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OPINION AND ANALYSIS

OPINION: The ‘Italian dream’ – Why so many move to Italy for a brighter future

Over the years Italians have fled their country looking for a brighter future but so many Americans and Britons head the other way in search of their 'Italian dream', writes Silvia Marchetti. Share your own views below.

OPINION: The 'Italian dream' - Why so many move to Italy for a brighter future
(Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP)

Centuries ago and up until the 1970s, Italian families often left their home country in search of a brighter future elsewhere, running towards what has always been the ‘American’, or Western, dream of a better standard of living.

But for some people, this migration trend seems to have been turned upside down.

I’ve spoken to many Americans and Brits who have relocated to Italy who believe that both the UK and America are collapsing and now unaffordable. In their view, nothing works anymore, life is too expensive, and importantly so is healthcare. 

It struck me how they seem to have found here in Italy the sort of dream that many Italian emigrants searched for in the past across the Atlantic Ocean, or up in northern Europe beyond the English Channel. It’s as if we’re in a topsy-turvy ‘new world’.

Scottish-American couple Sandy and Keith Webster, both retirees in their sixties, ditched “expensive” London in 2012 and moved to the remote village of Irsina, in deepest Basilicata, where they bought a gorgeous, multi-storey old dwelling with a panoramic balcony overlooking the old town.

Although they prefer not to disclose how much the house cost them, they say the renovation alone, which cost four times as much as the purchase, would have been one million dollars back in the US.

They say their rural Italian lifestyle is also much healthier, slower-paced and cheaper. Their pensions allow them to maintain a high living standard in a place where costs are relatively low.

The rural southern Italian region of Basilicata is popular among retirees and second-home owners. Photo by Guseppe CACACE / AFP

“We go out more often to eat at restaurants than when we lived in London, tour around the region, Italy, and Europe,” Sandy, who hails from California, tells The Local.

“We buy fresh food at the farmers market and eat healthily, go on long walks, visit the nearby beaches whenever we feel like it. The village life is relaxing and we feel part of a tight-knit community.”

Had the couple stayed in London to live out their retirement years, Keith says they would not have been able to maintain the same standards of living they can instead afford in Irsina, where multiple-course meals can cost just €30 per person at local restaurants. 

The only less idyllic aspect, say the Websters, is that they miss eating non-Italian food occasionally, given Mexican, Chinese and other foreign restaurants are lacking. “We just have a more limited choice, but we love Italian food”, says Wendy. 

David Greene, a graphic designer who works remotely from the village of Ronciglione in the Lazio region, says he escaped the UK just in time before Brexit. He was born in Chicago but moved to the UK as a teenager with his parents, and voted Remain having deep pro-European feelings. 

In the UK “everything was falling to pieces, not just politically,” he says

“My mortgage was £800 per month, instead here I pay only €300 monthly rent for a lovely condo overlooking the valley.

“Plus, I managed to take up Italian residency, public healthcare is very efficient, and also the cost of private doctors, appointments, and examinations in Italy are very reasonable.”

David says he pays €150 euros per month in electricity and gas bills for his two-bedroom Italian home, and has a cleaner who costs him €50 a week, when he could never afford this service back in the UK.

He spends roughly €80 on food weekly at a nearby supermarket, and takes public transport to get to Rome and around Lazio on a ticket costing €24 a week.

One of the many Americans flocking to southern Italian villages is Amy Clarke, a 50-year-old writer from New York. 

Last year, she moved to the fishing village of Sperlonga, a popular summer destination among Romans. She bought a dazzling white one-bedroom apartment of 50 square metres in the old town, tucked away in a quiet alley, for €70,000 and says a similar-sized home would have cost her nearly one million dollars in New York.

“Sperlonga may not be among the cheapest towns in Italy, given it is coastal with lots of stunning beaches. Nonetheless, I spend just €150 per week for groceries and food, and have more than enough money to dine out six times a month,” she says.

The Italian seaside town of Sperlonga. Photo by Christianna Martin on Unsplash

“I buy fresh melons, tomatoes, premium olives, porcini mushrooms and local extra virgin olive oil at the farmers market, one litre costs just €10. In New York, an orange costs more than a dollar and Italian EVO? Forget it. In the US it has always been way above my budget,” she adds.

Amy, who is single, says another reason why she decided to abandon the States was the “increasing violence, the preponderance to guns with  a school shooting almost every week, and the political mayhem which was making the US a very divisive country” to live in.

