I have a character who was born and raised in England and is now moving to America. What cities do most Brits settle in when moving to America in the 21st century?
Well, if they are college professors they could be anywhere. There are a lot of brits where I am, because of The Ohio State University. Of course there are lots of Somolis here too but I don't know why.
I split my time between the UK (Channel Islands) and Colombia (Medellin) but yes, originally from the UK.
There's a large population of Brits in Santa Monica (beach town in L.A.). So much so that there's a pub populated by transplants, and when I was a kid there was an English-style fish 'n' chips joint on the Pier that was run by Brits.
There are nationalities which move according where their fellow countrymen live. But most of these have some reason to that: - Route. (If they walk or drive over Mexican border...) - Language skills. If English is difficult to them, it might be more comfortable to start somewhere where they can manage with they native language.) - Getting a place to live or a job or... via they countrymen networks. - Marriage. - Family reunion. - What kind of jobs different areas have. (Unskilled labor, finance, media, teaching, blue collar, logistics...) Maybe you should think what attractors your characters tend to follow.
To be honest Brits are a fairly diverse bunch - we don't tend to cluster like some ethnic groups do... probably because we've not gone to America en masse to escape hardship or persecution (well not for a long time anyway - the mayflower etc doesn't really count). populations who arrive in big numbers tend to have issues with the indigenous population and thus to cluster together for protection and support and to be concentrated in areas of low cost housing, and close proximity to low skill jobs (as with both Italian and Irish immigrants in New York in the 1800/1900 period, or Mexican and other Latino immigration more recently) but Brits have never really arrived like that. Ergo you can put your british immigrant wherever you like - I'd tend to suggest in the city you live in or near so that you are using a setting you either know well or can easily research