moving to St. Croix with friends...need advice

you need a car,,,,,,,,,hard to find reasonable short term rent in season .......... also depends on what you want to do for work...... STX is not like the states in regards to seasonal employees

just my opinion

Without a car and for the type of work you plan to do you can really only live in Christiansted area.

Yep... you will need to live either in C'sted and work one of the restaurants/hotels there... or you will need to rely on the public taxi system and live within walking distance to the main roads. Our public taxi system is kinda like an informal bus system here. Most rides are $2.00 rides and you just stand on the side of the road and flag down the taxi as it passes by, then you hop in and share the ride with everyone else and get off at the closest place on the main road to where you are going. This system works pretty well but there is no schedule so you have to plan to be early always... and you are at the whim of the taxi driver if he decides he wants to pick you up or not. "Real" Taxi's are a lot more expensive... you would not normally want to rely on them.

In town in C'sted there are a number of rental places, none of them too great but a lot of people in your position live in town. Count on rent being expensive... and it varys on what you get... if rent is low you can bet the place has problems!

In my opinion this is going to be a tough season... you should try to get a job before you head down here. What do you plan to do.? There are a lot of people vying for those same jobs and they are already here. ...

Good luck though... it can be done, just heed the advice on this board, come with a round trip ticket and money enough to see you through a couple months.

Hi Lalafoya
I'm sure you will get several responses that should help you decide what to do. I hope that you or some of your friends have already spent some time on St Croix. It is very different than you can even imagine. There are some seasonal jobs, particularly if you have experience in restaurant work. Experienced waiters, bartenders and cooks can usually find something fairly soon.

Everything here is very expensive. A two bedroom apartment (if you can find one) around Christiansted will cost you more than $2000 a month. Electric and water might be another $500 more. There is very little public transportation, so you will need a car at least to share with your friends. Most people recommend that you bring at least $5000 to get into a shared apartment and wait for a job. If you come alone $10,000 is probably the right amount. Be sure to have a return airplane ticket.

If all this sounds ok, then you need to read everything that you can about St Croix before you get here. I don't know where you are coming from, but this place might be a real shocker. To start with read all the "moving stories" at the top of this webpage.

Good luck

you need a car,,,,,,,,,hard to find reasonable short term rent in season .......... also depends on what you want to do for work...... STX is not like the states in regards to seasonal employees

just my opinion

I don't know what that means about "in regards to seasonal employees".

Without a car and for the type of work you plan to do you can really only live in Christiansted area.

You can live in other areas. Christiansted is generally the most convenient.

if rent is low you can bet the place has problems!

Very unfair! In general "you get what you pay for" is reasonable, but certainly not always. We have lowered out rents in keeping with the current economy. We still aren't "cheap", but don't pass up what sounds like a good deal, simply because it sounds like a good deal! If you aren't here to look at it yourself, do you know anyone who is?

Sorry about the multiple posts. I'm still trying to get the quote thing down pat....getting there!:-)

seasonal stateside employees can find or are given housing ...by the employer in general...........not a seasonal situation on STX limited jobs and most restaurants are year round.....most of the the good ones............and to get a home a car and all the hook-ups Wapa ect............is not inexpensive,,,,,,,,,,,,thus not seasonal employee friendly,,,,,,,,,,,,...you need a car to enjoy STX,,,,,,,,,,,,,and as I always say just my opinion..........

Juanita generally you have a very good point to make but with this person coming down with multiple people looking to wait tables and not having a single car, c'sted will be the best place for them. C'sted has the most restaurants in the smallest area, the most apartment and they are generally cheaper in down, they can get one bedrooms for around 600. And they can get by without a car easily downtown. They can easily pick up the bus or taxi from town as well, not as easy if you're not.

I'm really sorry you're having trouble finding renters, I had the same problem last dec. My previous renters moved out at the worst time of the year. This board is a great resource but I've always had better luck using the avis to find my renters. Do you advertise in the paper? Also Hovensa has a "newsletter" they send out to all their sub contractors telling them about available rentals, its a good thing to be on. The biggest thing that helps to keep me rented is allowing dogs.

My post about not having to live in C'sted didn't have anything to do with my apartments. We aren't really anxious for a multiple roommate situation. As I said C'sted is the most convenient, you are definitely right about that, but I was simply making the point, that it IS possible to live somewhere else. Don't forget, next year we are expecting cruise ships, so F'sted is a more viable option than before, too. I have also found that young people coming down to work for the season are extremely resourceful when it comes to finding a way around. I will admit that is easier to do on STT than on STX.

I'm not so much having trouble renting apartments as I have a lot of them to rent! We had a corporate client finish up at Hovensa and vacate the entire complex . We never advertised in the Avis before because we didn't have to. We recently put an ad in there and have another coming out tomorrow. It has indeed created more activity than most of my online advertising. I have found craigslist to be the most activity generating, but...the Avis readers are here and now!! Plus, word of mouth, so if you know anyone...send them my way!

We do allow dogs, but we don't want the entire complex to have pets. We try to spread them out a bit.

Sorry I misunderstood. I found the best days to post in the avis to be Wed, Fri and Sun. Good Luck, I will keep my ears open for people looking to rent!

snapper,
That's makes total sense about the seasonal job now. My first time away from home (other than camp) was between high school and college. I went to work at a restaurant in Nags Head, NC. There were little cottages with dorm style bunk beds, etc. One for the girls and one for the boys. What a blast!!