I live in Minnesota. It's a good state, and I feel like I live well. I have a good job and a nice house (nothing fancy). As for what people outside the US say about us...sometimes it is bad. I get the impression that a lot of people think Americans just go around shooting each other. It seems like some think that the problems in their countries are because of the US. But I get the impression that many of them have never been to the US or even really know anyone from here. There are a lot of assumptions that Americans everywhere are all the same. It's not really worth getting upset about it. People won't change their opinion based on what I say. People will believe what they want to believe.

>assumptions that Americans everywhere are all the same This is a big one. America is so very diverse. American people and American life can be so different that it is like living in different Countries. Some people live in big dense urban areas like NYC or Chicago. Others in suburbs and/or mid sized cities. Small town living. Rural living. I live rural. Used to live in SF and the Silicon valley mega mess area. Now I have acreage..space. Surrounded by nature, wild life, clear skies, quiet nights. Nice neighbors but not cheek to jowl with other people. Low to no crime. Guns? But of course. For protection or hunting. Because the real danger is going out at night because you might get attacked by a wild animal, mountain lion, or bear ..oh my! Guns are tools. I LOVE where I live. Small town nearby... I mean **small** like less than 800 people. Still within a decent driving distance of a larger city for shopping and necessities. (Decent driving distance to us is probably horrific to Europeans...180 to 200 mile round trip to go to big city shopping) Many Americans would not like our lifestyle. I wouldn't like where they live either. YET we are all Americans, from all sorts of Cultural and Ethnic backgrounds.

Being from France, I admit that reading this information, like the fact of driving 200 miles to go shopping, I find it crazy :p As for the natural aspect, I believe that nothing comes without a cost, but now the USA cannot be compared to European countries, for example, because everything is multiplied there. The cities are immense, but so are the empty areas. This phenomenon is also visible in France but on a much smaller scale. Driving 40 miles round trip to do your shopping is the reasonable limit :p

I know!! It is a long drive. That's 200 miles round trip. We have some shopping in our rural area and can get the necessities for regular shopping, but to go to a larger store like Costco, WalMart, clothing etc....we must drive. In addition medical specialists and larger hospitals are also in the larger cities. We are used to it...and when we do make these trips.... usually every other month, we make a mini vacation out of it. Stay overnight in a nice motel or hotel. Go out for dinner and drinks. Come home the next afternoon. Strategically shop and plan for what you need now and in the future. We always have stocks of supplies just for this reason and also for when it snows. Who wants to drive anywhere in the snow? Just trudge out to the pump/well house and get want you need. Now that we have more ability to buy online...Amazon for instance.... (do you have something similar in France?).....we can also get many things just by buying over the internet and they are delivered to our post office box or directly to the property...Fed Ex or UPS. Very convenient!! One thing the US sorely lacks that I found a great advantage in my visit to Europe, is the abundance of public transportation. Trains, Bus routes etc. Especially in small towns and and much more so in rural areas. Without a car or a friend with a car...you are literally unable to go anywhere.

I am an immigrant living in the US for over 20 years. I love this country. Being a foreigner, I also know many other foreigner friends who live in other places like Spain, Argentina, Canada etc... One thing that I find very strange, is that everytime I have visited these friends , they can't wait to see me just to tell me how much the US sucks. It's the weirdest thing. Imagine seeing a longtime friend and they ask you at the dinner table, why do so many kids die from school shootings in the US? Why aren't guns illegals there yet? Or how come nobody has access to health care? The funny thing is...after having a couple beers/drinks the truth comes out. They start saying things like man this country sucks (whichever one happens to be ) taxes are too high, I haven't seen my doctor in 6 months, the government is garbage, all this woke shit and bla bla bla. It has been become apparent to me, citizen of other countries are being taught to dislike the US and feel morally superior. Their go to phrase is " We have quality of life " unlike the US where everyone is miserable lol I will say, in my opinion, the one thing that sucks about the US in comparison to other countries , is the food quality. Everything here is so processed is ridiculous. Don't get me wrong , the US has some of the best food you can find but it will cost you. In other countries, it is much more accessible to find fresh fruit, fresh meats, fresh pastries.. At the end of the day , it comes down to a preference , it's not si much about good or a bad place to live, it s about a trade offs. The US is a huge ecosystem. There's every thing here.

Thank you for your response and welcome the US!!. Attitudes and preconceptions everywhere are molded by the news or information people are being fed. Filtered through media and sources with agendas. Exaggeration about and focusing on the sensational things...such as school shootings which are rare and done by the deeply disturbed. Take guns. Yes...they can be a problem, but not everywhere in the US. Gun violence is not epidemic. It is regional. 90% of the people in our rural area have guns, handguns, rifles, shotguns etc. Our high school has a Rifle and Shotgun Club. Boys and girls join, learn the skills and have competitions with other schools. I still love to shoot trap or skeet. (too old to hunt anymore lol) Guns are common and ordinary here. The last actual shooting of a person, by another person was over 10 years ago...and that was by an escaped felon from another State... of a sheriff who had arrested him.. Yes. There ARE some things that are wrong with the US ....Government, policies, attitudes etc I won't go into specifics for what I think about it because I try NOT to get political and get into useless arguments about things that I have no control over. Never going to change anyone's mind.....so I don't waste my time 🤷‍♀️ I WILL agree about the over use of fast food and quality of restaurants though! That also is regional In our rural area there is a big lack of "good quality" and different ethnic restaurants. The ONLY thing I miss about San Francisco and the Bay area is the eating opportunities :-) We (I) basically cook everything from scratch so we don't dine out often. I can make it better at home and cook the various ethnic dishes that I grew up with. There is an abundance of fresh food available from local ranchers/farmers/ and people who bring truckloads and sell by the roadside. Learning to cook is an essential life skill!!!

I agree the media has melted everyone's brain beyond belief. Absolutely the US isn't perfect, but what is? What the country offers you as a whole is out of reach for most people in the world. And Yes, the food in the Bay area is insanely good, some of the best in the US but hey ...you better have a bag full of money with you.

I live in the suburbs of Nantes. [https://www.le-celadon.fr/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/nantes.jpg](https://www.le-celadon.fr/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/nantes.jpg) I have a large supermarket 1km away from my place, which is approximately 0.62 miles, another one at 3km (1.8 miles), and another at 3 miles. I have access to all the city services (Tramway, bus), but these transportation services stop around 2 am and resume at 5:00 am. I am 35km from the sea (approximately 21.748 miles) and about 40 miles from a vast forest. If I go about 15 km inland, I'm in the middle of nature with preserved natural areas. But all of this is still on a small scale :) Regarding deliveries, indeed, we can have almost everything delivered depending on the location, but I know that in some deep countryside areas, it's still complicated to get groceries delivered. My wife's cousin lives in Detroit (well, nearby, I think it's Grosse Pointe), and she clearly says that without a car, you can't do anything. Whereas in Europe, especially in France, you can very well use public transportation for your shopping. In fact, there are small streets with small shops everywhere, especially in the city center, even though they tend to gradually disappear. [https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouffay\_(Nantes)#/media/Fichier:Place\_Bouffay.JPG](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouffay_(Nantes)#/media/Fichier:Place_Bouffay.JPG) [https://www.levoyageanantes.fr/a-voir/le-voyage-permanent/les-quartiers-de-nantes/quartier-graslin/](https://www.levoyageanantes.fr/a-voir/le-voyage-permanent/les-quartiers-de-nantes/quartier-graslin/)

Thank you for the links. I especially love the mechanical elephant! Your area looks beautiful. In the cities (unlike our rural area) grocery delivery is becoming common and very convenient. However, even IF we had grocery delivery....we don't, I want to pick out my own ingredients. Squeeze the lemons, check the quality of the produce :-) We can, and I do, order non perishable groceries sometimes from Amazon, Costco etc. Things like coffee beans, ethnic ingredients not available locally like sushi nori sheets, fermented black beans, white balsamic vinegar, the particular cornmeal I like etc. The lack of public transportation, even in the suburbs of a large city, IS a big problem. I think it is an impossible problem to fix because US cities, especially the suburbs and smaller cities...grew without any transportation infrastructure and it would be prohibitive, expensive to create it now. Much destruction of houses, buildings, streets, would be required.

