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Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

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Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#381

Post by elliotec »

FPGAhacker wrote: post #23
boffinAudio wrote: post #4

I've done it, and it was one of the best decisions of my life. WHERE: I'm Australian, moved to LA when I was 18 and lived there for 15 years. Then, I moved from Los Angeles to Germany (Duesseldorf), and then to Vienna, Austria. WHAT SACRIFICE: No more In 'n Out Burger, no more decent Mexican/TexMex food, no more LA food trucks. These are literally the only things I miss about the USA. Literally every other aspect of…

I don’t know how much of the US you experienced, but LA is hardly representative of the country.

No single place in the country is representative of the country.

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#382

Post by elliotec »

diskzero wrote: post #236
boffinAudio wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LA was home base but I worked and visited most of the USA's states, and I just find American classism to be .. distasteful. And also, endemic no matter where you go.

Have you not encountered classism in Germany? I am a fluent German speaker who lived in Erfurt, Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich and encountered similar amounts of racism and classism that I have seen in the USA, France and England. The attitudes of some people from the former West to those from the East are shocking. While in Erfurt, I saw the most horrific treatment of immigrants and refugees. I want to make sure that…

Austria and Vienna in particular is incredibly classist and I'm shocked that was even mentioned as something worse about the US. We have greater inequality but culturally it's another world.

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#383

Post by nexuist »

lm28469 wrote: post #336
nexuist wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's just moving goal posts. European people are still European even if they're not EU citizens. Compare New England averages to European Union averages if you want a fair assessment - you'll find that not only are New Englanders making more money, they also have equivalent or higher quality of life than many EU countries do.

> That's just moving goal posts. It's not, I just didn't specify it because for me it's logical, I highly doubt OP wants to move to Belarus, but yeah go ahead and pick the absolute poorest and least likely countries anyone would immigrate to when they say "Europe" and tell me about moving goal posts ... "average", "money", yeah sure, the average american probably make more money. And yes you're right, the poorest Ame…

> I highly doubt OP wants to move to Belarus, but yeah go ahead and pick the absolute poorest and least likely countries anyone would immigrate to

If we are comparing sub-territories then, why on earth would OP want to move to Mississippi? Or LA? Or NY? If OP moved to, say, New Hampshire or Vermont, not only would they make more money but they would have some of the highest qualify of live anywhere on the planet.

> If quality of life = being able to afford material goods then sure

New England states have similar labor / worker rights to the EU; Massachusetts has something close to universal healthcare (although not exactly, then again every country's version is different), CT has paid family and medical leave, New York has free community college, all of New England is LGBTIA+ friendly at the legislative level, etc.

> but I guess that's were Europeans see the world in a different way

I am Albanian and my family moved here when I was 6 months old. I am not defending America for nothing, I know what we left behind. You can claim that living in Germany, France, etc. is better but that is like saying buying a house in Beverly Hills is better than buying a house in Compton. Obviously rich countries are always going to be better to live in regardless of what treaties or unions they sign. The beauty of the United States is that you can get comparable quality of life results in certain areas while having military protection everywhere.

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#384

Post by severino »

rwev wrote: post #377
severino wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I lived in Germany for years, the former east, and it would be unfair to call Germany a "shithole" based on my own experience in the former Soviet bloc, which has struggled both pre and post reunification due to Communist rule. Come on, dude. Germany was "communist" for less than 40 years. You have been "free" and cool for 33 and counting. The wall existed for only 28. Are you going to keep blaming "communists" for…

The lasting impact and practical effects of the iron curtain on both culture and economic is real. In fact, there is special income tax, Solidaritätszuschlag, that is paid on all income as special assistance in rebuilding and equalizing the former East. And you know nothing about me.

> And you know nothing about me.

I know you think the east side of Germany is not a good place today because what happened there more than 30 years ago.

But you know what? GDR commies said in the late 80s their regime was not a good place either because what happened there 40 years earlier! Sound familiar?

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#385

Post by VirusNewbie »

pizza234 wrote: post #253
nivenkos wrote: post #8

I was planning to move the other way before Covid - from Sweden to California. It's much less likely now as I have a stable position and my partner lost her job in the US. Mainly the US has many benefits: - Much, much higher salaries - like 2-3x higher than Western Europe _before_ income tax! - Much larger houses for the price. i.e. you can have a big house with room for hobbies or children rather than just a small f…

> Much, much higher salaries - like 2-3x higher than Western Europe _before_ income tax! Where does this number come from? Assuming SWE, a senior SWE in Europe will generally take around 80/120k € (non-FAANG). 2-3x means a range of 180/400k $, which is not common even in the USA.

making 180k in the US is not uncommon for senior level people in medium CoL places. I make more then that at a small startup. If I move to a larger company I'd make more and even more so if I get a FAANG job.

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#387

Post by nickpp »

tomxor wrote: post #361
nickpp wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The EU is no utopia, but standards of living, environment and way of life is pretty good for the "not-wealthy". Romania and Bulgaria are part of the EU. Some 25-30 million people in total. Do you think the standards of living are "pretty good" for the non-wealthy Bulgarians?

If you are challenging my view as being selective I think that could be fair (if provided some statistics to combat my finger in the air analysis). I live in the UK which (was) one of the more developed members of the EU, so that probably does bias my view, and I have not visited the poorest members of the EU. Even with this caveat, there is a difference in principle that I believe distinguishes the way of life for t…

I challenge the broad generalizations and simplifications you are employing to compare highly complex and diverse populations and cultures to advance your preconceived conclusions.

Because I too can reduce this comparison to a couple of well picked numbers like say per capita GDP or number of companies in top 100 by market cap and conclude that it is EU who should borrow capitalist programs from the US, not the other way around.

But I won’t…

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#388

Post by bogomipz »

blunte wrote: post #134

Netherlands, 10 years now. Actually ready to move on… Portugal, Malta, Thailand, perhaps spending 1-6 months at a time in a given location. Gave up my car and driving frequently. Fantabulous gift of freedom not having to deal with traffic and car management. Public transport is a gift, and taxis or very short term car rental programs are a fine fallback. Gave up some income as salaries are annoying much lower and tax…

I'd be curious what is prompting you to leave? I think the Malta and Portugal Golden visas are quite expensive though no?

Re: Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

#390

Post by bogomipz »

bengalister wrote: post #324

I am French living in south of France but I would not recommend France mainly for 1 reason: (the lack of) safety. I lived a few years in Canada so I can compare to North America. France is not what tiktok videos about US expat living in Paris show you. You probably know about French strikes, bureaucracy, rude people etc. But also France turned into a violent country in the last 2 decades, and is the worst in western…

Where in the South are you living, Marseille?
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