireland - you just have to use your common sense and you'll be find.

rockonollie

iusedtoknow wrote: »

hold your horses!

There are a lot of posters that live in states that are buried under 4 feet of snow for half the year and batting away mosquito's for the other half.

Hold your own horses! It's only 2 feet of snow right now..... :P

Dave1442397

Yes, it's a huge country, and you can pretty much pick your climate.

If you want four seasons, this part of the country is pretty nice (NJ). If you want four seasons but a lot milder, North Carolina is nice.

One thing I would check is how many sunny days each area gets. There are places like Vermont, New Hampshire, upstate New York etc that can get a lot of cloudy days in Winter, which can be depressing if you prefer sun.

The hotter states can wear on you too. I remember visiting my sister in Houston, TX in the summer, and we basically ran from one air conditioned building/car to the next. It was just too damn hot outside. At least in Florida it's easier to live near the ocean or the Gulf, and you can hit the beach when it's hot. The fishing is great down there, too.

Check out the wildlife too. Some areas can have bugs you wouldn't believe, coming from Ireland. Places out west can have scorpions, fire ants, nasty spiders, and of course snakes are pretty much everywhere. We only have harmless varieties around here, and you don't see them all that often.

A lot of what you have to live with will depend on whether you want to live in a city or a more suburban/rural area. Our worst pests are the deer - we have a herd of 20 or so that roam around the neighborhood at night eating plants and flowers.