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After the wife and I holidayed in the US and eastern Canada earlier this year we've dicussed moving there for a year or so to work when I finish my training program to become an OBGYN.

Some points though:
1: We can't speak french/spanish so Quebec and some of the southern states of the US would be out (it was very difficult ordering food in LA with all the mexican/latino workers who couldn'y understand 'Ostrayan'.
2: We both hate excessive heat.

Other than that anything goes.

I wouldn't worry too much about having issues ordering food in California. I have several Austrailian friends who have absolutely no issues whatsoever. I think you run into the occasional worker who doesn't understand any english very well and then you have an issue but that certainly isn't (shouldn't be) common enough to stop you from enjoying the area.


California is one of the best places to live in the country in terms of climate, but you pay for it with outrageous housing prices. If you can stand spending the money I'd highly recommend it.

On the opposite side of the country, North Carolina has a very similar climate but without the crazy cost of living. But Charlotte doesn't really have the pizazz of an LA or San Francisco.

I spent 3wks in Florida, it's ok, and also 8wks in BC, Vancouver (this was a less tourist-orientated trip for me, living in the suburbs, I liked Vancouver a lot. It's on the same sort of latitude as the UK but seemed a bit warmer and sunnier).

Washington is a nice state, and it is close to Canada so if you get the itch you can go visit our silly friends to the north. (waiting for the return volley)

There is also Indiana.

HAHAhAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Actually it isn't that bad. Close to Chicago, crazy weather, enough of a city to have some neat stuff in Indianapolis but still have really white Suburbs and lots of farms. We have a Mexican embassy so you still get to worry about non-English speaking people sometimes. We also have several Applebee's locations and White Castle. Oh and the Colts and Pacers. We have a few big medical centers but you probably don't care about that.

The pacific northwest is a gorgeous area. (washington, oregon)

This also includes Canadian province of british columbia.

The weather rarely gets adverse, though was hit with some nasty flooding recently, which is quite rare.

The area that are forested are best described as a temperate jungle. Not too hot, not too cold.

I live in minneapolis, but my heart yearns for the forests again. The northwest is where its at for a beautiful environment.

yakface wrote:
I wouldn't worry too much about having issues ordering food in California. I have several Austrailian friends who have absolutely no issues whatsoever. I think you run into the occasional worker who doesn't understand any english very well and then you have an issue but that certainly isn't (shouldn't be) common enough to stop you from enjoying the area.


California is one of the best places to live in the country in terms of climate, but you pay for it with outrageous housing prices. If you can stand spending the money I'd highly recommend it.

On the opposite side of the country, North Carolina has a very similar climate but without the crazy cost of living. But Charlotte doesn't really have the pizazz of an LA or San Francisco.

Nor the 18 gazillion people or incredible smog. If you have a choice Northeern Cali beats Southern Cali hands down in terms of fires and smog, but generally southern Cali has a more moderate climate. Certain portions of San Diego are proof of the existence of God.

Canada has substantially higher taxes but are more polite (unless you insult their hockey). The southern US is out due to the temperatures. The middle of the US is better in that regard. Have you considered Chicago?

I love Raleigh, North Carolina. I moved up here 5 years ago from South Florida and haven't looked back. It has a large pupulation of young adults, a ton of parks, nice weather, and a decent gaming scene. If you're into war machine, it has one of the largest war machine gaming clubs in the U.S. There are also 3 venues that routinely host 40k games. If you're into sports the College Basketball doesn't get any more intense with Duke, chapel hill, and nc state within 25 miles of each other. There's also a professional hockey team if you like watching that. Best of all, the cost of living here is super cheap. My rent for a 750 square foot, 1 bedroom apartment is 670 a month. The other thing to consider is that North Carolina's university system is amazing. Chapel Hill is a great university that's pretty hard to get into if you're out of state. If you're in state though, it's easier to get in because state law requires the state universities to be populated by a certain percentage of in state students. There's also a ton of pharmaceutical and information technology companies up here. Man, I love this place.

STAY. OUT. OF. FLORIDA.

Seriously. Fark has a Florida tag for a reason. The climate is hot, the people are crazy, and there is urban sprawl like you wouldn't believe. Pricey housing, too. Great place to visit, but I don't want to live here.

And plus its ridiculous-hot so that crosses Florida right off his list anyway.

OBGYN?

You'd probably want the States. Canada has a horrible time retaining health care workers of any kind - they usually leave as soon as they're done their education since they'll make anywhere between double and triple their income in the States.

If you do come to Canada the cities are your best bet. I've found even a small city like London is much better in terms of gaming than more rural areas. Toronto is very nice city - I'll be moving there come August.

