Paging the current and ex USA ex-pats

There's an tiny bit of a maybe of an outside chance of me being
offered/grabbing a role in Palo Alto, but I'm not sure how I feel about it.

It would be a *huge* upheaval for us, but the timing is about as good as
it ever could be.

What was the deciding factor in your case? More dosh, bigger role,
lifestyle, weather, summat else? If you came back to the UK/Europe - why?

Any stuff to watch out for regarding a contract?

 

I'd go back to SoCal in a heart beat - even though I love it here in NL.

Are you ever likely to get the chance again.

All of the above.

End of contract.

*Lots*.

I'll dig out some stuff I put together for someone wlse a while back
and send it to you.

 

That's a **** of a place to live WRT quake risk.
It's also a fantastic place to be and potentially a great quality of life.
Close to Sonoma and everything around which is pretty damn fine.

To live The Life there you do need dosh. Say $150k up household income and a
top Healthcare plan. Twice that to be truly content in the material world
with two tame Mexicans ;o)

www.paloaltoonline.com/news_features/weekly25/covermain.shtml

 

of all the places I'd go Palo Alto would be one of them. lovely town,
weather and people.
--
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Just need that million five dollar house deposit.......

 

I lived and worked in San Francisco for three years at the beginning of
the '90s, but we had an office in PA and I was a frequent client of the
Caltrain. I left (for Scotland, briefly, then Geneva) because of
"professional" opportunities, but I was glad to return to Europe.
California, wonderful as it is in many ways, always felt to me to be a
terribly long way away from anywhere, completely inwardly focused, and I
wanted to go back to the rest of the world. It was living in California
that made me realise that I feel more European than anything else,
actually.

Still, some nice towns, a comfortable climate, beautiful landscape,
friendly people, better food than most of the rest of the US, a lively
cultural scene, low cost of living compared to Europe (I don't know
whether this is still true), easy access to central and south America and
the Caribbean, skiing (Tahoe) and rock climbing (Yosemite), etc.... I'm
glad I spent some time there.

 

Highly over-rated as a worry.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps/US10/32.42.-125.-115.php
shows ~473 quakes in California in the last week. Big deal. I didn't
feel any of them. Are you worried about NI bombers?

Median household income for Santa Clara County is ~$74k. If you think
you need $150k to live there, you must have some special needs.

 

For me it was an interesting role in a new location - Redwood Shores.

Loved it and regret nothing.

We (wife and 2 v small children) went in April 1993 but returned Jan
1994 owing to illness in the family back home - so it was not a long
period and during that time we had the benefit of a nice rented property
and hire car (kept home in the UK).

 

Since no one else has asked, yet. Can I have the chateau when you buy it
in a quake?

--
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#www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

Depends on how many vehicles one owns. I am determining that multiple
vehicle ownership can put a strain on things - I've recently taxed the
car and three bikes, and a fourth bike needs to be taxed this month.

There should bne some sort of state assistence scheme.

 

How many of us here would really want to live on £25k?

 

Yupp.

First time I went there I was astonished to find that Californoa
really was like a different country from the rest of the US I'd seen.
Palo alto in particular is a lovely little town, that you can _walk_
into and and around, with a good selection of shops and restaurants
that understand about food and wine and both cook and serve it
correctly.

SF itself is also pretty good - as one who hates the US and hates big
cities I actually find myself liking SF very much.

 

Never lived in California, often visited on business and frequently
stayed with friends (ex pat brits who've 'done well' in the IT
industry.)

As much as I like the countryside/climate/lifestyle I'm afraid I
couldn't live there, probably partially for the 'inward focus' comment
above.

I've heard too many discussions about who owns what, who earns what
etc. etc. I just find it all very depressing the level of well,
triviality that life seems to descend to.

Shame really.

 

Post corrected.

 

Nearly all of us. We'd have to give a lot of discretionary spending up.
mind.

--
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Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 GTV TS GT 3.2 V6
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
#www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

Yeah right matey, I'd like to see you surviving on £25k too!

 

Eventually there will be a FOAD quake though.

WTF wants to live on median income?

 

It's a mystery.....

 

I'm fairly sure the OP isn't on median income for either country, so
it's pretty much irrelevant.

 

My sister works for Oracle, and had the chance to move to head office
~15 years ago. She grabbed it and loves every aspect of living there:
money, job, lifestyle, weather, yes; plus the ocean, SF itself, people,
professional buzz, food, wine, sports and so on. She was single at the
time, so the upheaval aspect wasn't a consideration for her. She lives
in San Carlos, which I see is 4-5 miles north of Palo Alto.

Get GOOD US/UK tax advice, which I assume is available to you in-house.
She didn't, despite my nagging her. As a consequence, she still has a
house in UK that she can barely sell because she would be stuck with a
vast CGT liability.

Having said all that, she's just given in her notice. She married
another Brit out there. She's just completed a major project and
decided that 20+ years of Oracle was enough. She's going to work for a
big local charity, and I expect they'll take citizenship and stay.