Jump to content
Chapala.com Webboard

What would you suggest that might make living at Lakeside even better?


Recommended Posts

5 minutes ago, pappysmarket said:

It seems to me that Mexico expects each homeowner/renter to be their own crime prevention director.

It does seem that way doesn't it?  Yet street cameras are a great way to deter crime, not just of break ins. Criminals avoid areas which have street (vs home) camera systems.  The police would be able to brag of low crime rate in the area, despite the limited man power.  It is a win-win situation for all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 149
  • Created
  • Last Reply
27 minutes ago, El Menudo said:

Yes, MC you are correct and I have never regretted it.  The thing is, my spouse wants to return.  Says he could be packed in thirty minutes.  I stay connected and read him the comments I see on this board, most of which are negative about the area, to support why I don't want to return.  Don't want to name names but you know who comments about the trash, noise etc etc.  I read them to him as a way to support why I wanted to get away.  For those who are happy there, I support you, but you gotta admit that it ain't gettin' any better.  The time we spent there was great but I don't want to ever return.  Just wish I could convince him of that.  If it comes to it I will schedule a trip back and see if it changes his mind.  Do you think that would be a good idea?  Not trying to be ugly, just stating how I feel.

Not ' to be ugly' ?   But you just said in another post that it ( Lakeside) should ' blow' up . Now that was ' ugly ' . But , you don't live in the Lakeside area?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, pappysmarket said:

It seems to me that Mexico expects each homeowner/renter to be their own crime prevention director.

It does seem that way, doesn't it?  

Street cameras are a great way to deter crime, not just of break ins. Criminals avoid areas which have street (vs home) camera systems.  The police would be able to brag of low crime rate in the area, despite the limited man power.  It is a win-win situation for all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The police in Mexico don't investigate crime, they will stop it if they see it in progress. I don't think they much care about the crime rate except as it pertains to their own family's home. Less crime might mean fewer police which means less employment . We're not in Kansas anymore. Shortly after moving to Ajijic 15 years ago we were down at the Plaza. A car came driving up Colon (wrong way) and a cop was standing outside the Delegado office with his M-16. I nudged my wife and said let's see what they do to this guy. The cop called for reinforcements and soon 3 cops were laughing their heads off. I really knew things were different here!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, Menudo is not the only ones who have left feeling the way she does. We have known several in our nearly 20 years here. Things have really deteriorated for us, too, but we have too much invested to just up and return. Were we making that decision to come here today based on how things actually are at Lakeside, we certainly would not choose to move here. Chapala/Ajijic is nothing like it was when we came, and that was the attraction for us. Not near the tranquility and "laid back" lifestyle we sought then. And, certainly not quaint and special now. But, some people love it the way it is now, which is great for them. They probably would not been happy back them either.

So, for us, the suggestion would be to turn back the clock about15 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some of us do remember when the dump was on the libramiento.  The complaint, then, was that it was usually on fire & folks just did not like the smell of burning garbage.  Maybe the tossing of trash along the libramiento is just an expression of a desire to return the landfill to its previous glory, rather than the more remote current location, away from gringolandia and its complainants. Maybe life would be better with fewer of them.  Not all of the local population is happy about the expat presence.  Perspective: Chapala is about 500 years old, and has grown steadily throughout the intervening centuries, surviving several flavors of “invaders“.  Some were absorbed, others were disposed of, and even some current day local “returns“ from stints in the USA are eliminated, as having been “ruined“ by their foreign exposure.  Learn Spanish. Listen to what people say.  You may not like some of what you overhear.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Islander said:

That is my vision of Ajijic. Yours might differ.

Actually, I know it wasn't your intention, but you have perfectly described Jocotepec. Only 100 - 150 gringos though - but many find that to be just fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Jim Bowie said:

Actually, Menudo is not the only ones who have left feeling the way she does. We have known several in our nearly 20 years here. Things have really deteriorated for us, too, but we have too much invested to just up and return. Were we making that decision to come here today based on how things actually are at Lakeside, we certainly would not choose to move here. Chapala/Ajijic is nothing like it was when we came, and that was the attraction for us. Not near the tranquility and "laid back" lifestyle we sought then. And, certainly not quaint and special now. But, some people love it the way it is now, which is great for them. They probably would not been happy back them either.

