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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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I'm planning on moving to the US in 2-3 years: my first pick is New England, I've heard they're comparatively unfriendly, but I'm not the type to judge on hearsay, so I'll expect common courtesy etc anywhere I go. Still, I'm curious if some states are friendlier to immigrants from other countries. Do you think they'd give preferential treatment to Australians rather than say, a Pakistani (to give an example)? Of course I don't expect that, I want to be treated like anyone else, and hopefully that is in a friendly, respectful way. Are residents of some states more wary of outsiders and immigrants who are non-Americans?
I'm planning on moving to the US in 2-3 years: my first pick is New England, I've heard they're comparatively unfriendly, but I'm not the type to judge on hearsay, so I'll expect common courtesy etc anywhere I go. Still, I'm curious if some states are friendlier to immigrants from other countries. Do you think they'd give preferential treatment to Australians rather than say, a Pakistani (to give an example)? Of course I don't expect that, I want to be treated like anyone else, and hopefully that is in a friendly, respectful way. Are residents of some states more wary of outsiders and immigrants who are non-Americans?
New England is pretty friendly and tolerant, people there just don't fake extroversion that much and keep to themselves more. New England is not nearly as diverse as some of the other areas of the US, but that could just be due to a tendency for immigrants to cluster and get support from immigrant areas (and nearby New York City siphons many of those). New England states like Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire are over 95% white.
If you're an immigrant looking to assimilate to WASP culture, New England is pretty nice really. It's much, much less intimidating for an immigrant than say Alabama.
There was an awesome thread that listed major American cities in order of immigrants per year, but I don't remember exactly which ones were on top. I think New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Fransisco, and Seatle are all places that are used to immigrants from all over the world and you can do well in these places.
I can't speak for the US, but I found that when an immigrant moves to a place where there are few other immigrants, there is usually more honest interest in him or her than when an immigrant goes to a place that sees a lot of immigration, where locals feel like they are inundated with strangers who don't care for the local culture, anyway.
New England is pretty friendly and tolerant, people there just don't fake extroversion that much and keep to themselves more. New England is not nearly as diverse as some of the other areas of the US, but that could just be due to a tendency for immigrants to cluster and get support from immigrant areas (and nearby New York City siphons many of those). New England states like Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire are over 95% white.
If you're an immigrant looking to assimilate to WASP culture, New England is pretty nice really. It's much, much less intimidating for an immigrant than say Alabama.
I'm sorry. But this post makes no sense. How does one "fake" extroversion?
And, a Yankee transplant to Alabama 15 years ago, I've found the people here are genuinely warm and very accepting of outsiders--as long as you respect their traditions and institutions. On the other hand, Northerners who come down and start whining about how they did things back in Cleveland won't get a very warm reception at all.
As an Australian you probably will get better treatment (from some people) than you would if you were from many other places. There are some Americans who see the increasing use of Spanish, for example, in the US as a personal threat. I would think that differences will be on a smaller level, maybe cities versus suburbs versus small towns (with lots of variations within that, even) than state-by-state.
I love New England, some parts more than others, of course. I also don't buy into this belief that some areas of the country are "nicer" than others - the Midwest, or at least Minnesota and the Upper Midwest, gets bashed with this a lot, too; there are cultural variations from place to place in terms of communication style, and that can lead to some misunderstandings, but you'll find friendly and unfriendly people everywhere. New England also has tons of colleges and universities, and those schools are brimming with students and faculty from all over the world. Depending on where you end up you're unlikely to be only non-American in town, and in any case people in this country seem to love Australians.
Try reading Richard Florida's book Who's Your City. Who's Your City? He talks about the "personalities" of different regions and cities.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,029,399 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Neuling
I can't speak for the US, but I found that when an immigrant moves to a place where there are few other immigrants, there is usually more honest interest in him or her than when an immigrant goes to a place that sees a lot of immigration, where locals feel like they are inundated with strangers who don't care for the local culture, anyway.
I was about to say the same thing. Many immigrants doesn't = more acceptability of immigrants, and can sometimes mean the opposite...Actually what people say about small town America perplexes me a bit, because here the folk in small towns seem especially friendly to visitors. Maybe it's 'fake extroversion' but I prefer to believe it's genuine.
You should really compose a list of CITIES you're interested in and go from there. You really can't assume a whole state is this way or that regarding immigrants. The U.S. is extremely large and attitudes can vary from city to city within the same State.
Example: Be from the Middle East and walk through Atlanta and few people will pay much attention. Go 30 miles West of the City and half the town will watch every move you make - yet they're both in the same State. Likewise, I'm sure there are numerous cities in New England who are welcoming to immigrants, but a few miles in any direction outside of those cities in the same States, maybe the attitudes may be different.
Western Washington State is pretty tolerant. I totally agree, though, that cities in general won't care but when you go outside the cities more people will take notice.
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