A new beginning, in the US.

[Cops]

I should really familiarise myself with the politics over there :fear:

But Toronto is sounding like a good shout right now, my brother has been there before and loves it. But Cops, what do you mean by the security blanket? The benefits or something? In what way do you feel safer in Canada over America? Sorry if I've missed the point =\

Back to your question. In our industry companies don't really give you benefits and more than not you'll find contract work, in which companies can legally not pay for your benefits. I'm not trying to make this about health-care but take into account if you have to go to the hospital, or need to see a doctor for any reason it's coming out of your pocket. Anyone who assumes you'll get benefits doesn't understand that your line of work involves bullshit contract work that pays shit. So basically I do feel more safe knowing that if something happens to me I'm not footing some exorbitant bill, or forced to come home. I also pay $3,000 a year in taxes (I'll probably get most if not all back, yay for working under the poverty-line), and I get some awesome services for that 3k, better than anyone can possibly offer me for the kind of money I'm spending.

If you meant safer as in feel more at ease and comfortable then of course I do, I've lived here all my life and had many excursions to the America, considering the border is less than 2 hours drive. From my experiences I feel as though in Canada life is similar to America, only the problems are intensified and the gap between the rich and poor is more apparent, just like the crime. Countries like Canada and America are similar in a lot of ways, individual States or Provinces work under one name and one flag, however our ideas of who we are and what our countries are about differs from region to region. The main problem is that a person in Texas has a hard time accepting that a person in New York is what he or she considers to be American, and that goes both ways for you. Canada is the exact same way, however there's a lot less bullshit that comes from our political and cultural differences. Canada isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but really there's a whole slew of bullshit that I don't have to deal with living here rather than there. I may choose to leave Canada one day and start a home in America, but that'd require a lot of time and thought.

New York is too expensive, you can find a job sure, but can you pay your rent? Probably not.

New Jersey, nah brah.

Boston, if I had to live in Herica this would be one of my top choices.

Seattle, fuck yes.

don't move to canada, its colder then britian year round

It's fucking humid and hot as shit right now, our weather in Toronto is no different than New York. Actually, fuck that, the state of New York in particular Buffalo tends to get more snow than Toronto and its surrounding cities. Also British Columbia is just like Seattle, you won't get a lot of snow during the winter time, just rain.

[Cops]

Some awesome suggestions here from you guys, really helpful.

The main drive for me to want to go to the US is the possibility of having a more secure future in design than I would living in the United Kingdom, I don't know if this is necessarily true, but I'm definitely open to this possibility. By the time I graduate and have worked a job for a little while, I would consider making the move then.
But it isn't all about the job obviously, as the living costs and lifestyle play a massive part too, which is why I asked you guys mainly for this reason. Right now the places that have taken my interest are Boston, Seattle, D.C. and Toronto (I think I can handle the weather, and the healthcare thing sounds promising). I'm gonna look into California too and New York for future purposes, as I think I've understood these to be the higher cost areas.

I wouldn't be packing my bags right away, I'm gonna be keeping my eyes out for another couple years yet, but I thought I better start sometime and somewhere, it's a pretty big decision.

Good choices, I'd move to Dallas if it wasn't Dallas. Right now there's a lot of people working in the media that are having a hard time holding onto their jobs, graduates like you and me are having a really hard time finding employment. I actually work in a town outside of Toronto called Oakville, I'd talk to Nailed and get his honest opinions of a British person who has spent a lot of time in both Canada and the States. It's good that you're thinking about these things and planning out your future a little.

[Xog]

I'm sure you've already thought of this but it wouldn't be bad to make sure you're doing this first:

Think of what kind of company you'd want to be working for. Look for the locations for where their HQs are.

Blizzard - California
EA - California
Turbine - Massachusetts
Microsoft - Washington
SCE Studios - California
Apple - California
BioWare - Texas
Mythic Entertainment - Virginia
Valve - Washington

just to name a few of the bigger industries out there..

