Scotland to USA (Los Angeles, Pasadena, Beverly Hills: condo, safe neighborhood, high school)

[jaimex]

Hi Guys,

I live in Edinburgh, Scotland, with my husband, 14 year old daughter and 8 month old puppy. I am a self-employed fitness instructor and personal trainer and my husband is a self-employed telecommunications officer. My daughter has wanted to move to L.A for quite some time and my husband and I are now starting to look into moving, but the problem is we have no idea how ! We briefly know about visas but are looking for a permanent option ??? We are both up for gaining more qualifications if needed but don't know where to look or what we would need to do!
We are willing to spend ruffly £1million ($2million i think ???) so financially it isn't a problem, but I have heard moving there is really hard to do ?! Unfortunatley we don't have any family out there but have some really close friends, does that help at all ????
Any information back would be greatly appreciated

Thanks, Jaime x

[drew9000]

Originally Posted by jaimex

Hi Guys,

I live in Edinburgh, Scotland, with my husband, 14 year old daughter and 8 month old puppy. I am a self-employed fitness instructor and personal trainer and my husband is a self-employed telecommunications officer. My daughter has wanted to move to L.A for quite some time and my husband and I are now starting to look into moving, but the problem is we have no idea how ! We briefly know about visas but are looking for a permanent option ??? We are both up for gaining more qualifications if needed but don't know where to look or what we would need to do!
We are willing to spend ruffly £1million ($2million i think ???) so financially it isn't a problem, but I have heard moving there is really hard to do ?! Unfortunatley we don't have any family out there but have some really close friends, does that help at all ????
Any information back would be greatly appreciated

Thanks, Jaime x

stay in Edinburgh , it's a beautiful city

have you been to LA before?

wait how does a personal trainer and a telecommunications officer have 2 million quid?

[impala666]

Originally Posted by jaimex

Hi Guys,

I live in Edinburgh, Scotland, with my husband, 14 year old daughter and 8 month old puppy. I am a self-employed fitness instructor and personal trainer and my husband is a self-employed telecommunications officer. My daughter has wanted to move to L.A for quite some time and my husband and I are now starting to look into moving, but the problem is we have no idea how ! We briefly know about visas but are looking for a permanent option ??? We are both up for gaining more qualifications if needed but don't know where to look or what we would need to do!
We are willing to spend ruffly £1million ($2million i think ???) so financially it isn't a problem, but I have heard moving there is really hard to do ?! Unfortunatley we don't have any family out there but have some really close friends, does that help at all ????
Any information back would be greatly appreciated

Thanks, Jaime x

On the whole people generally move to LA to make money not to spend it.
Why the hell would you move to LA because your daughter wants to no doubt nine months ago she wanted a puppy too.
First have you ever been to LA,if not a holiday will at least give you an idea of what you will be letting yourself in for.
One and a half million dollars may sound a lot but to get the sort of lifestyle I'm sure you must be hoping for you will need two full time jobs to back that up.
Please come and have a look first and good luck you will find plenty of very good info on this site.

[sll3454]

A holiday is a good idea. Better yet, two holidays - one of them in late August/early September. Let your daughter explore the things that fascinate her.

Investigate the schools. Would California be a better place for her to finish her education?

Get an idea of what you want.

[yamota]

Lots of Scottish people make it in LA, just look at Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson and Fat Bastard

[jaimex]

Thanks to everyone for their help with this !!
My family and I have just came back from a 4 month vacation their as I wrote my last post while out there! We have applied for a green card and have successfully been accepted so will be moving out there sometime in July Could anyone recommend any good family neighbourhoods ? Feedback will be much appreciated !
Thanks again for everyones help on the matter
Jaime x

[Jessica88]

Hi Jaime,

I used to live in Edinburgh as a student near the University and am now residing in Los Angeles. Because LA public systems aren't very reputable, I considerably suggest you move into an area around Beverly Hills, where you can get a decent condo or small house. The reason for BH is that it's a relatively safe neighborhood and Beverly Hills High School is one of the best you can find.

Additionally, areas outside of the main LA section are quite nice. Look at South Pasadena or Pasadena for ideal family locations. It's roughly twenty minutes out of the main city.

[jaimex]

Thanks alot Jessica
I wil definitley be looking into that and will let you know how I get on !
x

[impala666]

That may be the fastest "Green Card" in history.

[yamota]

that's what I was wondering myself