Moving to the Islands

I wouldn't be caught dead living on St. Thomas.
I will keep the negatives off of the site but St. thomas is very nice to visit but I couldnt imagine living there.
I live on St. John and we regard St. thomas as St. Trauma.
St. John is a great island, but kind of spendy.
If you wanna find a place on St. John, come during low season and you should find something in the range of 800 or less. Otherwise St. Thomas is cheaper.
St. John is a small island with little crime and you make lots of friends and come to know most of the locals. Not to mention St. John has the best snorkling and swimming beaches out of all four islands under the USVI.
Low season is June through october but come right away in June and you will find a place to live on st john and if you have to go to st thomas for a job, you are still better off.
Hope I helped.

You might want to also consider St Croix. Chris is right about St John. It's beautiful and expensive. But most of it is National Park. Jobs are more rare there. If you are into rural, St John might be for you. I think St Croix is a nice mix of both St Thomas and St John. It's big enough to have some of the conveniences of the continent. It also has some rural areas. It has some of the best snorkelling and diving I have found anywhere. I can't comment about the night life because that ain't my thing. This is not to say St Croix doesn't have her problems because she does. Get the Settler's Handbook, read all the posts on this board you can find, so you can make the best decision you can. I also STRONGLY reccommend you visit each of the virgins before you make any decision. Good luck

housing on St. John is imposible to find during season but there is a reason it is so sought after. I havent been to St. Croix. I met a few on St. John that moved away.
I go to St. Thomas if I need anything and it is a ferry ride away every hour until like 11pm.
Just another two cents.....

Holly, Perhaps consider attending UVI, the university on St. Thomas. That way you would still be in school, you can take business courses here as well - you would be around other students and other transfer students. And you can find a job as well in a hotel, resort as mentioned in your previous post. (Optionally you can stay at the university or get your own apartment)

If you have not already - order a Setters Handbook, you will have over 150 pages of information about the USVI to read - and its all about moving, living here, whats it like, what to expect..... you can get it at http://www.vitraders.com from the home page.. might get a couple newspapers too so that you can read whats in the news in the VI and so your family can read the materials too (getting the papers is on option when you are getting the book) Moving is a big deal, you family will be nervous - with more information that should help calm nerves. Also have them read through the 'What to Expect' section in the moving guide on this site... it is 4 stories from Mainland Folks who moved to the VI and stayed.

St. Thomas is a great choice for a couple reasons. There is more going on in terms of everything. More people, more buisness - so might be easier to find a job. More apartments; not as costly as St. John; not as spread out as St. Croix. Although those two islands are great as well. St. Thomas seems to work for folks who want to live here for a year or so. What are deciding factors?? St. John would be real good if you can get a work/stay deal with Maho perhaps. And St. Thomas is just a hop away. St. Croix - might want to try the bigger hotels, Diva Carina Bay, Carombola... and see if you can get a rec. management spot... same suggestion for the bigger hotels on St. Thomas. Again not sure what you deciding factors are for the island you choose - perhaps you should think about that and then post what they are so people who live in the islands can suggest which one would best suit what you are looking for. The 4 islands are very different in terms of atmosphere (people, scenery, economy, cost....).

Holly what I might recommend is sit with your family, all the questions you guys come up with - ASK here. More specific the better. As for jobs and housing... hard to do if you are not here - I know that might sound strange, but really what you would need to do is stay in a b&b or hotel for a couple weeks while you find a place and a job. If you call hotels and resorts and look at the newspaper classifieds for jobs you might be able to fax a resume and apply that way and then fly down when you secure a job. You can try that.

Good Luck --Islander

St. Thomas is a great place as are all the Virgin Islands (they all have their charm and they all have their issues, very much like most places) If you are going to mention that folks on St. John call St. Thomas - "St. Trauma" - then you do need to discuss why... so that people who read what you wrote understand. Best bet would be to discuss why you like St. John and what you dont like about St. Thomas. St. John is perserved by the National Park and is wonderful, however the conviences of larger stores, more doctors offices, eye doctors, fast food, WAPA, telephone company, cruise ship dock and everything that goes along with that, less costly price of living, ... does not constitute a tramatic situation, it does constitute more development... And perhaps many folks on St. John prefer St. John because they prefer the quieter atmosphere that St. John offers, the conviences have to exist somewhere - and in the USVI they happen to exist on St. Thomas. So for those unfamiliar with the term that some St. Johnians have warmly bestowed on St. Thomas - it goes to say that the reason is because St. Thomas is more developed and larger and consequently has a larger population and so more traffic and more cars and more people. St. Croix is larger then St. Thomas and therefore offers a bit of both the development of St. Thomas and the quiet of St. John. Water Island offers really quiet!

Lets give a clear picture. Thanks.
--Islander

Islander: You are an excellent diplomat. I am biting my tongue.

