Reality Check for Anyone Thinking of Moving to VI this Year

Hmmm, wasn't there less drama the past 6+ months, now it's back, wonder what the common denominator is?

We're visiting STX in June, part PMV, part vacation. Our move would still be another year away. I hope the VI is doing everything it can by then to attract new residents and investment, but you have to take care of the current residents first.

Best wishes!

We're visiting STX in June, part PMV, part vacation. Our move would still be another year away. I hope the VI is doing everything it can by then to attract new residents and investment, but you have to take care of the current residents first.

Best wishes!

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS LAUNCHES 150-DAY MARKETING PLAN

I wonder why she came back.....

If this experience has reinforced anything for me, it's that everyone has a different lens. Shortly after the storms there were several posts on forums and blogs that painted a really horrible picture of what was going on here on STJ. And to some extent, that still continues.

Forums like this are not news sites. They are a place for all of us to share our personal experiences and thoughts. My 'fact' is likely not your 'fact' so sticking to the 'facts' is just not what we do here. We share our experiences with one another.

East Ender, we do have some great restaurants here! I went to Ocean 362 recently and had a fantastic meal. I'm glad that Morgans Mango is back up as well! My company did the rebuild there, and it turned out wonderfully if I do say so myself 🙂 For the most part, the tourists we have had have been great! Lots of people refusing to give up their STJ vacation and even spending a couple days of it helping out in some way.

There is no need for personal attacks against Alana33, she is stating her opinions on the situation at hand. Let's be honest here the roads, internet and cell phone service was bad even before the hurricanes. Everyone here has experienced temporary electrical shortages that is why people have generators.
The people who attacked Alana never responded to her comments about medical insurance or the absolute outrageous food prices or the state of the education system. She did not mention the crime rate which remains high. While it's true there have been some improvements there is still allot of work to be done and little is gained by attacking someone who is voicing their opinions.

You know I was thinking about the roads yesterday and remember many years living in eastern PA when the roads in some cases highways were just as bad as in the VI and for extended periods before they were fixed. Mainly due to all the ice and snow but nevertheless bad.

(tu)(tu)(tu)

There is no need for personal attacks against Alana33, she is stating her opinions on the situation at hand. Let's be honest here the roads, internet and cell phone service was bad even before the hurricanes. Everyone here has experienced temporary electrical shortages that is why people have generators.
The people who attacked Alana never responded to her comments about medical insurance or the absolute outrageous food prices or the state of the education system. She did not mention the crime rate which remains high. While it's true there have been some improvements there is still allot of work to be done and little is gained by attacking someone who is voicing their opinions.

Alana speaks of her own personal experience on STT northside right now. But for the entire VI, not so. Hurricane damage and recovery varies from island to island, neighborhood to neighborhood. I feel Alana's pain and recognize her struggle, anger and sadness in having to put it all back together, once again.

Lack of individual medical insurance was not caused by two hurricanes. It is caused by a lack of vision or care by the government in providing access for all - EVEN though Gov. Mapp states there is medical care for all since the two hospitals are owned and operated by the VI government.

That percentage of younger people who own and work in small businesses - those with entrepreneurial talent and the desire to build something - are left out/priced out of the current coverage equation in the VI.

The limited non-ACA health insurance policies Trump recently proposed could help the healthy with coverage in the VI.

There is no need for personal attacks against Alana33, she is stating her opinions on the situation at hand. Let's be honest here the roads, internet and cell phone service was bad even before the hurricanes. Everyone here has experienced temporary electrical shortages that is why people have generators.
The people who attacked Alana never responded to her comments about medical insurance or the absolute outrageous food prices or the state of the education system. She did not mention the crime rate which remains high. While it's true there have been some improvements there is still allot of work to be done and little is gained by attacking someone who is voicing their opinions.

I may not agree with Alana on a political level, well documented here, but her views are not wrong on this post.That's because they are her views. There was no need for personal attacks for her having her opinions on this subject. We all know the virgin islands has a crap load of issues. The hurricanes didn't help matters at all

Thank you, all!
Various others have also chimed in on conditions on STJ, STT and STX from their viewpoints.
It's what this forum is all about.
It's good to hear what others are experiencing and give a "heads up"
to those contemplating a big move.
Peace!

But misinformation and opinions may not be what people are looking for when contemplating such a move.

I obviously can't speak for everyone, but personally I prefer the truth. Even an ugly truth is preferable to distorted "Fake News"
Give people the facts and let them form an opinion for themselves.

Those were facts as experienced by those writing and chiming in on conditions that they've found where they live.

