[thegypsyking]

I did the opposite and found the us much better. Pay and opportunities are infinitely better, people are friendlier, having a car is much easier and more convenient.

[pwagland]

The first points are salient. The last point is interesting, since a car is generally much more required in the US, yes it is easier and more convenient to have a car in the US, as well as a buttload cheaper, but life without a car is (generally) a lot less easy or convenient.

[thefourthchime]

I think it depends on where you live. If you live in New York, LA, Chicago, Seattle a lot of the big cities have such horrible traffic I can see the want to get rid of your car.

If you live in a place like Austin Texas and work from home, like I do. Having a car is a delight. I can go in any direction and bring my stuff I can get stuff from the store and bring it home. I've lived without a car in New York City, there's a lot of downsides to that. You don't have the freedom to just go to IKEA and get a something.

[jokethrowaway]

The gas prices in the USA are pretty great compared to Europe (including during this presidency).

Some countries (like Italy) charge basically the cost of petrol in taxes.

On the cons, in the USA you generally need to drive longer distances.

[jfk13]

> Pay and opportunities are infinitely better

...if you're lucky enough to be among the privileged.

[JKCalhoun]

True. But if we're talking software engineering, everyone posting here is probably "privileged" in that regard.

Let me just take this moment to say, holy shit what a fascinating time we all live in and what a happy accident it was that I stumbled into software engineering in this particular era.

I'm not aware of a recent time in history when you could get what amounts to a doctor's salary without the lengthy schooling, rigorous training, certification.

[nivenkos]

Salaries are far higher in the US in any professional field - engineering, tech, medicine, law, finance... even truck driving.

[WallWextra]

If you're not lucky enough to be among the privileged, moving to Europe is impossible unless you have inherited citizenship (which is itself another kind of privilege).

[nexuist]

Living in America is by definition a privileged position. Largest military in the world guarantees either the country survives anything or the world undergoes nuclear Armageddon (and even then the tax man is still coming to your door).

[humanistbot]

What do you expect? This is HN, full of tech folks making ridiculous salaries.

[hpkuarg]

How much more privileged can it get than on a thread where OP is seeking to leave a stable Western first-world democracy?

[bpodgursky]

Respectfully, this is HN, and most people who are looking on this thread for advice are indeed privileged. I don't think it's an unreasonable default assumption.

[chinchilla2020]

> ...if you're lucky enough to be among the privileged

That applies in every country

[Oddskar]

> having a car is much easier and more convenient.

Ah, I see you didn’t live in Germany.

[rootusrootus]

Are you suggesting having a car in Germany is easier than in the US? That seems backwards.