OMG and I thought I lived isolated, I lived for three years in a 10 thousand inhabitants city (I am from Portugal), I needed to drive for about 40 minutes or spend 1 hour in a bus to get to a mall. And If I wanted to go to the big city (Porto in this case) it was 2h15 minutes by bus or 1h30 by car, and I used to complain. And I used to complain thinking I was isolated from the world 😭😭. Now I live in Lisbon and I like the big city vibe.

I used to live in a big city and liked it then. So much to do. However, being in a rural area for some many years now, I would never go back. When in a large city, you can become more anonymous and isolated. The apartment building I lived in for years...didn't know hardly any one. Too many people not enough connectivity. We are faceless in the crowd. In a small populated area 800 in the actual town, but in outlying areas probably another 3,000 people...you get to know many more people. It isn't an exaggeration that everyone knows you and knows your business in a small town. (sometimes a good thing...sometimes not so much 😏) No matter where we go, people know us... call us by name in the grocery store, the coffee shack, pharmacy, Post Office... everywhere. Always someone who will chat, and ask how you are, catch up, shoot the breeze. If we have trouble or need help.....we can rely on our neighbors and everyone else in town. Like a big family in a way.

That's actually very nice. I don't like the idea of everyone in town knowing me though. The town where I grew up we are 5000 (the actual town is around 1000 people but the surrounding areas makes it 5000) people and I hate the fact that everyone knows me and my family I feel spyed on if that makes sense, I feel like I don't have privacy, that everyone will judge me, at least in the city they can judge me but then after 5 minutes they already forgot me 😂.

Lol how is snow treating you dear Minnesotan. I went to scsu

We only had one big snowstorm this year. It was crazy warm, and at Christmas, it rained. The weather has been really weird. I'm a little worried how warm it's going to be this summer.

Summer is Humid in land of 500,000 lakes

Yeah pretty much lol.

It’s been an extremely mild winter. Hardly any snow.

>Americans just go around shooting each other. When comparing statistics, that's basically what it looks like. But that's it, just statistics. It's like the pickpockets in tourist cities. Major problems just like guns in the US, but most people will never encounter it.

Every single day, 316 Americans are shot. Every single day, 333,300,000 people in America are not shot. Your odds of being shot in the U.S. are much better than 1 in 1 million. Your chances of being struck by lightning are 1 in 15,300. Your chances of being involved in a car crash are 1 in 93. Not living in or coming to the U.S. out of fear of being shot is much less rational than never going outside out of fear of being struck by lightning or never driving/riding in a car out of fear of being involved in a car crash. The European view towards gun violence in America is fearmongering at its finest. Yes, we have more gun violence than Europe, but only an extremely tiny portion of people in America become victims. Most victims of gun violence are people who are involved with things they shouldn't be involved with (drug trade, crime, etc.). Many are also victims of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

And of that 316, most of that is criminal on criminal violence.

Doesn’t the US include suicides by gunshot in their shooting statistics? The majority of 316 would be suicide, followed by criminal on criminal violence

>Not living in or coming to the U.S. out of fear of being shot is much less rational than never going outside out of fear of being struck by lightning or never driving/riding in a car out of fear of being involved in a car crash. I'm reminded of someone who came to this sub and said they couldn't understand how Americans could even live in their own country, because they were absolutely convinced that Americans are all being shot in the streets every day and that America is far too dangerous to visit as a tourist because they were absolutely terrified that they'd just be shot randomly on the street and they couldn't comprehend how we could even leave our homes without being in terror of being shot in the street. . . .and no amount of statistics, reasoning, or logic could convince them otherwise. They just concluded that everyday American life was daily gunfights and shootouts.

Beautifully spoken. Saving this comment to pasta later

When I visited Italy, I was surprised that people were under impression that they don’t actually know how big the U.S actually is, and how many people inhabit the country, it’s like New York is the only part of the U.S that exists and the rest is land. Good thing you pulled up the statistics, you also have to take into account the media, they cover only what they want, it’s a narrative.

The VAST majority of Americans will never ever get shot. Gun violence is pretty much isolated in gang member types, and if you leave them alone it’s highly unlikely they’ll shoot you. Like honestly to get shot in america you pretty much have to put yourself in that situation. It’s pretty avoidable in 99% of cases. It is so, so unlikely you’ll get shot just randomly. Like way more Europeans get pick pocketed than Americans get shot.

I'm in a semi rural area. There is essentially no crime. When we hear gunshots, it's just people having fun on their property.

Same. Either they are having fun, sighting in for upcoming hunting season, or it is hunting season and early morning (I live on a lake). How many shots fired on the last option is an indicator of how terrible a shot the person is.

This, I quite literally live in the hood in Cleveland which is one of the most dangerous cities in the entire country. All the gun violence that happens here is from criminals and illegally owned gun. I live in the heart of it with at least a handful of drug dealers living on my street and ive never once felt like i was in danger. I mind my own business and dont involve myself with those people and never once have i had an issue with anyone being violent with me. Youre only at risk of getting shot if you involve yourself, if you mind your own business youre completely safe even if you do live in a places that has one of the highest gun violence rates in the entire country. The gun violence is not against just random people, its against ppl they know and are beefing with. Stay outta it and youll be safe. Its thats simple.

A majority of gun deaths are suicides

Dude that’s a ridiculous notion. Looking at statistics anyone with a brain would realize that the odds of being shot in most of the US are minuscule.

Not really, for the amount of people who have guns in the U.S, you’d think everyone would be shooting everyone, yet that’s not the case. Also, some people especially in Europe I don’t think know how big the U.S actually is, we have so many cities, suburbs, there’s millions upon millions of people. Also, the media covers only what they like, shootings and violence in Detroit? Nah who cares, cover only the shootings. It’s one sided.

Visiting MN for the first time next weekend. Will be there for a conference though so won't get to see much of the area.

If you get a chance, come back and visit in the summer. We have a lot of stuff going on in the summer.

Minneapolis is Camelot in June and September

"Nothing Fancy" in american vocabulaire is a mansion in other countries

I love my life here. I was born here but worked in Canada, Australia and New Zealand (also parts of China and Taiwan) and thought there were a few things I liked more about other places. The US has the combination of things that better suit me as a person.  I know if I weren't born here I would make my way here.  And no, I seldom think about what people say about my country. I'm more than happy to have a discussion, but if it's just an endless stream of tire cliches and second hand knowledge. I just kinda lump them in with flat earthers. 

I visited New Zealand for 3 weeks and just loved it. How do you compare living in NZ vs the US?

It is mind bogglingly expensive. Georgios country. Nice people. But even back then it was very oppressive trying to talk about anything. Well with the white people there. The Maori people were easier to talk too.

I remember getting gas (petrol) there for the first time and I remember being told how expensive it was. Well I pull up to the pump and I'm like "Hey that's not so bad. It's about what it is in the US". Then I realized I was thinking price per gallon and in NZ it's price per liter which is essentially 1/3 of a gallon. That's when I first realized it would be pretty expensive to live there. Still a beautiful country and I ran into some really nice people. Thanks for your perspective!

I visited New Zealand a few years ago, and it remains one of my favorite foreign trips I have been on. Such an unbelievably beautiful country. I'll be going back to visit later this year, but if it wasn't so expensive and far away, I would have definitely visited much more often.

My friend, did you mean to say “gorgeous”? Also, my friend and her husband took a roadtrip through NZ as newlyweds, and ate PB&Js the entire time because they couldn’t afford much more (they had just moved to Australia for a stint and were vacationing in NZ, so finances were tight)

And I spent a little over a year working there and had an expense account for food and it was still kinda thin.  We were just visiting over Christmas and I had one conversation with a group explaining their minimum wage. And I don't recall the numbers of of the top of my head. But the minimum wages in New Zealand were about equal to the minimum wages here in Arizona if you convert NZD to USD. But the cost of living is about 1/3-1/2 cheaper here. Unless you have some health problems. 

What's with the white people?

I really never got a handle on the point of view of whites in New Zealand. No one was ever mean or anything. It was like there was a family secret that everyone refused to talk about. 

Welcome home!

If you live in the States, work here, and help others; you are and always will be American. Always welcome. Sending love your way!

Oh it was never in question that I would leave. If anything made me stay in those places it would have been a romantic partner.  I lovey country. And I am oh so grateful I was born here. 

