Moving back to the US (low income, best cities, sales)

[praguer56]

Hello everyone. I'm a US citizen who has lived overseas for the last 15 years. I'm trying to make up my mind if now, at 55 years old, is a good time to move back. The situation in Europe is tough. My business (real estate consulting and management) is down to nothing as sales have dried up due to the same problems in the US and there's no end in sight. At least in the US, banks do get proactive and foreclose. That does not happen here. The banks just try working it out with the borrowers and it goes on and on.

Anyway, a good friend in Miami suggested that I consider Miami as a possible place to move. My native New Orleans is another possibility but they have their problems too. Then there's Tampa or possibly Austin or even Charlotte.

I know I'm in the Miami forum, but would appreciate your thoughts and words of advice.

Thanks....

[doggiebus]

Moving this for you to the General US section since you seem to want more information about other options than just Miami and Florida.

[vamos]

Well, we just recently moved back to the US and all I can say is that it's not the country that we left so many years ago. I find a people divided by a lot of bickering, more concerned with taking sides than finding solutions. In fact, I find the state of the US to be rather pathetic at this time - and by that I don't mean the political or economic problems the country is facing! No, it's the people who ALL seem to sit on a high horse and claim to be omniscient.

Aside from that, I do find life here quite livable - with the obvious shortcomings that the US can pose to people who have lived elsewhere: Generally car-centric, technologically and ecologically rather back-wards, etc. Still, I am happy about the relatively low cost of life here - unless one lives beyond one's means - which seems to be the mantra of a significant chunk of the population.

I have no idea why anyone would suggest Miami to you! Real estate is horrific, jobs are gone, and you will run into problems if you don't speak Spanish. I tried to purchase a wrist watch with an alarm function at Macy's and had to explain it in Spanish... Tried to order a vegetarian pizza - and needed to do it in Spanish, etc.

[northstar22]

The U.S. sucks right now. The right is at the left's throats, and vice versa. The economy is in the toilet. Big business basically runs our government. The real estate market is atrocious -- housing prices dropping like a rock and no one can get credit. Please just stay in Prague. I wish I could move to Europe!

[nep321]

Miami? Are you kidding? That's the last place in the U.S. I would recommend at this moment in time. First of all, in Miami you pretty much need to know Spanish, since 60% of its population speaks Spanish only. Second, the crime rates are wicked high there and most neighborhoods are low income and run down. It's disgusting.

There are thousands of places to choose to live in the U.S., so I cannot suggest you a single place. We would need to know more details about what you want; specific criteria, etc.

And yes, the economy sucks right now.

[Chava61]

I would suggest NYC as a good place to live after having been outside the country for so many years. NYC has a great public transportation system and lots of culture events and would be easy for you to fly back to Europe on occasion if necessary.

[djonthego]

I read your note and saw this article in yahoo finance today. Here is the link
[url=http://finance.yahoo.com/news/6-best-cities-for-starting-over-in-2012.html]6 Best Cities for Starting Over in 2012 - Yahoo! Finance[/url]

Good Luck
Dj