Funnily enough, Amy’s grandmother came from Naples and migrated to New York as a kid, where she then met her American husband, Amy’s grandpa.

“Gran is probably turning in her grave,” says Amy. “She escaped Naples for a better life overseas, chasing the American dream. 

“Well, I have escaped the US chasing the dolce vita dream. Italy is my New World.”

Do you agree or disagree with the opinions expressed in this article? Perhaps your ‘Italian dream’ didn’t quite work out that way? If you’d like to share your own experience of moving to Italy, please leave a comment below or get in touch by email at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.

Member comments

  1. We could not agree more. We have an apartment in a northern Italian city with a high (for Italy) cost of living. Every time that we go back to the US, we are shocked at the prices for groceries and restaurant meals, both of which seem to be 3x as expensive as in our “expensive” northern Italian city. The final nail in the US coffin – the last time we were leaving a restaurant in the US, a man walked in with an “open-carry” gun on his hip. We will be making Italy our permanent residence.

  2. I have also retired and moved from the Los Angeles area to southern Italy (provincia di Lecce). I found a town that is near the Adriatic Sea and from my terrace, I can view the sea and on clear days, I can see the mountains of Albania and some of the northern Greek islands. Life here is very simple, the people are super friendly (even with me being an American Black person) and the cost of living for my partner and me is within my retirement budget.

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AMERICANS IN ITALY

Americans in Italy: Six hard facts about moving to Italy and the lowdown on Naples

What do you need to know about relocating to the US from Italy and what's it like to live in Naples as a US citizen? We explore in our latest Americans in Italy newsletter.

Americans in Italy: Six hard facts about moving to Italy and the lowdown on Naples

Welcome to our regular look at everything you need to know about life in Italy for The Local’s readers from the US. This newsletter is published monthly and you can receive it directly to your inbox before we publish by going to newsletter preferences in ‘My Account’ or following the instructions in the newsletter box below.

From the food to the culture to the climate, there’s a long list of positives that come with a move to Italy from the US – but if you’re thinking of taking the plunge, there are certain practical considerations you’ll need to bear in mind.

Work, taxes, visas, healthcare and driver’s permits are some of the less glamorous aspects of life you’ll have to engage with if you’re serious about relocating.

Unfortunately, the US doesn’t have a reciprocal driving license agreement with Italy, meaning that after 12 months of residency, you’ll need to resit your theory and practical tests – in Italian – if you want to continue driving.

And while you might assume that being resident in Italy gives you instant access to free universal healthcare, the reality is a little more complicated, with some foreigners now subject to a minimum annual charge of €2,000.

Tax filing obligations, work opportunities, visas and residency requirements round off the list of factors to take into account if you’re set on moving to Italy.

Six hard facts Americans should be aware of before moving to Italy

Here’s what you need to know about moving to Italy as a US national. Photo by Who’s Denilo ? on Unsplash

With some of the highest crime rates and car insurance premiums in Italy, Naples tends to get a bad rap, despite its increasing popularity as an international tourist destination.

Americans interviewed by The Local about their experience of living in the southern city, however, had mostly positive things to say.

“People, ninety nine percent of the Neapolitans will give you the shirt off their back. They particularly like Americans, and they love kids,” says Thomas Braden, a New Jersey native who moved to the coastal city several years ago.

“I have made some amazing life-long friends here in Naples,” says Amy, who relocated from the US for a job.

“The thing about Neapolitans is that they either love you or hate you, there is no middle, and I admire that.”

‘They particularly like Americans’: What life in Naples is really like for foreigners

A view of the city of Naples and the Vesuvius volcano

A view of the city of Naples and the Vesuvius volcano. Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP

If you’re planning a summer holiday in Italy or are preparing to move, you may be wondering whether you can use your American Express card to pay for goods and services.

The answer is yes – to a limited extent.

While larger providers and chains typically will take AmEx, many smaller Italian businesses won’t accept the card due to high merchant fees.

It’s generally recommended to bring along a back up card such as Visa or Mastercard, then, if you want to avoid running into issues.

Can I use my American Express card in Italy?

Have your say: If you’d like to share your opinion or tell us about an experience you’ve had while living in Italy, please leave a comment below this article or get in touch by email.

And if you have any advice for other American readers who are considering moving to Italy, or questions of your own, you can add them to our ongoing survey here.

Thanks for reading and please get in touch with us by email if you have any feedback on this newsletter.

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