Why NZ? from a curious Brit (or should that be Pom / Limey?)

Hi y'all :o)

just being nosey really (as it never occured to me that Americans would want to emigrate), but why NZ?

As a Brit living on a small, overcrowded, expensive, mostly cold & wet island, I know why I'm considering the move :o)

But, given the size & diversity of the US (with it's many and varied landscapes, climates, etc) what makes you want to undertake a move to NZ rather than move within the US?

Anyway, as I said I'm just curious & look forward to any replies.

Cheers

Siggy

Good question,

Things are changing in the US, and not in a good way. Housing is too expensive in the cities, our political system is ruined beyond repair-- more theater and lies than anything. Not that the UK is much better, but the neo-cons here have gone off the deep end. Quite scary with the Patriot Act and all the other missnamed plans. Like the Clean Skies inititive, which will allow complanies to polute MORE!!

I first planned to leave the midwest and head to the west coast for a more liberal enviroment, but with the current situation, and the discovery of NZ WHV i decided otherwise.

But I am going on the WHV, so my stay is not permanent. However, I'm planning on graduate school in Sweden after leaving NZ. But I'd be a likely canidate to live permenently in NZ. I enjoy fishing, scuba diving, having a clean environment, and a slower pace of live. I feel a bit out of place in the US with everyone running about, constantly checking the time, and happy for their meager two weeks vacation a year. Not how I want to live.

Jon

Yes, here too. The political and social climate of the US is changing fast, and getting ugly. Here's this week's news, and the reason my husband and I are staying up late checking property prices in Dunedin:
- a bid to make illegal the buying of property for the express purpose of [b:97a5e27cb6]not[/b:97a5e27cb6] developing it. (Dick Cheney brainchild.)
- local new 'sport' : Extreme Fighting, bare-knuckle boxing in a closed cage. Advertised seats 'well within blood-spatter zone': $65
- when Mr. Bush visited the next town over in October, the security guards used pepper spray and plastic bullets on a crowd that included old men, women, children, as well as able-bodied non-soldiers. They were holding protest signs, silently.
- housing prices in this town have risen 300% in the past 5 years.
- a Democracy Now forum in town drew the obvious interest of the CIA and the FBI. Worrisome.

We're not radical left-wingers, we're just concerned business owners. Racism is expanding, the rift between rich and poor gets bigger. There are, frankly, more civilized places to live. We're hoping that NZ is one of them. Sure, there is an unpleasant, belligerantly ignorant element everywhere. But here, it seems, it's becoming normalized.

The draw specifically to NZ is not just the similar climate and language, but the sense that we get that NZ is safer, more open-minded, with less of the uproar that's going on here. Like Jon said, we just don't fit in here anymore. NZ has all that we want: university towns, beaches, hotrodders, Quakers, Buddhists, opportunities. The things that draw us are also the things that NZ [i:97a5e27cb6]doesn't[/i:97a5e27cb6] have: the death penalty, a high crime rate, rampant industrialism, etc.

So, if we had our way, we'd be emigrating as soon as possible.
Thanks for listening!

- Phantasm

[Fenryr]

I can't really add much to what the previous two posters said...America is rapidly becoming one of the most repressive governments/societies on the planet, and I quite simply don't want to LIVE there anymore...NZ is a fine place, it's quiet, beautiful, and by and large the folks here are a lot more SENSIBLE than Americans today...Who in their right mind WOULDN'T want to live here, given the choice?

[selchie]

In addition to the above reasons, I am extremely frustrated with the large number of "feral humans" living on the streets and harassing people, even in my relatively small community. I don't know if this is a problem outside California.
I am also favorably impressed with NZ's level of civility, which is perhaps due to its smaller population. NZ appears to be more socially progressive than the US overall, and perhaps even more so than California. I've not seriously considered leaving the West Coast for any other part of the country because of this.
They also raise wonderful lamb and cervena (a farmed deer), which my "personal chef" loves to serve me!
If we do get to immigrate, I am sure there will be many things we'll miss. Right now all I can think of would be related to food - we weren't terribly impressed with the produce when we've visited. But then, we're spoiled.