I am an American currently living in the PNW. I've lived all over the country and have yet to find an area to my liking. Recently I've been thinking about Puerto Rico. A beautiful tropical island within the Caribbean that I could literally just move to. It's cheap and it's close enough to the rest of Latin America that I could easily visit other countries that I'd like to travel to. Also I do speak Spanish, not exactly fluent but enough to be conversational. I'm sure that immersing myself in the language would get me to where I need to be. Anyway, is this a good idea? I've heard crime is bad there but I've also heard that crime is actually falling and that it's just the media hyping it up. I've lived in American ghettos growing up and even as an adult, it can't be much worse. I make 60k per year and I work remotely so the max I'd be wanting to spend on an apartment would be 1300/month. I have VA benefits as well and am contemplating purchasing a house there eventually. I know I'd lose my right to vote in the US but that doesn't really matter too much to me. I'm kind of sick of living in America proper tbh. I'm just rambling now really, just spitballing, but what do you guys think? Any tips?
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If you are white then it's possible you will become a target. It might never happen but there is a small chance, are you prelared to risk it (if it happens then you will basically lose your life)
Like home invasion targeted or randomly on the street? What are the gun laws like there? I've seen mixed information.
>home invasion or street?
Mostly street, but it's both.
>Gun laws?
Revamped a few years back, it's about $500 for a license, which will also involve a lengthy background check, demands an expensive class training for laws and shooting training, notarized forms required, multiple month long wait to get CCW after the whole thing is done (some friends waited 7 months for the license to arrive). Cannot go shoot at a gun range without a CCW. It's a gigantic checklist, most of which are handled at a gun range since they will offer the service and try to hook you in with a membership deal to have you make them the range of choice.
>you will be treated like a foreigner if not brown/black
Nah, the Spanish is the end all be all. It's highly regional and distinct from that of any other LATAM country so if you use particular words then you stand out as a foreigner. Same thing with certain dress stuff. No one really wears hawaiian shirts here, only tourists do. Same with shorts, don't care how hot it is, you wear jeans or long pants out unless you're going to the beach where you just wear a swimsuit, but you change before going out at night because beachwear at night = tourist. If you wear a long sleeve shirt with jeans or long pants and don't roll the sleeves up, yeah you're a foreigner because if you lived here long enough you know that you roll that up to deal with the heat while still looking good.
You're not wrong about the expense though, that will definitely stick around.
Airport fees are everywhere though, I lived in Omaha for college and was a 10 min drive from the airport but would have to pay $40 for the uber. A massive drive out, literally over 12x as many blocks, would cost me about $30.
Hispangloids come in all colors, he could probably blend
>its cheap
No it isn't and that's coming from a local. You can maybe find something cheap in middle of bumfrick nowhere, but that's not where you're going to want to live. You've also got to realize that you won't ever interact with wealthy people out in bumfrick nowhere because they'll all be in their rich bubble zones like Palmas del Mar, Rio Mar Beach Apts., Dorado richgay homes, the St. Regis Residences, so you'll really just be hanging around low IQ morons. If you go cheap in the metro area, pray that you don't get fricking shot. A friend of mine in the metro area got mugged just outside his meh 1br worth $900/mo. My grandmother was carjacked and robbed at gunpoint a street away from the gated and guarded entrance to her family focused neighborhood too.
>crime is bad, but actually its falling and its the media hyping it up
No, crime is a massive concern. In fact, learning where the safe and danger zones in an area are should be the first things you want to do to keep yourself safe. Your pic is a great example of this. Old San Juan is generally safe, go down to La Perla in VSJ though and you're in a crime hotspot.
You will need a car to go anywhere, the dollar doesn't really go farther than anywhere else in the US, crime will be a major concern practically everywhere you go (rural and metro areas), lots of places have no planning so you have richgays two blocks away from crime hotspots so very few places are truly safe, if you're the victim of a crime you will almost always be held at gunpoint and it will be potentially lethal...
>ghettos can't be that bad in PR
Some are actually so violent police refuse to enter unless they're bringing in a massive fully armed squad.
You won't see racially based targetting, you will see wealth based targetting. Dressed nice? He's got money, pick him. Dressed meh? Look at that watch though, he's rich and casual, rob him. Nice car? Yeah we're carjacking him.
