Conoces Guadalajara, mexico?
I am retiring there in 3 months and need as much help and info as i can get. its a little intimidating for me at my age and never having lived abroad before. Gracias por tus respuestas!
3 Answers
Are you familiar with Google Earth? You can visit Guadalajara and zoom down to street level and take a virtual tour via street view, and drive down many streets. It's pretty much just like being in a car.
I was in Guadalajara in the eighties for about a week. I had driven there from more rural parts of Mexico. I remember the outskirts of town being rundown and dilapidated like many poor areas are, but was stunned as I got further in towards the center of the city.
I started to feel like I had somehow landed back in Los Angeles. There were some super nice neighborhoods and business districts with high rise buildings. The people on the streets looked like they do in Century City or on Rodeo Drive. Business attire, very 'American like'. That trip stripped away my stereotypical image of Mexico. No cacti, sombreros or horses anywhere in sight, more like cosmopolitan America. Not like there is anything wrong with sombreros or horses or cacti.
I didn't interact much with the people in Guadalajara, but I have found people in Mexico to be super friendly. The type that would give a stranger the shirt off their back. I think with all the poverty the people help each other out more than in the US. For example a poor or elderly person might walk up to a house and ask for a taco, or something to eat. They will gladly be given whatever the people can spare. Once, (being a 20-something thoughtless bonehead at the time), I asked an elderly gentleman in a parking lot to watch my truck without offering anything in return. I completely forgot about it and spent about a half hour inside the store. I came out and noticed a family in a station wagon sitting there and realized that the gentleman was still there, watching my truck, and now with the rest of the family patiently waiting, groceries and all.
So don't expect to see a bunch of gun-slinging nacro-traficantes, Expect to see the same mix of good and bad, rich and poor we have here.
Cajititlan west of Guadalajara is nice, driving can be chaotic and confusing with the maze of glorietas (traffic circles) but I think you will feel at home there in no time.
Guadalajara is a big city. Like Mexico DF, it has beautiful areas still, but unfortunately enough crime and pollution to make one want to live elsewhere. I would only live there if I had a job there.
I have always liked Chapala, about 30 minutes to the south and next to the lake. It´s much smaller and very tranquil and close enough for when you need something from the city. And of course, property values are lower than those in Guadalajara.
Of course, there is always Ajijíc, 3 miles from Chapala, but for retirement this town is now for those who don´t want to learn the language or culture of Mexico, ie: the "ugly Americans."
I don't know much about that particular spot, but I've spent plenty of time abroad (almost 6 years total). I definitely encourage it, and your retirement will never be dull in a foreign country.
I wish you all the luck in the world!
