Fulfilling our dream of Caribbean Living Early

what you have describes, sapphire beach , happens every where-except maybe the teeth sucking.

Tommy stx this is also for you

as does crime, but when a poster asks specifically about crime and safe areas, would you have people lie and say no one has ever experienced crime? when the subject is brought up, posters can only tell their truth about what they have experienced first or second hand. nothing more, nothing less.

these posts are not meant to scare a person just to inform them of what daily life is like here. and you can ask others, you can be as safe as you want but crime sometimes follows you home even though you partake of nothing riskier than going to a store.

With all due respect, there are a few posters here who can't wait to sink their fingers into their keyboards to repeat statistics and tales of doom and destruction. Even a few who don't even live here ...

There are also quite a few posters here who also like to stick their head in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong.

There are some of us who have lost close loved ones, like a father, down there, that these people would just wish away...

speee1dy,

Can we please try to help the OP with some actual good advice? This is what I was talking about when I said I see so many post being hi-jacked with tales of woe and negativity. The people that stay positive or say they haven't experienced any of these nightmare scenarios are usually mocked by the doomsday bunch.

klpmtm,

I apologize once more. There are some great people that contribute here that want to help, including speee1dy but they seem to get sidetracked to the same couple of subjects all too often.

I am very much a newcomer to the island and I have only experienced great things so far. I have not encountered rude people. You may encounter people that won't give you "service with a smile" but they will help with what you need. It's all about understanding. Maybe I'm just an overly positive person(my wife thinks so sometimes, LOL) but I put positive out and 95% of the time that's what comes back. There may indeed be something bad that happens to me or to you once you move down here but you just have to keep it in perspective. Life is what you make of it and only looking at negatives without ever basking in the positive will make for a long and miserable life. Sure, the stories on this board are true but what is one to do, live like a hermit and never enjoy anything? I may keep an eye out a bit more at times here but I did the same when I lived in a city back in the states. I know that this island is in desperate need of some good teachers and I would love to see some dedicated and caring teachers take the plunge and come down and help out. You can't make the schools better by complaining and spitting out stats about how dreadful they have performed in the past. Change happens slowly and I'm hoping I get to see a little of that change for the better here on STX. I may be new but this is my home now.

That rambling went on forever!!! This is why I don't post too often. LOL

Look at this.

Then tell me it's not worth it. Like OT said. If you don't like it LEAVE. It's not a prison. These island are freaking awesome. I had some bad and annoying things that's have happened but the juice is SOOO worth the squeeze.

Just come on down. Bring lots of money. If you don't dig it, there's several flights a day out 🙂 simple
As that. You'll figure out all the middle stuff.

Pearl B Larsen school seems to be one of the better public elementary schools. It's just outside of Christiansted to the east.
Right around the corner from the school (very short walking distance) is the Tide Village neighborhood. It is about as close as St Croix comes to a middle-class ethnically and financially diverse neighborhood that has relatively affordable houses for sale once in a while and rentals as well.
Good luck with the move.
You need a new realtor.

I privTe messaged you a lengthy note this morning. I have had three kids on STX for over three years...21/2 alone before hubby could join. Any questions on what I wrote, contact me

My husband and I have lived in STX for a little over a year now.
We chose to live on the west end, Frederiksted, and really love it. I have heard some people who are uncomfortable being in Frederiksted at night and think it is unsafe to go to the west end, while we both always feel safe where we live.
I think it's how you perceive safety. Some people think it's safer to live in a gated community or housing complexes that are not so isolated. Our first rental was on a property sitting at the edge of the rainforest on the west - the driveway is a quarter-mile long, up and around the hill. It's realllly dark at night and the closest house is a 15-minute walk down the hill and up his driveway. We've never felt safer. Granted we have two dogs, but also if you think about it most robberies will happen in houses with easier access to come in and out of (ie. gated communities and houses near town, etc). At least that's how we look at it. Nobody ever bothered us where we live, so far.
Crimes happen, and lately there seems to be a lot more carjackings around STX, but I don't live in fear 24/7. We walk our dogs in Fsted and Fsted pier almost every night, there are families fishing out of the pier, couples walking around, people jogging. We both work and volunteer at west as well. We always say good morning, good afternoon, good night and they respond back with a smile.
Economy is bad in STX right now, a lot of people don't have jobs, a lot of people are out on streets and a lot of people don't have access to medical care and mental health services, crime and poverty is around.
But there is also a strong sense of community here; people help each other out. If you come in with expectations, you will be disappointed. We came in knowing everything will be different, and some things are super frustrating, but we love this place more than anywhere else we've lived.
Also, the west end has the best beaches, the waters are always calmer here than the other parts of the island.

When you come on the island, it's easier to decide which neighborhoods because you get to see and have a feel of what they are like.

hope this helps.

Good post Tommy!

jwidjaja, nicely said

What? You don't walk or sleep with your machete?

alana, i know you are not talking to me, right. i have never mentioned a machete

No Speeed1dy - that was strictly tongue in cheek comment. Sorry but I couldn't resist.
My bad!

Thank you to all who have helped in giving me the info I requested. And to those from STT for giving encouragement. I am gathering all the useful info and giving it to our realtor on the island.

