Friday, August 3, 2012

Where to live in Mexico

By Benjamin Harper


Western media is notorious for smear campaigns and propaganda, which is an unfortunate reality in terms of learning about countries outside of the United States and her allies. Mexico is the perfect example of these campaigns in action, because most U.S. citizens are only familiar with this Latin country as it relates to drugs and the cartel wars that are a part of daily life in the cities in the north of the country along the border of the United States. However, Mexico is a massive country with 31 different states that make up her whole, and most of them are safer by far than their American counterparts, which means if you are looking to research where to live in Mexico you have to be able to look beyond the propaganda at the reality of the situation.

If you want to live in Cancun, for example, you are in one of the safest places in the world. While Washington D.C. has a 31 in 100/000 murder rate according to USA Today, the entire state of Quintana Roo only has 2 in 100,000, and considering Cancun is one of many cities in the state, you can see that the safety levels for this part of Mexico are significantly less than the capital of the U.S. Meanwhile, New York City is 9 in 100,000, and Denver, Colorado is 8 in 100,000. In short, Cancun is a great option on the list of where to live in Mexico.

The cost of living in Mexico is another reason why so many people are looking for places where to live in Mexico. Pensioners and expats alike can benefit from the fact that the government only wants you to prove $1,000 per month to establish a residency visa, and access to the universal healthcare system is a mere $250 per month for unlimited medicine, no deductibles and more. The costs are mere pennies in comparison to what people are paying back in the U.S.

Mexico is more than just Cancun, however. Tapalpa, located in the state of Jalisco, is a great option if you prefer the quite village life, and the mountains city of San Cristobal in the state of Chiapas gives you direct access to the Mayan heartland, surrounded by thousands of years of history along with rich, native heritage and lush tropical highlands. However, for many expats a city like Cancun is the best option when looking at where to live in Mexico because it has all the amenities they are used to, ranging from Wal Mart to Home Depot to Office Depot and beyond.

Modern amenities is something else you can look at when choosing where to live in Mexico, because they exist everywhere, just as they do in the U.S. While it's certainly true that you can go off the grid in sections of the jungle or the mountains, places like Mexico City give expats every modern amenity and luxury you are used to having. Ranked as the 5th largest city on Earth and regularly listed as one of the top 10 richest cities in the world, it's just one more option out of hundreds when you take the entire country into consideration.




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