Originally Posted By vbdad55 <But I love the lower crime rate and 25 days vacation time a year. Also, the NHS is pretty fab too.< bingo ! The suburb I live in (160,000 ) voted #1 or #2 place to live in the US by Money magazine 4 years running, is also compared to a fascist staete by those living in other burbs around me and from jealous relatives... however our crime rate is non existent - we have a tremendous riverwalk area and a teaming downtown nightlife - all in a town with 3 4,000 student high schools and 1 college -- so there is a lot of young nightlife-- yet we have cops who walk a beat - ride bicycles - have no cruising ordinances in the area - can;t park on the streets after 2 AM - have to have a permit to do basically anything -- but property values are tremendous, the public schools rank amongst the best in the country, and crime is extremely low - you can;t have it both ways..I like it like it is....
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Crime in the Uk does tend to be far less violent. I prefer this model. I can replace things, but not my family. BTW - I think I can honestly talk about this having lived both sides of the water. < absolutely agree
Originally Posted By bob12 I too have lived on both sides of the Atlantic. I'm a Brit living in Florida. When I lived in London I had my car stolen. In Florida I had my house burgled. There are problems everywhere. I am more aware here that more people are likely to have guns than at home, although just because guns are illegal in the Uk doesn't mean they aren't there.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Very true bob12, there are guns in the Uk - especially in Nottingham, crime capital of the UK. But here's the rundown of my crime experiences: US - SF Bay Area - My grandfather was mugged, rushed in to hospital and lived on life support for 8 years. Central Valley California - car stolen, house burgled x 2, a mass murder in our garden - thankfully the police scared him before he could get in and caught him a couple of days later. LA: Sniper fire off the freeway UK London - Car Stereo Stolen, Mickey Antenna topper stolen Luton - 4 car stereos stolen, Garage burgled, Mobile Phone stolen Bedford - None (touch wood) Russia: - Passport and wallet stolen while I was sleeping. Luton -
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Of the two, If I had to endure the experiences, the UK ones would be my preference. That said, about every 12 - 18 months, I do wonder about moving back.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 in the UK you may worry that a burglar or mugger has a gun...in the US you assume they do... the crime rates aren't even close..especially in major cities. Violent crime rates (per 1000 people). London 22.2. West Midlands 17. Greater Manchester 15.4. Nottinghamshire 14.3. Leicestershire 12.2. Merseyside 10.5 ... all not counting property crimes for 2003...( per 1000 people ) New York is 73.4 / Los Angeles 127.2 / Houston 117.5 / Chicago 132.0 / -- so when you are feeling unsafe - look at these numbers and then JUST murder rate alone Detroit 39.5 / Baltimore 41.5 / washington D C 44.0 & Atlanta 34.3 -- that should put a lot of perspective on this...
Originally Posted By RoadTrip ^^^^ Violent crimes in large cities are a problem. But as you know vbdad, if you live in a good suburb of a large city your chance of being a victim of ANY crime is virtually null. If you aren’t a drug dealer, no matter WHERE you are, your chance of being safe is pretty good.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 the thing is I am sure it is similar if you live in the country in England also - the comparisons are large city to large city - so I do think they're fair.....
Originally Posted By fkurucz ^^The Barcelona ex pats I mentioned earlier actually lived in Sant Cugat, a Barca suburb, and were burgled repeatedly.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I definately feel much safer in the UK. In my old roles of Social Services delivery, I used to go into "UK No Go" areas, and I felt relatively safe. Can't say the same about the time we got lost in LA and eneded up in Compton and Watts.
Originally Posted By demderedoseguys I'm surprised Disney hasn't used the current world events as a way to prevent people from bringing water or other drinks into the parks.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 wellif this site really is monitored, you just woke up about 50 Disney MBA's who will all claim this thought as their own.
