Read This Article If you are considering Moving to PR

Devastating

At first me and my fiance wer gonna live in Pr, but she told me the same thing as the article says, economy is crashing, and this is just the beginning. So we decided to live in Belgium instead.

Yeah, very depressing. Too bad, the island has potential. It works for me and my wife because we are retired (read: don't need a job to survive) and our place costs $300/month utilities included. It seems that the government goes out of it's way to make it difficult to live there and/or start a small business. I have friends that have or are starting small businesses and the government seems to go out of it's way to discourage them. So I ask myself, why would anyone want to start a business in Puerto Rico? But I do like the weather, the culture, and surfing.

I agree that the island has plenty of potential. But Victor, you already know what it's like there and have made the adaptations and adjustments. Most of my comments are directed at those who don't have a clue what it's like there but think it might be a cool idea to move to. I try to warn them about things like what is in this article and I get chastised for being a "naysayer" while they like to have the glass half full outlook. That's not helping the uninformed one bit. The reality is that the island is falling apart both physically and financially. But shhhh... don't say anything negative. All of you that live there will at some point be profoundly affected by the progression of deteriorization of the entire island's infrastructure and ways of doing business. Take Victor for example, if you are "renting" a place for $300 a month including utilities, how long do you think it's going to take before your landlord raises rents sky high because of the skyrocketing increases in water and electricity? But my hope lies in the fact that the Puerto Rican people have an amazing ability to figure out how to persevere. The only big drawback to that is they can't seem to figure out a way to agree on anything. Those Expats that live there now have become accustomed to the culture and are familiar with the way things are done. It's easier to deal with once you have the experience. But if your head is full of idyllic dreams and your feet aren't planted firmly on the ground, someone or people in general should provide some realistic information from all angles to provide people with some balance.

And no, I'm not totally negative. If I were 20 years younger I'd be in Rincon designing and building surfboards. I'm one hell of a sculptor and graphic artist. How are the waves lately?

Sorry, but once again moving to PR is no big deal.   It has problems like anywhere, but hardly earthshattering.  For the most part life here is better than most places on earth for multiple reasons.
Most everything is easily worked out once one gets established.  Not knowing Spanush us really no impediment.
One major problem could be employment.  Unless you have a job to come to, the going will be tough.  Still, you can find some shack by the beach, eat coconuts and bananas and live free!    Actually, there are benefits for the poor including pretty decent free housing.  A poor Anglo aquaintence of mine from Florida actually got the PR govt to build him a free house.

Ps:   The big increase in water utilities everyone worried about was actually about two to three dollars, not much when water was only ten dollars a month anyway.

jayr717 wrote:

One major problem could be employment.  Unless you have a job to come to, the going will be tough.  Still, you can find some shack by the beach, eat coconuts and bananas and live free!

That's exactly what most people need, a job.
Living in a shack by the beach sounds wonderful. Commuting to the next intersection to beg for money shouldn't be a problem. [/sarcasm]

jayr717 wrote:

Actually, there are benefits for the poor including pretty decent free housing.  A poor Anglo aquaintence of mine from Florida actually got the PR govt to build him a free house.

Don't tell that to poor locals - they might want a free house, too. If they're lucky they get a place to live in one of the public housing projects where you have to fight to survive.

Ahh,,,, a little shack by the beach, spending your days eating bananas and coconuts. That is if the rats don't get to the bananas first. What a wonderful way to while away the hours. I guess you could wash your dirty clothes in the ocean. I wonder how many shacks by the ocean are free, move in ready and unoccupied. Many I'm sure. A house built by the government just for a poor gringo, and free no less! I'm not denying it didn't happen, it just sounds a little fishy. And yes don't let any of the poor Puerto Ricans find out cause they will want to know why he could get one and they can't. If you are poor and lucky enough you can get into public housing otherwise known as the "Casa Rio". If you are Anglo it's definitely a place you don't want to be walking down the street at night. I've been to several of them in various parts of the island. I was left alone only because my wife was Puerto Rican.  Puerto Rico is not an amusement park. It can be extremely fun and turn extremely dangerous in a second. Don't know how true it is but I heard they are going to outlaw begging for money at the traffic lights. There goes paying the electric bill for the shack on the beach. That makes it tough to find out what creepy things are crawling across your body in the darkness in the middle of the night while you are sleeping.

