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It's been a decade-long journey but my wife and I finally got EU citizenship and are picking where to live (Utrecht and Freiburg are the frontrunners) specifica

It's been a decade-long journey but my wife and I finally got EU citizenship and are picking where to live (Utrecht and Freiburg are the frontrunners) specifically so our child can have a proper, independent childhood, and not the painfully lonely, infantilizing, ones we had in stroad-infested Californian suburbs. We're not young! But I applaud this development.

leethargo 4y ago
Good luck! Be aware that suburbia exists in Germany as well (I'm still stuck in it).
- CalRobert 4y ago
  Indeed! We are being very intentional about it - we want to check out Vauban in particular though I understand it would be hard to get a place there!
chasely 4y ago
I have friends that live in Utrecht and it's great. The biggest adjustment for an American, I think, would be getting used to the smaller house sizes. It shifts how you see and value "stuff".
- CalRobert 4y ago
  We spent two years living in a 50 square meter (~500 square feet) miserably cold and dark thatched cottage in a field in Ireland. That was, admittedly, unpleasant, but the places I see on Funda.nl look perfectly nice. Incidentally, the author of this article showed us around Houten (9 minutes from Utrecht by train) and it was hard to contain my dumb grin just seeing kids - not much older than mine! - riding bikes _everywhere_ and just doing their thing. we visited for dinner and when her ~10 y.o. son said "I want to go ice skating" she said "OK, have fun!" and he just... hopped on his bike and went. No "ugg who's going to drive him" or "I don't want to have to pick him up late" etc. - an independence most kids can only dream of. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/may/16/welcome-cycle-heaven-moved-family-netherlands-houten-utrecht https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/may/16/welcome-cycle... I actually would've thought the biggest adjustment would be cultural - the Dutch seem more reserved than Americans (who, to be fair, are known for being exceptionally outgoing).
65 4y ago
What is the need to move to the EU? You can find walkable US cities in places like New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, DC, etc. Perhaps you'd like the North East.
- CalRobert 4y ago
  I don't like the US. There are more reasons than walkability.

leethargo 4y ago

Good luck! Be aware that suburbia exists in Germany as well (I'm still stuck in it).

CalRobert 4y ago
Indeed! We are being very intentional about it - we want to check out Vauban in particular though I understand it would be hard to get a place there!

chasely 4y ago

I have friends that live in Utrecht and it's great. The biggest adjustment for an American, I think, would be getting used to the smaller house sizes. It shifts how you see and value "stuff".

CalRobert 4y ago
We spent two years living in a 50 square meter (~500 square feet) miserably cold and dark thatched cottage in a field in Ireland. That was, admittedly, unpleasant, but the places I see on Funda.nl look perfectly nice. Incidentally, the author of this article showed us around Houten (9 minutes from Utrecht by train) and it was hard to contain my dumb grin just seeing kids - not much older than mine! - riding bikes _everywhere_ and just doing their thing. we visited for dinner and when her ~10 y.o. son said "I want to go ice skating" she said "OK, have fun!" and he just... hopped on his bike and went. No "ugg who's going to drive him" or "I don't want to have to pick him up late" etc. - an independence most kids can only dream of. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/may/16/welcome-cycle-heaven-moved-family-netherlands-houten-utrecht https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/may/16/welcome-cycle... I actually would've thought the biggest adjustment would be cultural - the Dutch seem more reserved than Americans (who, to be fair, are known for being exceptionally outgoing).

65 4y ago

What is the need to move to the EU? You can find walkable US cities in places like New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, DC, etc. Perhaps you'd like the North East.

CalRobert 4y ago
I don't like the US. There are more reasons than walkability.