This is purely theoretical, but I really do like the idea of moving to america, so I thought I would ask the good people of ph as to the pros and cons of doing so

Yes. Lots of them.

The two aren't mutually exclusive either.

Ditto comments above about Seattle. I'm there a lot, and would move there in a flash.

I've met very few truly stupid Americans. Although I generally hang around with those who read books and own passports. Some of the most enlightend people I've met have been American.

Customer service is second to none. Ok, some of it is contrived, but they make UK shop/restaurant staff appear very miserable.

That's like asking how long a piece of string is...

Comparing Los Angeles to Dallas to Nashville to Seattle to New York City to Atlanta to Wichita to Miami to Boston to Oklahoma City to Birmingham?

They might as well be different countries.

There isn't this huge social benefit safety net that you have in the UK. OTOH, our taxes are a fraction of what you'd pay in the UK and many things are indeed cheaper as a result.

Anyone who is clever here can earn $100,000 a year. That puts you from a nice living (NYC area, Boston, California) to a very high standard of living (South, Midwest)

In some places it's become a left wing nanny state, in other places you can do damn near whatever you want. Again, depends on where you are.

The cost of living is generally lower here as is, IMO, the quality of life.. detached houses wit good sized gardens are the rule, of course, again, this depends where you want to settle.

A friend of mine bought a nice 2 bedroom house, about 1,300 square feet, 2 car garage, £1,200 a year in property taxes in a nice suburb of a major city for the equivalent of £47,500. However she did renovate it to the tune of £12,500 or so. This is in Atlanta, that same house where I live (a nice suburb of NY City in New Jersey) would run you £200,000.

Car insurance is cheaper if you're young, but you don't normally find policies for £400 a year, ever. Petrol is 40-50p a Liter. New cars are cheaper, late model used cars comparable, but there are no roadworthy cars for £500-1,000 worth owning.

Most consumer goods are a lot cheaper.

There's space, a lot of it, We're twice the size of India with a quarter the population, some western states are bigger than Britain with less than a million people in them.

What did you have in mind?

OK, so why do they need to put the time and date etc on TV show's for example. Not only that but they cant even adopt the metirc system and pronounce english words in a half baked way.

And we have done such a good job with adopting the metric system.

Can I buy you a pint? How's the MPG of your car?
(sorry, I meant a half litre of beer and litres/100km)

Interestingly, their use of English grammar is stricter than ours in some ways - just treat US English as a branch of English that diversified 150 years ago, and that the two are similar, but different, and you'll find the view from your high horse more bearable.

You'll find the barriers to setting up a new business very low in the US. Plenty of guidance available. Owner/operated businesses I found were more highly regarded there - a strong work ethic of setting up on your own with low taxes and a system geared towards small businesses (at least compared to the UK).

Your biggest challenge would be the visa and a sponsor.

It's like saying 'relocating to Europe' - there's lots good and bad bits depending where you pick.

My reasons for moving to the US basically centre around quality of life, cost of living, income and being able to do more things I enjoy. All of which are far higher / easier / more abundant for me over there.

Plus I'm looking forward to getting out of the UK, the more I see of other places, the more I wonder WTF I'm doing here, it's gash. Come along to the Midwest Scotteth, you'd love it