What is it like to live in ...

[ManchestrMorgue]

What is it like to live in the United States?

I ask because I have become a bit fascinated with the USA. It just seems like such a diverse country to me. Naturally we see lots of programs from the USA, but I imagine this does not give much of an idea of what it is like to really live in the USA.

I can imagine that the answer would be very different depending on which part of the USA that you live in.

So, for those of you that reside in the USA, I would be really interested in hearing you views on what it is like to live there (please include which part of the USA that you live in). Things like: what do you do for recreation; what are people's attitudes like; what are society's priorities; how easy/hard is it to get along financially; what are your communities like; and anything else that defines the place you live.

Unfortunately, I have never had a chance to visit the USA, so my only exposure has been through media, which rarely gives a good view of what it is like for an average person.

Please feel free to use this topic to ask others what it is like to live in their part of the world, if you are so inclined. I thought it would be interesting to share a bit of what it is like to live in our own parts of the world, what we like about it, and what we would like to see change.

[TheWickerFan]

Interesting question.:)

I live in Long Island, New York; a red spot in an otherwise blue state. I think Long Island has quite a bad reputation as being filled with snobby, wealthy people, but it isn't so. It is ludicrously expensive to live here, but we're comfortable financially. I think when it's time to retire we'll probably move somewhere cheaper. I'm an old lady, so recreation would probably be a restaurant and movie theater.

As for the U.S. as a whole, I could go on for hours about the political divide. I'm a die hard liberal, and hate to see the hard right get all the publicity. I can't imagine how backwards we must look to other countries like the U.K. and Australia. My husband is English, and certain U.S. practices (like the lack of national health insurance) still baffle him.

I'll be very interested to hear what others have to say about their home state/country.

[fortunato]

Yeah, this is an incredibly frustrating time to live in this country. The politics here are schoolyard nonsense. Healthcare and education are largely fucked, both being run like/by corporations.
I live in Chicago, am a full-time student, and am taking out completely insane loans to finance it (both government and private). I work part-time at an auto parts store to pay the bills (although I'm currently living rent-free with a family member). Chicago is a great area, culturally, though. Lots of amazing art galleries, music venues, theaters, parks, restaurants, etc. I wouldn't say I'm comfortable, financially, but I can at least enjoy myself sometimes. The future makes me very, very nervous, with the loans and going into the film industry, but we'll see. To at least have the opportunity to go to school for something I enjoy, outrageous cost notwithstanding, is a privilege nonetheless. I'm not exactly sure what point I'm making, haha.

[wizard of gore]

loud arrogent fat people:D

[ZombieDrone]

Originally Posted by TheWickerFan

Interesting question.:)

I live in Long Island, New York; a red spot in an otherwise blue state. I think Long Island has quite a bad reputation as being filled with snobby, wealthy people, but it isn't so. It is ludicrously expensive to live here, but we're comfortable financially. I think when it's time to retire we'll probably move somewhere cheaper. I'm an old lady, so recreation would probably be a restaurant and movie theater.

As for the U.S. as a whole, I could go on for hours about the political divide. I'm a die hard liberal, and hate to see the hard right get all the publicity. I can't imagine how backwards we must look to other countries like the U.K. and Australia. My husband is English, and certain U.S. practices (like the lack of national health insurance) still baffle him.

I'll be very interested to hear what others have to say about their home state/country.

If you don't mind my asking, how long has your husband been in the US?


I have to agree that America seems, as a European, a distinctly right-wing place. The Republicans are a centre-right pary Stateside, but the policies by European standards are rather firmly to the right and many issues like gun control or abortion are much bigger and more polarised issues in the US than over here.

Again, as a liberal and a democratic-socialist in the UK, I'm fairly mainstream in beliefs politically, but I think I'd probably get attacked by some people in the US and called a "leftist Commie scumbag" and I believe very strongly in Natoinalised Healthcare (the idea of having to pay for hospital treatment, literally on matters of life or death, just seems wrong to me) not to mention Nationalised Broadcasting (BBC)

Still, I like America for the most part just not the right-wing elements.

[TheWickerFan]

Originally Posted by ZombieDrone

If you don't mind my asking, how long has your husband been in the US?


I have to agree that America seems, as a European, a distinctly right-wing place. The Republicans are a centre-right pary Stateside, but the policies by European standards are rather firmly to the right and many issues like gun control or abortion are much bigger and more polarised issues in the US than over here.