Reminds me of an old joke...

What does OBGYN stand for?

"Oh, Boy! Got You Naked!"

Seriously, though, there are 2 places I've lived and I've loved them both.

1) Richmond, Viriginia
Things are kind of laid back in "the south." Not a hectic pace at all.
You're not too far from ANYTHING (Ocean, skiing, theme parks...you name it)
Some decent colleges nearby, as well.
COLD and ICY winters
Summers are on the low side of HOT with average humidity (on the high side of average).
That whole area is FULL of immigrants (from everywhere). It probably wouldn't be hard for you to find an Aussie support group, after you realize what the heck you got yourself in for. LOL
You won't be TOO far from a Games Day (Baltimore)
Housing is fairly expensive in the nicer areas but cost of living isn't too bad.
40K related gaming is hit or miss, though they DO have a GW store.


2) St. Louis, MO
This is where I was born & raised and where I live now.
There is ONE large (semi) organized group in St. Louis. I don't know what they did after the one big Hobby Shop in the area closed (where they used to game), though.
There is a fairly large gaming community but only one GW store and Hobby Shops are limited. Likely, you'd end up using Internet ordering a bit.
We are near the middle of the country, so nothing is excessively far away (only about 850 miles from the East Coast).
Lots of culture.
Legalized gambling.
St. Louis has the Arch... it's awesome
Winters are COLD with hit-or-miss precipitation... rain, ice and snow intermingle fairly evenly.
Summers are not that hot but can be quite humid.
There's an old saying here... "If you don't like the weather, stick around. It'll change." -- it's not uncommon in the spring and fall to have weeks where you have "wear a heavy jacket" cold on one day and "let's go swimming" heat two or 3 days later.
St. Louis is far more fast paced than the "Old South," like Richmond, but NEARLY as fast paced as places like Chicago and California.
The cost of living here is not very high. IIRC, it's on the low side of average.
We have a reputation for a high crime rate, but it's not true. It has to do with the way statistics are gathered. If they were gathered the same in St. Louis & the surrounding areas as in other areas of the country, it would be well below average.
We have some excellent schools.
If you're in to sports, we have professional Hockey, Baseball and (American) Football. St. Louis is known as a "sports" town. Win or lose, our teams are well supported by fans in the city (Yes, this even goes for the Rams).
We're known to be in "Tornado Alley," but I've only ever seen ONE tornado in my life... and that was when I lived in Richmond.


The advice you've been given about Florida is spot-on. Stay away. It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't wanna live there.

As for Washington State... they're known for lots of coffee and lots of rain. If you don't mind the rain, it can be a pretty good place. One friend of mine is from there and another just moved from there. they both liked/loved it. The music scene is supposed to be really good.

Like Yak said, the climate in Cali is supposed to be really good. The housing prices blows chunks, though... and they keep having all these freaking earthquakes, forest fires and mudslides! LOL

Maybe if you gave us an idea of what you ARE looking for, as opposed to what you're NOT. It's a big place, so you can be specific. I'm sure we could help you narrow down a "Top 5" to "Top 10" list of what we feel are the best.

Hope this helps!

Eric

I'd like to second yakface's comments. I would also like to point out that Northern California has rain, fog, and other things that smack of a "climate." Hence the superiority of Southern California.

I would also put a vote down for Southern California where the climate is quite nice, with the occasional heat wave or riot. The housing is the biggest issue as the cheapest areas are out in Valley, if you look at LA, but you have worse heat there and a heavier commute. Traffic and Smog are also not so much fun. Orange County has horrible housing prices and urban sprawl up the ying yang, but it is a nice area, if you got the cash for it.

However, Pacific Northwest is absolutely gorgeous. I've been looking for work up that way just to get a break from SoCal.

If you hate heat, avoid the south and desert southwest like the plague. San Francisco is a wonderful city, but it tops LA in terms of gouging for housing. If you got cash and like fog rather than smog, rain rather than warmer days, and public transit, San Francisco might be a nice bet.

I wish I could help with Canada, but can't say I've been there, although I most certainly would like to visit. Get a fake Canadian ID and get me some health care.

Interesting that they couldn't understand you...I have quite a few Australian or other non-American accent friends and acquaintances here in LA and I've never noticed a problem...but I may just not order food with them very much, or they may have had an adjustment period. Either way it seems like something that would be at least uncommon...not every restaurant here is only staffed by recent immigrant native spanish speakers

As for where to live, other than LA (my current preference, if maybe only due to 12 years of inertia)...I think really we'd need more information about what you're looking for. There are tons of really urban areas (NYC anyone) and then there are some really great rural or semi-rural areas if that's what you're into. I mean, if you're really into Bicycling along nerd-games LA is not the place (I have a hell of a time finding anywhere good to ride where I won't die). But...most of Colorado around Denver would be pretty nice. If you just want the most exciting, active city you can find you'd have to choose NYC. And if you want to kill animals with your bare hands and tell the government to leave you alone Montana would be a good choice.

