StX Crime, healthcare and schools

Hey everyone is so helpful, I feel I should be helpful in return.

I'm comming to work on a large construction site, the actual site is not picked yet and my potential employers are very picky about announcing their own news first (though I think it has already been announced I am not sure), its no big deal just an industrial unit.

I will be on a comfortable salary (at least comfortable for Ireland) and USVI looks considerably cheaper to live than Ireland - we find the USA a REALLY inexpensive place to live (depending on location of course). The private schooling would hurt but could be squeezed in - probably not country day though.

Our plan would be to rent for a period and then buy somewhere nice with the view to having a holiday home or rental unit depending on local taxes laws etc.

And yes you are all scaring the living bejesus out of us. We took TRW's very drole advice and checked previous posts and were scared even more - it all sound like a sunny belfast in the 1970s.

Of course I will be visiting before I put pen to paper. Its just that my firm has requested me to relocate to a choice of a number of places including Dubai, Seattle, Paris and the Virgin Islands. Dubai is too hot, Paris is too french (it may be closer than the USA but our cultures are way too far apart. So its down now to Seattle and USVI - seemed like a very easy choice for a few years. We were expecting something like Maui.

Well, if you're here for only 2 years, schooling would only be for the oldest & there are public schools your younger ones would probably do fine in for kindergarten & first grade. But check out the island & make a decision then after talking to people in real life when you're here.

nene,i've been here for about 14 years owned a house for 8,trade for over 20,betty and linda for a few years,i know so many people that have not been victims of crime,i know more non victims than i do victims,god lizard's been here since christ was a child,but the one thing i think we've all learned is too be aware of your surroundings,stay out of places late night where too much alcohol and attuitude may be involved,respect the people you encounter on the streets,i think we have like 6000 statesiders living here,the territory gets about 3 million visitors a year,we get alot of snowbirds here as well that live here over the winter and the vast majority do not live in fear,if they did why would they bother to return year after year and why would we all bother to live here.

If you are expecting the USVI to be like Maui, you are in for serious disappointment. You must visit before you decide.

Hi. I am thinking about moving to St. Croix. I have "heard" that drug crime there is pretty bad. I was a U.S. Diplomat in South Africa -- we had guards, electric fences, alarms, etc. Is it that bad? Can my wife and I we walk hand-in-hand along the streetsbeaches without worry? Are there a lot of break ins? Theft in general? Any info you could give would be really appreciated. Thanks in advance

Hi -- I saw your response and asked someone for info on St. Croix. I too have heard about the crime there. But my question for you is about Ireland. My son's girlfriend is irish and He has asked me to to meet her -- during Christmas. Exactly how COLD will it be?

NeedTheBeach.................this isn't S Africa!!!!!
The are NO GUARDS, ELECTRIC FENCES, WILD GANGS DRESSED IN CAMIES W/AK 47!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The West Indy People here are very good honest people who work really hard. They are generally friendly and helpful, and would like to be treated with respect. Some times it may seem they are a lil stand off-ish, not really, just cautious. They have lived under 7 different flags, witnessed many changes and lived hard lives. As they try to make a life for them and their families, strangers come to this island to enjoy its many treasures and rum. The strangers get drunk, wild & disrespect the local people and their home land. But if you come to the islands and really repect it and the many people here, it truely is paradise.

Crime is high, but usually it's local on local crime. You can thank MTV for that...........gang banger vids!
And just use your head mon, don't go to rough places at night or alone.
Lock your car doors .......your house.........blah blah.......don't talk to a scary stranger......blah blah blah

Treat people how you want to be treated

need the beach a bit off topic but what the hey.

Irish winter will be anywhere from 12 degrees Celcius to -3 anything outside this would be unusual.
Normally christmas is rainy and about 5 degrees celcius.
If you need more info feel free to PM.

You can thank MTV for that...........gang banger vids!

Good one! I like it 😀

Less to do with gang banger vids and more to do with poverty, poor education (no future), single moms with too many kids, etc..

What do you mean no future???? These kids live in America, the land of hope and opportunity. My mom was a single mom with 3 kids & we were dirt poor farmers. She worked 2 crappy jobs and put herself thru nursing school in order to provide better for her family.
If the schools are bad down here, then together as a community they should be fixed. Don't just do a sick out or strike, grab a paint brush, broom, mop & show up before the 1st day of school making sure your class rooms are ready.Parents need to take more responsibility then just making babies. And yes MTV , VH1, BET , all the music channels glorify guns, violence & make women darn near naked sex toys that are called hos & treated with disrespect.
If we the adults, continue to think with that mind set (no future) and convey that to the children...............then yes I suppose there is no future.
Children are the future & its the adults that get involved, inspire, mold and prepare our youth not the nay sayers who turn their back saying its not their problem. Betty please don't take this as a personal attack on you, its not.
Just being poor, single mom or little education hasn't stopped many great people in this country, so lets not let it stop the good people of the Virgin Islands.......or any child in the US & its territories!

climbs off soapbox

Nene, I'm going to get flamed to hell and back for this post but I can tell by reading the thread that you need to trust your instincts: stay the hell away from St Croix. In my time in the Islands I couldn't find a single person that didn't want to leave as soon as humanly possible and I can't imagine packing up my entire life and family with small kids to move across an ocean to be met with the kind of misery that only the USVI can provide.