Again, as a liberal and a democratic-socialist in the UK, I'm fairly mainstream in beliefs politically, but I think I'd probably get attacked by some people in the US and called a "leftist Commie scumbag" and I believe very strongly in Natoinalised Healthcare (the idea of having to pay for hospital treatment, literally on matters of life or death, just seems wrong to me) not to mention Nationalised Broadcasting (BBC)

Still, I like America for the most part just not the right-wing elements.

He's been here about 25 years now (he'll be 50 this year), so he's pretty used to the American way of things.

[wizard of gore]

i heard long islands famous for serial killers

[Sistinas666]

I live in a very small town, Erie, Ks. I've moved to cities a few times but have lived 90% of my life in small towns. I believe this town has less than 3000 people. I hate these small towns, everyone knows your business. Its like living a soap opera. If all goes as planned I am moving to Oregon by March. I have 7 years until both of my children move out of the house for college and in the mean time I plan on trying to become a Canadian citizen. I hate the direction this country has taken and feel like Canada would be an excellent place to grow old.

[ManchestrMorgue]

Originally Posted by TheWickerFan

Interesting question.:)

I live in Long Island, New York; a red spot in an otherwise blue state. I think Long Island has quite a bad reputation as being filled with snobby, wealthy people, but it isn't so. It is ludicrously expensive to live here, but we're comfortable financially. I think when it's time to retire we'll probably move somewhere cheaper. I'm an old lady, so recreation would probably be a restaurant and movie theater.

As for the U.S. as a whole, I could go on for hours about the political divide. I'm a die hard liberal, and hate to see the hard right get all the publicity. I can't imagine how backwards we must look to other countries like the U.K. and Australia. My husband is English, and certain U.S. practices (like the lack of national health insurance) still baffle him.

Thanks.

When you say "ludicrously expensive", what do you mean? What would an average house cost (not a huge mansion, just a regular house). What about goods and services - how much does it cost to live once you have accommodation sorted out? I ask because I think Sydney is ludicrously expensive ... :mad:

As far as political divide - we have essentially a two party system in Australia, with a Liberal and Labor party (with the Liberal party being traditionally more right wing, and Labor being more left wing), although I think both of these parties are reasonably moderate in most of their policies, and there is a right wing faction in the Labor party, as well as a left-wing faction.

With regards to national healthcare, my understanding is that the bulk of healthcare is privately funded through insurance, which is usually provided through workplace packages? Is that correct? Is there any emergency healthcare - say if you were unemployed and without insurance and suffering something life-threatening - like a serious car crash or a heart attack?

With regards to looking "backwards" to other countries - I wouldn't worry. Sometimes I feel the same way about Australia. But I think that people make a lot of assumptions about other countries with the only knowledge being what they see in the media.

That is part of the reason why I have started this thread. Obviously we hear a lot about the USA through the media. But I am sure that this is only what the media wants to portray, and isn't much of an indication of what it is like for the average person. So I was just really interested in what average people thought of their country. And I wanted to learn a little bit about what normal, mundane life was like in the USA. Not the lives of movie stars and CEOs.

[ManchestrMorgue]

Originally Posted by fortunato

Yeah, this is an incredibly frustrating time to live in this country. The politics here are schoolyard nonsense. Healthcare and education are largely fucked, both being run like/by corporations.
I live in Chicago, am a full-time student, and am taking out completely insane loans to finance it (both government and private). I work part-time at an auto parts store to pay the bills (although I'm currently living rent-free with a family member). Chicago is a great area, culturally, though. Lots of amazing art galleries, music venues, theaters, parks, restaurants, etc. I wouldn't say I'm comfortable, financially, but I can at least enjoy myself sometimes. The future makes me very, very nervous, with the loans and going into the film industry, but we'll see. To at least have the opportunity to go to school for something I enjoy, outrageous cost notwithstanding, is a privilege nonetheless. I'm not exactly sure what point I'm making, haha.

What are you studying at school? And what will it cost you to complete a degree? And how much do people pay for primary and high school?

We used to have free university in Australia. No longer. When I went to university (early 90's) I paid about $3000 a year for tuition (books etc were on top of that). It is probably triple that now (if not more - I haven't looked at the costs for a while).

What you said about living in Chicago - great things to do culturally - this is what I imagine one of the great things about living in the USA would be. Lots of things to do, if you are so inclined. I hear things on this board sometimes about movie screenings of classic films, about conventions and the like. We don't get those sort of things very often (hardly ever) in Australia. I imagine it would be great to live in a country big enough an wealthy enough to support these sort of niche interests.