Aloha Vigin Islands

I hear your pain.

The Hawaiian islands were long a part of my life. The super expensive real estate and usual island inflation is driving many "everyday income" people away.

The US Virgin Islands is beginning to feel that same "squeeze"...

How do I explain the difference and the "sameness"?

First of all ...the real estate market... The Hawaiian market has been driven by "off shore" economics. First it was the Japanese dollar, followed some years later by the "silicon valley" dollar.. This has made the price of a simple one bedroom condo inflate from $25,000 to more than $300,000 in just a decade.

In the Virgin Islands, the increase has been much slower and more subtle. It is only in the past 36 MONTHS that real estate has been driven up to levels even approaching Hawaii or the metropolitan East or West coast markets.

So yes... real estate is becoming expensive in the Virgin Islands, but is still not as outrageous as Hawaii and some mainland locations.

So, What about everything else? Simple ...We are islands...It takes more money to bring stuff to islands. It is not out of line or a real problem, but it is more.

Hope this helps...
oldsalt

Aloha to you as well!!

Where to start...

Read through the moving stories on this site. There are a little over 30, some for each island. If you scroll to the top of this page and click Home and then from there choose What to Expect in the options and you'll be all set with some good reading.

Ekkk 6 bucks for lettuce. Ummm, no I don't think we are there yet. Check out the Cost of Living section on this site, there are a couple grocery list for each island there (a little dated, they are from last year, but will give you an idea of prices). You can get to it from the Home page.

The economy is tourism driven.

Employment opportunities differ by field, lots related to tourism. What field are you looking for?

Real estate: for apartment averages again check the Cost of Living section, there are some tables there with that information. Read through the real estate section for details on land, homes, condos, that section was recently updated.

Casinos: There is one on St. Croix, that’s it.

Golf: St. Croix has three courses and St. Thomas has one. You can check the web sites for rates. http://www.mahoganyrungolf.com/

http://www.thebuccaneer.com/golf.htm

People are friendly here. Locals can be quite reserved when meeting new people/residents so this can come off as them being cold, but we warm up after a while. New residents often find that other new residents or transplants tend to be easier to befriend.

If you can spend 3 weeks here, maybe 4 that would be a good amount of time. 1 1/2 on St. Thomas (you can explore St. John & Water Island from St. Thomas easily) and 1 1/2 on St. Croix. Some come down for fewer days, others longer.

You might order the Settlers Handbook shown at the top of this page. Its a Relocation/Newcomers guide to the VI.

--Islander

mahalo for the info, think we will try to come for a visit asap. have been reading these post, but think I need to take notes, so I can soak it all in.glad to know there is even more info out there, all I have to do is click around somemore. thanks will do.

in reading these posts,it seems you get complete opposite reactions to the interaction with locals and the crime there. in Hawaii we also have a local segement of population who are unhappy the islands have people living here that are not native to the land. Where we don't get teeth sucking we do get a yankee go home, kinda thing happening. rarely does this translate into us feeling unwelcome, oppressed or concerened for our saftey. we treat all people with respect and friendship and hope for the same in return. in Hawaii I would put the percentage of people who don't like outsiders and let you know it, at, about 10% 15% tops. I know I am asking for a subjective number here, but should I expect to encounter the negitive attitude, 80% of the time, 50, 20% ?

we would come to your islands in hopes of finding a safe beautiful place to live in peace. again thakns all for the info, I will study this fourm. warmest aloha to you all

I'm finding the Settler's Handbook (see link at the top of this page) extremely helpful in answering a lot of my "I want to move to the Islands" questions. In fact, it's answering questions I didn't even think to ask! 🙂

having now made 2 trips to the islands and getting ready to settle in St Croix, I was awed by some of the locals. Where do you stop your car and let another driver go in front of you?? or pass people on the street and say good morning?? While their are always exceptions, most Crucians were "out of their way" polite, and friendly.