Your thoughts on Fajardo, please!

Fajardo has very beautiful coastline and several marinas. There's also a Walmart, a Walgreens and a cinema nearby. There have been a rash of murders there, which would have been quite rare 20 years ago but tragically is normal now.

May I ask why you would like to relocate? Is it the cost of living in St. Croix? When I was visiting Vieques, a local there told me that many Viequenses had relocated to St. Croix. Is that accurate?

Thank you and good luck.

Hi NomadLawyer, thanks for your response.  There is a large population of Viequenses here on St. Croix; most of them arrived in the 40's to work the cane fields when the US Navy kicked them out of their homes.  They are well established in the community here and many have intermarried with the local Crucians, but they are proud of their heritage and celebrate it.

We're looking to leave St. Croix for a number of factors.  This island is very expensive, electricity is about double what you pay in PR, and because of this it's very difficult for businesses to succeed here and they routinely close. Travel to and from here is a pain because there are very few direct flights (2 daily from Miami, 1 from Atlanta and 1 from Charlotte, in season)and you pay more and it takes twice as long to go anywhere.  There are 2 department stores and they are both Kmart; if they don't have it and you find it elsewhere on island, you'll pay through the nose.  And if you have to order online, many places don't ship here; and if they do then you'll have to add the shipping expense to whatever you buy and wait at least a week to get it.  If you're self-employed there is one international company that will ensure you, there are no US-based insurance plans, and if you need sophisticated medical procedures you'll have to go off-island for them.  So, all these limiting factors start to get to you after a while.

On the other hand, this is a beautiful island, very placid, nice people (despite higher crime rates than PR), nice live music scene.  We've thoroughly enjoyed our time here but we do feel like we're ready for a change. 

We understand PR has its own problems, many of which also exist here (including a depressed economy), but PR doesn't have the issues that I listed above, and it's a bigger island and there are more interesting things to do and more places to get away to, so it sounds to us like a good place to go to next because we're not quite ready to leave the tropics yet!

I enjoyed the Fajardo area when I was there 10 years ago. But alas, many changes have taken place since then. As mentioned, the murder rate along with other crimes have dramatically increased. You might want to re visit your electric rate comparison. PR is currently experiencing rapidly skyrocketing electric and water rate increases. A lot of businesses are folding because they can't afford it. Also it's been mentioned here before that PR makes it very difficult to go into and stay in business. As far as the cheap rents go, there is no "catch". That's one of the things that has always appealed to me so much. If there is any catch, it might be the overall noise level. It's inescapable and it's constant. I don't know how that would compare to St. Croix. But I do have a soft spot for the Fajardo area. It is close to so many different things to do and see. When you are ready to go check the place out, send me a private message and I can recommend a nice quiet guest house in nearby Ceiba that won't break the bank.

Fajardo is pretty nice, depending of course on the area where you live. There are many nice high rise new apartment buildings. If you are in these areas, you will really enjoy it. If you are down in the main town, it will be a little less safe and noisier. However, most of the violence there is related to drugs so if you can steer clear of that scene, your risk for violence is much less. I live in San Juan but have a boat I keep in Fajardo so I go there a lot. It is really busy in the summer but not too bad in the off season. The 7 Seas beach is beautiful and there are a couple of "hidden" beaches you can hike to if you want to avoid crowds. Overall, I think from what you have said that you are well aware of what it is to live in the Caribbean and you would likely enjoy your move to Fajardo.

Fajardo is okay but we prefer Luquillo. Luquillo is about 5 miles from Fajardo on RT3 towards San Juan and if you look at Playa Azul there are 3 high rise buildings that set right on the ocean. Fajardo does have better shopping but we have Amigo grocery store, which is part of Wal-Mart Walgreens and PITUSA which is kind of like a Dollar store. A little further up RT3 you will find 60+ Kiskos, small restaurants, that offer every kind of food you can imagine. Luquillo is a much smaller town than Fajardo but much quitter and San Juan is only about 45 minutes via the new toll road. We have two wonderful beaches one is in front of the Playa Azul complex and is a public beach. A short distance up the road from there is the Balinario which you have to pay to use. Luquillo beach has a rough surf where the Balinario is as calm as your own pool. If you are in PR give Luquillo a look we sure like it there.

