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If you could turn back time


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NO regrets. Been here 12 years. Clinging tooth and nail to staying here. Looking at costs elsewhere:

Tucson, where our only progeny lives, fairly expensive, gotta count the costs of transporting practically everything over the desert.

Canada, hey it's cold there!

England, hey it's WAY expensive there! But I I think I would be happy to be in southern England, middle of Kent, considering Isle of Wight. (Hubby is English.) Guess I have forgotten how the damp weather affects my arthritis!

Guanajuato: pretty town. Place I enjoyed visiting. If you have friends there, please advise. A possible move for us.

The Ajijic area is becoming a suburb of Guadalajara. This has been going on for years, but is getting more so. Traffic is intense, and widening the road in the main area of Ajijic will just make it worse IMO.

Welcome to being a suburb of Guadalajara!

 

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1 hour ago, El Menudo said:

Knowing what you do now, If you could go back in time to somewhere before you made the decision to move lakeside, would you still do it?  If not, what would you have done?

Truthfully, given the changes here (suburb of GDL) and the decline in local services and area roads, if I had it to do all over again I would have sold the big, impossible to maintain house in Albuquerque, downsized there and just spent the winters in Mexico, probably in a number of places, most likely the beach.  Probably would have kept my very excellent diesel pusher RV too.

Not sure what we do in the future at this point.  I don't see the trends in this area as being positive.

 

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After 21 years, wouldn't change a thing. San Miguel was too cold in the winter...San Pancho was too hot in the summer... and Ajijic is juuussst right. And there is no way in hell that I'm going back to Canada.

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We would still have come to Lakeside, but would have prepared better for when the "pueblo feeling" disappeared, like about 2011. We would only have spent about 6 months in Mexico, and 6 months NOB, and would have prepared to change that to less time here as things moved more to the "hustle and bustle" we now experience. The first 10-12 years were "great"., now not.

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6 minutes ago, betty7 said:

MC, the plan was to link this area w/guad. @ first it was slow then exploded. there was a decent administration in "03, they did some improvements for the "image". over night they took down over 100 billboards between ajijic & chapala, inspite of the beginnings of the suburbanization. @ one time, the town had many trees & flowers. clean & quiet- even on the weekends. there were some very nice cafes & businesses which closed once the newer people came. they were replaced by trashy places later. ofcause i would not have come here. the main industry now is construction.

Why do you stay?  It is obvious you are unhappy.

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We originally wanted to retire to PV but fell in love with Lakeside on a visit there in 2000. Prices were half of what they were here at the time. We raided our fund and bought 4 different properties on 4 different visits. We turned the last one., a very old run down house in Ajijic. into our BnB, 6 1/2 years of running it were some of the funnest years of our lives and also some of the most stressful, The average innkeeper lasts 1 year according to the research we did, So up for sale it went in 2008 and we knew not where we would go, The buyers had to make an offer which also included this condo in PV that we are now in, A risky move since it was just starting construction, Our attorney advised against it but we said we wanted to do it so at the last minute he inserted a clause in the sale document that placed a HIGH penalty if we did not have a deed in our hands in 1 year, A year later we did not have the deed so they had a choice of either giving the property back or paying the penalty, Some more horse trading resulted in us getting the deed to another condo in Nuevo Vallarta and several months later this deed also.

We loved our time there but things have changed so much. as Jim Bowie said.  I can't imagine going back but I try to never say never, Life down here is just so much easier for many reasons, bug free (almost) being one of the big ones, Fly season here you get to bitch  at the one fly that bothers you at an outside table, Seriously!

So the way things turned out I wouldn't change a thing, Please forgive any typos. I'm restricted to one eye until tomorrow.

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We enjoyed our time at the lake.  My one regret is that we bought a house and did not rent.  Lost a good bit of money when we sold it.  But, who knew!!!!!  It was fun but will not return.  Been there, done that.  Maybe a week or two vacation sometime.

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We are going on our 13th year.  We would do it all over again.  Yes there is more "hustle and bustle" here now, however, there is much more "hustle and bustle" when we go NOB to visit family than there is here.  We have better access to health care and doctors here than NOB.  We have an easier and less expensive lifestyle.  We now have our friends.  We would most definitely do it all over again and besides that do not have any plans to every move back.

If my sister has a maid she pays $100.00 to $125.00 U.S. for 4 hours; has her lawn mowed and edged for $35.00 which I understand is cheap; pays the same for healthcare (Medicare/Medicare Supplement/Medicare D) that we do but has higher deductibles and co-pays; her taxes on her home run approximately $4000.00 U.S. per year.  Then we can talk about utilities, etc. etc.  These things may not be a consideration for many people here ... they are a definite consideration for us.  