St Croix and St Thomas are absolutely filthy, run down as if they both got hit by Hugo yesterday, and completely overrun with crime and drugs. St John is worth consideration, but even that is pretty hard to defend. Don't get sucked into it the same way the rest of us did with the "America's Paradise" tagline and the idea of laying around on tropical beaches with a drink with a little umbrella and whatnot. Take the worst elements of the extreme inner-city and throw it all onto a tiny island in the middle of nowhere with a few really nice beaches and bing boop you've got the USVI.

The quip about "we don't wear bullet proof vests to get milk" almost made me fall out of my seat laughing. Yeah my roommate also thinks the idea of wearing bullet proof vests is ridiculous, when they robbed him at gunpoint at 11am in front of a busy business area they weren't pointing the guns at his chest, they pointed them at his head. Don't bring your kids here, pick Seattle.

OK regulars, commence tearing me apart and flowering up the reality of America's Hellhole and continue telling yourselves that "crime is everywhere, not just here."

I think before anyone takes advice from anyone they should check their number of post and see how many productive/informative post they have contributed... both negative and positive.

Way too easy to create a name to antagonize.

Before anyone let's there feathers get ruffled....let the poster get a few under his/her belt.

I think before anyone takes advice from anyone they should check their number of post and see how many productive/informative post they have contributed... both negative and positive.

Way too easy to create a name to antagonize.

Before anyone let's there feathers get ruffled....let the poster get a few under his/her belt.

Word. What a sad post.

My wife, daughter and I have been on StX for just a short time and the people couldn't be nicer.
Virtually everywhere we go, people are courteous and helpful. Seems like everyday we meet new people who want to strike up a conversation, -at the gas station, fruit stand, at a local soccer match (they love the game down here).

And much to my family's dismay, I like to stop and talk to "the help" whenever we go to shop or eat out. Unlike up in the states, I find the people down here usually happy to shoot the breeze with you. Had a big "barbecue talk" with a bartender last night and bbq isn't on his menu; went to get insurance and ended up helping a gal from Trinidad with her son's computer. the guy who opened our checking acct invited me to go fishin. The key is to actually talk and ask questions, not just stand there and mumble niceities.

The families, teachers and kids at my daughter's school have been FAR more friendly than our stateside public school community. When the orientation meeting ended, several kids came up to my daughter, grabbed her and took her around to introduce her to all the other kids. We were invited out to dinner the next two nights by families. My wife says the local RNs she works with in her unit at Juan Luis are a riot, and have been talking to her about their families, foods, and customs, -even bringing things in for her to taste.

At Off the Wall for pizza the other night, two longtime local guys heard us talking about looking for a mexican restaurant, -and proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes divulging their favorite restaurants and life details, invite me to play golf with them, AND THEN they gave us their cell numbers "in case we had any questions."

One of the things I like MOST so far about meeting the locals on StX is the way MOST of the local Crucian MEN (black and white)acknowledge each other here. They make eye contact and nod and say something to you. Up north people are in a rush to grunt and pretend you're not there.

Found a friendly relaxed church. And have been able to get in plenty of beach time in and around our jobs, countless errands, and the storms.

Having said all this, part of the key is to come down with the right attitude, a decent income/job so you don't have THAT pressuring you everyday, and the ability to live in a halfway decent neighborhood so you don't have to worry. Oh, and "leave your self-centered, angry, impatient, unfriendly and empty-wallet ass behind." ..."the keys" to living ANYWHERE 😎

I agree with Yearasta. I am all for showing both the up and down sides of the islands, even with my particular bias towards what I witnessed throughout the 80s, but wapa-schmapa sounds like a troll to me.

Life is life, with responsibilities, no matter where you go.

wapa, if you really did live on STX, do you have nothing good to say about the islands? Yes, I know many of the locals on the island generally do not like Continentals, but there are just as many good locals as bad.

I do miss the islands. I know I can never live there again.

Yeah, another troll. That's OK. I've lived here 26 years BY CHOICE and loved it but it's certainly not for everyone. Don't forget we get a commission for every sucker we talk into coming down here. :@)

I really don't think its a troll. I've heard this opinion before. Usually its from Hovensa guys that don't really want to be hear, but the money is too good to pass up.

I have also heard this kind of opnion from people who did not do a pmv, or do any research. or realize that this is not paradise just another place to live that does have crime and a high poverty rate.

The islands are what they are, and they are MOST definitely not for everyone.

