Relocating to

[shi]

Hello Everyone!

I used to live in London briefly when I studied abroad, but I am now living in California. Me & my hubby are considering relocating abroad, London being one of our options. We have just begun researching and looking into our options. Our other options are Australia and Spain. My hubby is in the fashion industry, and I'm in the banking industry. How are the job markets in London right now especially for designers? And will we be able to live our lives in London? I remember when I was studying out there....everything was so expensive! Maybe because I was doing the exchange from US dollars to British pounds. Ideally, if we make the move to any one of these countries, we would be living there for at least 2-3 years. Also, I have two dogs that I will have to move with. How are the regulations about moving animals to the UK? And lastly, does anyone recommend one more the other?

Any advice and tips would be greatly appreciated!

-- Shi

P.S. I accidently posted this twice in the forum! Oooops!

[kaz101]

Hi Shi,

I can't help with most of your questions but I can say that London was still expensive when we left in July 2007. I understand that house prices are falling there now, and that's no surprise since our house tripled in value over the 10 years that we owned it.

We left London (well just north of London) for South Australia and we're loving it.

Regards,
Karen

[shi]

Thanks Karen!

[MichelleAlison]

London is one of the most expensive cities in the world with petrol reaching 10 dollars a gallon...... House prices are falling, but everything else is going up, but I think this is happening all over the world. There is a global crisis.

Michelle

[shi]

I agree Michell! Me & my hubby live right downtown of Los Angeles in California. And the cost of living here is so high! And we both felt it was time to leave California for a little while and start our lives in a new place.

[jlms]

It really depends.

I know people that got bored to death in Australia because culturally is a wasteland and gladly came back to the stress in London, but some people love nature and the outdoors and lack of culture is not a major inconvenience.

I think that moving to the UK first (that is culturally more akin to some parts of the US than Australia will ever be) you also have the chance to investigate Spain in close quarters. A lot of Brits move to Spain, so there are lots of information, property fairs, etc. in London for people hoping to migrate to Spain.

Now, lets not kid ourselves, London is the most expensive city in the world (or it was until last year), I can't imagine anybody living OK with less than £35000 a year ($70 000), I personally get more than that and all what I have got to show for it is a 2 bedroom flat in one not so good part of town, so beware.

Right now the banking industry is in the doldrums, big employers like Citigroup, Barclays, HSBC and many others are cutting costs like there is no tomorrow and are often outsourcing to India as much work as they can.

I can't say much about the fashion industry, but lets say you will be positioned in one of the most important capitals of the world, in short distance from Paris and Milan, I suppose it is one of the best places to be in that industry (but so is for banking and finance, and alas, times look grim).

[kaz101]

Originally Posted by jlms

I know people that got bored to death in Australia because culturally is a wasteland

Wow that is a BIG generalisation! and certainly not true in the major cities.

Regards,
Karen

[jlms]

Originally Posted by kaz101

Wow that is a BIG generalisation! and certainly not true in the major cities.

Regards,
Karen

I know several people that have travelled the way back, they found the wonders of Aussie life were not for them.

Do the Aussies have things like the PROMS, the BFI London Film Festival, the Premier League (in London there are 5 teams, being the league the best in Europe, perhaps the world), the O2, theatre in the West End (perhaps the best theatre in the English Speaking world) and lets not forget, Paris 2 hours and a bit away by train :-) , etc, etc, etc. ?

Sorry, but frankly it just does not compare.

Of course Aussies have clean air and a healthier less stressed lifestyle, I am sure there are enough things to see and do, but London is simply overwhelming when it comes to choice.

The only point I am trying to make is that if culture and entertainment is important to you, you simply can't beat London (Am I passionate about this old town? Maybe )