And the majority of them are on the West coast. I think doing this could help you decide where you would want to live. I don't know what kind of graphics you're looking to get a job in, whether it be advertisement or gaming or movies but look up some companies in the fields you're interested in and look at where the more major companies are. If you noticed, there aren't a lot of big companies in the eastern US.

And blizzard seems to always be hiring.... right there on the front page, one of the first things you'll look at besides the starcraft II beta opt-in

here's link to blizz's job openings
http://www.blizzard.com/us/jobopp/

look at that! MARKETING : Senior Graphic-Designer

http://www.blizzard.com/us/jobopp/ma...-designer.html

[PaulOakenfold]

you're an east coast lifer... I started in the midwest, moved to east coast for 5 years... personally everyone will enjoy their hometown more


I'll put it this way, if you had a chance to pick the jersey shore or a southern california beach, which one would you pick? if you say dirty jerz then you are obviously bias

Jersey and Florida are hellholes, I didn't suggest those at all. Hoboken in Jersey is the only place I'd live in that state if I were his age.

Seriously, if I'm going to spend a week at the beach, we go down to the Outer Banks.

I'm sure you've already thought of this but it wouldn't be bad to make sure you're doing this first:

Think of what kind of company you'd want to be working for. Look for the locations for where their HQs are.

Blizzard - California
EA - California
Turbine - Massachusetts
Microsoft - Washington
SCE Studios - California
Apple - California
BioWare - Texas
Mythic Entertainment - Virginia
Valve - Washington

just to name a few of the bigger industries out there..

And the majority of them are on the West coast. I think doing this could help you decide where you would want to live. I don't know what kind of graphics you're looking to get a job in, whether it be advertisement or gaming or movies but look up some companies in the fields you're interested in and look at where the more major companies are. If you noticed, there aren't a lot of big companies in the eastern US.

And blizzard seems to always be hiring.... right there on the front page, one of the first things you'll look at besides the starcraft II beta opt-in

here's link to blizz's job openings
http://www.blizzard.com/us/jobopp/

look at that! MARKETING : Senior Graphic-Designer

http://www.blizzard.com/us/jobopp/ma...-designer.html

Yes, but there are much more opportunities in the non-gaming sector. New York is the marketing capital of the country.

[Cops]

Only reason I'm saying no to New York is the cost of living, otherwise it's a hub of jobs that are related to your profession.

[Money]

hmm, i know a bunch of southerners that move here, and we're not a city.

shut the fuck up dude, you know jack shit. like i said. i see plates from every single northern state moving here everyday, including your boring state. the facts are that the northern US is shitty. jobs are leaving industries are leaving why? cuz of a thing called winter. that is why ppl move down here cuz in texas when winter rolls around 100,000 ppl dont lose their jobs from layoffs cuz "its too cold" to work

like you said, you see southerners, i like how u didnt say TEXANS. too bad that dont work out for ya cuz i also see georgia alabama florida california and every other southern state moving here also

[Money]

It's fucking humid and hot as shit right now, our weather in Toronto is no different than New York.

lol? i grew up in michigan where it would be little snow flakes coming from chicago and when it hit lake michigan and turned into lake effect snow u wanna talk about snow flakes larger than your hand.... everyone knows the snow in michigan is greater than anywhere else in the northeast DUE TO LAKE MICHIGAN

torontos lake effect is weak and so is buffalos.


and you havent experienced real humidity unless you've been to Miami New Orleans or Houston so stop crying im sure that 80 degrees max with 30% humidity MUST BE A KILLER




try 100 degrees with 92% humidity :P

[saetep]

Thanks for taking some of our crime infested Katrina evacuees Money, but unfortunately for the rest of New Orlineans crime is still everywhere. The mayor doesn't seem to care about it. Oh well, at least Katrina scared a lot of the blacks off and forced the closure of several projects, though if another black candidate decides to run for mayor they'll come back. Al Sharpton will personally pay for buses to ship thousands of blacks back in order to see a black man in office, rather than actually looking at the issues we have and trying to figure out who the best candidate is.