Thank you all for your very helpful responses. 

GreggK, overall noise level is a concern of mine in PR, and I'm hoping we can find a quiet corner further away from the metro area.  Electric rates in St. Croix are 51.3 cents/kWh and I believe the current rate in PR is 26 to 29 cents/kWh.  If PR can keep it from rising higher, then we'll be better off in PR.

Other areas of concern that we're investigating are rising individual health insurance rates and rising income taxes.  As I mentioned earlier, St. Croix is also under an economic slump, so it feels a little bit like comparing the lesser of two evils.

Kubla, we are eyeing those new apartment buildings in Fajardo instead of housing in town, so your response is encouraging.
 
Tomd63, when we travel in December, we plan to check out all the neighboring areas and Luquillo is on our list!

http://www.sanjuanweeklypr.com/print.html Another good source for information on PR

When you compare your electric rates make sure your data is very current. According to what I've been reading and the information I get from people I know who live in PR the power and water rates have taken a significant increase recently. Please read the attached article I posted on another thread.  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/life-puer … 11131.html

I'm not too current on health insurance rates. When I was there they seemed pretty reasonable compared to the states. The problem I have is the level of care. I'm a senior(62) and live primarily off of Social Security. My family and I qualified for PR's health insurance program for the economically depressed. Unfortunately we had trouble finding Doctors who would accept us as patients because the government wasn't reembursing them for their services. The other problem with health care is that there is a mass exodus of professionals leaving the island in search of better pay and that includes doctors. I found it odd when my stepdaughter went to the hospital for gall bladder surgery and she had to provide her own sheets blankets and pillows. The hospital doesn't provide those items. If you didn't have a bed pan you could buy one in the gift shop.

It's hard to find a corner anywhere that noise is not a problem. You have loud music blasting from cars just about everywhere, loud four tracks out and about all hours of the night and various other types of noises. You may get lucky and find a spot that is still quiet. They still exist. But it's a crap shoot anymore. My guess is that I will be disputed on one or all of these points. It's not often that two people see the exact same situation the exact same way at the same time. That's why it's so important to go and go several times, both day and night for extended periods if possible. Get your own feel for the place. Listen to everybody's input and take it all into consideration. Your needs, wants and desires are your own and how you feel about PR will be determined by your own personal experiences, not mine or anyone elses.

I don't know what your personal economic situation is but if you own a boat they have the biggest and best marina in the entire Caribbean at Puerta del Rey in Fajardo. There are great family beaches and campgrounds nearby, and of course El Yunque is not too far away. Golfing is close by too.

@cruzan: Thanks for sharing your experiences of living in St. Croix. I'd been to St. Thomas but not the other USVI islands and its interesting to hear about the living situation there.

I agree with GreggK re noise wherever you are. One trick to try to avoid it, other than winning the living-location lottery and just getting lucky that you won't have extremely loud neighbors, is to rent/buy a condo near the top of one of the towers there in Fajardo. Your exposure to noise coming from street level will be greatly reduced. I lived on the 5th floor of an 18 floor tower in Isla Verde and trust me, it wasn't high enough to escape the noise! (Don't even get me started on what my in-laws in the East have to put up with - we're talking industrial noise levels right in front of their house on a daily basis.)

Good luck!

And all that pales in comparison when political season comes around.

NomadLawyer, that is exactly the strategy I'm developing: look for a top floor in a high-rise building and hope the building has enough grounds to act as a buffer, and cross my fingers the neighbors aren't noisy!  Good luck to me!  If all else fails, invest in a company that manufactures ear plugs

If you haven't been to St. Croix, then I would encourage you to come and visit this beautiful island.  It has an undeserved poor reputation for high crime, but it's actually no worse than St. Thomas or PR.  Comparing it to STT, St. Croix is very quiet and less congested, less commercialized and a strong community spirit.  As a tourist, you'll enjoy beautiful beaches, some really nice beach bars with great food and very talented musicians who perform a variety of music (jazz, flamenco, reggae) around the island just about any night of the week.  Most people who make the trek to the island do fall in love with it for all those reasons; and this is what will be hard to leave behind.