Absolutely. I stayed there for about a month doing a residency and the frustration was palpable. The local crew were happy that their city was so vibrant and popular, but also dismayed by how it was pushing out locals. You could see it - hip cafes and Air BnBs taking over traditional districts, destroying exactly the character that attracted people. The Appleification of a city…
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I moved from Texas to Scotland (6 years) then down to England (London) past 11.
UK is no longer ‘officially’ part of Europe but to most of my American friends, they still consider anything ‘over here’ Europe - so I guess it depends on what you mean.
Also - lots has changed here in the past 17 years (as everywhere) so some of this won’t apply anymore I guess. When I first moved here (from Austin where the music/art scene was vibrant), the first thing I noticed is how much better it was wrt pay as an artist…as in, I could actually get paid. Aberdeen was not vibrant, at all, but since the UK is small and more connected, I got attention for doing something where there wasn’t a lot going on…try that in Lubbock or El Paso. Forget it!
There was funding too, and arts/music was actively supported here (not just rock/pop/dance but experimental work like what I did). Gigging was easier as the UK was much smaller than Texas, but Europe was also more accessible/close - something that could never happen in the States.
Now…things are different. Funding is much harder, gigs in London are very similar to Austin, tons of talent but little money for it (mostly door gigs, which is fine but I’d struggle to be full time freelance again). No longer part of EU, bills/mortgage/cost of living/importing gear - all hiking up thanks to Brexit….I’d say it’s probably harder in these respects.
But I like it - UK has it’s problems like the States but in different ways. Racism is still very much an issue but not as f’ing blatant as the States, but it’s here to be sure. Xenophobia is MORE blatant, classism is not blatant but definitely real (awkward from an expat’s perspective), no shooting epidemic but knife crime is real, especially in London and a few other cities up north. Sounds dire but I don’t know any place that doesn’t have these problems to some degree.
Mostly, like most places, people are lovely and just trying to get on with being happy.
Some weird things - fridges are fucking small here! So you’ll be shopping at least once if not twice a week. Cars in some cities are the only way but London, Glasgow, Edinburgh public transport is doable and much more common than most places I’ve been to in the States, certainly Texas. Mexican food - forget it, you better get good at cooking but curry is amazing here and good range of Asian foods. Petrol (gas) is off the fucking charts expensive and owning a car in general is very costly. Grocery stores are approaching what we have in the States but will never really reach that having half an aisle of different brands of peanut butter level of choice. Most places close earlier in general and there are very few 24 hour coffee shops/grocery stores/etc (yes, they do exist but nothing like Austin - which may be a special place).
One last thing - even though I visited England most summers growing up, it wasn’t until I lived here that I realized how separate living in the States really feels. For example, inTexas we had ‘local news’ and then ‘world news’ … I’d watch both but local news was really ‘the news’ (and US news obviously) but world news was really news from waaaaay over there. When you’re busy, working and just doing life, it’s hard for that to feel relevant. Here - world news IS the news…everything is close, everything affects everything, like immediately and in very real ways. So, a positive aspect was feeling much more apart of everything and having my perspective open wide up wrt our place in the world…it was probably the most valuable thing about moving here tbh.
Good luck with whatever you choose!
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As an American who’s spent some time trying to figure out the edges of how US-style antiracism does and doesn’t apply in Europe, it’s useful to understand that in the US, racial identity is a place for a bunch of folks to find collective solidarity against the oppression is thrown at them in the name of that identity. In Europe, that same political effort is mostly aimed at trying to eliminate the idea of racism as having no reality in the world. The Europeans are absolutely in the right in scientific terms, and unwinding the worldview that underlies “scientific” racism is critical, but understanding solidarity and resistance of lived identities as performed by real people matters too, even when it’s along the “wrong” lines ideologically.
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Air BnB has helped ruin so many places…yet I stay in them often when traveling and realize that it has probably helped a lot of locals too, who have a place to let etc. In the US anyplace you want to travel to a decent Air BnB costs $120 or more yet I’ve stayed in super nice ones in Europe for $60 or so. The world makes no sense to me if it did I’d probably hate the time we live in even more.
That news thing was part of why I left — when I went back the US after traveling, it felt kind of suffocating, like I’d lost touch with the rest of the world.
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Yeah, I could totally understand that. It not just American culture (that’s pat of it of course) but also just plain geography. it’s practically it’s own continent (massive!) and separated by oceans on both sides. This dictates a lot - it really couldn’t not do that if you know what I mean.
This is fascinating. It’s hard to put the rest of my thoughts about this into words, but it’s something that I’ve wanted for years. Here in the US, we just don’t have to care as much about most world events for a variety of reasons already stated. It bums me out.
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I should also say one more quick thing and then I’ll stop over sharing - I’ve been guilty of it here but I realllly hate when people say ‘American culture’ (which I just did) or ‘the States’ which I also did.
There’s really no such thing in reality. Austin is a very different place from El Paso as it is from Denton or Akron etc etc. Yes, there are some homogenising elements for the most mainstream but there is so much diversity and variety in a place as large and well - diverse(!) as the States that you really have to take any of these generalisations with a huge block of salt.
Just by way of example - the UK fits into Texas FIVE TIMES…and that’s just one state out of 50. So yeah, generalisations sort of don’t really mean anything after a certain point.
@m0ld Totally get it - but really, it’s hard when you’re over there to feel as connected simply because of geography / connectedness / vulnerability. In Texas, we were very aware of what was going on in Mexico and even Canada as we shared borders and those countries really had an impact on us in ways that say, Berlin, didn’t (or not obviously so). So, for better or worse, it makes sense.
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Danish people enters the chat
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That’s what NPR and the BBC new hour is for!
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Precisely why they’re my go-to news outlets!
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Danish is easy! Just learn swedish and remember to carry your potato around
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It helps, but at least I found that it only ever did so much. I used to spend an hour a day reading a bunch of English language papers online, and the other 23 hours a day still drive home that basic kind of orientation. I live in a world that’s so much bigger now.
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Yea well I find that talking or more importantly listening to a variety of people opens a person’s mind a lot more to the greater world than being up to date with the world’s many horrors.
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That is the case in almost every European city I know. When I talk about affordable housing, you have to look more towards rural areas in Portugal.
But apart from that, excellent choice. Really love the pace of life over there, even in the bigger cities.
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I wasn’t aware they were mutually exclusive? But yeah, that’s part of why I moved. I talk to far fewer Americans on a day to day basis there’s days.
I don’t understand your point and I`m not saying anything about you beeing part of a conspiracy or whatever. I don’t know you and you can claim everything what you want. Who cares, I not?
TBH I abhor any fascist mindset regardless of the color of the respective party. This includes that no one has the right to own the only, holy truth.
Sorry, I guess I just don’t understand your point about swaddling oneself in the porcupine lined news cycle, regardless of the country of origin reporting on it.
For me, it was about understanding the world around me, getting a different perspective. Like, I knew what the folks in my town cared about, but what was the view from Dehli or Melbourne? If it makes a difference, this was 20 years ago now, when a lot of the news was much more just news.
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