I live in Tennessee. It does get fairly hot here at times, but not nearly so bad as Alabama, inland Florida, or Georgia. The cost of living, particularly in the eastern part of the state where I am, is quite low, among the lowest in the nation. The people here are far more polite than what I encountered when living in more urbanized areas outside of the south. A big perk here is that we don't have a state income tax, and the sales taxes aren't horrendous. If you enjoy outdoors activities, there is plenty to do here, as this is one of the states containing the Great Smokey Mountains national park, which is the most visited national park in the entire system, not to mention TVA created lakes, whitewater rafting, etc. Some of the best caving and rock climbing in the world takes place here.

Asmodai wrote:OBGYN?

You'd probably want the States. Canada has a horrible time retaining health care workers of any kind - they usually leave as soon as they're done their education since they'll make anywhere between double and triple their income in the States.

If you do come to Canada the cities are your best bet. I've found even a small city like London is much better in terms of gaming than more rural areas. Toronto is very nice city - I'll be moving there come August.

Don't forget Calgary in southern Alberta. Close to the border, close to the mountains and the outdoors.

You even get warm patches in the winter.

And there's enough liveliness there I'm sure you could find some gamers.

That said the Toronto suburbs or St. Catherines nearby have been interesting to me as well.

I think the real question is, why do you want to move away from Australia? All, we Americans hear is how beautiful the country is. Isn't the medical industry there great also?

Darrian

Seattle seems like a nice place to live. You get the ocean, moderate climate, Jessica Alba on a messenger bike...oh wait.

MagickalMemories wrote:
1) Richmond, Viriginia
Things are kind of laid back in "the south." Not a hectic pace at all.
You're not too far from ANYTHING (Ocean, skiing, theme parks...you name it)
Some decent colleges nearby, as well.
COLD and ICY winters
Summers are on the low side of HOT with average humidity (on the high side of average).
That whole area is FULL of immigrants (from everywhere). It probably wouldn't be hard for you to find an Aussie support group, after you realize what the heck you got yourself in for. LOL
You won't be TOO far from a Games Day (Baltimore)
Housing is fairly expensive in the nicer areas but cost of living isn't too bad.
40K related gaming is hit or miss, though they DO have a GW store.

Richmond is a good town, and getting better and better with revitalization and such downtown. The sprawl has of course also been going on, so you have suburbs with all those big box stores you know and love, as well as a pretty new open air mall, but that's all on the periphery really. Sense of history is strong if you're into that, some very nice historic cemeteries, Civil War monuments, iron works, etc. to tour. My fiancee lived there one summer, so we spent time walking about and enjoying the weather.

Not sure about the gaming there, but I know there are at least a few gaming stores, in addition to the GeeDub store. One Eyed Jacques has I think Friday night Warhammer, though perhaps things have changed since I last checked.

Music scene in Fist City is/was quite nice too, if you're into Metal and/or Goth/Industrial. In fact a new G/I bar, Fallout, just opened and seems to be doing well. Visited over Xmas and was impressed. Used to be a lot more Goth in the underground there, but ah well I'll take an Industrial ressurgence anyway meself ...

And weather-wise it doesn't get that cold in the winter, but definitely snow. Summer can get humid, but I remember more very nice sunny summer days than I do disgustingly sweaty ones

- Salvage

New York City is epic.

The city itself has pricey housing but decent housing can be had in northern New Jersey, Connecticut and Westchester/Rockland county and still be less than an hour from the bright lights of the big city.

Greater DC is similar (though on a smaller scale and with worse mass transit).

Before you plan too far check on visa issues, take my word, US immigration is draconean, byzanteen and kafkesque (I doubt I spelled any of those words correctly but you get the idea).

Couldn't you just "ease" the paperwork for him, ambassador
Mac?

I've lived all over the US, and I have to say, that the people are what you make of them. I have friends all over the US, each area I've lived in, the people where what made the area and I would be willing to live there. All the areas had gamers.

