Choice of location
Key considerations
As you plan your move to the U.S., you should spend time considering your destination. The U.S. is a large and diverse country and your experience will be different depending on the area you choose. Two main considerations should be whether the area has a Ukrainian community and whether you will choose to reside in an urban, suburban, or rural area.
While Svitlo focuses on welcoming Ukrainians to the US, we realize that the United States is not the best option for everyone. To help you make an informed decision, we recommend you use information collected by our partner organization - Rubikus.
Areas with large Ukrainian communities
Many locations in the U.S. have large Ukrainian or post-Soviet communities, the largest being in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, California (Sacramento and Los Angeles), and Illinois (Chicago area). Here, resettlement agencies are more likely to be aware of the needs and challenges specific to Ukrainian immigrants. Community members can provide feedback and support regarding the issues that you might run into, as they likely have encountered the same issues as well.
Find Ukrainian communities on Facebook and Telegram
The easiest way to find Ukrainian and Russian-speaking communities is on Facebook and Telegram. Most U.S. states and cities have location-specific Facebook groups or Telegram channels. You can use them to inquire about a range of topics, from local resettlement resources to job searches, to help with choosing schools for your children. You can also learn about offline center points such as churches and community centers. As a starting point, you can look at the list of social media groups we put together Ukrainian Facebook and Telegram Groups, and check out the ones in the areas that you are considering. You can also do simple searches on Facebook and Telegram.
Facebook is the biggest social media site in the U.S., offering a wealth of information as well as many opportunities for networking, so having a Facebook profile and joining relevant communities is helpful. If you plan to use Facebook to look for a sponsor or for a job, you should consider your online presence: don’t post things, and don’t act in a way that you wouldn’t want potential sponsors or employers to see.
City or suburb
Transportation
One of the main considerations when deciding between living in urban, suburban, or rural areas is transportation.
The choices vary: although the cost of living may be noticeably higher in urban areas, the most readily available and accessible transportation services are often found in urban areas.
Public transportation systems in metropolitan areas (like New York and Chicago) are decent and generally reliable, but in the suburbs and especially in rural areas, living without a car is very difficult. This should be a major determining factor for people who don’t drive; even if you do, it may take some time before you have your own car. you should factor in the cost of owning a car as gas and mandatory car insurance will add quite a lot to your monthly expenses, especially in the beginning when insurance companies will consider you to be a new driver no matter how long you have been driving outside of the country.
Cost of living
The following links help compare the costs of different products and services. The first one, Numbeo, is especially useful as it lets the users run a city-to-city comparison, not just country-to-country.
Climate variations across the US
The United States is an expansive country with a very diverse climate. If this matters to you, the choice is vast: hot and humid tropical climate (Florida), a place with real winters (Boston/Chicago), mountains (Colorado), ocean (San Francisco, Los Angeles), mild and rainy northern climates (Seattle).