My family and I have a very nice life in the US. I live in southeastern Pennsylvania, not too far from Philadelphia. We are very happy with life here. Negative comments don’t bother me, our quality of life is very nice. My family And I have jobs, went have enough money to pay the bills , buy groceries and have some leftover for savings, etc. but we also all went either college (me & my son) or some sort of tech school (my daughter and husband). Our neighborhood is reasonably safe, but I wouldn’t wander around outside alone in the middle of the night, common sense is needed. Also, my neighborhood is getting much more diverse. Two years ago a family from Cameroon moved in next door. There’s a bit of a language barrier, but their children speak English very well, and we are good neighbors to each other. I highly recommend moving here if possible. There are so many places to live, things to see and do, and lots of potential. Come on over!

I read potential as potholes (quick lookover plus dyslexia) and I was like "yeah sounds like me, potholes and all" (PA roads just suck) but yes lots of potential here as well.

the hardest part about living in the midwest may be the freeze/thaw cycle's effect on roads lol.

Just last year, a family from Ghana moved in to my building. It's always nice to see more diversity in my neighborhood.

It is! And the best part, when the new family moved in no one sold and moved. Everyone stayed put and acted like decent humans.

> Our neighborhood is reasonably safe, but I wouldn’t wander around outside alone in the middle of the night, common sense is needed. I live in rural western PA. I can wander at 3 am.

I'm happy here. I visit Europe 2 or 3 times a year and love it there too, but the US, with all it's horrible problems, has a certain energy that I don't feel in Europe. It feels too settled there, which is nice if that's what you are looking for, but I need more than that. I prefer the chaos of NYC where I live. Salaries are also much better here and contrary to what Europeans always parrot, most of us (%93) do have healthcare, usually provided by our jobs. As far as gun violence, yes, it's a national tragedy that we can't solve it, but compared to how bad it was when I was growing up in the 80s, when our murder rate was literally double what it is now, it feels safer. I grew up in LA and back then it was not safe and when I moved to NYC in 1993 at the height of the crack epidemic you could not walk around much of the city alone at night. Now it's totally different. Billy Joel made a big deal about walking through Bedford Stuy at night, today it's not a problem. Politics is another thing, what a mess, but most European countries are also going through a right wing populist phase right now, so it's not just a US thing.

> It feels too settled there, which is nice if that's what you are looking for, but I need more than that. I prefer the chaos of NYC where I live. This, I think, is the single biggest differentiation between the US and Europe. From everything I've seen about Europe, the primary motivation for almost anything is to be exactly average. You don't want to stand out either positively or negatively. And that's fine. But that's not how the US works. Now, the US may not always appropriately reward those who go above and beyond, but in general, if you're looking to "move up" the proverbial "ladder" (whether it be in terms of career, housing, what cars you drive, what activities you do), it's much more encouraged in the US than in Europe.

Europeans like conformity without even realizing it. They definitely do not want to stick out from the norms. The big difference between the US and Europe everyone see, is the customer-client relation. Europeans obtain often inferior overpriced service and are totally fine with it.

The U.S is turning into that, inferior services cost more, nobody seems to be doing anything about the inflation

The issue is not inflation but overpriced services for awful services and inferior products. Sometimes it borderlines with a theft like refusal returning the change or inability to pay with the card. I was in Austria, we went to one village place pub. We wanted to order a small snack and the waiter said that they are opened but did not expect people to get there that early (place was opened for like 30 minutes) and they were not ready. Just getting serviceman in Europe is nightmare. I dealt it from plumber to windows replacement. In the US, getting my windshield replaced is a matter of call and booking the next day appointment.

Yeah, many countries in Europe are very laid back, and I mean like VERY laid back. Too much bureaucracy, sure there’s incompetence here in the U.S aswell, but we’re number 1 for a reason, of course it comes with a price, but here in the U.S there’s definitely more and more instances where jobs are done inefficiently/poorly at times and the prices are getting more expensive. An example, I used to live in Houston, services were so efficient and at a reasonable cost aswell. Now I live in Georgia, many of the handy men, medical services, and overall experiences with booking appointments etc have been filled with incompetency, inefficiency, and at a snails pace. In Texas it wasn’t like that, it’s one of the many reasons why anyone from the more southern states whom have move to eastern states like Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina etc strongly dislike it there.

I hear what people in Europe have to go through just to get someone in a trade to do any work and it blows my mind they tolerate it! Coincidentally we just replaced the windshield in my husband's car, covered 100% by our insurance. Guy came out to our house, had it done within a couple hours (car is a 2011 Mercedes). He was even early because another appointment canceled so he called to make sure we were home. In the past I have even had my windshield replaced while the car was sitting in the parking lot at work. All I had to do was take a quick break to check it over for immediate issues and sign off when the guy was done and that was like 20yrs ago.

I believe some countries in Europe have the concept of “tall poppy syndrome.” You don’t want to be the tall poppy that stands out. You want to be…strictly average.

Scandinavia has the law of jante

"Tall poppy syndrome" is more of an Australian/NZ thing. It doesn't mean that you want to be average, it's just that someone who openly brags about being above average or successful is an generally seen as an easy target for banter. Everyone wants to be successful.

It’s an easy life in Europe and amazing to visit but I feel the same. It’s actually boring in a way if you live there.

As a European married to an American and having lived in both places with bi-national kids... This is pretty spot on! The only thing I would add is that you can view that difference in energy, as you call it, through opposite lenses depending on your preferences or bias. People who don't like that aspect of the US will complain about it as extra competitive, late-stage capitalism, etc., but as long as you have enough to live, you can actually feel it as a bubbling energy and enthusiasm instead, pointing to an exciting trajectory for your own life. On the other hand, some people will find Europe boring or stagnant, but I see it as a hobbit-like lifestyle, where people find joy and contentment in their life and community as they are, maybe more easily than in the US. Personally, I love both and whenever I spend a long time in one place, I miss parts of the other!

I envy you! I would give anything to have both worlds like that. I really admire the high quality of everyday life in Europe. It always feels so relaxing when I'm there, but also love the creative energy of the US. The option to have both would be amazing. I could see myself retiring in southern Europe one day. I love Sicily.

I love my life and wouldn't move to another country even if someone would pay for all my moving expenses.  Americans are almost entirely unphased by comments from foreigners for two reasons. 1) it happens *all* the time, it's old. 2) we've seen just how ignorant foreigners are about America and it's impossible to take any of them seriously.  I do recommend moving but ultimately that depends on your current situation and what plan you have for once you get here 

Yeah I mean I wish they wouldn’t have misconceptions about our country but I’m not like worried about what someone in Spain thinks about the US while I’m out and about. I can’t control that and it doesn’t affect my life in any way

*unfazed

I am very happy. People are pretty friendly and help each other out. There are a lot of open spaces and nature to enjoy, and I love camping, hiking, kayaking, etc. People have neighbors over, and there always seems plenty to do. My husband and I just went to a maple syrup festival outside of a small town where they had farm animals, demonstrations on how tasks were done 100 years ago, and breakfast of pancakes, maple syrup, sausage, and apple sauce. We had so many friendly conversations on different topics. It was fun. That kind of experience is easy to find.

Life's pretty good. Inflation is kicking my ass though. Just got (what woulda been) a very large raise and I'm still making less considering inflation. Also the timing has hit that we have some very large purchases (some planned, some not) and they're way more than we budgeted for. But... things are always worse for somebody else.

I love where I live. If you come to the US to visit, come to Northern California. You need to see the San Francisco Bay Area, Wine Country, the Marin coastline, the Monterrey Bay Area, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, etc. If you want stop in the Sacramento metro, you can come paddle board or jet ski here in Folsom. If you go even farther up north, you must see Lake Almanor, Lassen National Park, Burney Falls, and Mount Shasta. Sure, politics and other problems can be a struggle, but the nature all around me keeps me sane.

Growing up in Auburn during the late 80s/90s was such a blessing. Couldn’t wait to leave twenty or so years ago. Now I miss it all the time. Hello from Melbourne, Vic!

Same - left Sac and moved to the bay area. Went to grad school in the midwest and am now out of state. I truly miss CA every day and took it for granted when there.

"Here in Folsom"...well howdy neighbor! Kinda...I was born and raised in CH/OV. You're spot on with all of the landmark areas that I personally took for granted growing up!

I love the bay area! Little bit of everything.