So, for us, the suggestion would be to turn back the clock about15 years.

Yes, you are right.  Turning back the clock would have made a big difference but, as we all know, that will not happen.  Time marches on.  We too lost money on our return NOB.  Sold our house at a loss.  We expected that to be the case.  We also expected to lose money on our MX purchased car.  Now that one was wild!  We purchased it for about $30,000 USD, drove it 8,000 miles and then sold it for $15,000 USD.  We were laughing through our tears.

We were fortunate, even with the losses, to be able to afford returning NOB.  We see and talk with our family and friends once or so each week.  My mom is almost 94 and is glad to have us around.  She always has chores for us to do.  It is much easier for Phil to see his grandson in Boston as well, we just put up with the heat and humidity here.

Jim, we wish you and your family the best.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 years ago rotten vegies were being sold at stores including super lake, there were lots of street dogs  on the street, as well as cows and horses on the lakeshore wondering onto the street.. no good coffee place in town, restaurant would close very early and go out of business on a reguale basis. the town would die in the summer, there were much less cars, n Soriana , no Walmart, finding things was more difficult, the town was noisier so there are plus and minuses with each change..

Yes I remember the dump and the well intention people who pitched in to build a wall to hide the dump.. Chapala went along with that joke and then the wall was declared too close to the road and the wall was removed and then the dump closed...

The lake was very low and Los Amigos del Lago were going to save it but nothing happened there either  until one of the visits of the Virgin of Zapopan and a couple of good rainy years and the lake came back up and the cows and horses that were grazing were moved to who knows where...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That was what attracted us, back then, and it became home for us, in spite of the changes.  Were we able, would we return?  Possibly nearby, but not in Ajijic.  Maybe Chapala again, but more likely a serious look at the Jocotopec area; or maybe Tlaquepaque, which is close enough, but a good compromise between Guadalajara attractions and old connections in Chapala, etc.

So....what would make Lake Chapala living better?  Yes, turn back the clock, then call me.  Maybe it could have become a Pueblo Magico, back then, but it is much too late now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


"Turn back the clock, eh?"  Now wouldn't that be nice?  However, that would make the complainers who want Lakeside to be more like the U.S. in every way, complete with every variety of junk food, even unhappier, wouldn't it?

The clock moves in only one direction.  The world is steadily more crowded, the electronic connectivity more all encompassing and the world shrinks around us. You can't look back, because what you remember is already gone. So........be glad you're still alive to see the changes. You don't have to either beat 'em or join 'em.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But......looking back at memories is pleasant.  Looking forward from my perspective is pretty dismal.  :unsure:

Just reading and posting here is about all the activity I can handle these days. I do enjoy staying in touch with the people and the place that became “hogar“, as I lived in Chapala longer than any other single place in my long life.  I miss it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, El Menudo said:

Yes, you are right.  Turning back the clock would have made a big difference but, as we all know, that will not happen.  Time marches on.  We too lost money on our return NOB.  Sold our house at a loss.  We expected that to be the case.  We also expected to lose money on our MX purchased car.  Now that one was wild!  We purchased it for about $30,000 USD, drove it 8,000 miles and then sold it for $15,000 USD.  We were laughing through our tears.

We were fortunate, even with the losses, to be able to afford returning NOB.  We see and talk with our family and friends once or so each week.  My mom is almost 94 and is glad to have us around.  She always has chores for us to do.  It is much easier for Phil to see his grandson in Boston as well, we just put up with the heat and humidity here.

Jim, we wish you and your family the best.

Bought a home in Ajijic in 2008.  In 2012 we reluctantly sold our home to return to the US to manage the health and in-home care for mi suegro.  He passed away in late 2015 (at age 91+, after a good and happy life).  