I actually had a much longer response than this but my kindle froze and it was deleted. And I really don't have the time to rewrite it now.

But I will say the stats someone quote about San Diego are bogus. You are comparing apples.to oranges. In SD they have quiet a few different pay grade options, other than just steps. In the usvi you don't have all of those options. So let's compare what they do have in common. The bachelor's degree column. I would be starting on step 6 in that column and in the usvi I would make @ $36,000+. In SD I would make @ $11,500 more. HOWEVER, in SD you max out at making @ $66,700 with no chance of earning any more money. In the usvi I would make $69,600 before maxing out. That is more than SD. You also said the benefits are really good in SD. Well in the usvi you get up to 30.8 percent of you salary in benefits.

I personally am willing to make less money to start and work hard for the type of life I want to live

alana33, sorry about that

But I will say the stats someone quote about San Diego are bogus.

Bogus? I quoted wikipedia directly!

You also said the benefits are really good in SD. Well in the usvi you get up to 30.8 percent of you salary in benefits.

I personally am willing to make less money to start and work hard for the type of life I want to live

I would bet the bennies here are even more than 30%. Vacation, holidays, and especially the very extravagant health insurance policy are worth a ton.

180 teaching days per year - 30 teaching days off for rain = 150 teaching days per year.

I'll take it all! Including the rain! LOL

This board was started as a side board to the original travel board. We have helped countless people to move to the islands. We have told what to expect both good and bad. We always encourage a pre move visit.

The past few years there has been so much negativity coming primarily from the STX people on this forum that I truly don't understand. It's like you live here, but don't want anyone else to come and live here as it may disrupt your lifestyle. It's obvious it must be a good place to live or you would have moved back to where you came from. I do not know what it will take for it to return to the original purpose of this forum.

I certainly hope the OP sees through some of this negativity and makes their PMV and see for themselves and make the decision then.

St Thomas is an option you have not entertained. I am always curious when one chooses one over the other without even looking at the other. In the past 20 years I have seen people come and go to these islands, St Thomas in particular. Some aren't made for it, some are. I try to help when and where I can. I gave out all the cautions that are necessary, but I do not discourage folks from moving here. Some last a week. Some have been here 20 years. It's a personal choice.

Take the PMV, check out St Thomas as well. Then you can make your decision. Don't let some of these posters dissuade you. And as we always say. JMHO.

Hey,Ronnie:
I'll bet you'd like to get rid of some of those who have stayed 20 years!! Ha, ha!

To everyone else:
I agree with Ronnie. Be nice.

Ronnie, I see a LOT of people come to STX with stars in their eyes, spending thousands in the process, only to pack up and leave after a few months. One couple after 4 weeks. Left everything behind except their dog.

I think it is more about helping them make sure that they are not making a mistake than trying to keep them away from our paradise for our personal reasons.

Ronnie, I see a LOT of people come to STX with stars in their eyes, spending thousands in the process, only to pack up and leave after a few months. One couple after 4 weeks. Left everything behind except their dog.

I think it is more about helping them make sure that they are not making a mistake than trying to keep them away from our paradise for our personal reasons.

This is why we encourage a pre-move visit. The gloom and doom technique is wrong. You could do that pretty much for any city in the US. Be positive. That's all. That is of course yo don't want anymore people to move to St Croix which is the impression I get. Again JMHO.

I HAVE TO SECOND cruzaniron on this. when specific questions are asked-answers are given. if those answers do not fit with the caribbean dream people have, they get mad.

i doubt that the majority of the things that have been posted on here come from a place of evil intent to keep "outsiders" out as very few people who live here actually came from here.

a pmv is always a good idea if used for the actual intent of living here, though it does not always accurately portray the day to day life. what is quaint one day might become a bit of a drag a year from now.

and ronnie, why with the island bashing. before i even knew i would move here i had people bashing stx to me. it has always been stt doesnt like and continually bashes stx and stx bashing stt. doesnt that get old at all. arent you perpetuating negativity with your comment about a specific island

everyone who wants to live here knows how beautiful it is. thats why they think they want to move here. maybe one too many beers ruminating about how cold and snowy it is while listening to jimmy buffet or kenny chesney and they think it is for them. and while that is true for many it is not for all. because day to day life gets in the way. some people need certain things the islands can not give them.

this board is to inform them of TRUE island living. if that includes some things that are negative, so be it. almost every place a person lives will have pros and cons. same with "paradise"

for most people the good outweighs the bad.

1. i doubt that the majority of the things that have been posted on here come from a place of evil intent to keep "outsiders" out as very few people who live here actually came from here.

2. it has always been stt doesnt like and continually bashes stx and stx bashing stt. doesnt that get old at all. arent you perpetuating negativity with your comment about a specific island

1. The intent may not be there but it's the perception of the outsider looking in which counts. I think that if you re-read many threads very objectively you'll see the point being made.

2. I have to disagree and am doing so very objectively. This has been going on for as long as I've lived here and has always been for me a source of confusion. BUT, the "dissing" of the respective two islands by residents of the other has always been STX loaded against STT. Again, read back over the years and I guarantee that you'll find it so. And this isn't a "perception" but fact.

I agree with Ronnie.