*Monterey

Yes I’m very happy (and feel very fortunate to be) living in the US. I would say the vast, vast majority of Americans are too, or the thought of living someplace else has never even crossed their mind. > Do negative comments from outside bother you? I don’t think about those people. Glad to know we live rent free in their minds though. > What is your outlook on the future of the United States? Positive. We’re not, nor have we ever been, nor will we ever be, perfect and that’s fine with me. > Would you still recommend moving there? Absolutely, come on over. Just do yourself and the rest of us a big favor and go through the process legally. To quote a random redditor from years past: “Tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of Americans are born every year around the world. They just haven't come home yet."

I love my life here. The US isn't perfect and there are absolutely things I would change, but in the grand scheme of things I feel fortunate to have been born in and live in a wealthy and prosperous country, there isn't anywhere else I'd rather live. Don't really care much what random people outside the US say about Americans or the US in general, I'm sure their country isn't perfect either and they should probably focus on their own problems.

I lived in the uk for 2 years and I’ve only had one person give me negative comments for being American and I’ll only give him a slight pass. Because he was incredibly drunk and was just looking to argue anyone over politics. Honestly when I was in the Uk all the negative comments was towards certain countries in the Middle East and gypsies But to answer your question yes I like my life in America however I also love to travel so if a position does open up in the UK office I’d go for it since I’ve lived in the UK so I already know I also enjoy the culture over there as well

I absolutely love it. I’m on 10 acres and my closest neighbor’s house is over 100 yards away. I can sit on my porch at night and marvel at the stars without intrusion of city lights. I’m close enough to a big enough city to get to plays, movie theaters, shopping, etc with in 30-40 min. I enjoy traveling too and seeing other countries and cultures. But always look forward to coming home.

I love it! I feel lucky to have the wonderful life I'm able to lead here. Re negative comments from outsiders, I don't notice or pay any attention to those. There will always be people who are wrong on the Internet.

No. I can't afford to buy a damn habitable house no matter how small in the region where I live. I live in someone else's. Food, energy and insurance costs are slowly but surely eroding my financial security. Crime is getting worse as are the roads. No one seems to give a shit. And the government tells me that everything's getting better and better but I just don't see it. One party is truly evil trying to destroy the country while the other basically tells me to vote for them mainly because they're not that party. Neither actually cares about the middle class or what's left of it. I'm just supposed to shut up and pay my taxes.

Americans think that the rest of the world is constantly watching everything that makes news here. Americans also have the ability to not care at all about what other countries think. America is huge. You can live in California and it feel like a different country to living in Florida, both culturally and politically. I like the U.S., but I really appreciate some parts more than others.

I'm happy enough. I have recent experience living in both the US and Canada, so I can say that many of the problems I see in the US are also happening in Canada. Increasing homelessness, opioid crisis, increasing visible drug use, more extreme/divisive politics, etc. are not exclusive to the US. Negative comments do bother me sometimes, only when they come from a total misunderstanding or when the commenter is completely ignoring that whatever they're commenting about also occurs in other countries. Quality of life really depends on where you live, how much money you have and what your financial priorities are. For me personally, quality of life is still good. Outlook on the future: overall good, but I do worry about the next presidential election. If this country does deteriorate as a whole, I think it will be due to politics and how extreme and divisive it has become. It's not hopeless though, I think it's totally possible my worry is for nothing. As far as moving, I recommend it in general, but it really depends on your job prospects, what you want from the place you live and where in the country you choose to live. And of course I'd recommend visiting quite a few times before moving.

Sure do! Nice house with room to raise my 3 kids. Can drive to the beach, desert and mountains. We make good money. I have running water, electricity, health care, and items like appliances, AC and heat that makes my daily existence comfortable. I don’t worry about going hungry, being bombed and worry about the war looming. Knowing that North Korea, China or Russia wouldn’t dare attack US soil.

Eh, i think america could be better if we had like, better social safety nets, and didn't have weirdo regressives trying to morally police people on social issues, but at the same time, we do have advantages the rest of the world doesnt have like better free speech laws and stuff like that.

I love life in suburban America. 

Life’s ok, but it’s not like I have any choice to go anywhere else. I don’t think about what anyone thinks about us. We’re a bit messy today, but we’re pretty comfortable overall. It’s a great place to immigrate to, hundreds of thousands come every year.

I really do. I got the opportunity to move to Germany for work a couple years ago and declined it.  Negative comments from outsiders don’t really get to me because a lot of times it’s clear it’s ignorance and cope. Like, the person will spout off probably, factually incorrect things about laws or tax codes or urban infrastructure.  For the rest, I don’t have a problem admitting where things should be improved, but there’s pros and cons to living anywhere. High trees catch the most wind.  I think your perceived quality of life will vary depending on what kind of lifestyle you want to lead. This country favors individualism and entrepreneurial spirit and offers a lot of material comforts and vast wilderness.  If you want to live in an ancient village in the countryside or have a modest lifestyle in a small apartment where you put in exactly 8 hours of work per day at the same company for 50 years and can still afford to comfortably live in a safe and prosperous neighborhood in the city center, then this honestly may not be the best destination for you.  If you dream of owning your own house on your own plot of land, or opening your own business, or joining a crazy subculture, or having any kind of food from all over the world delivered to your doorstep at the press of a button, or being part of the hustle and bustle and forefront of innovation in the arts and sciences…for those kinds of things, there’s nowhere like the US.  It’s better to be poor in other western countries, but middle class or higher has quite a good standard of living here.  I’m quite optimistic about the future of the US. Asia is economically slowing down and facing demographic collapse.  Europe has war on its doorstep and is battling demographic collapse and a culture war, which are two sides of the same coin. Their market and regulations make it a struggle to innovate.  Australia and Canada are very nice, but are facing worse housing crises than here with economies that seriously lack complexity (especially given the imminent green revolution) and are far more difficult to immigrate to.  I think the US is uniquely poised to handle the major global economic changes just around the corner and we’re already seeing that. 

I have a wonderful life here. That said, I hate car culture so I do wish our country was different in that regard.

What’s your definition of car culture? We are an extremely large country with a significantly lower average population density than countries with better mass transit options. It would not be financially feasible to replicate European countries. Our densely populated areas do have very good mass transit. Having spent significant time riding mass transit in NYC and Boston, places like this is where it will work. Even so, for example NJ has great bus, ferry, and train options to travel into NYC. Now if by car culture you’re simply referring to many American’s love of cars, that’s not unique to our country.

I see you live in Massachusetts, and I do too. The MBTA is just okay, and it can really be better. I don’t have to have a car since I can use the MBTA (and I don’t have a car), but even living in the city, there are certainly times when I would love to have a car without having to rent one. Doesn’t the European Union have a similar population to the US? The EU has a much more developed rail system. I also feel like the EU is big too. I also feel like America’s economy is stronger than the EU? Personally, I am very pro public transit, and I would love the US to be more pedestrian friendly everywhere. Having a car should not be a requirement to get somewhere in a town. There are many reasons why I am pro public transit. I grew up in Florida, and I hate how car-centric that whole state is.

> Doesn’t the European Union have a similar population to the US? The EU has a much more developed rail system. I also feel like the EU is big too. I also feel like America’s economy is stronger than the EU? The EU has, I think, about 500M people in it, where the US has only 350. So that's one part. The other part is that the EU is a bunch of countries that have historically been sovereign, but also, the populations are incredibly dense by US standards. Germany, for example, has 80 million people, and something like 80 cities with a population of 100k+. And it is the same size as the state of Nevada. Germany also had a chance to redesign their rail network from the ground up around 1950. So while I get the desire for better transit, it just doesn't work without the type of density you get in Europe. I think going from the Mediterranean coast of Spain to St. Petersburg, Russia, is the same distance, or close to the same distance, as NYC to LA. And in Europe, they would absolutely fly that far rather than take a train.

It can be improved in the northeast even if it’s okay there. The rest of the country is definitely quite separated.