Holly: If you are in college, you might look at the UVI website. They do have an exchange program where students come for a semester or a year. The classes are small and there are some unique programs, for example, Marine Biology. Maybe your family would be happier if you could get some college credit while enjoying the Virgin Islands. 😉

Ok, I am a St. Johnian. This website is for feedback and I am giving my honest and true OPINION. Take it as is. True be told, St. John costs more to live. Less crime on St. John. It is less convenient to live on St. John(i.e. if your home doesnt have cable or phone hook-up, it may take a month or two to have it connected). We have everything you need, gas, supermarkets, hardware, shopping, bars, restaurants, beaches, docks, computer access, xlinics, cable,water trucks, tennis courts, etc. Anyhow, it is not like St. John is deprived. I would state it like we have less options...less video rental placesor less banks; you get the idea? St. Thomas is called St. Trauma in my opinion by us because of the reckless abandon people drive, the rudeness of some of the locals, and some of the crime. So when you come from an island that is fairly laid back and most people are fairly polite.......it is somewhat traumatizing to be pushed back and squished in line waiting for a fairy boat to St. Thomas when everyone is budding and pushing in line because they just got off their jobs at a Resort and are in a hurry to get back to St. Thomas. See my point? To go from an island that picks up hikers to an island that has some taxi drivers treat you like you are chattle is quite a big change. See my point? Maybe only St. Johnians understand it.

Thank you Chris for explaining. I know why the term is used and I am familiar with the differences in the mode of St. John daily life and St. Thomas. However most of the readers would not know. And to read Trauma - well gosh that sounds terriable and with no explanation you leave the readers to figure it out... and perhaps what they assume you mean wont be the case. WIth an explanation of your opinion they can understand; and say "Oh St. John is quiet I like quiet should look more into living on St. John" OR say "I like "city like" life, more bustle, options and action the better - St. Thomas is for me" get what I am saying. Or perhaps they would understand lots of pushy taxis because thats what they do for a living and lots of taxis because their are usually lots of visitors...Only wanted you to clarify your opionion, and you did so~ Thanks!

Your post made me think about a young man, late 20s perhaps, early 30s... he told me that he was going back home to the states. When I asked how long he had been on island - he said about 4 months, in any case he said St. Thomas just was not busy enough for him, not enough fast food places, not enough people, not enough groups, not enough stores and malls... I replied that I was quite happy there were not more more more of the things he named.

--Islander

Well, everyone enjoys different aspects of city and or country life.
I think there are give and takes with each. It depends on what is most important to you but I have never minded "the hustle and bustle" of city life. You have to admitt it is kind of a culture shock to go from a St. John way of life and go to St. Thomas.

Yes Chris, there is certainly a big difference between St. Thomas and St. John. And it does definetely depends on what type of atmosphere you prefer or that is important to you. There are other sides to St. Thomas, perhaps your ferry, taxi, shopping experiences have ruined it for you; however you can find quiet, calm, peacefullness here without taxis and ferry and hustle. There is both, perhaps thats why we call Charlotte Amalie the city and everywhere else the country.

--Islander

Hi Holly,

I’d like to add to this thread if I may. I’ve been down to both St John and St Thomas twice now, the last time to help a friend who bought a home on the east end of St. Thomas. In the weeks I was there, I never met a rude person, of any color, or age on either island. I hung out with locals and although the traffic worried me, (they drive on the wrong side) everyone was one hell of a lot more polite on both islands than you’ll likely find most places in the States.

Far as I’m concerned, you can’t go wrong unless you don’t go.

Hi,
I've been reading your comments about moving to the islands and have a few questions. My husband and I got married on St. John last year and were back within four months. We loved it and are planning to move there as soon as possible. The whole "trauma" thing got me thinking. I am an occupational therapist and my husband is an emergency room physician, but we are pretty set on St. John. Is it likely that we will find jobs with Cruz Bay Family Practice or the small hospital on St. John or will we have to commute to St. Thomas?

I am pretty certain the clinics and hospitals in the VI are always looking for new staff. Nurses at least you always hear about being in need. Physicians you don't hear about as often but I believe in the community the reason is that UVI offers nursing as a major so would serve the hospital to advertise their needs locally, doctors would come from the mainland so the openings would more then likely be promoted there. You might want to look at the hospitals web site and contact the Myrah Keating Clinic on St. John and see about openings. Best bet on finding out would be to call and talk to a recruiter or human resources.

As a side note: A physcian that I use on St. Thomas when she first moved to the USVI intended to move to St. John, because of the quiet... however when her husband and her got here they realized that they could find that in St. Thomas and found more job openings and residences on St. Thomas so St. Thomas a more reasonable move for them. So you might want to consider both; in order to keep a larger window for moving possibilites; look at jobs on St. John and also look at St. Thomas so that you have more possibilities and options.

--Islander