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16 years ago everything he said was true. the opposite is also true, MA is expensive and not a great place for people without higher degrees and big salaries.
Florida has a huge economy for both.
I lived in Florida as a civilian and military. I went to public school in Florida. I have been south of the state and middle and north including Jacksonville and at the other side at the Panhandle. You don't get to have the #4 largest economy in the nation behind California, Texas, New York by having mostly low skills and little education.
According to data gathered by Newsweek, Mass 54% of the population are college educated to Florida 43%. You have to dig deeper why. Florida gets more immigrants from the world especially Latinos by far than Mass and most of them come here to work and earn money not to get a Master's degree. It's obvious their degree didn't do much back at home and I'm including Puerto Ricans that leave the island. Also many go on to their own to open their own business since Florida is a friendlier tax state with NO state income tax and tax incentives.
Utah is 46% of the population are college educated, New York is 48%. New Jersey is 50% and both those states are below Utah in the best places to live with a wide gap.
Florida has doctors, nurses, dentists, lawyers, pharmacists, pilots, engineers and more of professionals careers that requires degrees, so to say "Florida's economy is mostly for people with low-skills and little college education" it's false. More people move to Florida than Mass by far. Look how they vote with their feet. People have been fleeing Mass. There is a reason.
You don't need a Master's degree to get a good paying job in Florida.
I have a former classmate who was a lawyer with master's degree in Puerto Rico. She was a big thing in the island. She had to move to Utah because of the economy (add that you have a lawyer in the island in every corner with a degree) and she quickly learned that her degree was basically worthless in the state and she had to start all over again. Now she is a lawyer for immigration. Basically a 911 for immigrants especially illegals. You get the point about degrees especially from Puerto Rico.
You come from Puerto Rico with a Masters, you better know what's worth in the states.
My daughter in laws family lives there, and my son and she live there right now. She travels to the mainland periodically to work. He is remodeling a VRBO. Their daughter is in private kindergarten. Will they stay there forever? I doubt it, but it’s hard to leave paradise for the rat race.
Most of DILs generation went to college in the states, but her brother went to law school in PR and he’s doing just fine.
All states have their own culture and ways of doing things. Whatever works for you. My opinion of the Eastern Northern states is that it's great to visit during spring or summer because of their history and culture and great sport scene (if you are into that) but the winters and high taxes are brutal. If I have to live on the East coast the list is short from Florida, Georgia or North Carolina but I picked the West because of the space and cost of living. I like to live in a place that I can keep most of my money and don't have the government all the time in my pocket like in Puerto Rico. They are brutal down there.
I still have friends and family in Puerto Rico and they are doing ok. I don't go as much as before but still go when I can. I use Google Earth a lot to look at shots of Puerto Rico 2D and 3D and it gives you different angles and you can zoom in and out and navigate to the entire island. I can see shots of all the places I was raised in the island including the schools. Many places are gone and replaced with a different name and others are still there. You can type the exact address in Puerto Rico and Google will take you there. It's amazing and scary. LOL.
My daughter in laws family lives there, and my son and she live there right now. She travels to the mainland periodically to work. He is remodeling a VRBO. Their daughter is in private kindergarten. Will they stay there forever? I doubt it, but it’s hard to leave paradise for the rat race.
Most of DILs generation went to college in the states, but her brother went to law school in PR and he’s doing just fine.
With no lack of respect, I wish I could see Puerto Rico through your rose-colored glasses. Unfortunately, I struggle to see things as you do. Nevertheless, it thrills me to read of someone's positive experience while living in PR.
I considered moving back to PR upon retirement. I even contacted several realtors for questions and advice. The realtors were very helpful and to them I am very thankful.
It wasn't long ago that made my considerations known to a handful of relatives in mainland USA and in PR. Some relatives cheered my possible return. Others were a bit cautious and provided food for thought. The only person outside of family who I shared my intentions with was an old friend whom I've known since my teens. He's lived in PR all his life. He's always been a very blunt, to the point, and no sugar coating kinda guy. In a few words he told me how difficult life has become in PR.
I've made 2 trips to PR this year. It doesn't take much to witness what my friend warned me about. I'll leave the details unmentioned.
