Why?

Good question, Michael. I came via liveaboard sailboat. This is the best area for staging your down island sailing adventures, while being legal to work.

Michael,
Your quote "I have my reasons for moving to STX" Well thanks for sharing! Could you be trying to validate your reasons? I live here on STX by choice, because the pace is a little slower, the weather is almost predictable 100% by season. Federal US Laws apply. The beauty of the island can take your breath away. There is no pretensions, of the residents to deal with here. No one cares what kind of car you drive. All the goods and services I require are here. So Why Not! And my wife lives here.

Florida is too much like America. ..with humidity...alligators....and no trade winds. 😉

Well, I lived in Miami for a year before I moved to STT. It is more tropical here and like someone else posted the weather is more predictable. Things are slower paced here. However, I'm planning on leaving soon and going back to Florida. I realized that living here was a great idea in theory but I've found myself homesick for the states and realizing that some of the things I thought I could do without are the same things I miss the most.

29 years ago when i first moved to southwest florida interstate 75 was not open and there were only a couple traffic lights, now...........flyovers and 6 lane highways where there were dirt roads. i still boat every weekend and love the out doors. i bought my present boat from some one leaving here to move to STX. i looked them up on my PMV and we e-mail back and forth a couple times a week now. i got certified to dive, advanced & nitrox now, right after i got back from the PMV. alexandra spent a day showing me the island. my property will be sold any way for another high rise on the bay. my truck is a plain jane work truck, dents & manual windows. i checked out the stores while there (k-mart sure does have alot of luggage) and saw every thing i need. i work construction here and grew up on a small farm in maine. i did my PMV last april-may and still think STX is right for me.

"WHY do many of you pick the islands instead of florida where the climate is not that bad and you don't have to deal with all the inconveniences of it islands"

Michael, that is an interesting question for me. I lived in the islands, though not the VI, before moving to Florida. The first island that I lived on was serious island life. Power cuts every day (I often had to get ready for work by showering under a hose in the yard!), if you wanted to go grocery shopping, you had to make sure you did it on the day that the shipment of supplies arrived etc etc. Besides that, the newspaper is controlled by the Government, and as the island's only industry is tourism, crimes are not reported. However, by the time I left three years later, everyone I knew (myself included) had been the victim of some kind of crime. Despite all that, I was happy. I came from a cold country, and the island weather was perfect, the beaches beautiful, and the culture fascinating.
Then I went to live on an island that had only one tarmac road, the rest were dirt, but it was very safe, friendly, and I think that was one of the happiest times of my life.
Then I moved to Florida. Besides the warm weather, and probably more Caribbean people than I saw in STX (ok, not quite), it is really not similar at all. People work so hard in America, always rushing and stressed. The upside is the shopping, the customer service, and the fact that you can get almost anything you want at any time of the day/night.
When I moved to STX after several years in Florida, I felt a big difference in the lifestyle, even though it was a much more developed island than the ones I had lived on previously. I had been spoilt in Florida! I have come to the conclusion that nowhere is better or worse than anywhere, just different, and what the same person wants can vary at different times in their lives. You just have to decide what is most important to you at that time and make a compromise.

EE nailed it for me. Plus there is fierce lightning in Florida & where I live now (STT) I have a million dollar view for nowhere near a million dollars. It's not as humid either & here I don't need a/c. Wish we had your grocery stores though.

I wouldn't CONSIDER living in Florida! Too Flat, high humidity, crowded in most areas, and not NEAR as pretty as living here! (STT). I have a view everywhere I go and my office is the beach for weddings and views from various villas when I do an arrival for guests (not to mention at home). The flat part of Florida would be my biggest deterrent.
I love the green! Foliage here is gorgeous!
Only thing I really miss is the shopping!
I spent a summer in Aruba (my x, then my hubby worked there for 2 and 1/2 years) and I hated it there! Again, flat, dry, desert, and no view from just about anywhere there except at the hotels on the beach!
I do have to say, when I moved here, I moved cold turkey, never having even visited first. My sister in law moved here and got my hubby a job and wa-la off we went! 24 years now and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

I just got back from 6 days in Miami...after about 4 hours I was ready to come home...no one speaks English, everyone is rude, no "Good morning's", everyone is in a rush, the weather is awful, there is no view anywhere, all flat and boring...and waaaay too many people! I only left the hotel to walk across the street to Burger King! (which was so yummy, BTW!)

