Charlotte Rackett moved with her family from Lancashire to Las Vegas and revealed the eye-opening ‘culture shocks’ she has come across since arriving in Nevada
A British who woman who moved to Las Vegas opened up on the “culture shocks” she experienced since settling in her new abode. Charlotte Rackett gave up her life in Lancashire for the Nevada desert and took to social media to detail the biggest differences she has witnessed since heading across the Atlantic.
“Why do I have to walk all the way down the street just to get my mail?” she began in a TikTok video, showcasing her street’s communal letterbox, which requires a key to obtain her individual post. Continuing her stroll through her neighbourhood, she continued: “One thing I don’t ever remember seeing in England is a fire hydrant, but here I have one in my front garden.”
Charlotte explained that living in a HOA neighbourhood [Homeowners Association in America] means gardens in the community are “all gorgeous”. She elaborated: “There are no weeds, everyone has to have a certain number of plants, the trees can’t be dead – and if you don’t abide by those rules, you get fined.”
According to Charlotte, HOA rules also prevent anyone from parking on the street overnight – and failure to comply can result in vehicles being towed.
“If palm trees count as a culture shock, we have them in abundance,” she continued. “And baby palm trees too.”
Carrying on her tour, Charlotte added: “I live in a gated community where there’s a gate you drive through at the front, but also there are several other gates throughout the neighbourhood that are pedestrian and they go out onto walking trails.”
The Brit went on to emphasise how there “isn’t a single brick house in the community”, while the neighbourhood boasts its own stunning pool and hot tub that is free to use by any resident.
“In England I’m used to seeing terraced and semi-detached houses, but in this part of our neighbourhood, every house is detached, which they call a single family home,” Charlotte said.
She closed with the “biggest shock of all”, meanwhile. “From our street you can actually see the Las Vegas strip!” Indeed, panning her camera around, Charlotte revealed some of the city’s iconic buildings.
Writing in response, TikTok users’ biggest gripe appeared to be the mailbox issue. “It looks beautiful, but I would hate to be the person with the mailbox outside of my house,” one TikTok user confessed.
While a second person hit out: “I HATE the community mailbox thing. They used to only be for apartment complexes, and then in the early 2000s they heavily started a shift to those when building newer neighbourhoods, at least in the places I’ve lived in in Arizona, Cali, and Texas.
“When we were house hunting we refused to look at houses in neighbourhoods without regular mailboxes. I don’t want to walk a block to get my mail in this godforsaken heat. I wanna stroll to the end of my driveway, or get my packages off my porch.”
Others expressed about HOAs, meanwhile. “Why be in a HOA area, having a bunch of busybodies tell you how you ‘should’ have your house and pay for the privilege?” a third individual asked. “That’d be a non-starter for me as a Brit if I were to move to the States.”
While a fourth said: “Super honest, an HOA neighbourhood would be culture shock for me, too, as an American.”
