Chance to move from Ohio to either London or Netherlands

Quick question: Do you and your daughter speak Netherlands...or whatever it is they speak over there?

I've been to London...and I know they all speak American over there...so the language problem will be minimal.

A load of questions.

1. How rich are you?
2. Whereabouts in London are you thinking of settling?
3. How long for?
4. Where exactly in Holland would you need to settle?

Reasons for questions:

1. London property prices are waaaaaay more expensive than like for like in Holland. Average three bed detachec house in respectable London suburb = £500k to £750k....this could easily pass a million if you choose a "hotspot."
2. East end of London is a hotchpotch of rundown but still reasonably expensive peoperties, West End is more touristy and hotel/theatre land, but more expensive than East.
North London is becoming gentrified very quickly, where even the once rundown areas....Kilburn, Colindale etc fetch staggering sums, and the leafy outer suburbs all run into the £ millions.
South London has always been known as stockbroker belt, and properties are also in the £ millions.
Peoperty in City London, or inner areas such as Kensington and Chelsea, forget it, unless you are an oligarch or rock star.

Personally, I would think about quality of life if it's for a shortish stay, and opt for Holland. You would get more bang for your buck, experience a lot lighter 'rush hour' (traffic is horrendous in London) and probably have a better work/life balance at the end of the day.

Here's what you'd get for a million downwards in Camden, North West London , ......please note, you'll have to advance to page 13 to get down that low!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E85261&maxPrice=1000000&googleAnalyticsChannel=buying

We don't speak Dutch but from what I read most people in the Netherlands speak English. We would either do Rosetta Stone before we went to live there or take lessons to learn Dutch once we arrive. My daughter will finish out school here so we wouldn't be moving until June.

According to what other people in the company have gotten they would pay for housing and a car which ever place we move to for the duration of our stay or at least for 3-5 years. Not sure of compensation yet, haven't gotten the actual Expat Pkg so I don't know if the salary would be more if we chose London.

As far as where we would live I am not sure exactly where in London, but probably in Utrecht, Netherlands as that is about half way between the Plant where he will be working and the Amsterdam airport. My husband will have to fly to several different countries so needs good access to an International Airport.

I have been researching more about Amsterdam and surrounding areas and have run across several sites that say it is hard to make friends there because the Dutch tend to have/want only a few good friends. Its starting to freak me out. I don't currently work but spend a lot of hours each week volunteering for library and Food Pantry. Would I be welcomed to get involved with local organizations?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

OK, for a start, I will go on record to say that the Dutch are very modern, open, liberal people who are among the friendliest in Europe. If you have a problem getting on with the Dutch, you will probably not get on with any of us. I love Dutch people. Their spoken language sounds as if they are gargling at you through a snorkel most of the time, but like you say, many of them speak pretty fluent English so you would be OK.

If you're considering London, where is your husband's work place going to be, exactly?
I live in North London so I should definitely be able to steer you towards a nice area to live within commuting distance. It may even be the case that your hubbies workplace is far enough out of London that you can locate into a more rural area within the glorious South East of England.

Either way, if the company is paying, just hold on and enjoy the ride.
Holland is great.....as is London if someone else is paying, and I'm sure you'll be fine.

I think that most people that have been complaining about people not accepting them probably complain about everything that is not "like they are used to". I think people are more apt to complain than to praise. I am quite certain that I would be fine wherever we decide to live. I am pretty open minded and love to travel. I am a firm believer in - when in Rome do as the Romans. Last summer I spent some time in Poland, Germany and Italy and adapted quite quickly to their way of life. The hardest thing I had to overcome (other than not speaking their language) was waiting around so long to get the check at the restaurant. How did I end up handling it - I ordered a glass of wine at the end of the meal and just waited!

As for London office location looks like it would be in Chertsey? I am anxiously awaiting the Expat offer to see how good it really is. I am not sure if the offer would be different based on which location we chose. Is London really so much more expensive to live near than the Netherlands? I am sure either place we chose we would live outside the city.

I appreciate you taking the time to educate me. Thanks so much.

If you value what city life brings -- theatre, movies, restaurants and the likes -- London is best. It has better education opportunities too I think. It comes at a cost though: high prices, crowds of Brits... ;-) If you prefer a more quiet (perhaps rural?) place, go to the Netherlands... From there you can easily go to London for the weekend, anyway.

I've never been in either place but have an opinion anyway - I'd pick the Netherlands as effectively central to places I'd like to visit.

Edit to say I'm happy for you and family that you get to do this - great opportunity.

Don't forget to take your wellies if you go to Holland because when sea levels rise there won't BE a Holland any more

I’ve been to London a couple of times, and don’t care to return.

I’ve never been to the Netherlands but have a lot of friends who have and they loved it so that would be my choice.

You indicated that a great deal of people speak English in Netherlands. If you're going to work (volunteer) almost everyday with your neighbors (and host city dwellers), it would be more then courteous if you speak their native language not the other way around.