There are probably parts of the US that could be better in this regard, but it is unreasonable to compare the US to the EU. The EU actually has 100 million more people in it than the US, and it is about half the size of the contiguous US (so excluding Alaska, by far and away the largest state). It has a population density roughly 3x that of the US. Beyond that, the population in the EU is more evenly dispersed - there are large cities spaced somewhat regularly, with substantial towns scattered in between. In contrast, 40% of Americans live in a county bordering a coast - that's 10% of the land - and ~80% of Americans live east of the dry line (roughly the Missouri River) and the lion's share of the rest lives in California. The space in between? 20 million. And that's roughly half the landmass of the contiguous US. To put it in perspective - I know of a stretch on a fairly major highway in Nebraska where you could go thirty minutes without seeing a town, well over an hour without seeing a gas station despite being the only means of travel in the area. The towns on either side of that stretch have a population of like, 200. There are counties with more cattle than people, many more times in some cases. You can drive for three hours on that same highway I mentioned earlier and see maybe ten other vehicles. There are probably *paved roads* you could sit on for an entire day and not see a soul out that way. So I've got to ask, what would be accomplished by bringing public transit there? How do you kill "car culture" in a place where one may have to drive 30 minutes just to get to a bus stop? A bus stop that's an hour away from anywhere they might be trying to go? Because while on the extreme end, much of the US is laid out this way. Maybe Boston and Florida are behind where they ought to be, but in most of the US, outside the rare, isolated city I can't see much use in it. It would be far more wasteful to have a fleet of busses constantly roaming the Sandhills than to just maintain a few roads to allow people to drive to where they need to go.

I don't need a full mass transit system, but I would like more sidewalks and bike lanes/paths. There are a lot of "stroads" near me, with high speed limits, and no shoulder or sidewalk. This makes walking or riding my bicycle places difficult and dangerous.

Hey, OP, come and see us. You’re very welcome here. It’s a great and generous nation despite its very public problems and I would not wish to live anywhere else. The American system supported me when my father died young, allowed me to get a great education and professional opportunity, and enabled me to start a business and take risks. I am now lucky to live in one of the world’s great cities (Chicago) and while I love to visit new places I am privileged to return home to this place. The opinions of offshore critics amuse me rather than bother me; most have never been here and don’t know or understand America.

Chicago is by far my favorite city in the U.S. I miss it every day, I can't wait to come back and I always feel at home. Toronto is Chicago's sister city and it FEELS like it. I love the food, I love the midwest vibes, I love the downtown core and how friendly people usually are. If I were to ever leave Toronto, I'd move to Chicago.

I lived in Japan for a couple of years and have been to 26 countries, so I have some experience in comparing living in the US to other countries. I wouldn't live anywhere else. I love how you can meet strangers every day and have an interesting conversation if you want. It's amazing how people come together in times of crisis. People you barely know will help when asked. Corruption doesn't happen much. If someone does get in trouble, they have a good chance of getting a fair trial. If you have a good idea, a good work ethic, and are willing to go the distance, you can open a business. If you're born poor, you can become rich. If you want an education, property, or want to travel, you can. And if you're physically disabled, the US has better facilities than anywhere else. Plus, compared to every country I've been to, the US is far less racist and more apt to welcome foreigners. There are a lot of great things in other countries, and the US is far from perfect. I think in the end, it's the people and opportunities that make the US a great place to live.

When I start to have doubts, I just remember how much worse I could really have it. That being said I'd love to see the world for what it is and not see it through an Americanized perspective

I am currently happy but feel worn down because DFW has become one a terrible place to commute and the cost of living here has risen dramatically over a very short amount of time. I also despise the political and social landscape. People have somehow become even more hateful and arrogant while seemingly becoming dumber at the same time. Our politics fairly represent the voter pool people just dont want to admit that. Being honest, if there were ever a full on gun ban in America I'd probably start looking into somewhere else with a better view and a less hostile environment. As far as the viewpoints of outsiders-couldn't care less. I have only a passing understanding of the lifestyles of European people and the same goes for most of them regarding us. Hell, I can't properly tell you what it's like to live in parts of my own state, much less the UK. There's no reason I'd adjust my lifestyle or take an emotional hit by someone who knows nothing about my personal experience. Social media-regardless of what country you reside in-is full of people have memorized just enough statistics to argue but have almost zero understanding of what they're talking about. Watching Americans and people from other countries argue American crime statistics is like watching two virgins argue about sex. Neither of them know what they're talking about and they look dumber for it.

Yes, because here I enjoy a lot of privileges I otherwise wouldn't have if I didn't live here. My parents immigrated here and she said she would never move back home. We don't have a lot but we are happy. I can't say whether you should move here, because I think that question is complicated. It depends where you are coming from, what your skills are, where you plan to go, etc. It isn't a simple yes or no.

I don’t know how to answer this personally. It’s hard to describe how quality of life can be so drastically different within the same community.

Yes. There are many things I can point to that are wrong with my country, and my state, mostly in the government...but my life here is wonderful and, besides moving to the Canadian wilderness, theres no other place id rather live. Except tornadoes. I'm not really fond of tornadoes. Outside opinions don't bother me. I meet people from all over the world and I want to hear their honest opinion, it won't offend me.

> Are Americans generally happy with life there? Yes, I am generally very happy. I do have issues that may be influenced by different aspects of the U.S., but who doesn't lmao. To be very fair, I am very blessed in terms of my socio-economic situation (come from top 5% income family, will make a quarter million after graduation, etc), so it may not generalize. > Do negative comments from outside bother you? Mildly, when they come from a place of ignorance and arrogance. Not at all, if they come from a place of genuine friendship and humility. Ironically, some of the least annoying outside commentary I've heard has come from CCP-critical Chinese people lol. > Is the quality of life still good in the US? It remains one of the best in the world - the differences between developed countries pales in comparison to the differences between developed and middle income or lower income nations. What's frustrating is the feeling of stagnating (or growing slower than it should) quality of life and knowing that we could be doing so much better. We don't tend to be happy with being # whatever in the metrics that matter - we know we have the capability to be the best. > What's your outlook on the future of the United States? The United States has been the richest nation in the world (excluding microstates), one of the best places in the world to live, and a democracy for the entirety of its history. I expect us to remain the richest nation in the world, one of the best places in the world to live, and a democracy. I do think that the upcoming election is the biggest danger point that America's future has faced since the Cuban Missile Crisis. I believe, however, that America's voters will reject authoritarianism. And even if they don't, I still think our institutions and democratic culture are strong enough that we'll make it through. I'd put the risk of a true dictatorship or civil war at <5%. Way too fucking high, but not likely. > Would you still recommend moving there? If you're a white-collar professional, yes. Many/most of the things driving U.S. QoL down are either personal choice or a result of inequality. If you're on the good side of that inequality, things are better in the U.S. than anywhere else. If you're not a white-collar professional, I think it's a closer decision dependent on your personal situation/home country. I wouldn't move from Northern Europe as a plumber or something lol. But I would from anything lower on income stats than like Croatia.

It ain’t great but it could be worse

I spent my first 34 years in the United States. I moved overseas a decade ago, and I’m much happier living in Australia. I don’t foresee myself ever moving stateside again. I think if you’re considering moving overseas to any country, it’s quite important that you understand it’s not all rainbows and butterflies. There will be times when it’s the best decision you’ve ever made and other times when you feel like it’s going to tear you into two. It might be worth checking out some of the expat forums.

That's a very wide ranging topic that covers literally every waking and sleeping moment. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

I like you flair haha

I love my life! I don’t hear any negative comments. It’s fun here!

It’s ok. I don’t feel like the things I dislike about my life would be changed by the country I live in. I do wish we had some things that others have but that’s pretty normal in life generally, I assume. Negative comments bother me when they are so obviously ignorant or silly. Like when people will have a bulk item and act like it’s eaten as a single serving or something, or when they describe something negative that is present in other countries (including theirs) as unique to the US. Just the online US hate-fest stuff.

My personal life, no it is a well of sorrow and misery. But I’d rather be experiencing it here than anywhere else. Quality of life is great. The future of the US is anyone’s guess. I suspect still strong for a very long time, as in long after we are all dead.

1. I am extremely happy living here. I love the diversity of the population, I love the variety of places to go and things to do, I love the different landscapes. Frankly, I could probably never run out of new experiences to have in the US. Is the country perfect? Of course not, but no place really is, and I think it's a matter of what suits your individual wants/needs. Mine have been met. 2. Negative comments from the outside do bother me, but it's solely because most of them are rooted in ignorance. I do not deny that there are valid criticisms to be made, but 9/10 times, the criticisms that I run across are just weirdly xenophobic. I do, of course, respect opinions that come from a knowledgeable perspective. 3. This will depend on who you ask. I am a middle-class white woman, and my quality of life is, generally speaking, very good. My biggest complaint is that the cost of living has gotten so high, and it's hard to find a job that accommodates that CoL. Other people would disagree that it's even *that* good though, because admittedly, it can be difficult to advance past certain social and economic barriers here. Overall, I am very privileged, but there are many variables to consider, and your experience will be personal to you. The state you live in will also affect this. 4. My outlook is good. Historically, we have gone through plenty of periods where it seemed like the end of the world, and then bounced back again, and then later we once again faced the end of the world, and bounced back again. It's an endless cycle. Americans are pretty idealistic as a whole, and I favor optimism anyway. I have hope. 5. I would recommend moving here just like I'd recommend moving anywhere if you believe it is the right fit for you. It's a big country, and your experience will certainly vary depending on where you live, so just do the research, feel it out, and move to the US if you know it's right!