Anyway. If you come to the south go to Texas, I've been to Texas a few times and it's a really nice place. A lot of growing suburbs. Though driving everywhere will be a pain. Cities in Texas are really spread out. Florida is also a nice place, though if you're not going to Florida or Texas I wouldn't go to the south. I don't really have much knowledge as to where you'll find work easily, but I strongly recommend staying in the northeast, northwest, west coast, Denver, Texas, or Florida. The south has it's own unique feel to it, but it's not what you're looking for.

Also, if Obama has his way, then by the time you get here you won't have to worry as much about Canada having a better "safety-net" in regards to insurance.

"AFAIK (and I haven't done any research on it), Health Care in canada is free as long as you've got your own dwelling there (apartment/house/cardboardbox) which means if you get in an accident, your medical bills are either (i don't know) a) free, b) cheaper"

Free? In what sense? I was under the impression that Canadians as a whole pay much higher taxes than Americans.

Edit: I was thinking of someone else when I said Nagin bought cars using tax money. He still sucks though.

[Xog]

I knew this thread was going to turn out to be a shitfest about houston or dallas.

AFAIK (and I haven't done any research on it), Health Care in canada is free as long as you've got your own dwelling there (apartment/house/cardboardbox) which means if you get in an accident, your medical bills are either (i don't know) a) free, b) cheaper"

Free? In what sense? I was under the impression that Canadians as a whole pay much higher taxes than Americans.

" As Far As I Know (and I haven't done any research on it), "

[Jeenyuss]

i have a question kind of along the same lines.

my dad's an american citizen, my grandma, brother, and sister were all born there, and i'm thinking of applying for my american citizenship too. first off, would it be possible to get it without going through all the hassle due to my dad and the rest of my family? second, how do i go about getting it? i tried calling the american embassy in calgary (the closest embassy to where i live) but it was just a machine and then i read on their website i should be calling only to make an appointment. what do i do? help me kthx i just want to be normal.

[Exalt]

i have a question kind of along the same lines.

my dad's an american citizen, my grandma, brother, and sister were all born there, and i'm thinking of applying for my american citizenship too. first off, would it be possible to get it without going through all the hassle due to my dad and the rest of my family? second, how do i go about getting it? i tried calling the american embassy in calgary (the closest embassy to where i live) but it was just a machine and then i read on their website i should be calling only to make an appointment. what do i do? help me kthx i just want to be normal.

If you have that many family members that are US citizens, I don't see it being a big hassle at all to be naturalized. Technically, if your dad is a US citizen, then he probably had a choice of if he wanted you to have dual citizenship or whatever... but I don't see it being a big deal.. I mean as long as your not mexican

[Summa]

i have a question kind of along the same lines.

my dad's an american citizen, my grandma, brother, and sister were all born there, and i'm thinking of applying for my american citizenship too. first off, would it be possible to get it without going through all the hassle due to my dad and the rest of my family? second, how do i go about getting it? i tried calling the american embassy in calgary (the closest embassy to where i live) but it was just a machine and then i read on their website i should be calling only to make an appointment. what do i do? help me kthx i just want to be normal.

http://www.uscitizenship.info/ins-ci...ip-process.htm

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis

[PaulOakenfold]

Like I said, find a job first Galaxy and then move here, or at least get some leads and work on getting a work visa.

[Money]

If you have that many family members that are US citizens, I don't see it being a big hassle at all to be naturalized. Technically, if your dad is a US citizen, then he probably had a choice of if he wanted you to have dual citizenship or whatever... but I don't see it being a big deal.. I mean as long as your not mexican

ppl get dual citizenship by taking their newborn babies across borders and claiming to teh gov't that they just had a baby in this country. and they treat canadians tthe same as as they do mexicans at the border, or any country

[Cops]

so when you moved from michigan to texas was it a requirement to drink the kool aid before entering the state?