Should i relocate from Suburban London - Southern California? (San Diego: mortgage, relocating)

[Ben_Hooper]

I've heard from numerous sources that British (mostly English) people are leaving britain and moving to the American West. The News last night and paper claimed that as many as 100,000 people would have migrated between now and Christmas to the U.S, and as many as 5,000,000 by 2010. I live in Suburban London, i'm thinking of relocating to Poway, San Diego County. Am i one of many then?
The reason i'm leaving is down to the sheer uprise in violent crimes. Last night a 11 year old was shot in the neck and died in a BMX driveby! This morning their was a gunfight in a railway station, everyday theres loads of murders around here, marijuana use is horrific. I'd say 9 in 10 teenagers in my county use it each week, the city parks are full of used needles, bullet casings and blood, graffetti. The particular area i live in is more upstate but if i go two miles downtown theres schools where your'll be stabbed for your lunch money or beaton with baseball bats for your Cell phone. There's laods of rapes and assaults. Mini-mart and Post offices are robbed at gun point.
Another reason why i'd leave this place is the weather. its beeen **** this year. The warmest day was about 85 degrees and most of the summer has been in the 60s. its rained non-stop!
Plus most people cant afford there mortgages with ridiculis house prices. A four bedroom house around here costs £500,000 ($1,100,000). The lot sizes are small, pollution is terrible, crime rates are about 5x that of New York, i'd actually say they are worse than Detroit. In south London there is actually about 500 gangs, street races take place nearby too, and they often result in a hit and run!
I know all the Americans see us as posh, quiet, tea and crumpets and all that stuff. truth be told i've never had tea or crumpets! I mostly drink soda or alcohol, eat pizza and donuts and i dont speak in that accent that you all assume we talk with.
Britain also has a serious problem with immigration. I know you get a lot of Mexicans coming over, but we had 1,000,000 eastern Europeans arrive last year. They do our jobs for half the cost so we dont get any buisness then cant pay the mortgage. There's about 100 polish and bulgarian families within a mile of my house.

Anyway any info on Poway or somewhere else in Southern California because i'm looking to leave this mess behind. I want a warmer climate, less crime, better value houses than here e.g.

Can people please give me some help! Leave comments

[justsomeguy]

I'm curious, where is most of this crime coming from? The Eastern European immigrants? The African Muslim immigrants? Native British folks?

[Woof]

Is big city life the only kind acceptable to you?

On this board you see people complain a lot about the high cost of living, crime, and pollution in California ..... as if the entirety of this large state were composed of the LA, San Diego, and San Francisco metropolitan regions! There are in fact millions of acres of sparsely inhabitated areas, and small cities and villages with much lower costs of living, almost non-existant crime, and no pollution other than what the cows emit.

Could the same be said of the UK, that it's not all London?

But if you like nice sunny days and low humidity, southern coastal California definitely has that advantage over the UK.

[ian6479]

I don't think things are as bad as you are making out. Marijuana use has nothing to do with direct violent crime.. yes the liverpool kid got shot and its horrific, but there is crime everywhere. I don't think London is anywhere near as dangerous as some parts of LA.

I too am thinking of relocating to Southern California (huntington beach) but my wife is American and has always wanted to live there. Do you have a job? Its very difficult to emmigrate to the US legally without the proper paperwork and this is costly, difficult, and time consuming.

[Ben_Hooper]

to be totally honest i dont live in the London city area, i do live in its metro area of about 15,000,000. I've lived near Guildford and staines and both communities get their fair share of antics.
You try walking down a dark back alley in the middle of the night, passing blood soaked matress's, broken bottles and bullet cassings. It is actually everywhere if you look hard enough, i just think i'm one of those ones who's had a bad experiance or noticed things before you. Perhaps living where i do has given me a bad point of view?

Anyway ask yourself is London what it was 10 years ago?
Daily stabbings, shootings, carjacking, assaults, rapes, street racing. I just want to get away from it before its too late. I'm sure you wouldn't want to raise your kids in a place like this.

[justsomeguy]

Originally Posted by Ben_Hooper

to be totally honest i dont live in the London city area, i do live in its metro area of about 15,000,000. I've lived near Guildford and staines and both communities get their fair share of antics.
You try walking down a dark back alley in the middle of the night, passing blood soaked matress's, broken bottles and bullet cassings. It is actually everywhere if you look hard enough, i just think i'm one of those ones who's had a bad experiance or noticed things before you. Perhaps living where i do has given me a bad point of view?

Anyway ask yourself is London what it was 10 years ago?
Daily stabbings, shootings, carjacking, assaults, rapes, street racing. I just want to get away from it before its too late. I'm sure you wouldn't want to raise your kids in a place like this.

Ben, would you mind answering my question earlier in the thread about the causes in this uptick of crime?

[fairweathergolfer]

Ben_Hooper. I have answered a few of your previous posts, but somewhat objectively and indirectly.

I am curious what (generally) you either do professionally or scholastically and what your assumed price range for housing is. I believe if you can afford San Diego County (as mentioned I do not know about Poway), I think it would be a good move, especially if you have a good income range and a work field that is highly tranferrable.

You had mentioned university or college on another thread. So I wonder if possibly you may come over for schooling? Do you have children? These are factors that I believe will help others answer with not only impressions of where you are asking about, but also may encourage additional recommendations. It sounds like you are definately ready for a change and I think San Diego County could be a good possibility. The housing is a bit soft there right now as well, so that bodes well for a bit lower cost housing then usual.

Parts of San Diego County are just fantastic. It is a large county though so thus the more specific questions.

Originally Posted by Ben_Hooper

I've heard from numerous sources that British (mostly English) people are leaving britain and moving to the American West. The News last night and paper claimed that as many as 100,000 people would have migrated between now and Christmas to the U.S, and as many as 5,000,000 by 2010. I live in Suburban London, i'm thinking of relocating to Poway, San Diego County. Am i one of many then?
The reason i'm leaving is down to the sheer uprise in violent crimes. Last night a 11 year old was shot in the neck and died in a BMX driveby! This morning their was a gunfight in a railway station, everyday theres loads of murders around here, marijuana use is horrific. I'd say 9 in 10 teenagers in my county use it each week, the city parks are full of used needles, bullet casings and blood, graffetti. The particular area i live in is more upstate but if i go two miles downtown theres schools where your'll be stabbed for your lunch money or beaton with baseball bats for your Cell phone. There's laods of rapes and assaults. Mini-mart and Post offices are robbed at gun point.
Another reason why i'd leave this place is the weather. its beeen **** this year. The warmest day was about 85 degrees and most of the summer has been in the 60s. its rained non-stop!
Plus most people cant afford there mortgages with ridiculis house prices. A four bedroom house around here costs £500,000 ($1,100,000). The lot sizes are small, pollution is terrible, crime rates are about 5x that of New York, i'd actually say they are worse than Detroit. In south London there is actually about 500 gangs, street races take place nearby too, and they often result in a hit and run!
I know all the Americans see us as posh, quiet, tea and crumpets and all that stuff. truth be told i've never had tea or crumpets! I mostly drink soda or alcohol, eat pizza and donuts and i dont speak in that accent that you all assume we talk with.
Britain also has a serious problem with immigration. I know you get a lot of Mexicans coming over, but we had 1,000,000 eastern Europeans arrive last year. They do our jobs for half the cost so we dont get any buisness then cant pay the mortgage. There's about 100 polish and bulgarian families within a mile of my house.

Anyway any info on Poway or somewhere else in Southern California because i'm looking to leave this mess behind. I want a warmer climate, less crime, better value houses than here e.g.

Can people please give me some help! Leave comments