As a point of information: St Croix had one storm. St John took the brunt of Irma, and St Thomas got a bad hit also.

Not having hotel guests is hard on our economies. Living with mountains of galvanized roofing and refrigerators is tiring.

Valid points to remember. And STT had a lot more to lose in terms of hotel rooms. STX has far fewer hotels to begin with and only two large ones. Lots of condos and villas for rent and most condos on STX sustained little damage.

True. But its coming back.
Irma's southern eyewall cut directly across STJ, then across STT from Redhook to Est. Pearl. Irma was also a 185mph storm. So the recovery is gonna take a bit longer than STX.

I just joined this site and I gotta say that even the raw truth helps. Even with what people say is negative. May still help in the the decision to move to USVI. With all the positive things that are said the negative things help one weight the decision. I gotta say tho I am in. Thank you everyone.

Welcome to the forum, Sissie.

Hope you will enjoy living in the VI.
We're not back to normal but we're getting there, slowly.

Good luck to you on your relocation.

Glad to hear STX is back to normal by so many people. Just curious do you all live east??

Happy to hear... does that also mean y’all quit complaining about STT always getting everything? HAHAH! Sorry I had to! Still no internet here and roads are F-ed northside. They did just patch some but literally worst patch job ever, the patch by the spring waterfall past EM is laughable! I actually think it’s worse!!! Hahahah.

Power has been popping off pretty consistently northside, usually two - three times a week for a coupe hours but hey I’m SUPER glad to have any lol. I do need internet ASAP. Tethering cell for now and have a ATT WiFi box thing but only works when everyone is at work 10-4.

The one thing that I am noticing in STT more than ever is that since the hurricanes people are littering more than I’ve ever seen in five years. I pulled out nearly 40 pounds of trash from Brewers in one snorkel day. I’ve been picking up full bags of trash on the side of the road taking them to the dump on my way. I was driving down by Haven site yesterday and noticed all of the trash in the medians. Since the hurricanes people are littering more than I’ve ever seen in my five years. I pulled out nearly 40 pounds of trash from Brewers in one snorkel day. I’ve been picking up four bags of trash on the side of the road taking them to the dump on my way. I was driving down by Haven site yesterday and noticed all of the trash in the medians. I feel like it’s way worse after the storms.

stx has the same problems as stt

All the cutting back of the bush here on STX is embarrassing. i can't believe how much trash is in the bush. And yes people are still having parties on the beach and leaving their trash.

Same old, same old. Some things will never change.

The Northside of St Thomas was hit very hard by both storms. The terrain is very hilly and wind gusts were higher than reported so lots of damage.

The neighborhoods in and near town had services restored pretty quickly because many utilities are underground. Neighborhoods in "country" are usually the last to get services restored.

The roads from my house to downtown St Thomas are mostly fine except for one bad patch of maybe 50 feet or so. In fact, after the feds replaced a badly damaged road about 5 years ago, it's been pretty good.

There is debris at many of the damaged homes in my neighborhood, but the residents removed most of the plant debris and damaged household items.

Some of my friends who live in town had power within days so we hung out there and watched DVDs. As old school as they are they can keep you sane after a storm.

Most people are pretty satisfied with the Viya portable wifi that was distributed to their existing cable customers, but signal isn't that great if you want to share the connection. I do miss my unlimited internet but I can get on enough to keep me from going crazy. I rarely see a business that can't accept credit cards, so the providers seem to be providing adequate service.

One big problem is finding reliable contractors since they're very busy now.

Some of the condo complexes survived with little damage but they had to wait for power unless individual units had generators. Many single women I know had problems with the generators that have the pull cord starter, so keep that in mind when considering purchase.

Power has been popping off pretty consistently northside, usually two - three times a week for a coupe hours but hey I’m SUPER glad to have any lol. I do need internet ASAP. Tethering cell for now and have a ATT WiFi box thing but only works when everyone is at work 10-4.
.

WAPA has been posting a lot of unplanned outages on STT/STJ due to various generator and distribution problems. They've been posting about planned temporary outages on STX shutting various feeders for upgrades.

Many single women I know had problems with the generators that have the pull cord starter, so keep that in mind when considering purchase.

Starter fluid

Scubadoo, what is starter fluid and what does it do?

Scubadoo, what is starter fluid and what does it do?

Starting fluid is a volatile, flammable liquid which is used to aid the starting of internal combustion engines, especially during cold weather or in engines that are difficult to start using conventional starting procedures. It is typically available in an aerosol spray can. Remove the air filter cover and air filter and give it a squirt or two into the carb before starting.