I don’t want to interact with wealthy people. I have that problem here in Seattle. Everyone is rich, entitled, and insufferable.
Studios here at at least 2k per month so that still sounds like a positive for me. I’m fine with expensive groceries as long as my base living expenses are manageable. I’m already forced to eat rice, beans, and cheap cuts of meat here in the PNW just to make rent.
lol then go live in south seattle cuck, along rainer ave.
Nobody wants to interact with people from seattle, you have no soul or culture outside of starbucks and homosexual bikes. Move to california.
I’m not from Seattle, been here two years though and I’m going crazy.
>It's cheap
lol
>$1300/mo
You could probably find a studio but I'm not sure. There are massive price differences between local dominated areas and expat/tourist areas. You will definitely be treated as a foreigner unless brown/black. Is there a reason you can't leave the US? That money would go much farther in Argentina or SEA. What do you plan on eating? Restaurants in Puerto Rico are priced at or above the PNW. Eggs are $5/doz, milk $4/gal, I dunno what else you eat but groceries are roughly double mainland US
Taxi/Uber from the airport to Isla Verde is $15. The trip takes 6 minutes
I'm going to show you some actual examples of where your budget gets you and tell you a bit about the area:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1329-Avenue-San-Ignacio-San-Juan-PR-00921/2059968429_zpid/
Is just below budget, San Francisco has ammenities with the minimall but it's a hotspot if you're not in a proper guarded neighborhood there. My friend who got mugged lives by Condominio Blanco north of the train station. Additionally, the address on that listing is probably faked and is actually Condominio Vista Verde which puts it further into the hotspot.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/110-Calle-Del-Parque-11J-San-Juan-PR-00911/2060364118_zpid/
This one is also marked incorrectly on the map. If actually in Calle Del Parque it's not in that bad a spot. Calle Loiza is a bit of a hotspot but is slowly being gentrified so there's a bit of hope there. It's also pretty centric to weekend life and the beach so pretty solid. Horrific traffic in the mornings and from 2-6pm because schools get out and workers flee to other parts of the island so they're all exiting and congesting the few roads to access.
The $950 cheap apt by La Placita en Santurce is a good spot for nightlife (especially on fridays) but it will be inaccessible to you if you want to drive in or out of there at night so you'd better be home and comfortable ordering an uber outside the safety of la placita, because it gets very dangerous very quick in the rest of santurce. No listings show up in Guaynabo or Bayamon, and Carolina is to be avoided entirely so there's pretty much your metro area completely gone with few good options in your budget.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/49-99-Calle-Rosendo-M-Cintron-4W-Luquillo-PR-00773/2054767468_zpid/
More rural, maybe 40-50 min drive from downtown SJ, beachfront, in budget, and about 2 blocks away from a ghetto so good luck not getting robbed on the beach.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/16-Calle-Ocean-Dr-5-Luquillo-PR-00773/2054767113_zpid/
Also in Luquillo, pretty close to the last one but better distance from ghetto and better beach entry. Still a hotspot.
You can find some decent apts in Ponce, the capital of the South, but there's no real beach there except Playa Perdida and you will have to drive to it every time. Salinas is a boat owner's spot because you can park the boat in the back of a water accessible home, but there's also no true beach there.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/404-Borinquen-404-Mayaguez-PR-00680/2053996042_zpid/
Not a bad place but Mayaguez is boring. So boring in fact that students from the UPR will drive to their San Juan family homes Thurs-Sun and avoid spending the weekend here. Still, there's beach.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2247-Calle-Reparto-Matias-Buena-Vida-Apartments-103-Rincon-PR-00677/2054580727_zpid/
Not a bad spot, this is all tourists and expats who came for dated hotels and surfing. Not much to do besides the beach, so get used to it.
Your options are ones that I would not exercise besides maybe the ones on Calle Loiza in Condado. The rest are either dangerous or extremely boring outside of the beach. You can probably look for more stuff through a realtor or agent, but you will not really be warned realistically about crime in the area because you're a dumb foreigner willing to rent what locals avoid.
Frick off noone wants you here
Go back to your home country in europe