My family is in central FL and we always thought we'd end up there when we retired -- you know: get a little house on the St. John's river w/ access to the ocean. Only one problem -- the closer it got the more we realized there are just too damn many people. Yes, we have our rush hour traffic on STX, but you can still get anywhere in relatively short time, compared with the upper 48. Every time I fly into MCO and drive up to my parents' home I'm happier and happier that we chose the VI.

We picked STX over Florida for a couple of reasons: 1) we have contacts in our line of work here; 2) we can have a beautiful view of the ocean at a price more reasonable than Fla (at least b/f the housing meltdown); 3) the pace is much slower, which we were craving after living in the NYC area; and 4) the rest of the world just seems to recede away--after 9/11 its nice to live in a place that seems like an unlikely terrorism target. KJ

With what the people said here, why VI , I'm excited for my first visit either this month or next, and looking forward already to come back for good.

They just told you why!
Why VI? You guys don't really want to come here and crowd the place up. Florida! Florida!

It's really job-related why we're moving to VI. I'm just glad to know that it's worth doing the move... considering the cost of living and all.

Then there is the other side. We came from a quiet little Wisconsin town. Left the doors unlocked and never worried. No trafffic light, the people in the stores knew ya and said "hi" when you came in. We came here for the sun, the snorkeling, and for service at a slower pace.
Today my wife was held up at gunpoint while at work in broad daylight. Racism, nepotism, cronyism are rampant. Rent is high and service in the stores is slow and often rude. Slavery is long gone, but the lackluster work ethic remains. Corruption is rampant, too. They slap their kids and kick their dogs here.
Do I hate it here? Nope. I just see there is alot of work still to do here. Do not come with rose colored glasses. But do come if you can shine a light here. Praise God my wife was not shot like so many others have been. There is tremendous potential here, tons of really great people and it balances the nasty stuff.
The people here do not want "outsiders" to come down and try to change things, but they need it.

Which island?

We're on St X

Geeze, what a horrible thing for your wife to go through. So glad she made it through. Scary.

Antiqueone,

I'm sorry for what happened to you wife.

I find the use of the word "they" oiffense. "they" do this and "they" do that...is painting a whole island with a pretty broad brush. I do not slap my kids or beat my dog. And I have a pretty good work ethic. But perhaps you were not speaking of me.

1. Linda, Thank you for your concern. I really appreciate it
2. I apologize if I offended. As I said, there are lots of really great people here. My concern is of cultural norms. Too often I see young mothers slap at their kids while standing in line, or lash out in anger when they are just being kids. I see too many dogs skittish around humans who have abused them-- these . Yes, there is a movement to try to decrease family violence, but things are not like they were even 10 years ago. I am reminded that "Evil prevails when good (men) do nothing." Time we all stood up and took back our island from the (minority) of ruffians
3. I don't want to steal this thread, so let's get back to the "why", ok?

Where did it happen?

Posted by: antiqueone (IP Logged)
Date: Today, 10:04AM
My concern is of cultural norms. Too often I see young mothers slap at their kids while standing in line, or lash out in anger when they are just being kids. The people here do not want "outsiders" to come down and try to change things, but they need it.

Sorry, but to be blunt, these type of comments are why "they" don't like "us" there...who selected you to be judge of what is best for them and the way some decide to raise a child? Slapping the kids? Big deal, nothing wrong with discipline, maybe that is why their kids are more polite and respectful than a kid on the mainland! IT IS WRONG FOR OUTSIDERS TO BELIEVE "THEY" NEED CHANGE - TO DO WHAT, MAKE IT LIKE THE STATES????

I've seen a lot of kids that needed to be slapped or spanked. Not beaten, of course, but it seems like most of the kids today have no discipline.
I was never beaten but was spanked or slapped many deserved times. I was paddled a few times by my teachers, again deserved, I never told my folks about that, as I would get it again. But if that happened today, the teacher would be fired, the whole class would need counseling, and the parents would sue the school district.
Todays kids are a product of their parents improper upbringing. As it is said, " spare the rod, spoil the child". Again, I am not defending beating a child.

Terry, exactly...big difference between a beating and a slap or paddle. And I agree with "some" of what you said with the exception of it's "ALL" the parents fault, much is, but the silly laws and politically correct that have created a lot of this mess as well. Today, you slap your kid and the sheriff shows up with child services.

In today's world, everybody wants to error on the side of caution; can't get the right drugs for pain because you "might" become a drug addict. You can't discipline your kid because they "might" grow up to become a wife/kid beater. Your kids can't play contact sports because they "might" get hurt. And so on.

OK, my vent~!