The U.S. Department of the Interior announced last week that almost $4 million had been allocated to projects and programs in several U.S. territories, including the U.S. Virgin Islands as reported by the VI Consortium recently. This is aimed at combating climate change, restoring coastal areas, and eradicating invasive species. Read the full article here.
In the announcement on February 5, 2024 found here, the Dept of Interior said $971,000 will go to the U.S. Virgin Islands to support the development of an early detection and rapid response framework of invasive species and support surveys of plant communities that connect northern and southern shorelines across St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John. This is a component in the nearly $7 million from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to advance climate resilience and restore lands and waters through impactful ecosystem restoration work in the U.S. territories.
WTJX recently interviewed actor and musician Dan Aykroyd and discussed his new collaboration with St. Croix musicians to record a Virgin Islands tribute song called “Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Night.” The new song features the legendary actor’s “Blues Brothers” character, Elwood Blues.
It is a wonderful song and we want to share it! Click on this link to listen on Spotify. The link to Spotify will take you to the song, and ask you to Log in to your Spotify Account OR if you don’t have one, to sign up for a free Spotify Account.
In the WTJX interview, we learn more about local talent behind the song:
“The two famous performers teamed up with residents Kevin Motta, who also sings on the track, and Jeff Tareila, who wrote the music and produced the song in his studios in New Jersey and St. Croix. Other local musicians who play on the track include Kurt Schindler on guitar, Abbie Leung-Massicot on steel pans and a choir organized by Leslie Highfield-Carter. The drummer on the song is Chuck Treece, a member of various bands, including G. Love and Special Sauce. The collaborating artists for “Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Night” are known as VI Peeps.”
WTJX
Having purchased a home on St. Croix after visiting the island over the years, Aykroyd spoke of his love for the island. He said there is a warmth in the territory that he hasn’t found in many of the other parts of the Caribbean he has visited.
If you read our blog and follow us on social media, you know that we love St. Croix, it has been our home for 20 years! You can see what St. Croix is like through our lens with “Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Night” playing below:
Find the monthly sales data, inventory, and days on market for the St. Croix, USVI real estate market! We have downloadable Coldwell Banker real estate reports — available below for each category: Homes & Condos, Condos, Homes, and Land!
If you are not familiar with with the implications of the data, please give us a call or email us directly with any questions. We are Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR) and Seller Representative Specialist (SRS) and have the experience and local knowledge to help you in every step of the process. We can help you narrow down neighborhoods based on your priorities. We can also advise you on the market trends in your desired neighborhoods.
Question: “If I am unsure if St. Croix is where I would like to buy, what would be helpful in making the decision?
Christie’s Answer: Travel + Leisure described St. Croix as a “true gem” with “laid-back character” (read the article here). To understand what it’s like to live on this beautiful island, we encourage you to talk to local residents. We would be happy to answer all of your questions about the island or island living. Since we’ve lived here 20 years, if we don’t have the answer, we know who to ask!
If you haven’t been to St. Croix before, come and take the first couple of days just driving around getting to know the island. It’s so diverse – from dry and arid on the east end, to lush tropical rainforest on the west end. We recommend that you stop to get lunch or a cold drink at different spots and talk with people. See if you like it!
Once we know what you are looking for, we can send you listings so that you can choose what you’d like to see. The more we know about what you want, the easier it is for us to help you find a great island home! If we don’t find what you’d like while you are here, we can work remotely by doing a video or FaceTime call. Or, if you want close up photos of certain things, we can do that, too. We have sold properties sight unseen. That’s where driving around the island learning about the different areas is really helpful.
Question: “I want to buy a condo or house in the Caribbean. I have never been to St. Croix, what are the first steps to exploring St. Croix as a place to buy my dream home?”
Chris’ Answer: Since every island in the Caribbean is different, the first step is to gather information about St. Croix. We’d be very happy to talk with you to answer questions about the island or real estate, and send you listings so that you can begin learning about the real estate market here. On our website, you can do a search on St Croix listings, and read our blog articles about St. Croix. We also encourage you to take a look at our past newsletters (access them here). In each one there is real estate information and also news articles about our island which we find interesting.
Two great sites for St. Croix are Go To St. Croix (link here) and Visit St. Croix (link here). Although they are created with tourists in mind, you will learn so much by going through their many pages and seeing their wonderful photographs. They also have web cams so that you can see what’s happening on island in real time.