Now the things you cannot avoid: Weather and natural disasters:

The East Coast and Gulf coast - Hurricanes (and spawned tornados)
The Midwest - Blizzards and Tornados
The West Coast - Earthquakes

The northern US - Snow and occasional blizzards
The Southern US - Heat waves

Inland versus Coastal
Inland - more variety of terrain, mountains, woods, etc
Coastal - access to ocean

East coast versus West Coast
East - More rivers, older mountains, more mass transit in cities, more urban blight in cities
West Coast - More deserts, More wilderness, urban sprawl is condensed to the coastal regions

I remember when living in the midwest & the south, if I was in a city, then by driving in one direction for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, I was now in the country.

Now that I live in Los Angeles (a metropolis), I can drive for 1 1/2 hours in a straight line and never leave the city. I know NY and Chicago are almost like this.

In the end, make the choice based on how you want to live: do you want a small town, big town, country, city, suburbia, mass transit, lots of good roads, camping, hiking, theatre, fishing, restaurants, country fairs. Each place has its charm and its downsides.

Good luck!
(Robyn, who eventually chose Southern California for its activities, weather, lack of tornados, proximity to beaches)
Dragonlady

malfred wrote:Couldn't you just "ease" the paperwork for him, ambassador
Mac?

Write your congressman.

This is a legislative not executive issue.

Dear Future President Obama,

My buddy Clint is looking to move to the United States and
steal jobs from hard working American professionals. It's
ok, though, because he's neither Mexican nor Canadian. In
fact, he's Australian.

Now Clint's not one to work for cash in some fruit grove or
wake up at the crack of dawn to get trucked to a
construction site with those "other" immigrants. Oh no. He
prefers to inspect the wimmenz. He's an OBGYN in
training. Remember that scene in Knocked Up where the
lady doctor says, "Oh, that's not your vagina?" Yeah,
I remember it too. Wasn't it awesome.

And finally, I met Clint through an Internet forum when
he was known as "waaagh gonads." No, I don't know
what it means, but you can already see that he was
thinking about his professional career even back then.

PS Here's a picture of Doctor Gonads

Don't forget to show what he can do with this thumbs! Doesn't even need a cold, cold speculum.

NYC was brilliant. I was speaking to the wife last night about living in NYC (we could afford to live in Manhatten by the time I got there).

Boston too was fantastic and alot of research/great hospitals there. Seemed more relaxed than NYC.

I'va also been looking farther afield. Unfortunately West Virginina whilst well located is too poor and much of the Midwest (the states north of Oklahoma) have population centres that are too small although I'm sure I could get a job somewhere there.

I'm continuing research into Pensylvania, Ohio, Virginia and Indiana.

New England looks great, but apart from Manchester there are only small pop centres.

The reason i keep raining the issue of small population centres is that I want to live in a city or near to a city so services (and tertiary hospitals) are available.

The wife and I have both lived on farms, towns <5000 people, medium sized towns (50-100000 peopele) and now 1.5 million people city (and I've lived in Melbourne with 3+ million and both of us lived in London) and we both like the cities rather than the towns.

Location is also an issue as we would like to travel whilst there (stupid not to) and something more towards the east coast would be prefered.

Minnesota is very nice. If somewhat cold.
It's easy to travel to other places as they have a nice airport. Their are 14000 lakes so if you like to swim it's ok in the summer. People aren't poor as far as I know. Minneapolis/St. Paul are not small cities

But weather is very extreme. I remember an 80degree day with snow on the ground. Lot's of mosquitoes.
And it's not on the east coast. But it's a great place to live on the whole.

Wisconsin is a great state. I've been here all my life and have lived in four or five different cities. The schools are great here and depending on where you end up there is plenty of gaming/hobby stores. Madison has three or four. The other nice thing about Wisconin is the outdoors. Plenty of hunting/fishing/camping/hiking to be had. And as far as work goes, there are plenty of medical jobs. I'm acutally going to school for nursing myself. The weather can get a little cold, but its really not as bad as it used to be. And here you will enjoy the best parts of the four seasons. All in all, its a wonderful state.

Stop it, Cheesehead.

Of the states you listed, Virginia is probably the one you'd like the most. Overall, it has the most temperate climate and, like I said, you're about an hour from anything if you live in Richmond (mountains, beach, etc).

For the same climate, you could live in Missouri. Our cities are big without being TOO big and we have boatloads of hospitals. Many of the ones here in the St. Louis area are top rated in certain fields (Children's Hospirals, cancer, hearts, etc).

By "top rated," I don't mean THE best, but AMONG the best (top 5 to 10).

Being fairly centralized, we're not too far of a travel from much of anything (only about an 18 hour -semi casual- drive to the East Coast). Plus, we have casinos and we're a HUGE sports city, if you like sports (ALL of our teams are well supported).


Eric