Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I, too, am interested in snowbirding in Mexico, after seven years in Thailand. Anyone familiar with Hermosillo? Also, a fellow expat says he likes Merida, any clues? Burned out on touristy beach ripoffs, but certainly don't want to be the only American around. Should I consider DF? I'll bet the nightlife is good.
I, too, am interested in snowbirding in Mexico, after seven years in Thailand. Anyone familiar with Hermosillo? Also, a fellow expat says he likes Merida, any clues? Burned out on touristy beach ripoffs, but certainly don't want to be the only American around. Should I consider DF? I'll bet the nightlife is good.
Hermosillo is rather boring, but if you crave a normal Mexican town with few foreigners around it could work. Merida probably better but realize the heat starts up early there to the point where you will be in some pretty hot weather before the cold clears in wherever you come from.
Mazatlan might be worth a look, not much of the touristy beach ripoff place these days. Probably 80% or more of their visitors are Mexican so plenty of normal Mexican pricing. Heat doesn't get too bad there until around late May and winter months are actually quite pleasant with an occasional subtle chill in the air for a day or two.
I'm currently living in Playa del Carmen with my family. I feel safer than when I lived in Chicago for over 16 years. It's all relative I guess, depending on the comparison to the US. The Yucatan is safer than most large US cities but far more dangerous than rural Wyoming...
I'm currently living in Playa del Carmen with my family. I feel safer than when I lived in Chicago for over 16 years. It's all relative I guess, depending on the comparison to the US. The Yucatan is safer than most large US cities but far more dangerous than rural Wyoming...
Don't go looking for trouble and you should be fine.
I lived in Monterrey for a year and travelled around Neuvo Leon, Jalisco, Quninta Roo, Yucatan and Nayarit. For the most part, I felt safer living in Mexico than I did in large cities in the US.
Rent is cheap in Mexico. Rent a place with building security or a place that is gated and that limits any possible issues a lot.
Again, stay out of trouble, rent a place with some kind of security and there really shouldn't be any issues.
Don't get me wrong, I think the dangers for the average expat are greatly overestimated by many, but it almost seems like the pendulum swings too far the other way for some when folks say they feel safer than USA. There are good parts and bad parts of of Mexican and USA cities, but lots of things in safer areas are different. Nice upper class neighborhoods with bars on the windows and barbed/electric wire around the roof, being used to not taking out your cell phone near where could be snatched, feeling comfortable walking on streets alone later at night, not driving on some rural roads at night, etc.
Senseless gun violence unrelated to money-making criminal activity, and aimed at random individuals, whoever happens to be around in malls, schools, etc, can and does happen in the US on a frequent basis. There undoubtedly is more high-profile organized crime in Mexico, but there are more empowered psychos in the US. I’ll take my chances with Mexico, thanks. And I lived and worked for three years in Culiacán.
If you look at gun homicides in USA, take out suicides and people killed by someone they know, the remaining numbers are very small compared to population. The risk of being killed by a stranger with a gun in USA is very small, not even worth considering in a risk calculus. Things like mall and school shootings is the same as the press making it seem like everyone in Mexico is at great risk of being shot by cartel shootouts, a lot more exciting news headlines than risk.
How do you feel about bars and razor wire on every house in upper middle class neighborhoods or pickpockets on public transportation? What about how in USA you can drive pretty much across any rural area feeling safe? How about whipping out your cell phone near a busy street in USA without instinctively turning away from passers or even into a doorway?
I'll explain again. You expressed concern about random gun violence, but gun violence statistics in USA like what you referenced are dominated by homicides by people they know and suicides. If you take those out of the equation (thus addressing your concerns about random gun violence) USA rate of gun violence isn't significant. It's weird you dismiss cartel violence from affecting you yet want to include gun violence in USA that wouldn't affect you, bottom line your odds of getting shot in either country by a stranger are very low.
So, how do you feel about about barbed wire and bars on the windows in upper middle class neighborhoods in Mexico? Have you heard a lot about cell phone snatchings in USA like there have been articles in Mexico on how prevalent it is. Leading a "normal life" is a subjective non-argument. What about driving whereever you want in rural areas at night?
You seem very emotional on this, what got you triggered (no pun) where you turn to insults instead of facts?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
