Are u serious

Doesn’t get much safer than downtown NYC lol it’s not the 70s.

Good luck on your apartment search.!

I’m delighted that you are safe and happy in Chapala!

I was happy there too in the mid-90’s, living in a rented house in a regular
neighborhood. However we were the victims of 2 home invasion attack robberies.
My explanation is that our California vehicle license plates were a clear message
to criminals making us a great target.

Otherwise the experience of living there for 3 years was wonderful.

Be safe,
Kathie

Fabulous and so right on! I live in Lake Chapala now for 16 months. LOve it!

I grew up in Mexico City (Jardines del Pedregal de San Angel) in the mid 60’s. Coming from Chicago at the time, the culture shock was mind bending. But I’ve got to say the experience of growing up in Mexico was indeed, a positive, life altering event. As a young boy getting on the plane, I had preconceived notions of what the city (or pueblo as I had imagined) would look like. Burros, big sombreros, adobe huts and the like. On our approach to the Mexico City International airport, when the wing of that 707 dipped in a bank to reveal my first glimpse of the city, I was astounded at the busy, densely populated, concrete jungle before my eyes. I could not have conceived of such an expansive metropolis of some 7,500,000 inhabitants at the time. Learning Spanish in the interior as I did has also been nothing but a blessing in my career throughout the years. I love Mexico and its people. And I would be remiss if I did not mention my acquired appreciation for the many traditions and culture of the Mexican people. Having lived and worked with Mexicans over many years, I can tell you their core values boil down to just three. God, family and work. I have nothing but great memories of my time there and remain eternally grateful to my parents for the experience.

Working in the oilfield service sector years later, I returned to Mexico living and working in Villahermosa, Tabasco; a beautiful, small tropical city on the Gulf, but even coming from the Houston, TX climate, the heat and humidity down there will knock your socks off.

I said all that to say all this. In contemplating our retirement, I’ve spoken with my wife in recent years about exploring Mexico City as a possible retirement location. After all, she’d been arguing with me for years about taking her down there to show her around and see all the sights I’m always talking about. I kept insisting however, that much as I would love to taker her, it was just too dangerous. I guess by now we’ve all seen Denzel Washington’s Man on Fire.

I later talked about my concerns with a couple of friends of mine here in Houston who, are from Mexico City and frequently travel back and forth. They informed me that Mexico City was about as safe as it gets. Just dress casually, no flashy jewelry, don’t be swinging cameras around your neck, and you’ll be fine. In other words, blend in. Try not to look like a tourist. So, how does a white Anglo-Saxon or black couple NOT look like tourists, you ask? – Easy. Mexico City is extremely diverse. Many inhabitants in Mexico City and surrounding areas are of European descent and interracial couples are given little or no notice. Actually, they’re probably paid less attention to down there than here.

Now, As I read through the threads, I’ve noticed a few legitimate and justifiable concerns from folks about safety in Mexico, So, as a public service here today, at least where Mexico City is concerned and based on recent travel, I thought I would inject my humble opinion on the subject. So, let’s get that 800 lb. gorilla out of the room, shall we?

Based on my friends’ advice, I finally took my wife to Mexico City in April on what I deemed to be a discovery trip. We were staying at a hotel near the Zocalo and spent that afternoon walking for what must have been 4 to 5 kilometers down the Paseo de la Reforma boulevard totally unobserved, totally unapproached, totally unmolested, just taking in the sights. There were cops all over the place, three and four in a block. Patrol cars running up and down the boulevards were ubiquitous. – My wife was amazed. She said, “OMG, this place is so cosmopolitan. Look at these buildings”. She took it all in. The streets, the people, the foliage (not a lot compares to a Jacaranda tree in full bloom), she was enthralled. At one point I stopped her and asked her what she thought of the climate. She thought for few seconds and said, “this is really nice”. It was a sunny afternoon and about 76-77 degrees out, I added, “You’ll also notice the lack of humidity”. She did. She asked me how often the weather is like this, and I said, “Every blessed day!” Save the winter months, the weather in Mexico City really doesn’t change much at all. Cool nights, warm days.

For my own part, I quickly noticed the lack of horns in traffic, the fact that cars were all neatly in their respective lanes and moving at a measured pace. This, in stark contrast to the 60’s and 70’s when driving in Mexico City was NOT for the faint of heart. It was the Wild West. Cars zigging and zagging all over the place, fender benders out the wazoo, red lights were considered little more than a cautionary note, and the millisecond the light turns green, hands were waving and horns were blaring. And, if you were a pedestrian in a cross walk, you were on the point system; God love you.
We would frequently read in the The News; the one daily newspaper published in English, stories of buses or commercial vehicles that had plowed into someone on a weekly basis and in which, invariably, “And, the driver could not be found”. I rented a car the next day and took my wife all over. We visited all the normal tourist sites, she wore me out at the Pyramids, we visited Chapultepec, Xochimilco, Cuernavaca, and Queretaro. Where I lived, went to school, etc. She also found the people just as friendly and helpful as I had previously described. Now, on a side note, me and Mexican food have been close friends for a long time. The only thing I found disappointing to me personally during the trip, was that Mexico City had grown up so much and appeared to cater so much to its new and diverse inhabitants, that I found it almost impossible to find a good ole’ Mexican food restaurant. We were all over areas surrounding the center of the city and hardly found a thing. There seemed to be an inordinate focus on European and Argentinian cuisines. But I digress.

Doing the Jen Saki “circle back” to the subject of safety and security in Mexico, it’s not complicated. it all really boils down to simple common sense and awareness of your surroundings. Make no mistake, there’s a plethora of cities and areas of cities in the United States I wouldn’t take my ex-Mother-in-law to. Englewood in Chicago, Chesterfield Square in Los Angeles, downtown New York City, Midtown Minneapolis, Centennial in Portland, etc., etc.

In Mexico City, the areas of the historic city center, Doctores, Del Valle Centro, Roma Norte, Narvarte and Buena Vista would not be my picks for an afternoon or evening stroll. if you’re concerned about safety and security in strange surroundings (and you should always be), in any city or country you intend to visit here or abroad, a little advance research can go a long way towards ensuring a pleasant trip.

Now, as regards my proposal of retirement in Mexico, quite expectedly, but before I finally took her to see and experience Mexico City for herself, my wife, a staunch creature of habit, had immediately dismissed the idea on the grounds that we would be too far from her family and the fact that she does not like change. …Fair enough. So, on our last day in Mexico City, while taking a leisurely afternoon drive through the areas of colonia Lomas de Chapultepec, Colonia Polanco and colonia Roma, we’re in the Roma neighborhood and my wife spots a particular building to our left and asks me what it is. I answered, “they’re apartments”. She just replied, “Okay”, and a few seconds later asked, “I wonder how much the rent would be…”.

I just looked at her with a smile and said, “Gotcha’”!

Everything you said is soooo spot on and thank you for saying what I’ve always said too!

Where do you live ?
Thank you
Deborah

Hi Virginia,
I am sorry that you have a bad impression of SMA because of the loss of your license plate. In all probability, your plate was not stolen. When people are parked illegally the police remove your license plate. You then have to pay the fine to get it back. The reason you got your diplomatic plate back so quickly after a few phone calls was because the police probably had your plate, not some criminals. Criminals are not interested in your license plates. They are more interested in any items left in your car that can be sold.
Laurie

As a Mexican I agree with what you say, the rule of law is scarce

Hi Ross,
Where in BC are you from? We live in Langley.
What is the best way to fly to Playa ?
How much do you charge for rental ? And, how big is your home ?
Lynne Powlik