We wondered about returning to Ajijic, so we decided to visit.  Spent the month of July 2016.  It felt good, to both of us.  Decided we'd look for a house to buy in the next year.  

Then there was that surprise on Nov. 8, 2016.  We wondered how that would affect expats.  We flew down in January (on Inauguration Day, no less).  Talked to as many Mexicans as we could.  Realized Mexicans are well aware of the caliber of leaders that have been elected in MX and do not judge (nor blame) a country's citizens based on its elected leaders.  

Bought a house in Ajijic on that trip. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, bmh said:

15 years ago rotten vegies were being sold at stores including super lake, there were lots of street dogs  on the street, as well as cows and horses on the lakeshore wondering onto the street.. no good coffee place in town, restaurant would close very early and go out of business on a reguale basis. the town would die in the summer, there were much less cars, n Soriana , no Walmart, finding things was more difficult, the town was noisier so there are plus and minuses with each change..

Yes I remember the dump and the well intention people who pitched in to build a wall to hide the dump.. Chapala went along with that joke and then the wall was declared too close to the road and the wall was removed and then the dump closed...

The lake was very low and Los Amigos del Lago were going to save it but nothing happened there either  until one of the visits of the Virgin of Zapopan and a couple of good rainy years and the lake came back up and the cows and horses that were grazing were moved to who knows where...

Thanks for the memories, I well remember going to the dump and all the help that was offered for just a small propina. I had, however, forgotten about the wall. Yes, that was cool. And as RV said, they had some pretty serious fires, even well after it closed. Save the Lake was the battle cry and money was raised to get the lake the UN recognition it so dearly deserved. "Thank you for your kind donation, trust me, it will be put to good use". Uh huh. And then as you said the visit from the Virgin and several good rainy years and the makeshift golf course in front of San Antonio was all gone. And also the makeshift steak place in El Bajio that the old owner of David's on Hidalgo in Ajijic built on the vast shoreline. His girlfriend gave full moon horseback rides from there and I have never seen more mossys in one place.

You probably remember on the Mexican version of April Fools Day the front page story in the GR. Geologists find huge cracks in the floor of Lake Chapala. Millions of liters of water are gushing out. The Federal Government is send[ng experts. For several days many people believed it. The Reporter really caught hell and never did anything like that again. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, RVGRINGO said:

But......looking back at memories is pleasant.  Looking forward from my perspective is pretty dismal.  :unsure:

Just reading and posting here is about all the activity I can handle these days. I do enjoy staying in touch with the people and the place that became “hogar“, as I lived in Chapala longer than any other single place in my long life.  I miss it.

Awww ..  I really like your post !!!! I am glad you have pleasant memories !   You no longer in the Lakeside area?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

wrong betty.. In France we shop every day for fresh vegetables and when I go here 16 years ago I was appalled by the condition of the vegetables. Yes I know how to shop and sort out the freshest but what was offered was a mixture of fresh from the abastos ...to rotten including in SL things started improving with the arrival of Soriana and Walmart.. I had the same  bad impression when I was in Tulum around the same time,,, there it was even worst than Lakeside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The day the GR starts exposing anything more serious than rotten vegetables at SL will be the day every reporter there will be in grave danger. A shame but es la verdad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, betty7 said:

do you get this?? 

No. Walmex you said and cent america.

Walmart Centroamérica

In 2005, Walmart entered the Central American market by acquiring 33% of Central American Retail Holding Company (CARHCO) from Dutch retailer Royal Ahold NV. CARHCO operated stores in Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua. In 2006, Walmart increased its stake to 51% and changed the name to Walmart Centroamérica.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, betty7 said:

angus we read different publications. what difference does it make? walmart is not a US trend, its a way of life here as well. its a monster on every level. they dont even have decent plastic bags. want a quality plastic bag? go to the superdors. they also have good service. OK, MOD 5

OH MY!!!  Paranoia rears its ugly head.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.




×
×
  • Create New...