St. John

iT SOUNDS TO ME THAT YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED EITHER ISLAND.MAYBE I'M WRONG BUT IF YOU HAVEN'T DON'T YOU THINK YOU SHOULD VISIT AWHILE TO

SORRY, DIDN'T FINISH MY REPLY.............. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO ST.THOMAS OR ST.JOHN ? IF NOT YOU NEED TO VISIT FOR A WHILE SO YOU CAN ANSWER THE QUESTIONS YOU HAVE....... THIS SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN LIGHTLY !! THESE ARE TWO BEAUTIFUL ISLANDS BUT MOVING TO USVI'S AND MAKING A LIVING IS NOT THE SAME AS A VACATION.DO YOUR HOMEWORK,,,,,,,,, 1ST ASSIGNMENT.......... GET ON A PLANE AND EXPLORE BOTH, RESEARCH, HOUSING COSTS,JOB MARKET AND SPEAK TO PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE. GOOD LUCK

Second assignment. Buy, read and memorize the Settler's Handbook. I don't think there's another document on the planet that will be as helpful. There will be a test when you get here. :>)

Hello,

The suggestion to visit is an excellent one; there are some people that move without visiting - however a good pre-move visit makes the move much easier because you would have done some on island home work. If a visit is not possiable then do as much reading of boards, newspaper, books, watch videos - anything that will give you more insight into what to expect so that you have a good and accurate picture of what the islands are like.

There are people who live on St. John and work on St. Thomas AND live on St. Thomas work on St. John... I think more of the latter.

The population of St. John was St. John: 4,197 in the 2000 census. Breakdown by where on the island they live:
Central: 746
Coral Bay: 649
Cruz Bay: 2,743
East End: 59

More Statistics on the Islands visit
http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/faq/
and
http://www.vinow.com/move/statistics/

There are several schools on St. John.
Public school students attend the Julius E. Sprauve School in Cruz Bay, which runs through the ninth grade, or the Guy Benjamin School in Coral Bay, for kindergarten through grade six. Public school students take the ferry to Ivanna Eudora Kean High School at Red Hook. Private Schools: Pine Peace School on St. John runs from preschool through the sixth grade. Some students take the ferry to St. Thomas for school. The Coral Bay School is the first independent secondary school going up to 12th grade - I was told that there are some St. Thomas students that come over to St. John to attend the Coral Bay school.

Is the island mostly black or mostly white? Well the population break down for the entire USVI is: Ethnic breakdown; Blacks 78%, Whites 10% and Other 12%. The population includes people from all continents however people of Caribbean ancestry make up the majority at 81% (49% born in the Virgin Islands and 32% born elsewhere in the Caribbean). Persons from the US mainland make up 13%, Puerto Rican 4% and other 2%.

As for St. John in particular I don't have that information, perhaps someone else might. But in general the population is mostly continentals (new and long time) and long time St. John families. The influx of other Caribbean persons like St. Thomas has is not as apparent in St. John - primarily because of national park and higher cost of housing.

St. John has significantly fewer people
St. Thomas: 51,181
St. John: 4,197
and so yes the amount of 'poorer areas' that you might see will be less, and also St. John is almost 3/4ths National Park which means it is protected from development. Crime - St. John has less yes.

The accent takes a bit to get used to. Also some people speak fast and with the accent - so a bit hard to follow. Just ask them politley to repeat what they said. In schools most children speak "properly" - meaning less slang and creolized english. Your son should have no problems talking to class mates.

I hope that helps with some of your concerns.

--Islander

Don't forget the better beaches.....