Moving from Ireland to America (low crime, hotels, home)

[Disco84]

Hi, im a 24 year old guy from Ireland, still living there and just fancy a change. At the moment Ireland is cold wet and has a pretty poor economic outlook for the next few years, i work as an engineer for a good sized construction company and the work is pretty intense, especially due to the collapse of the prperty market here. ive decdied America is the place id like to relocate too although i know its absolutely massive and have no idea where to start! all i know is i dont want too much rain, four seasons would be nice with good summers, work isn't an issue, i would do anything except office work. Farm work, barwork, anything, less stress the better as i have enough of that here! i dont think id go for a large city, more like a town of around 5-20 thousand people living in it? Any ideas or recommandations in the right direction would be greatly appreciated! Somewhere nice ha! and cheap!!!

[Stormcrow73]

How would a city of around 180k with nice small suburbs float your boat? Little Rock, AR has some great weather and the construction industry is still doing ok here. We have some pretty hot summers but it's totally bearable, IMO. We get a couple months a year with somewhat Irish-like weather only you'll have quite a few sunny but cold days mixed in there. We get about 3-4 small snows per winter. I have some buddies with Irish ties in construction as well as engineering here and they might be able to help you find something, we might ask you to play some Gaelic football with us though! Cheers and let me know if you're interested.

[Minnehahapolitan]

Montana may be nice if you are looking for a rural area. Butte is a nice, historic city with one of the highest proportion if Irish in the country (more than Boston). Nice scenery, lots of outdoor activities. I hear good things about Bozeman also.

[missymomof3]

My husband is from ireland and he likes it here in Kentucky pretty well.

[edwardius]

If it were me, I would look into Nevada City, CA. Its in the Sierra Foothills, about 40 miles north east of Sacramento. Its an gold rush town of the size you are talking about. The elevation is about 3000 feet. It has four seasons. There is some agricultural work to be done in the area, but you could also tend bar or work in any of the local hotels.

There is a local community radio station that puts on various events that everyone in the community seems to get involved in. You can listen online to get an idea of what is going on in the community.

Welcome to KVMR 89.5 FM Music of the World. Voice of the Community. Nevada City, CA 95959

Nevada City Chamber of Commerce

Moreover, if you decide you want to see more urban attractions, you aren't that far from Sacramento or really from San Francisco. Maybe an hour to Sacramento and 2 and half hours to SF. If you want to learn how to Ski, you are about an hour away from Tahoe.

Its a very pretty area, it rains a lot less than Ireland and its much warmer.

[JMT]

Check out Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It's a small resort town in the Smoky Mountains so there are plenty of jobs in the hospitality industry. It's got four very beautiful, very distinct seasons, although its climate is pretty temperate: winters don't get super cold, and summers don't get super hot. It's only 45 minutes from Knoxville which has a metro area of 800,000 for those times when you just have to get to a big city.

And if you want to visit the US, Gatlinburg is only a few hours' drive from Washington, Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, and other places.

Gatlinburg is the entry to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited national park in the country. It's a beautiful area.

[censusdata]

If you're looking for a small city/ bigger town I'd recomend a college town somewhere in the SouthEastern US, since it is the most affordable and has the best economy in the nation. My picks would be Bowling Green KY, Danville KY, Athens GA, or Cookeville TN since they all have low crime rates as well.

[censusdata]

Originally Posted by JMT

Check out Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

In the Knoxville area I'd take Oak Ridge or Farragut any day over Pigeon Forge/ G'burg <-- just a bunch or tourist traps and traffic jams IMO

[azoria]

Originally Posted by Disco84

Hi, im a 24 year old guy from Ireland, still living there and just fancy a change. At the moment Ireland is cold wet and has a pretty poor economic outlook for the next few years, i work as an engineer for a good sized construction company and the work is pretty intense, especially due to the collapse of the prperty market here. ive decdied America is the place id like to relocate too although i know its absolutely massive and have no idea where to start! all i know is i dont want too much rain, four seasons would be nice with good summers, work isn't an issue, i would do anything except office work. Farm work, barwork, anything, less stress the better as i have enough of that here! i dont think id go for a large city, more like a town of around 5-20 thousand people living in it? Any ideas or recommandations in the right direction would be greatly appreciated! Somewhere nice ha! and cheap!!!

Have you applied for and do you have all the documents necessary to immigrate to the US and work?

If not, read here, US citizen and Immigrations Services. USCIS Home Page

Then worry about where to live later.

[hscottgraves]

Still hunting? Economically, I don't know of a place that is untouched by the downturn, but I played a hurling match in Charlotte NC and found it to be a great small city. You into GAA sports? Might be able to help you narrow your search in that way.