Oh, come on. First post slamming everything on 2 islands and then: OK regulars, commence tearing me apart .

Well sometimes you guys do tear apart people with negative views of the island. I can see how someone would create a new screen name so it wouldn't be associated with their old. I know when I post things that the people who absolutely don't believe anythings wrong here aren't going to like it and I'm going to get ripped a new one. I can like a place and find fault with it and talk about it, doesn't mean its not my home, I just know my home has problems and have seen enough new comers here hate it here after a year or two. That's really the part that's the hardest for me, loosing one or two friends every year. It does make it hard after a while to keep trying. But if you stop trying I think it would be worse.

Less than a month or so ago I was attacked for being too negative. Guess you missed those posts.

Nene,
This place isn't perfect but its fare from the hell that wapa-schmapa describes. Not to generalize as I've only spent a few weeks in Ireland, but when I went there I was reminded of STX in many ways. The calm, laid back, and friendly attitude I encountered in Ireland is very much like life here in STX. I especially identified with life in Dingle if that gives you a frame of reference. My wife even jokes as near the gym we belong too there is a big open green field looking across the island at green mountains that for a second make us feel like we are back in Ireland.

There are a lot of things that American's would find fault with here that I don't think European's would have as much problem with. The service at Restaurants to me is more European as I mentioned in another thread. We don't have the bargain basement discount stores and prices here are higher, but they are still not as high as the EU with VAT etc. Many American's, myself included, can't stand the idea that they are "paying too much." It drives me nuts, and I do order a lot of stuff online and plan so that I bring stuff back from the states, but I somehow don't think that the American cheapness is as bad in folks from Europe.

Don't get me wrong, I have my bad days when I really wish I was back in Washington DC. Speaks more to my inclination to live in a big city though more than it does to this place. The community of people here are awesome, it is the ultimate "small town" as we can't just drive off island for a weekend so we have to stick together and help each other. I am often in way over my head, especially since buying a house here and having to learn about roof painting, cisterns, pumps, flora and fauna, etc. but there is always plenty of help from my friends and neighbors. It really is a very friendly place to live if you are open to helping others and making friends.

Sean

I don't know what "American cheapness" means, and I'm sure we could start a real debate on who is "cheap", but don't forget the exchange rate. Makes living anywhere the dollar is used look good to Europeans. However, I assume nene will get paid in US dollars, but if not, well this could really be an inexpensive place to live. Get paid in Euros, and live in a place with no vat, sounds like a winner.

The Euro against the dollar is currently going down as is the GBP. I think the American cheapness thing only meant the WIDE variety of discount places Americans are privy to, not that American's are inherently cheap vs Europeans. 75% off sales at places like Dillard's, TJ Maxx, Marshall's & outlet stores for name brand items & Wal-Mart, Target & stores like that. We sure are lacking in those types of stores or shopping experiences - darn it. 🙁

We moved here from the mainland two months ago and, while we absolutely love it here, agree those are the three big issues.

Schools – private are better, but spendy. My wife teaches at The Manor School and our two school-age kids go there. It's a good school, not as pricey as Country Day or Good Hope and it has a good program and some excellent teachers. There are other choices as well.

Crime – It's all about being prepared and being smart. Don't walk around residential areas at night, stay out of situations where you know you'll be okay, and it should be all right. Three of my daughters made that mistake and were robbed. I should have said, no you can't go out, it's dark. I didn't and we paid r it. It was a relatively cheap price for the lesson considering how it could have gone, and now we know better. Most, virtually everyone I've met here, has been wonderful and it's the people more than any other single factor that make us feel we made the right choice in moving.

Health – Don't have much to add here, been on the island only two months. All I can add is the note that my mother in law found a doctor she absolutely loves, and a pharmacy that goes above and beyond the call to get her prescriptions filled at the lowest possible cost. So there's that.

We love it here, when we stepped off the plane we felt like we'd come home. Hope you have the same experience.

LOL, Trade, you understood exactly what I was saying. I'm American and I am largely proud of our cheapness. To me it means that we just look for the best value. But the downside is this often leads to a "race to the bottom" in terms of service. Those who want to get average or good service have a hard time as people segregate into 2 groups, the wealthy who pay a lot and shop at Nortdstrom's and the rest who rummage sale racks at TJ Maxx. Ok there are Macy's type places that cater to the rest of us (in the mainland) and I am exaggerating, but compared to my experiences in Europe, we American's are always looking to make our $$$ go as far as possible in terms of how much we can buy. Many forget to enjoy the spending of the $$$ and instead stockpile mass quantities of junk.

It is STILL hard for me to pay even $10 more sometimes for something here than I know I can get it for in the states....it is something I'm trying to get over but my "American Cheapness" makes it tough. Many of my collegues are the same way. My observation is that European's in general aren't as inclined to feel this way.

Hope that makes some sense,

Sean