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Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

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Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#51

Post by mtremsal »

huac wrote: post #10
jameslk wrote: post #5

> They are motivated both by an urge to help lift Puerto Rico out of its quagmire, but also by a profound attachment to the island — its beaches and countryside, its friendliness, its intimacy and the tug of family. They're probably more motivated by the complete lack of federal income tax[0]. Funny that this wasn't mentioned once in the entire article. 0. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/07/04/hate-taxe.…

"To qualify, an individual must not have been a resident of Puerto Rico within in the last 15 years." It seems that "returners" don't qualify for that. Maybe it's just the amazing Puerto Rican food (I'd eat every meal at La Casita Blanca if I could).

I ate at La Casita Blanca earlier this week and was blown away by pretty much anything I tried, as well as the friendliness of the owner and the beauty of the herb garden. First time in PR; the restaurant was a highlight in a week filled with great food, striking architecture, and lovely people. I can definitely see why people would move there outside of tax considerations.

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#52

Post by FlopV »

cpursley wrote: post #38
Spooky23 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US Virgin Islands are similar as well. Definitely real challenges though... these places are poor tropical backwaters. It's a shame as it's beautiful and full of potential.

St. Croix USVI would be a great place to start a startup. It's on the east coast time zone, and infrastructure is good enough, real estate is cheap (for the Caribbean). There are ample outdoor activities (swimming, snorkeling/diving, kayaking, kitesurfing, fishing, sailing, golf, tennis, yoga, etc). The incentives of the USVI EDC Program* are quite significant. It's one of the only legal loopholes for US citizens to…

Do you know of any startups or tech companies in the USVI? I'm located in St. Thomas and there are financial companies that take advantage of edc I haven't heard of any startups or techs.

Tech scene seems kind of dead here.

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#53

Post by booleandilemma »

yardie wrote: post #42
freehunter wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PR isn’t a country. It’s part of the US.

It's a territory. It has an independent government, constitution, country code, Olympic team, and elections. Functionally, it is a country.

According to Wikipedia, Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States.

Also, it does not appear on Wikipedia's list of sovereign states.

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

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#54

Post by ranrotx »

pavlov wrote: post #41

I'm not American, so would someone knowledgeable indulge me the obvious question: Why is Puerto Rico not a state while e.g. Hawaii is? Is it the language -- a Spanish-majority state would not get the approval from other states to join the union? Or something less obvious?

One of the things preventing Puerto Rico from becoming a state is the balance of power in the US Congress. The thinking is that a majority of the Puerto Ricans will align themselves with the Democratic Party. That would result in 2 new Democrat Senators which would upset the balance and possibly swing the senate in favor of the Democrats.

There have been similar concerns going back to the 1800s as well with the United States' western expansion and creation of new western states.

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#55

Post by pavlov »

dbcurtis wrote: post #44
pavlov wrote: post #41

I'm not American, so would someone knowledgeable indulge me the obvious question: Why is Puerto Rico not a state while e.g. Hawaii is? Is it the language -- a Spanish-majority state would not get the approval from other states to join the union? Or something less obvious?

Puerto Rico would need to petition to become a state. (I believe it meets the criteria for becoming a state, but haven't verified that.) There are benefits to remaining a territory, in particular they can create tax inventives that would be precluded if they wete a state.

That makes sense - sort of like the UK or France overseas territories that are not part of the EU.

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#56

Post by pavlov »

ranrotx wrote: post #54
pavlov wrote: post #41

I'm not American, so would someone knowledgeable indulge me the obvious question: Why is Puerto Rico not a state while e.g. Hawaii is? Is it the language -- a Spanish-majority state would not get the approval from other states to join the union? Or something less obvious?

One of the things preventing Puerto Rico from becoming a state is the balance of power in the US Congress. The thinking is that a majority of the Puerto Ricans will align themselves with the Democratic Party. That would result in 2 new Democrat Senators which would upset the balance and possibly swing the senate in favor of the Democrats. There have been similar concerns going back to the 1800s as well with the Unite…

Interesting. Puerto Rico's statehood is basically an edge case of the demographic quicksand that underlies the Republican Party's current domination. Trumpism certainly isn't doing the Party any long-term favors in that sense.

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#57

Post by vinay427 »

albertogui wrote: post #50
pavlov wrote: post #41

I'm not American, so would someone knowledgeable indulge me the obvious question: Why is Puerto Rico not a state while e.g. Hawaii is? Is it the language -- a Spanish-majority state would not get the approval from other states to join the union? Or something less obvious?

It's hard to become a state when the majority of the population only speaks Spanish and the island has its own constitution.

I'm not sure what language has to do with it. Also, many/most states have a constitution as well.

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#58

Post by pryelluw »

jrs95 wrote: post #39
TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #12

I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, but left to work in tech. As with any place, there's some good points and there's some bad points. Below are some points that someone moving to Puerto Rico might want to know. In my opinion, their greatest achievement has been in its educational system. Despite its huge list of problems, UPR enables people of any background to receive an affordable high quality college education.…

Isn't there a crime problem? The murder rate in PR is like 30% higher than it is in Mexico...

Drug related crimes (gang murders) are an issue. Stay away from certain areas and dont do drugs and you will be ok. Same as in any US state. Other types of crime arent too bad.

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#59

Post by pryelluw »

yardie wrote: post #42
freehunter wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PR isn’t a country. It’s part of the US.

It's a territory. It has an independent government, constitution, country code, Olympic team, and elections. Functionally, it is a country.

Its a colony.

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#60

Post by enraged_camel »

StavrosK wrote: post #49
javiramos wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eric and Bryan, the two founders of Lunchera featured in the article, are good friends of mine from MIT. They definitely didn't return to the island for tax reasons. Puerto Ricans are passionate about their "isla" - hard to explain to people expecting rational reasons.

Not to be inflammatory, but I wouldn't expect nationalism to be hard for Americans to relate to.

He said its hard to explain it to people expecting rational reasons.
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