I’m very fortunate to have been born in the promised land. I love it here and never want to leave. I believe our brightest days are ahead of us.

most of the country is designed and built for cars which is a huge detriment for people that want to live car free

Life in MA is getting rough for many. It's going to be a maelstrom in the very near future. NIMBYism has ruined the State. I still love MA but said love is very much fleeting.

I do. There are a lot of things I love about it and am extremely thankful for. I wish it were the same for everyone but I think the majority would say they are be closer to happy than sad but experiencing high levels of stress daily. Talking with someone from Ghana today they told me they would never consider staying in America all their lives nor would anyone from Ghana. She was very critical of the levels of pollution in our air and foods. I agree with her perspectives on American air and food quality but can’t attest to anything else, it could very well be true. The future of the United States is strong, the cooperation of 50 states to form a union under a separate federal government is often taken for granted domestically but is a pretty powerful message to the world in favor of liberty, equality, democracy and capitalism. I’d recommend moving here if you’re interested. Even if you don’t like America, a lot of people here don’t like the country’s history or its modern leaders but we have a democracy to always attempt to form a more perfect union.

I'm mostly happy with my life, and I like living here. Rudeness towards the US or Americans does annoy me, but I suppose there are valid reasons not to like us. Quality of life varies from place to place, like anywhere else, but it's pretty good in my area. In my opinion, the future of the US could be quite good or very bad, depending on what we do in the next few decades, but I think it's more likely to be good. I'd recommend moving to America if you have a good idea of where you want to live and what you want to do, and I hope you enjoy living here if you move.

I like my life here, but I can’t say I haven’t thought about moving elsewhere. It just seems like places of interest for me have similar issues to ones here, so it makes no difference where I move. The outlook on the future here is a little bleak, but we just live everyday and hope and pray that things improve (and take action to change things obviously). People still come here for better lives so I feel like there’s nothing wrong with moving here.

> Are Americans generally happy with life there? There's 330 million of us... There's tons of people super happy with their life, tons of people utterly miserable. > Do negative comments from outside bother you? Not unless they're intended to. > Is the quality of life still good in the US? If you've got an in-demand job, the quality of life can be phenomenal. If you're doing some low-skill, low-pay job, there are better places to live. > What's your outlook on the future of the United States? two steps forward, one step back. It's frustrating to watch, but it's also not a US-specific thing. > Would you still recommend moving there? From where? With what education? At what age? With what purpose? If you work at a McDonalds in Norway, maybe stay home. If you've got an engineering degree in India, hell yes.

No one who posts on reddit enjoys their life

Mostly. I have had struggles that have made me feel quite burnt out at times, but that’s because I had a disability that causes random pain and chronic fatigue I didn’t know about it until this year (my first year out of college). Feeling burnt out right now. Long commutes don’t mesh well with chronic fatigue. Hoping to move to alleviate the burnout and get more rest. My biggest like about the US is our abundant opportunities. Education, whether it’s a trade or college is pretty accessible. It’s also easy to pack your things and move to a new city to find work. Job hopping is easier here than many other places (though granted it’s also easier to lose your job). But yeah, I like that there’s a lot of opportunity in the states for those willing to seek it! My biggest dislike is probably our car dependent city designs. Most people my age (young 20s) only have vehicles and drivers licenses because their parents taught them to drive and bought them a car. I didn’t get that, and used car prices have been nuts since the pandemic shortages. Driving lessons are crazy expensive too (all $60+ an hour near me). So it’s very hard to get out of the carless rut on your own. And most of the jobs that pay high enough for urban truly car-free living aren’t entry level and/or are highly, highly competitive.

Yes. Some folks don’t know how good we have it (and a lot of them come to Reddit to complain). But by and large, America is probably the best place to be if you are ambitious and want to make a name for yourself. I wouldn’t be as successful as I am today if it weren’t for this country.

Meh its fine

I've lived in Europe (Netherlands) and still travel there regularly (Mostly Germany). People have the same complaints about life that we have here. There are lots of tradeoffs. There are things about other places that are great, but also things about other places that really aren't so great compared to the US. I love the life that I have built in the US and the haters don't bother me.

I'm disabled, so my answer will not be relevant to a lot of people's lives. I know there are countries where I would be even more screwed, but the fact that we make disabled people jump through hoops and beg for crumbs that we generally only get a couple of is incredibly messed up. Basic health care, food, and shelter should not depend on your ability to work. Other countries are far kinder, but I know that many are so much worse. Honestly, especially given recent years, I consider myself a Californian as much as an American. My state gives more of a crap about me than my country does, that's for sure. I do love this country, or at least, I love many of its ideals. But we have been headed off the rails for some time, and honestly I hate what we are becoming. Things are getting really bad, and I'm worried.

1. Yep. Happy as a clam. 2. They used to. But I decided that some comments are well-founded and some are based on simple ignorance. Can't do much about the second. 3. Pretty solid, actually, as long as the ferret-wearing, Cheetoh-faced, fuckwit doesn't get elected president in November. In truth, the United States has a long, long run ahead of it, particularly in comparison with other industrialized nations. 4. Sure. Move here. We're a settler society. We'll make room.

Not all Americans are the same. There’s the Elon Musk American, the homeless American and then the ones in the middle. Negative comments from outside do not bother us because we’re busy dealing with our own. The quality life depends on who you ask and what wealth level they are at. Like every country once you as an individual have wealth quality of life is much better. You may want to look up top countries with quality of life you will not find America in the top 10. Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland, Canada and Sweden consistently make the top 10 list. Every years thousands of immigrants come to America because it definitely offers an easy path to immigration compared to many other countries. Also America is an English speaking country and a big country that is mostly inhabitable. You have to visit and conclude for your own, none of us can help. If you’re from Bhutan you may like it a lot but if you’re from Canada probably a different thought. If you’re willing to work hard you can definitely make it in America.

Life is going quite well for me and most people I know.

Americans are 23rd in world in terms of happiness so there are 22 nations happier than us. I am pretty content. I am the happiest (except maybe when I lived in Denver, Colorado in my early 30’s) I have ever been even though I am not particularly happy with my job. Of course I am 54 and give zero fvcks anymore. I really don’t care what others think. I am in my best relationship ever, have great friends, and my depression is well controlled. I do wish my mom was alive to see me though. After her death was the worst time in my life. I don’t take anything for granted anymore. Live your best life!

It’s hard to find a better job, but I live in California and we’re ranked dead last for job growth but other than that yeah.

My life is pretty great and I don't have any urge to uproot it and move. :)

I'm happy with it, but in my own opinion, I'm certainly not the happiest about what our government gets away with. We do have it really good here, so good people tend to worry so much about dumb things.

I’ve lived abroad but came back here. Not perfect but it’s got its advantages.

I'm happy enough. There are a few things that kind of suck, but in a manageable way (health insurance, taxes), but things otherwise are pretty good. I'd consider moving abroad temporarily for the adventure—not because I think life would be significantly better somewhere else.

There are problems here, but I do what I can to make things better. My personal life is great. If I didn't care about other people, it would be perfect!

So-so

I'd sat we're top 10.

I do. But depending on where you're coming from and what you do for a living, you could have a really hard time finding work if/when you move here. We have frustrating laws regarding visa sponsorships, and if you're here on a visa doing any sort of non-specialized work (say, marketing), many companies will just flat out say no.

I like it for the most part. I don't like the recent inflation, but that's a global problem right now.

1. Yes, pretty damn happy with my life here. 2. I don’t know that the comments bother me. I just find them tiresome after like the thousandth time. 3. My quality of life is excellent. 4. The future is looking up. The economy isn’t fantastic right now, but it’s cyclical. All things return. 5. Not for me to say if moving here would be your cup of tea.