Yes you need a job. Once you get one you can then branch out into other things (legally) if you are creative and industrious..Two or three dollars in utility increases? Tell that to the business in Rincon that folded because they couldn't pay their $6,000 water bill because it was raised so high so quickly.

I'll say it again, BE PREPARED! That means financially and mentally. Visit several times, educate yourself on the culture and the way of life there. Make an informed rational decision. Living there can be a wonderful experience or a nightmare.

Of course the shack on the beach was a joke, but it could concievably be done here unlike in Mexico where you wouldn't last a night.  The story of the free house for the Anglo is true--I know him and I know he continues to exist on the many benefits obtainable here in PR.
Another very important point us that most public housing in smaller towns is quite nice,:even excellent.  Some of it is quite new and well designed.  There are many older projects that are very well kept and places anyone could live in comfortably.  Of course there are bad projects, but those I have seen everywhere in mainland US cities are often much worse.  Much of the agreeableness of the surroundings has much to do with the tenants.  Better tenants keep the places up very welll.
Utilities are not expensive here (garbage collection is free).  I have multiple accounts at different locations with both water and electric, and reasonable use results in billings from $20 to $50 per month.  If, however, you have severe leaks of water you may exceed normal usage and get dumped into a different rate.  It is true that the water utility often makes seriou mistakes

(continued) in billing.  I have never lived anywhere where utilities were as cheap as in PR.
All my friends in the states complain about severely deteriorating conditions from crime to employment.  I think this is simply part of the times and experienced most anywhere.  PR has problems, but certainly no worse than anywhere.
I am pleased to see that my refutation of the doom and gloom has been supported by others who love it here, not try to knock it continually.
By all means have a job lined up anywhere you move, but Puerto Rico in
many ways us far superior to many locations in the states.

Let's get some numbers..

Electricity in the 50 states in 2012: http://www.eia.gov/electricity/sales_re … table4.pdf
The highest is Hawaii (37.34 ct/kwh) next is Alaska with 17.88 ct/kwh. All other states are cheaper - many have a price under 10ct/kwh.

My power bill for November 2012 was  $ 135.15 for 529 kwh.  That's 25.54 ct/kwh
My last power bill was $ 125.58 for 488 kwh. That's 25.79 ct/kwh

Cheap? i don't think so.

My last water bill for 15.5 m3 was $ 30.35. ($2.02/m3)  In  June of this year I paid $16.90 for 15.5 m3
The price almost doubled!

I can scan my bills and post them here if you don't believe me...

More numbers? OK...

"Puerto Rico’s median income in 2012 was $19,429, compared to $51,371 in the United States. To make matters worse, the unemployment rate is at 13.9 percent."

"In the midst of this economic malaise, the island’s poverty rate is at an all-time high of 44.9 percent. Now, in comparison, Mississippi has the highest poverty rate on the mainland of the United States at 24 percent. Puerto Rico has almost twice the number of people in poverty as the worst state in the United States."

The above quotes come from http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opinio … erto-rico/

