Which island is best for kids?

I doubt that there are any significant differences. Maybe on St. John they get spoiled a little by their rich parents, on St. Thomas they learn to party at an early age, and on St. Croix they need to learn some Spanish and start to worry about the job market at an early age.

Not having lived on either island I always thought the largesd island would have more opportunities for a child to learn and explore. I am also an optiminst and believe STX is coming around and will surprise all off you. :)))
What can I say I have visions. I am not worried for my child to live in a diversed community. After all one does not leave the mainland just to continue to live the way one did on the mainland. Learning spanish is a bonus not a negative in my eye. Heck I might want to go shopping in Porto Rico and Miami and have someone translate for me lol.
Iris

Ms. Curious: I think that the island best for one is different from the island best for the next! There are good and bad points about each island. You should come for a long visit and see what meets your needs.

Thank you all. I didn't mean to start an argument. My husband and I have been several times to all islands but I think we will spend an extended stay on both St Thomas and St Croix before making our final decision. As one of you mentioned.... I also feel St Croix is on the verge of a re-birth and am looking forward to the future. I am also looking forward to the diverse culture; I am a Black Brit and my husband is a White American-I hope we can finanlly find a place where we can blend in and be accepted. Thanks Again!

Ms. Curious,

Stu and I moved here just under 3 weeks ago - we're getting married in May next year and within a year or so, we plan to start a family, so we're in much of the same boat. Honestly, we really didn't look into STX much when we were deciding on an island. We fell in love with STJ but it didn't take long to realize that we just didn't have the $$ it would take to live there happily. So we chose STT on the fact that they have more tourism than STX (which for me, hoping to go into some aspect of tourism, would be a benefit) and that it was closer to STJ, BVI and other great little islands, so that we would have more opportunities to take little weekend or overnight getaways. STX just seemed too isolated for us. In respect to children (disclaimer: this is just info I know on STT, not knocking STX at all), there are some great private schools on STT, including a Montessori school. I've found some pre-natal classes in the paper for expectant parents, including a Le Leche League. Also, I've noticed tons of activities on the island for children, including little music/film festivals, there was a Shrek day thing where "Shrek" showed up, ect. It seems to me, just from reading the Daily News, that STT offers a lot of fun family events. I'm sure STX does too, I'm just saying I wouldn't rule out STT as an option just because of wanting to have children in the future. I ditto someone's advice on spending time on each island before making the decision. Honestly, we didn't spend any time on STX (still haven't been there). We just fell in love with STT on our pre-move visit last spring.

Although, I have to say, if you're looking to buy a home, you might find something more family friendly on STX - a three bedroom would probably cost you less there than here. But you have to look at the job market there as well. And it's just my opinion, but it seems to me that STX has always been on the verge of a re-birth. I'm a little cynical when I hear that - just like you keep hearing that the real estate prices in STT are going through the roof - well, I found a magazine article from 1987 that said the same thing. The house we just bought here in STT sold in the late '80s for just 45k less than what we bought it for - 45k over 15 years isn't exactly a boom.

Janelle

Hello,

I agree that a visit to both islands would be a good idea. There are good private schools on both St. Croix and St. Thomas, so I don't think this factor would tip the scale greatly. Also as far as activities for kids, both islands share many of the same ones (baseball teams, boy scouts, girl scouts, local events that have kids games, school plays...) and each island also has unique ones as well. As far as fitting in; you will find on both islands a diversity of people (most are from the Caribbean, but different islands). One of the differences is that on St. Thomas there are more people of French descent that settled on St. Thomas many years ago and on St. Croix more Spanish influence... however as far as your comment about inter-racial couples; you will find many inter-culture and inter-race couples and kids on both islands... and they are accepted, so not to worry. I think your decision might be based more on which island you prefer as a whole as the two islands are similar in regards to # of good schools and fitting in. All the best with your plans.

--Islander

St John is probably the safest island.. and from there, plenty of families send their kids to Antilles, a priveledged private school on St Thomas.