Moving to US, looking for some... help, reassurance?!

erina320 said:
For one, I was not comparing Nashville to Atlanta. I was referring to them not being far by distance not similarities.

And two, have you ever actually been to Atlanta? It is a HUGE, modern, cultural city with a rather large population of "transplants" who come complete with their young families and have moved there to work in the thriving economy. It is incredibly "family" friendly with places like the Zoo, Stone Mountain park, Six flags, Whitewater, Imagine that Children's Museum, Fernbank, the Georgia Aquarium, The world of Coke, various parks and year round festivals from the arts to religious... to name a few.

The chances of running into "old money" in Atlanta is slim to none and difficult at best. If you do run into them however, I think that you'll find most of them seething with southern charm rather than pretension. The "snobs" that you run into (and you will run into them anywhere even here in Hong Kong) are the Nuevo rich, not old money. Having been raised in Atlanta from infancy till my mid-twenties, never once did I see a "plantation" or anyone who claimed to have one. Your statement is ridiculous.
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hmmm.... while i've never wanted to live in the states, myself, (i'm canadian, so i guess that's expected LOL!).... i think you've got me wanting to move to atlanta, now!

ps> i DO love travelling in the states, though!
 
Yes, my parents now live outside atlanta. I've been many, many times. I was just saying that was my impression as someone not from there. I find Atlanta much less friendly than Nashville. I do enjoy the aquarium there, which is absolutely stunning.
 
we are actually seriously talking about going to vancouver (probably whiterock or langley.... maybe steveston) by 2013....we'll see. i've been talking about going back for the past 15 years or so, just never manage to get around to it! LOL!

ps> one of the reasons i have never wanted to live in the states is the lack of gun control laws. i grew up on a farm and my dad is an avid hunter, but i really don't see the need for the weaponry that is allowed to be owned by anyone who wants down south.... but that's just me.
 
sorry to hijack your thread...

other than what i wrote above, i DO love travelling to the states. people ARE friendly, shopping is great, prices are generally reasonable etc (just as what the folks above have said)
 
howardcoombs said:
Cara, before you let your imagination go wild, think about the last time you felt unsafe in your neighborhood and then go here : http://www.spotcrime.com/ga/atlanta
Signup for a free account and then play around.

Personally, after living in Hong Kong close to 2 decades, I cant picture going back to NorthAmerica....
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Howard- I find that surprising coming from you as you are usually so anti spreading fear. Yes crimes happen in the states, but they are more often isolated to particular areas of a/the city. Neighborhoods that are easily avoided. If one practices common sense when out in public places you can signifigantly reduce your chances of being targeted. Again I lived in Atlanta for most of my life and never once was a target of crime.
 
I was not attempting to spread fear but rather attempting to bring a slight bit balance to the conversation. Every place has its pluses and minuses.

Commenters seem to be gushing on how lovely and nice these major cities are (with their shopping, big highways etc); but they are forgetting the fact that practically every one of these big cities has no go areas as you've admitted yourself (areas to be easily avoided).

I love being in Hong Kong which has no such areas that I'm aware of and cannot imagine going back to North America and having to tell my wife and kids:
"no, dont go there", "dont use public transport after dark" etc etc

To the OP : I've been to Nashville quite a few times and overall its a lovely city.
I hope you find yourself some accommodation in a decent neighborhood (eg Franklin, Brentwood) and a decent school; but make sure you dont mistake the place for a safe place like Hong Kong as Nashville regularly ranks in the top 10 of crime rankings for big cities in USA.
Extra good news : The crime rates in Nashville have been steadily going down for the past 15 years.
 
Well as we're going to be living in Nashville, I will take the comments about Atlanta as reference for the future.
HC, we are aware of the other issues we face moving to a large city in the US, we've only been in HK for 3 years so while we appreciate the safety factor here we haven't forgotten what it's like living in a big city.

What I was looking for was the comfort factor, the things to look forward to, so thank you for all those that have passed that on :)
 
carang said:
we are actually seriously talking about going to vancouver (probably whiterock or langley.... maybe steveston) by 2013....we'll see. i've been talking about going back for the past 15 years or so, just never manage to get around to it! LOL!

ps> one of the reasons i have never wanted to live in the states is the lack of gun control laws. i grew up on a farm and my dad is an avid hunter, but i really don't see the need for the weaponry that is allowed to be owned by anyone who wants down south.... but that's just me.
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Side-note, I thought it was interesting to look up my own state. We have the absolute loosest gun laws in the United States. Ninety-percent of all households have a gun. No gun registration. No gun owner registration. No state waiting period requirements. There were 12 murders that involved a gun in 2010. There are seven states that had less than that. I think you'd be safe with us. Actually, experts believe why the crime rate is low is actually because of high gun ownership because people aren't willing to confront other people (robbery, assault) when they know that that other people will likely be armed.

WE NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR REGULAR PROGRAMMING. :)
 
What scares me most about gun laws isn't the rate of gun related violence and crime, but the ridiculously huge number of kids (and adults, but mostly it's kids) who are killed in gun related accidents...
 
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