Roadside business on the road from Montego Bay to Kingston
Roadside business
Your basic Jamaican beach 
jamaica
° Kingston ° Montego Bay ° Negril ° Ocho Rios
° Jamaican Coffee and Rum ° Sports
° Real Estate
Many of Jamaica's people consider themselves "poor" because they do not have the "conveniences" of countries such as America. They do not realize that our "conveniences" come at high price and many are useless.
Many of us realize how useless our vast acquisitions are unless we travel and learn.
Only two countries in the world have rental storage units for things we cannot fit into our homes: the U.S. and England. This is nuts. If you do not need something within 365 days, you do not need it.
People in countries such as Jamaica are surrounded by extreme natural beauty and food outside the door.
Having been to 35-40 countries, and living in beautiful Marin County, California, I can say that Jamaica remains one of the more beautiful places I have seen in the past 40+ years.
Of course, people who have never travelled from their homes never know what they do or do not have. In countries such as Jamaica, many consider themselves poor. Not so. They have excellent health care, apparently. Teeth are perfect. That is not true in much of Europe. Jamaica's general health seems better than our burgeoning U.S. bodies. By necessity, Jamaican's have to walk a few miles to/from school when young. They seem to consider this a deprivation. Not so. It creates strong, healthy bodies and world-class athletes. Jamaicans excel in many Olympic sports in track and field.
The acquisition of real estate in Jamaica is fascinating; much of the world would do well to adopt the method especially given the current state of affairs in the U.S., Greece, Spain, Ireland, etc.
Property loans in Jamaica are at 37%, which is untenable, so potential homeowners buy a piece of land and build as they accumulate the money to do so. They do not take out loans. They start with a first level consisting of cement blocks and rebars and live on that first level (examples above and below). Once they accumulate funds, a second level is construced.
One of the levels then serves as a rental unit to assist in their retirement because Jamaicans do not have federal retirement plans. The island also does not have ongoing welfare; if you can't take care of yourself, your family must do so.
American's have taken welfare to ludicrous extremes. Hundreds of thousands of families in the States have been receiving taxpayer assistance for 50-60 years and some of their children are the third or fourth generation on welfare. That is just plain wrong and is not fair to hard-working taxpayers who are the actual source of such funds.
Adopting a modified version of Jamaica's system is worth consideration. They are forced to make more sensible decisions because "Big Brother" is not going to bail them out.
Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude