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Hey, Im Kevin..im 23 and I am moving to the islands the end of Novmeber. But I am not sure which island I want to go to. I have a college degree in Heavy Equipment and have 6 years welding experience. I originally wanted to move to St. Croix in hopes of finding a job working at the Hess petroleum plant. But I am having second thoughts because it seems like St. Thomas is more of my style island. I am young and enjoy the night life but also want a good career, not a job as a dishwasher during the tourist season. I like the large city life of St. Thomas but I am curious of how employable I would be over there. Is there a demand for anything like my skill on St. Thomas? or should I just stick with St. Croix...
Also...why is everything cheaper on St. Croix??? I would imagine that St. Thomas is more expensive because it draws more tourists but is that the only reason everything is inflated?
Posted : September 24, 2009 2:22 am
You're young! Come down and try one island and if you don't like it, try the other.
The only things cheaper on STX is gas and rent. Not sure of the real reason for either.
Posted : September 24, 2009 10:12 am
Retail rents are cheaper on STX because there is more demand on STT due to the larger tourist base. If retail rents are a lot cheaper, prices in the stores are cheaper. Supply & demand. Gas is cheaper on STX because it doesn't have to go through Puerto Rico to come to STT. There's nothing "wrong" with either island, it's just your preference. I didn't know there was a college degree in heavy equipment but I'm sure you'd have skills marketable on either island.
Posted : September 24, 2009 10:52 am
Gas is cheaper because it is produced on STX.
Rent is cheaper because there are more available units per capita and homes are cheaper for similar reasons and due the the perception of location. Why in any city is the homes cheaper in certain areas then in others? It's because many people would rather live in those areas.
A couple of years ago there was a news story that in the posh area in London, a converted broom closet that was only a couple of hundred square feet big sold as a living space for near a MILLION dollars! What some people will pay to live in or be able to say they live in, is sometimes crazy.
In Scottsdale, AZ they just finished some new condos next to Scottsdale Fashion Square, one of the top ten shopping malls in the world. The 800 square foots units started out at over a million dollars. Of course they had a water view, they overlook they spruced up CANAL. Lol. They all sold.
Posted : September 24, 2009 11:01 am
Topic starter
Thank you for your responses...I see why things are cheaper now, but what do you think about my employee ability on each island???
Posted : September 24, 2009 11:43 am
I say if you can get a job with Hovensa, go for it! Good pay, benefits, etc. Not a lot of job opportunities here with the benefits. You can alway hop over to STT on the seaplane for the weekend, but you will find plenty of friends on STX and find there is an active nightlife here too. Maybe not as much as STT, but how much do you need?
Posted : September 24, 2009 12:24 pm
Good morning Barefoot,
I'm curious -- what does a college degree in heavy equipment qualify you to do? Fix 'em? Drive 'em? Build 'em? If you can tell us more, we might be able to offer better guidance. Welding is always a great skill to have down here.
Posted : September 24, 2009 4:34 pm