I suggest you move to London. You can still use the city as a jumping off point to travel to the rest of the EU when you have time to wander about (sans job obligations).

Thanks for all the advice. If we were to move to the Netherlands we would definitely learn Dutch. Probably start with Rosetta stone or something here and then get a tutor when we arrive. I totally agree, whatever country you live in you should learn to speak their language.

Right now I am leaning towards the Netherlands but am still navigating through lots of information.

I appreciate all the comments and any thoughts or ideas or opinions please feel free to let me know. The more information I have the better off I will be.

Chertsey! Lovely place, with some very desirable areas nearby.

If you think of the circular motorway (M25) round London as a clockface, then Chertsey is very close to the motorway, between the 8 and 9.

Go in towards London (along the M3) and you'll be heading towards Richmond (HenryVIII's deer park is still there), Kingston upon Thames (Alfred The Great's Grandson, Aethelstan, was crowned there in about 925ad, hence the town name), and the Hamptons (where Hampton Court is situated), so you can see that that specific area is packed with history and plenty of green spaces (Kew Gardens is there as well) AND boasts several miles of scenic Thames real estate, including Runnymede nearby - (Magna Carta), and Eel Pie Island - (bohemian artists, famous in 60's and 70's when The Who, Rolling Stones and others played there regularly.)

This is obviously reflected in house prices.

If you head OUT of London due West from Chertsey, within about twenty minutes drive you will hit Windsor (Queen, flags, castle, American tourists, tea shops, Ye Olde Worlde Tea Shoppes (American tourists only), and some delightful pubs.
Head South West down the M3 and you start getting rural, and house prices start dropping. One of my favourite places lies about forty to fifty miles down the M3 (still commutable) which is the delightful city of Winchester.

If Winchester is too far, then there are some really nice places near the motorway on the way down.
Winchester is well within range of the South Coast for days out, and is bang smack on the South Downs, if you're into beautiful country walks, gentle rolling hills, cycling and pub lunches.

Here's a vid I found, giving you a rough idea of how beautiful that part of the world is...apologies, as the cameraman seems a bit of a nerd, but it's the scenery I was going for....




Any otger info or questions, feel free to ask.

Good luck with your choice. How exciting for all of you!

Thank you so much! That video of the country side was great. We should be getting the Expat Offer within the next week or so. And then it will be decision time. If we decide on London I will have all kinds of questions for you and the rest of the forum.

One more thing...if you settle near Chertsey, then you are within reach of three good airports.
Heathrow (a stones throw away)
Gatwick ( about twenty miles south round the M25)
and Luton ( twenty five or so miles north round the M25.

Luton tends to have the more budget airlines, and you can get good value European return tickets with carriers such as Easyjet.

Heathrow, I believe, links up with Gatwick by train and you can travel on to Europe by train from there (via Eurotunnel, underneath the English Channel).

If you decide to settle here, I would advise getting a good tube (underground) map, and train map before deciding where to live.
You will be surprised at how far the tube lines stretch out of London.
You could therefore end up quite rural, but only a short hop away from work by tube or train.
( It will also avoid having to drive on the left when you're sleepy in the mornings! )

If anything else springs to mind, I'll stick it on here.

If you don't settle anywhere near Winchester, Chertsey or Richmond, here's a few vids so at least you can have a sneaky peek.

Winchester...




Richmond Park....



Kew Gardens...




Hampton Court....




And what, as a local resident, you will be expected to do each Sunday morning at 8am......

Thanks for the videos they were great.

I think I will watch the horn dance the first few years and maybe join in later lol

No problem.

I shall inform the Hornmaster General.

So my husband talked with his possible future boss just now. He kept asking why we were looking more at Amsterdam instead of London. When my husband said that it seems to be a lot less expensive, he was told not to worry about it because they would compensate us for any differences. My husband also mentioned that the Amsterdam airport seems to be quite extensive, bosses response - yes but a lot of them stop in London first!

So now I am back to looking more closely at the Chertsey area.

Now the question becomes if price difference is NOT considered would an American like living outside London or outside Amsterdam better? We are in our 50's and not big night life people. We enjoy sitting in the yard and watching the birds more than going to theater events. We are pretty easy going.

My personal plan is to visit several European countries while there.

Thoughts?

Whoo -Hoo! If the bosses are paying, then it widens your options considerably.

Me? If they were paying the rent, then Kingston on Thames, Richmond, Kew, Barnes....they're all really nice suburban greeny leafed suburbia, with nice old Victorian/deco houses, both large and small, and loads of cafe style little High Streets, not to mention walks along the Thames, loads of old pubs all selling good cooked grub nowadays, etc, etc.
The rents will be high, but if the boss says yes.....why not?

Outside the M25 circle, rent no object.....Windsor, certainly...but I'll get back to you on that one on the whole, as I'm more familiar with inner circle.

I'll ask around.