by Denise
(Wilmington, NC)
We are looking at the possibility of relocating to Anguilla, and have a few questions I did not see the answer to:
1) Is it safe? Obviously after reading from this site I understand that you love it there, but you don't touch on the safety factor.
2) does anyone have dogs? It seems long term rentals would not be an option because of a "no dogs" policy (unless you know of any?!). Is there any reasonable real estate for under $300,000.
Thanks for your help.
Reply from Dad: Denise, Anguilla is a wonderful place to live. I always laughed when friends would ask, "How did you adjust?"
Adjust to what? Never having to put on a sweater, let alone winter coat and boots? Not paying crazy amounts of income tax? Being minutes from our choice of 30+ beaches and over 100 restaurants, many of which are better than the best of what Montreal offers?
A frequent reply would be...
"Well, it must be dangerous, it's the Caribbean."
Actually, we do talk about the topic of safety in various parts of the site, but may not have addressed it in this "Living in Anguilla" section. So I'll summarize here (but do use the sitesearch to find more info elsewhere).
1) Safety in Anguilla
Anguilla is a safe island, probably the safest in the region. There are many islands where you would simply not go out at night, nor feel free to explore anywhere, even in the day. Other islands are not as dangerous as the, but there is still a fair amount of crime-on-tourist.
That's not Anguilla. It is a safe place for you to live. Crimes against tourists are extremely low here.
As anywhere, there are places not to be at midnight, and certain non-touristy bars to avoid, but none of them are spots where you'd likely want to go. And there is a problem with teen gangs who fight each other over territorial turf -- this latter problem is the only part of "life in Anguilla" that saddens me...
We do need some smarter economic policies that leverage the advantages of Anguilla, policies that would raise the economic tide for all Anguillians and especially that would give jobs to young men. But for as long as we've lived here (7 years now), we've not seen any politician bring forth those types of ideas.
As a result, "local crime" is a problem, not huge but there are worries about it growing. There is a sad attitude here that "its only the locals, but tourists are safe."
That bothers me. While crime is low and tourists are safer here than anywhere else, we need smarter government to raise the well-being of all Anguillians and to stop Anguillian-on-Anguillian crime.
Sorry for wandering off course on your question, Denise. The bottom line answer is "yes, it's safe, the safest island most likely."
Friends tell us how they never used to lock their doors at night 30 years ago. Those days are gone, so it's not as absolutely safe as it used to be. But no place in the world can claim that it is.
Bottom line? Don't let crime be a reason NOT to move here.
Moving on to your question about dogs...
2) Lots of people have dogs. We have 3. Ours live in "Dog Paradise" because we have no neighbors within hundreds of yards. So we let them out to roam.
Much the way we feel free in Anguilla, our dogs would feel the same way if they somehow knew what it was like for dogs in any U.S. city, say. I could just see their reactions if we moved to a major city...
"What's that thing you're putting around my neck? A leash, you say? And I can't run around, except in those dumb little doggie parks with a bunch of other dogs. Take me back home to Anguilla!"
They'd probably also wonder why we'd be picking up their poo. Here, the hermit crabs and various insects handle that.
Our dogs have caught and brought roosters home, various other little animals, and even a 12 inch trigger fish, all freshly killed. Now THAT is a dog's life.
Here they are, in a somewhat friendly cooperative mood...
Toupsie, Mimi, Lulu