Well put response. I do have a considerable amount of negative things to say about PR. But it's like I tell everyone else. Go way back and read all my posts and you will find that I have also had a considerable amount of good things to say about the island. I usually try hard to keep a balance. But for some reason a good portion of people zero in only on the negative stuff I say. I only spent a year there and I dealt a lot with a very seamy side of the population. I spent a considerable amount of time as a stray dog rescuer and I encountered horrific situations. I buried 5 beautiful dogs in my backyard while I was there. Some were run over (on purpose, one was poisoned, and another died of leptospirosis which is a disease you can catch from rat piss (that's why you don't want to eat the bananas after the rats have been at them cause the disease will kiil you) and we rescued 18 before we left. I was ridiculed by neighbors. had physical encounters with them (even a guy with a baseball bat.and was harrassed as a result. They all thought it was funny. Fortunately we were able to keep one and bring her with us. The noise was bothersome because of the caravanas that went by the house constantly during political season. And the next door neighbor had a speaker truck he used to play with in his driveway in the mornings. But I was involved in some other things too and met and befriended some absolutely wonderful people. If you are paying that little for electric, you either use almost none, have your own system or are hooked up illegally(lots of people do that). I can tell you that $25 a month is not even close to the average. You wouldn't happen to live in Arecibo near Utuado would you? I know a Jay that I was friends with in Rincon . He paid about $25 a month for power but used little light at night, no TV or internet, had generators and a solar panel. My negativity is aimed mostly at those who have nothing , know nothing about the island, the people or the culture but still want to come There anyway just because it seems like a cool thing to do.. Most people aren't like our good friend williamusps. What a great story teller. He sure can make lemonade out of lemons in just about any situation. I admire him for his positive outlook, sense of adventure and tenacity. He's inspirational to us all. He does have one advantage though that most people who want to move to PR don't have and that is a good job. It's a lot easier to do the things that he and his family do on a postmaster's salary. Most of us who want to live there don't have that financial luxury. Things like that can sure make a big difference in how you can experience Puerto Rico. And by the way, for those of you who may see me as a malcontent, I am a Navy brat and have moved many times and made the adjustment just fine every time. Just couldn't find a way to do it in PR. It's not bad or good, it's just the way it worked out.

Gary, I love it when you back things up with facts. So how come you aren't a naysayers too? Just think, this all started with a legitimate news story that I posted. And it wasn't biased or made up.by me. .

Some people obviously don't read the news and don't want to see the negative sides of this island. I prefer to look at the complete picture...

The article you posted is sad but true.

Having said that, I still like the place and I'm happy here in our bario in  the mountains of eastern PR.

It is astounding what you pay.  I have had utility bills for over thirteen years here, and only once did I pay over $45-50 per month for electric or $11(septic)- 21 (sewer) and that was when I operated a restaurant.  Even then there were never water over 40 or electric over 60--for a restaurant!!
A few people have mentioned hig utilities to me.  They usually have a big family and are wasteful with electric and water use like clothes washers and dryers operating several times daily.  Possible leaks, too.
My buildings and homes are completely electric (no gas), and I have much lower utility costs than when I lived in Florida.
If someone has high utility bills hsve the contador (metre) checked--this is another possible problem.

Stastics, statistics--many are accurate, somevyou have to take with a grain of salt.  Take for example the median income.  Puerto Rico is famous for so many nit paying their taxes, and one way they do this is to take money abajo la mesa which throws the median way off.  Yes, there is poverty here, but just travel to any mainland city (to say nothing of the mentioned Mississippi) and observe the misery of poverty.   I never see it that desperate here from La Perla (world's most beautiful slum) to projects in San Juan metropolitan area.  The poverty in the western part of the island actually looks not very much like poverty at all--the public dole (yes thanks to the federal govt) provides very nice housing and facilities.   
The main difference seems to be in the culture, as the excessive racism in the mainland aggrevates the appearance of poverty.   
We have the apperance of prosperity here in many areas, though not so much the ostentatious presentation that the very well heeled ptesent in the US. 
Yes, unemployment is high, but that is true in the states too.  It is just easier to be poor in the  tropics.  We all will continue to see the "statistics" paint bad pictures as population grows and economy stagnates, but people are resourceful and belie all the negative talk.  Oh yes, I have an Anglo friend who also rescues dogs (17 now) and she has great supportive neighbours.  An opposite story to the other one above.
Puerto Rico is a great place for all its problems--US has them too!
Come see for yourself. 


Oh yes, a friend of mine also rescues dogs-17 last count-she has grest neighbours and

Jayr, you are either telling stories or you have been/are getting electricity that's not metered. Electricity for a restaurant never over $60? I guess your restaurant was in one of those shacks by the beach that only you know to find.

The price of a kwh for residential use is around 26 cents. What I'm using, around 500 kwh per month is nothing special. We have no A/C, no dryer, no big electricity using appliances.

Live on in your dream world wherever that is - it's can't be in Puerto Rico..

Wanna know what's the truth about electricity prices?

http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news … nw_id=7019http://www.ca2pr.com/2012/07/14/utility … ric-bills/http://www.eia.gov/state/analysis.cfm?sid=RQ