move from uk to pennsylvania is at a yea or nae. (Philadelphia: real estate, crime rates)

[lgubovics]

Hi I'm from the UK in fife Scotland my partner is finishing study for his computing network degree. We have been looking in to moving to Pennsylvania. We have a young son who is 5 and will be roughly around 7 when we complete this move. We were wondering on advise for the best and safest places for a young family to live in this area. Could anyone tell me what the weather is like and if there are any dangers that you think should stop us from making this move. It has been our dream to move to America and once Scotland made the decision not to go independent we decided this move will benefit all of us greatly and make my sons education so much better.

Ty for reading lgubz.

[Wells5]

Firstly, you will need some kind of resident or a work permit visa like the H1b (available only through an employer) or the EB-5 investor visa (must invest $1 million in a business or real estate or $500,000 in a new venture that will employ 10 US citizens) to legally work and live in the USA. You can also come on the visa waiver program and overstay your 90 days as so may illegal aliens do and wait for the next general amnesty now scheduled for 2018. Most companies will not hire you if you don't have a valid visa.

There are plenty of jobs in PA and the USA for IT professionals. In PA, the biggest number of IT jobs is in the greater Philadelphia area and to a much lesser extent in greater Pittsburgh.

[steel7]

Why Pennsylvania ?

[blauskies]

Originally Posted by steel7

Why Pennsylvania ?

It's equally as depressing if not worse year round than PA weather speaking.

[pman]

Weather is warmest in Southeast pa with the most sunshine. The snowiest region is erie. The healthiest job markets will be the two big metros and state college

[PA2UK]

In terms of "safest" places, this map shows you the crime rates for different areas of PA: Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed- the darker the blue color, the safer the area. You can compare it to house value here: Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed(the darker the more expensive).

But as mentioned, you first need to look into the reality of getting a visa, which the average person generally doesn't quality for. If you've already got that covered, any recommendation will vary greatly depending on what kind of income you expect to have. PA is a big state, most of it is rural with less job opportunities, while the suburbs of the big cities have more job opportunities and are often safe, but tend to be expensive. The big cities themselves have pockets of good and bad areas but naturally the safer areas are more expensive. Finding a balance between price and safety depends greatly on how much you can afford.