Ask Lemmy

I spent a week there. We stayed with my girlfriends grandfather, in a gated community in Bayonne. He had to keep a huge garbage can full of water in the shower because the power was constantly going out, also it was unbelievably hot despite being late October, there were ants all.over everything and the gas/electric were obscenely expensive. It's beautiful. The people were nice. The food was amazing and I've never had a better cup of coffee. But live there? Nah.

I had a friend move there a little after COVID because he was learning Spanish and his job permitted remote work. He's a naive Missouri boy, makes decent wage, and makes for a perfect mark. Yet, the people were very kind to him, a landlady kept an eye on him and he enjoyed it a lot. It helps that he got to live in a fairly affluent neighborhood, though, and certainly aims to make mainlanders comfortable.

His main complaints were mostly comfort-- boy didn't comprehend how bad plumbing was there and his giant Missourian shits did not jive well with dated plumbing. It's typical complaints of anyone living outside their upbringing, though.

I don't think he could have made it if his company didn't illegally force him back to the US, though (they cited taxes, but they signed a contract and just guilted his easily conned ass). I have a native PR friend who survived Maria and the grit to do that, I don't see many Americans able to handle 6 months without power.

Puerto Rico is part of the United States.

Someone born in PR can move anywhere else in the USA without a passport. Any US citizen can travel there as easily as going to another State.

It's just that PR, like Washington DC, is not considered a state, so they can't vote in Federal elections.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_voting_rights_in_Puerto_Rico

The thought crossed my mind as well as "what if I did something crazy and sold everything and moved as far away as I could without the logistical challenges of changing countries" and who knows, maybe I'll seriously consider doing that once my grandparents pass away. There's bound to be someone looking to hire an IT person in Puerto Rico for a year or two. On the other hand I'm sure there's a lot more heat and sun to deal with which I'm not a huge fan of...so Alaska maybe?

We had a project manager contractor for a year who lived there, having moved from the bay area during early covid days. She seemed to like it, no state taxes, cheaper real estate, she and her husband had little kids.

I hope you get a decent answer. When we last visited 10 years ago a similar idea passed our minds.

I did some poking around at the time out of curiosity. From what I recall, a decent amount of manufacturing moved there in the 70s to claim made in America, take advantage of cheaper labor, and take advantage of some tax incentives. The incentives were phased out and manufacturing started leaving. Wikipedia .

I am not sure what their economy is like these days, but as with all moves a chunk of it is going to come down to the work you can/want to do and the jobs available, but with remote work living somewhere like Puerto Rico does seem appealing.

I suspect you're going to have the usual island pain points (hurricanes, expensive imports, limited economy, a large swath of the economy tied to tourism) and benefits (consistent weather year round, natural beauty which PR has a ton of, beaches, interesting culture).

Again, I really hope someone with first hand experience chimes in - even if the moved in the other direction from the island to the mainland.

Follow-up question: You guys still dealing with the Chupacabra?