That aside, there is one looming crisis in PR which I will [once again] share with anyone reading this post; that is, the ever-growing waste management dilemma which has been swept under the rug since 1988. Puerto Rico is quickly running out of landfill space. Due to incompliance issues, several landfills were forcibly closed by the EPA many years ago. It's been estimated that the existing landfills have about 10 years' worth of capacity at best. Other estimates are more dismal.
One solution to this problem was first proposed in 1988. That was the year I and others got involved with presenting a solution to the crisis. Waste-to-Energy (WTE) was touted as the Best Available Control Technology (BACT). WTE technology is used around the world, but more so in island countries or states such as Japan, Taiwan, and Hawaii. Each time WTE was presented as a solution to PR's waste management problem, the backlash from well-meaning yet uninformed citizens were monumental. In addition, we were labeled as environmental terrorists who were only interested in money. Nothing was further from the truth. Contrarily, each time we asked WTE opponents for their equal-to or better-than solution to WTE, their responses were based on pie-in-the-sky hope. The result of their opposition is here today. To them I ask, what will Puerto Rico do once it runs out of landfill space? What then?
I have a former classmate who was a lawyer with master's degree in Puerto Rico. She was a big thing in the island. She had to move to Utah because of the economy (add that you have a lawyer in the island in every corner with a degree) and she quickly learned that her degree was basically worthless in the state and she had to start all over again. Now she is a lawyer for immigration. Basically a 911 for immigrants especially illegals. You get the point about degrees especially from Puerto Rico.
You come from Puerto Rico with a Masters, you better know what's worth in the states.
There has to be more to this. I know of several people that graduated in top universities in neighboring DR (INTEC, PUCMM, UNIBE, etc). After working for top firms in Santo Domingo, they moved to the USA and accredited their degrees (plus their DR accumulated experience) and managed to get good jobs in the USA within their field earning six digits. I have also heard (though don't know any) of some people doing the same regarding Canada, but in that case it's more common for a Canadian firm to hire them in the DR and do all the immigration process for them (the Canadian company sponsors them.)
I'm thinking if they did it, what impedes these people from Puerto Rico from doing the same? Aren't Puerto Rican university degrees already accredited, which (like having US citizenship and knowing English) makes it easier for PR's than for other Latinos to move to mainland USA and get going with their plans?
There has to be more to this. I know of several people that graduated in top universities in neighboring DR (INTEC, PUCMM, UNIBE, etc). After working for top firms in Santo Domingo, they moved to the USA and accredited their degrees (plus their DR accumulated experience) and managed to get good jobs in the USA within their field earning six digits. I have also heard (though don't know any) of some people doing the same regarding Canada, but in that case it's more common for a Canadian firm to hire them in the DR and do all the immigration process for them (the Canadian company sponsors them.)
I'm thinking if they did it, what impedes these people from Puerto Rico from doing the same? Aren't Puerto Rican university degrees already accredited, which (like having US citizenship and knowing English) makes it easier for PR's than for other Latinos to move to mainland USA and get going with their plans?
Most of the top universities in PR are accredited in the US and there should be absolutely no problem jumping to the Mainland and making much more than you could make on the island. Police officers, teachers, firefighters and especially doctors are leaving the island en masse and those who stay behind feel the effects more and more.
A few universities here and there are more akin to diploma mills, and may not be accredited by any Stateside agency. My master's from Interamericana is as good as the one people spent 10x as much on in the States. And no, Inter isn't the most prestigious university out there, but I feel like I was well prepared.
PR uses the type of civil law based upon the Spanish colonial legacy left behind. 49 states practice common law based upon the colonial legacy of England. My home state of Louisiana also practices civil law based upon French customs, so possibly a Puerto Rican attorney could have an easier time passing the bar in Louisiana. Common and civil law are quite different, and many out of state lawyers are leery of Louisiana, and vice versa.
So yes, while the story of the abogada stuck in an underwhelming role in Utah may sound impossible, it's within the realm of possibility. I am sure she can change her situation eventually though.
How is the power situation at the moment in PR? When I was there last in December 2018, there were still temporary outages. As brief as they could be (though people told me they sometimes last hours), such inconveniences would totally screw up a remote worker. If that situation gets resolved, you may see more digital workers heading to PR. In theory, if I could make even $50,000 a year and live on the west coast of PR again, I'd take it without thinking twice. I absolutely loved my time there.