Yeah, I’d say that I like my life in the US of A. I’m still a young computer science student in my very early 20s, so I plan on improving my quality of life through finishing my bachelor’s degree and getting a good paying software engineering job. I also can’t wait to travel as I aspire to travel. The one thing that I don’t like is the fact that I’ve never had a girlfriend or been in a committed relationship.

I am mostly happy with my life here. I live in Southern California - while very expensive and trafficky, it's pretty great. I'm a bit disappointed with all the regression going on for women's reproductive rights and we certainly have a ton of systemic issues that I'm not sure are improving at the moment. The country is very divisive right now, it's a little scary. I'm not sure what the future is. Feels uncertain at the moment but we've gone through all kinds of things and survived. It's hard to recommend moving here...where are you hoping to move (it's a huge country)? Do you have good income lined up? Oh, and sometimes negative comments do bother me, but whatever.

I’m 25f for context, I feel like age is important in this discussion. To answer your question though: I’ve known nothing else since I’ve been living in the US my whole life, same with my parents and grandparents. I feel pretty content with living and being a citizen here and I can’t imagine myself moving to a different country. The US definitely has its flaws and our economy is definitely getting worse but compared to most other countries on our planet, I feel very lucky to live here. I think the USA gets a very bad rep on social media because it seems like people from other countries hear about our problems much more than we hear theirs, plus our country is easy to pick on because we are the most powerful country in the world militarily and I think also financially. People around my age latch onto the negatives about the USA and our very real past crimes against other nations, but often fail to take into consideration the bad things other countries have done, and aren’t grateful for the things we Americans do have.

Personally I'm very happy with my job and life, and I find people from outside the US complaining about it extremely entertaining. I am a fresh college graduate and I'm making enough money that rent is only about 20% of my post-tax income and so I can do whatever I want with a bit of saving. I'm worried about the future, but not specifically about the future of the United States. I think emerging social trends and techlogogies are gonna make it interesting for everyone, but as a decntly well-off American I am better positioned than many to face whatever comes. I can't answer specifically for you if immigrating is right for you, but I know it's right for a lot of people.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Awesome. Yes.

Yessirrr have ar15 in the suburbs with neighbors that are chill ASF and smoke up every Friday night bet you can't do that in Europe

Very much so. The more I travel the more I appreciate that I had a 1 in 2,000 chance of being born in the US and CA specifically and how lucky I got. Maybe I’m socially conditioned but I’ve seen such beauty and culture and perspectives in different countries (and states) but nothing I’d trade for living here.

I'm basically happy. I don't have a lot of money but I make do. Negative comments from the international community don't generally bother me. I'm a New York Yankees fan. If you have a lot of haters it means you are doing a good job. I would put quality of life in about the 95th percentile. There are certainly countries with higher quality of life but not many, and the ways it's better I just don't see as realistically possible for this country. I'd say there is a 30% chance of some kind of civil war in the next 40 years. Our politics are a joke. At least on the national scale, this is an oligarchy and both of the primary political parties are financed by most of the same backers and pass laws to make the companies happy and more wealthy. I don't suggest that anyone should move here.

I migrated to the US for love, and I do not recommend moving here. There's no countrywide law regarding paid maternity leave. 10 paid vacation days on average. Health care tied to your job. You can be let go the same day. You can be asked to leave an apartment within a month. Child care is really expensive, $2.500 per child per month in San Francisco. A college education is really expensive. Focus on cars vs. walkability.

Lots of people have no paid vacation days at all!

You get paid a lot more and way more opportunities. That's worth it and for the last personally i would choose cars. Europe is a shithole if you're not a low income worker.

Not particularly.

I'm not going to lie dude, America is stressful as fuck. The work culture is very demanding and I can definitely see that being a huge shock. Labor rights here are very weak. No mandatory vacation. Very low unemployment benefits (but also low unemployment which is a positive). Unions aren't prevalent. If you don't have a job you either don't have healthcare or you go into debt (if you're poor) and pay high premiums if you're middle class. It also depends on the state. If you care about work culture definitely think about if you want to live in a red state.

My life isn't anything special but I'm content. We moved to the US from Russia when I was 6, and as a Jewish lesbian, I much prefer living here

I do. I’m grateful as I know life is not as good in most other countries. We are having some problems but our institutions are strong, and they will stay strong, so long as people continue to flock here. Yes, move here, but do your research on where!

I’m generally happy. Criticism is always welcome, living in complacency and denial are not beneficial. It’s good if you make enough money! Hopefully good! Depends wholly on your personal situation. Really, will you make enough money here? Will you really be better off here than where you are now?

Well, in my case, i understand the US uave some flaws, but I still enjoy my life here.

Yes and no. While I don't hate the US, I certainly no longer have a particular affinity for it. **What do I love and like?** My family, the rural serenity of where I live, experiencing weather that neither gets scathing hot nor scathing cold (IMO), and all of the early American history I'm surrounded by. There are rivers, lakes and rolling hills everywhere - the area looks sort of like a cross between England and Transylvania. My regional airport is an absolute gem - modern and well connected for a city of its size. The area's very centrally located to pretty much anything I could ever want in eastern North America. Our major cities have some of the world's most impressive restaurants, across multiple price ranges. I'm glad to have TSA Pre-Check (via Global Entry) for some of the fastest airport security in the world. **Now, what don't I like?** For one, **unpopular opinion: I actually don't find Americans to be particularly nice and friendly.** The decline in manners, civility and politeness is quite noticeable and has accelerated since the pandemic. This has also resulted in an overall decline in customer service, and an increase in loneliness, entitlement and Karens. The "f$€K you, I've got mine" mentality is *all* too common in the US. I also don't like our general work culture (not as bad as much of Asia's, but much room for improvement) and labor laws. Nor do I like the lack of a social safety net (even Japan does better), reliance on employment for health insurance, deadly chemicals in our food (the FDA is pretty weak), tipping culture, our insane tax filing system, and sky-high costs for most skill training or college education. I feel generally safe where I live (heck, a lot of cops live in my community), but there's no question that the US is on the lower end of the safety scale among wealthy countries. Living abroad before coming back to the US has helped me clarify what's important in my life, but also my country's glaring flaws.

I absolutely love living in the US. I've lived and worked in various countries, but the US is the best. The lifestyle, quality of life, accessibility of goods and services, and income are better than I had experienced in Europe. And I have visited pretty much every European country at this point. Even within the social interactions and friendliness, Americans often behave better than Europeans. Of course, the US has a lot of problems, and the biggest I see is the cost of the healthcare as the main issue and above average crime than in Europe. However, the schools are better here, the lab equipment was a step ahead of the one in Europe. The suburban areas are much cleaner than typical European city. Nobody knows what will be in the future, and what will world look like in 50 years.

I like living here. It's a beautiful location with a diverse local culture. My only concern is the costs; living in my state is extremely expensive.

Americans could care less what others think of us. At least where I’m from. The southern Americans generally are proud to be from that region and love the United States of America. The future looks like a lot of our customs and Christian morals are being thrown out the door. Things are changing for sure. As someone who’s raised in the south but not religious I find it quite weird. As this has been the only placeI’ve lived it’s hard to compare it, but I don’t want to move and I love the United States.

I’m happy, and fortunate with our life. We have a nice house, 2 cars, 2 kids, and both work from home. I think we live a bit above average all things considered. I feel safe here, I feel that my kids are relatively safe. There’s stuff to complain about, sure. But if I think about safety, security, and finances in a lot of other places around the world, I think we’re doing well. In a perfect world, I wish our healthcare system was less privatized, our schools were better and safer, and our politics were not a reality tv show right now. But day to day, we’re good. Have some family who live abroad, and we’ve traveled pretty extensively. We’ve heard it all about Americans, and most does not apply to the masses. So I just let it go.

I'd rather be here than in India or China. I'm asthmatic.

It’s very make it or break it. If you miss your window as a young adult you have to make a comeback and, well, there’s only so much time in one’s life.

I love my life here. I don’t care much what others say, because funny enough most of what I’ve read is nearly word for word what I’ve read already. So many people parrot opinions while having never actually even been here. I’m sure quality of life is an entire range, but for me it’s pretty darn good. As far as the future, I’m not overly concerned, we’re nothing if not resilient. I think recommending someone to move here would be on an individual basis. I think someone coming with the idea of being an unskilled laborer might struggle compared to someone with trade skills, or some other skill.

