Shell_

I grew up in another "rust belt" city just south of Detroit, Cleveland Ohio. Detroit has indeed been in decline for at least 20 years, since the auto industry started to outsource to cheaper locales and the steel mills and such shut down. It didn't have much else in the way of industry and couldn't recover from it. It has been a depressing and scary place for quite some time. Haven't watched the documentary yet, but will be doing so over the week. Looking forward to seeing how much more it has declined in the 15 or so years since I was last there.

I'm fairly open, but my husband is working at Canary Wharf so hopefully something with an easy commute there. If it was just us and no cats, that's what we'd do until we were a bit more firmly planted in London and knew what our real budget is...but with the cats, we aren't prepared to go that route, unfortunately. You mean scary things like cars, other more aggressive animals, people with vendettas and poison, etc.?

They're indoor only cats, and we're hoping not to have a ground floor place. Will check out Camberwell, thanks!

I need to find a one bedroom apartment in a safe area for under 700 a month in London...but we have two cats. Is this even possible? Suggestions for areas, your experiences, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

And if you end up with a green card and then decide to leave, you'll be filing and paying taxes and informing them of your bank account details/balances for the rest of your life.

I think your friends live in a vacuum then. It was at the top of all the news - particularly among the right-leaning news outlets in the States. Even at the canteen for the US Congress, the name was changed to "freedom fries".

1. Medicare is for old people. Medicaid is nearly impossible to qualify for. Average working people have a very difficult time getting health insurance - especially affordable insurance - unless it comes with their job. People go untreated because they don't have insurance. People die because they don't have insurance. Most bankruptcies in America are due to medical bills. 2. No job = no health insurance. Unemployment benefits are slightly better than the UK on the surface, but horrible, indeed. 3. The American Dream is a highly unattainable thing for most Americans. 4. There's truth both in what you say and what the OP said 5. That's up for debate. I think parts will survive and thrive and parts will dissolve into utter chaos. Not claptrap in the least.

They have a selective memory, then.

They have a selective memory, then.

Well, that certainly puts an interesting spin on the issue in this thread: http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/ind...howtopic=122212

Definitely effort is key, and to stay learning high german is the first step. Most immigrants to Switzerland never really learn Swiss German to any fluent level. Most, like me, just understand a good chunk of it but don't speak it. Even Germans moving to Switzerland struggle with the dialect. Integration, however, is difficult. The Swiss are wary of foreigners. And in the eyes of many, many Swiss, foreigners are someone who comes from the neighboring canton. My inlaws came here from the former Czechoslovakia in the 70s, and while my mother in law spoke very good high German and a bit of Swiss German and tried very hard to integrate, I could count the number of Swiss that weren't friends of my husband who came to her funeral on one hand. Friendships here are forged in kindergarten, and often people have a hard time breaking free of that. That's part of why the expat communities (of whatever original nationality) here become insular. Imagine walking down the street and seeing this: That was a very popular advertisement for a political party not too long ago about foreigners. Oh - Sicherheit Schaffen means Safety Sheep.... All of that being said, if you are able to crack the shell of a Swiss person, you'll find nobody more loyal. It just is difficult for most foreigners to be able to make that crack in the rather tough shell.

Most of my coworkers that spoke German around me were from Germany, so I'm pretty good with my high German understanding. But even after nearly seven years here, I struggle with thicker Swiss German dialects.

Nah, the pie shop is open weekdays till 7, Saturdays till 4.

Actually, they live far from the Alps.

These people live quite close to where I do in Switzerland. Having kids that age makes it nearly impossible for her to get a job. Schools here do not run on a normal schedule. Both kids may attend the same school and have different starting, ending and lunch times every day of the week. Schools do not provide lunches, the children go home. Child care to take care of the kids during those hours when she is at work would probably cost as much if not more than a part time salary. Also, they live out in the countryside, which does not make it easy for meeting new people, especially if you don't speak the local dialect. Swiss German is not standard German, and when you go to classes to learn German you don't learn what's spoken on the street. Swiss German is not a written language, so it is more something you're born with and learn as you grow up than something you study. Integration in Switzerland is very, very difficult for outsiders. Even more so for English speaking foreigners, as they have the (dis)advantage of having many services in English (or at least websites in English), and a lot of people here will at least speak the basics.

When did being Polish become a new race? I think you're confusing xenophobia and racism.

Life's an adventure, so why not live it. Will be the third country I've lived in aside from the country of my birth (a place many aspire to but you couldn't pay me to go back )

Oh, Geneva is horrible for housing though. And traffic, from what I understand from people I know who live there. But it is a bit more mellow in the French speaking sections of Switzerland. I go to both France and Germany to shop, mostly for greater selection as the price advantage isn't the same with the value of the Euro compared to the Franc. But once I sell my car (I'm moving...to the UK, and no, I'm not British ) in a couple of months time, I won't be going there any more as public transport to get there just isn't worth it.

I live in Basel, and have lived in Zurich. Health insurance is mandatory and runs about 150 - 200 GBP per month per person, plus an excess to pay and 10% of the cost of everything, even after the excess is paid. Traffic is a huge issue. I had a 15km commute. There were many days that 15km took me 2 hours to navigate to get home. I've been stuck on the Autobahn where you just shut off your car and sit for a half hour - and when things start up again, there's no apparent reason for it. I don't take my car out at night because I've spent far too many times circling everywhere in a 20 minute walk to find a space - and not finding a thing after two hours. I'd take public transport, but that stops around midnight and doesn't take you everywhere you want to go. After 6pm, forget it, no parking unless you're very, very lucky. And no parking garages to rent a spot, either, at least in my neighbourhood. Wages match to a certain extent. But when the cheapest apartments are still 1k GBP a month (roughly 2 bedroom, decent location, etc., there are some cheaper in outer areas, of course), it adds up. And don't forget the grocery cartels, with their high prices and limited selections.

You've just described Switzerland. Very high cost of living, congestion on the roads is abysmal particularly in the cities and on the Autobahn, parking is impossible, taxes are not anywhere near as cheap as the stereotype, health care is expensive, customer service doesn't exist, etc.

And the lovely original wood panelling that the homeowners apparently loved so much (he mentioned during the bed scene how much the husband loved the rich wood panelling) - he just said it had to go. Instead of reusing it somewhere, it was sold off. Did this go towards reducing their bill? I'm becoming quite disappointed with this season's crop of the Home Show. Feels like an expensive and drawn out 60 minute makeover.

Complete with crooked, poorly taken photos of the interior. But ooo, a rainbow.

I don't understand why they didn't just leave the downstairs ensuite unfinished as well. And to boot, the main bathroom didn't seem to have a shower from what I could tell (unless separate), which means the whole family will end up traipsing into that one ensuite every morning....

Tell that to all of the UK expats here in Switzerland who have good jobs and don't ever learn the language beyond hello and goodbye.

If that gives you a boner, then there's nothing big about it.