PR uses the type of civil law based upon the Spanish colonial legacy left behind. 49 states practice common law based upon the colonial legacy of England. My home state of Louisiana also practices civil law based upon French customs, so possibly a Puerto Rican attorney could have an easier time passing the bar in Louisiana. Common and civil law are quite different, and many out of state lawyers are leery of Louisiana, and vice versa.
So yes, while the story of the abogada stuck in an underwhelming role in Utah may sound impossible, it's within the realm of possibility. I am sure she can change her situation eventually though.
I didn't thought about that regarding lawyers, but you are right. If it's based on "civil law based upon the Spanish colonial legacy," then that clashes with many US states.
Any more detail on the law system in Louisiana?
I ask because even though the DR was a Spanish colony for about 300 years and common sense would suppose the legal system is based on the Spanish tradition, during the Era of France (1802-1809) the French imposed the Napoleonic Code and did away with the Spanish system. Then the Napoleonic Code was reimposed during the Haitian Domination (1822 - 1844) and has remained even after the DR was established as sn independent country. A few years ago certain parts of the legal system was modified, but still a good chunk is based on the Napoleonic Code. For example, in the USA trials are done with a judge, the parties involved, and an audience which also votes based on how the trial is conducted. That also lead to some problems which have been fix to an extent such as a blackman ln trial for whatever and the jury is composed entirely of whites given the history of discrimination, so it was supposed those trials ended with a harsher punishment for the blackman vs if the accused criminal was white. In the DR its not like that at all. Trials consist mainly of the judge, the lawyers of each parties, the accused and that's it, no audience (and by consequence no jury duty.) To this day lawyers are required to learn French. One of the changes done a few years ago was that unlike in the USA where you are innocent until proven guilty, in the DR you were guilty until proven innocent all based on a simple accusation.
If the Louisiana system is based on the Napoleonic Code (from France) as the DR one, then it could be different enough from the system in Puerto Rico and it might not be that easier for Puerto Rican lawyers vis-a-vis other USA states.
Lawyers have a different issue vs many other professions. OPerhaps not taking that inyo account lead me to think it was similar for them to go from PR to any US state and continue as a lawyer.
By the way, former Spanish colonies tend to have a legal system based on the the Spanish system. The DR is more of an exception when it comes to this due to its history, first with the "white French" and then, for all practical purposes, the "black French."
There has to be more to this. I know of several people that graduated in top universities in neighboring DR (INTEC, PUCMM, UNIBE, etc). After working for top firms in Santo Domingo, they moved to the USA and accredited their degrees (plus their DR accumulated experience) and managed to get good jobs in the USA within their field earning six digits. I have also heard (though don't know any) of some people doing the same regarding Canada, but in that case it's more common for a Canadian firm to hire them in the DR and do all the immigration process for them (the Canadian company sponsors them.)
I'm thinking if they did it, what impedes these people from Puerto Rico from doing the same? Aren't Puerto Rican university degrees already accredited, which (like having US citizenship and knowing English) makes it easier for PR's than for other Latinos to move to mainland USA and get going with their plans?
Not all degrees are exactly equal and not all lawyers are equal. Where you attend college can influence your future opportunities. It could affect whether your are hired, where you end up working , and how much money you end up making a year.
Mexican law and Hispanic laws are different than American law. You can go to those countries to get a degree because it's cheaper but not all degrees are equal when looking for work in the states.
Just because you get a law degree in Puerto Rico or even R.D. doesn't mean it will transfer automatically the moment you step on soil in a state. Every jurisdiction (all 50 states) have their own conditions and requirements to that specific state to pass the BAR exam. Add the language barrier since all the cases in Puerto Rico are done in Spanish under Puerto Rican Law (except Federal court) . Some will others don't.
Federal court in Puerto Rico is very predictable. They hired Puerto Rican lawyers with a law degree from Puerto Rico with political connections in the island and they bring American lawyers from the states. It's by design. They want to hire Puerto Rican lawyers and judges to enforce federal laws in the island and that speak Spanish and they go native. It makes sense to get federal judges and federal prosecutors from Puerto Rico putting Puerto Ricans in jail for federal violations. It would hurt their credibility if the department of Justice in the island is only run by Americans who aren't from the island.
Major Differences Between the Mexican and U.S. Legal Systems
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