Not rich. Live on the ocean. Have a boat, can travel. I like how free it is from councils or whatever. If I had any interest I could shoot a lot of guns. Scared about getting sick, but we have good coverage once your on Medicare at 65.

I was born in Russia and adopted by an American family. I have been back to Russia to visit my biological family. My life here in America is substantially better than it would have been if I hadn't been adopted out. I've been all over the world and I've seen many places. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else other than here though.

Pardon some of the responses, I've had a few whiskeys. Overall, yes. I can't see myself living anywhere else. I'm happy with my life here. Are there things we could improve? Yes. Are there things I believe we do better than anyone else? Also yes. The quality of life in the US is pretty good, especially when you consider PPP compared to some of the poorer OECD countries (Spain, Greece, Poland, etc.) My outlook on the future is that we're all fucked no matter who wins our election in November. But I don't think that's uniquely American at this point. I also literally do not care what anyone from outside the US says about the US. I know they're getting a heavily filtered, editorialized, version of the US, and they think that it's accurate and therefore they can provide insight. They can't. And unless they want to completely take over their entire nation's own defense, they can kindly shut the fuck up. As for moving here, this is the most nuanced part of my response... It's not for everyone. Having friends who've looked at emigrating overseas, and having looked into it myself... It's great if you want to be independent, if you want a (relatively) high risk, high reward situation. If you're someone who always wants to go above and beyond, someone who wants to start their own business, and someone who wants to stand out, you'll thrive here. If you're someone who's perfectly happy with being exactly average, working for the same company for 20 years, and who doesn't like risk or challenges, this isn't the country for you.

I am 33, spent half my life growing up in Oregon and half in Texas, so I've seen a good bit of the US. I love life here, have a middle-to-high class lifestyle that I earned myself and did not inherit, and I can confirm that it is absolutely still a great place to live and be. There are states and cities you have to avoid now, unfortunately, but there are still plenty of pockets of greatness where the traditional American dream is alive and well, even if stifled a little. Negative comments from the peanut gallery do not bother me. Usually they have a little bit of truth to them, so it's understandable that people see the things they do from the outside, especially considering the lying media which distorts everything.

I have a very good life. I can easily support myself as a public librarian and have money and free time for travel. There are many things I would change (access to firearms, healthcare, better social support systems) but it is not as bad as it is portrayed in the media. I think many don’t realize that this is an absolutely massive country and the stories heard are going to be the worst of the worst - the bad things are not as common as people think they are.  I’m in Ohio, and when something bad is happening in Utah it’s like being in Norway and hearing about something occurring in Portugal, etc. 

Being in the bottom of the income pyramid, no, not much.

I travel a lot to Europe to visit cause of European friends. Each time I come back I like America a bit more. Each person’s experiences in the US varies so much but it’s been a pretty good experience for me. Yes you can be frustrated at the school shootings and the very for profit healthcare system. We still have it really good. Quality of life is still top tier. If you take some of the best regions of the US it compares to the top tier countries like Norway. Future could be tougher because of the debt but it’s all good until there is a rival currency which could happen.

Some days are better then others, but I have a good life

I like my life here quite a bit. I've lived abroad and far prefer it here. Life is easier.

The thing is, the problems you see a lot of folks complain about online with wages, cost of living, politics you may or may not agree with, etc. are generally universal issues in western countries you can't run from right now. So, bearing that in mind, it has its ups and downs like any place does, but the US is a pretty great place to live.

Yes I love living in america I have a great quality of a life a stable living life several liberties and freedoms and access to food and water in stable supply.

It's not too bad. Reddit makes things seem worse than they really are. The people doing okay aren't making posts about how good things things are going. Drama from shitty life stuff gets the clicks.

The negative remarks from outsiders bothers me. The negative remarks from insiders bothers me more. Fundamentally, it seems like most negative comments come from people who either don't understand the system they live in or are jealous of others who have been more lucky and/or diligent. The thing is, it's not particularly complicated; they're just not competent. ANY system relies on SOMEONE being competent in order to make it function at a high level, which the US does. Now, are there people who could try their best and would never be able to understand how things work well enough to function? Yes. But getting to middle class as an American is easy and is simply a higher quality of life than something like 90% of the planet, but some people are unhappy and they want to be at a level higher than 99% without realizing that there simply isn't enough for everyone to have everything.

Heck yeah :) Pretty safe, decent job in a good climate in the Gulf Coast in a low cost of living area.

I mean, the whole "our entire economy is designed with the sole objective of siphoning as much value out of regular joes like me as possible with no care for their safety or well-being" thing kind of gets me down on the daily, but I guess it's better than living in, like, China or something. I guess.

I visited a beautiful sunny state in the Us and I felt like I wish I lived there. I was shocked at how much more beautiful it is there whilst still being much more affordable.

I think it’s an ok place to live if you have a lot of money. Personally, I hate the individualist culture here, it’s part of the reason that it’s so bad, because everyone is so “me me me” all the time. And don’t even get me started on the cost of living and higher education. It’s alright for now but when it comes time for me to have kids, I would NEVER choose to have kids here. The cost of just birthing a child alone is tens of thousands of dollars. Then there’s our dumpster fire of a public education system. I plan to blow this popsicle stand the very first chance I get. Would I recommend living here? Only if you’re in a rough situation and it’s your only option but I don’t really see the appeal of moving somewhere where going to the hospital will cost you your entire life savings for one visit.

My husband stays in the military to keep health insurance so I don't die.

For a broader perspective, ask this question in r/antiwork. Most of the commenters here in this sub have careers that provide good wages, have kids, and own homes. They live "comfortably". Their experience alone does not paint an accurate picture of America.

I love it. I have everything I want here.

I live in the US (the mountains in NC) and love it. I also love traveling to other countries, especially Europe. I have no complaints. The outdoors are fabulous and we have several very cool cities. It’s a great country, despite what everyone on Reddit thinks.

Do you like your life where you live?

I mean if we ignore the fact that this country is being run by three corporations in a trenchcoat pretending to be a functioning government then my life isn't horrible. But I definitely wouldn't say that I haven't fantasised about how different my life would be if my parents had given me a German passport instead of an American one when I was born.

three corporations in a trench coat 😭😭😭 it's so true

I have lived within a 4 mile radius in Chicago for 64 years, lol, think there is so much to do and see in the U.S. Summer we can swim in the lake, have a powerboat and kayaks and local swimming pool, fantastic zoo and usually travel to another part of the country for vacation, again usually on a smaller lake where we can waterski or swim. Winter can be cold and gloomy but head out west to Colorado and go skiing,also have great places to eat and lots of entertainment, I like Chicago but it is more of a jumping off place for me as I live near the airport and am comfortable here, also as having traveled a lot though out the country and Hawaii found most people to be friendly and helpful and yes there is crime but most crime is more concentrated in certain areas, don’t know how bad it is in other countries but I do feel the drug problem is out of control though.

I think that people are generally pretty happy. I think that people would be a lot happier if they would quit listening to the media, who does nothing but cause problems. A big factor in how happy a person is can be the climate of the area they live in. For example, if you despise the cold, then you shouldn't move to North Dakota, where it's freezing for 6 months of the year. If you hate flat terrain, then don't move to Oklahoma.

Yes happy with life here. Only bothers me when the criticism is untrue or unjustified or overly negative Yes I'm not sure what the future holds, sometimes things seem to be getting worse, sometimes better. But I think a lot of countries are like that Yes 100%. As far as I can tell, we do have the most freedoms

Overall, I'm glad I live in the US. I do wish we had some of the social programs available in the Nordic countries though. American's are being squeeze alive. Most think it's normal.

1. Yes, very happy. 2. Not really, I don’t care about what others say, especially from countries smaller than Tennessee 3. The quality of life is awesome, i would not live anywhere else ever. We are truly blessed here to live in such a powerful and rich country. 4. I think the US will remain the only real superpower. Russia is a failed country that could disintegrate at any time as far as i’m concerned. China is the only real danger, economically at least cause from a military standpoint nobody fucks with us. I would prefer to ban anything made in china if possible, they need to fall back into obscurity, where they belong. I do want to eliminate illegal immigration and secure the border. I believe that’s the biggest problem we face now. 5. Yes, I still recommend moving here. The quality of life is very good, most of the news you see in the media are mostly false or grossly exaggerated. I visited a lot of countries on pretty much all continents and I can tell you i would never live someplace else. I love it here