When we get sick we can pick up the phone and talk directly to our specialists, if we can not drive ourselves to Guadalajara for medical treatment we have an excellent driver who also interprets for us if necessary, we have insurance agents that work for us and help us fill out forms when needed and if we can't get a pharmacy, etc. to provide a proper factura for reimbursement ... they get it for us; our maids have become friends and when we are sick or go on vacation they care for our house and dogs at $200.00 pesos a day (our daughter pays $40.00 per dog per day NOB); I can indulge in a therapeutic massage each week for a fraction of what you would pay NOB; we don't have to pump our own gas or clean our own windshields, or wash our own car.  There are doctors and veterinarians that will come to the house if needed for very little extra cost.  The cost of food and eating out is far less so we can eat out much more.  Good Grief!!  I could continue but I think this paints a picture.  We are here until the end and are grateful each and every day.  

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What makes one person happy is often the opposite for others. That is what you will get in response to the OP. Sure we liked before 2010 at Lakeside, as did many of our friends. Several of them moved back NOB after that time, so they will not respond here. Those who are "trapped" here will rarely respond to these "questions". So, what you basically get is a non response from people who are afraid to respond honestly because of the "elites" here, or from those who honestly like Lakeside as it currently is. Everyone deserves to be as happy as they can afford to be.

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That's the old story of the guy who keeps moving to find "the right place". Someone who knows him well says "the problem is he keeps talking HIM with him".

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1 hour ago, pappysmarket said:

We originally wanted to retire to PV but fell in love with Lakeside on a visit there in 2000. Prices were half of what they were here at the time. We raided our fund and bought 4 different properties on 4 different visits. We turned the last one., a very old run down house in Ajijic. into our BnB, 6 1/2 years of running it were some of the funnest years of our lives and also some of the most stressful, The average innkeeper lasts 1 year according to the research we did, So up for sale it went in 2008 and we knew not where we would go, The buyers had to make an offer which also included this condo in PV that we are now in, A risky move since it was just starting construction, Our attorney advised against it but we said we wanted to do it so at the last minute he inserted a clause in the sale document that placed a HIGH penalty if we did not have a deed in our hands in 1 year, A year later we did not have the deed so they had a choice of either giving the property back or paying the penalty, Some more horse trading resulted in us getting the deed to another condo in Nuevo Vallarta and several months later this deed also.

We loved our time there but things have changed so much. as Jim Bowie said.  I can't imagine going back but I try to never say never, Life down here is just so much easier for many reasons, bug free (almost) being one of the big ones, Fly season here you get to bitch  at the one fly that bothers you at an outside table, Seriously!

So the way things turned out I wouldn't change a thing, Please forgive any typos. I'm restricted to one eye until tomorrow.

You make it sound so attractive but what about the weather?

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7 minutes ago, pappysmarket said:

That's the old story of the guy who keeps moving to find "the right place". Someone who knows him well says "the problem is he keeps talking HIM with him".

Pappy, that is certainly one way to look at it but, it ain't always true.  I liked living in Fort Worth, I liked living in Ajijic and I like living in Dallas now.  But I am not going to stay here forever.  Where you live is an adventure and there are a bunch of them out there.  I don't want the place I live now to be the last place I ever live.  As long as my mom needs us we will be in Dallas.  After that plans are to head to Florida.  After that, maybe Washington state.  Who knows after that!

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2 minutes ago, nothernewbie said:

You make it sound so attractive but what about the weather?

OK  I love to share. It's not for up everyone and if the weather was perfect we couldn't afford to live here. On average from mid November to mid June I rate the weather better here. Lakeside better the rest of the year. We love the rainy season here just as we did up there. Smart residents here do their chores early in the summer and relax under a fan at home or at a seaside locale. If you live up on the cerro you get the sea breeze during the day and the land breeze at night. We have never used our A/C and average a $25 US monthly electric bill. Our 2 br, be 2 ba 1850 sq. condo would probably sell for around $ 180,000. Panoramic  view of Banderas Bay and 5 minutes to Old Town. Everyone, including the locals sweats during the summer. Your first year is the worst and then it either grows on you or you move on. We've always been beach people so the pluses far outweigh the minuses. Did I mention Costco is 10 minutes away?

YMMV

.

 

 

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23 minutes ago, El Menudo said:

Pappy, that is certainly one way to look at it but, it ain't always true.  I liked living in Fort Worth, I liked living in Ajijic and I like living in Dallas now.  But I am not going to stay here forever.  Where you live is an adventure and there are a bunch of them out there.  I don't want the place I live now to be the last place I ever live.  As long as my mom needs us we will be in Dallas.  After that plans are to head to Florida.  After that, maybe Washington state.  Who knows after that!

Excellent plan, that story obviously wasn't about you.... but FW sounds a lot better than Dallas, love FW.

"Does it ever cross your mind?"

I'm having a terrible time with one eye.

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1 hour ago, betty7 said:

pappy you moved & took yourself w/you.

Despite what others may say Betty. I love you and your posts. Some might say you are a no it all which is fine because you are not an angry no it all.

Peace

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27 minutes ago, pappysmarket said:

Excellent plan, that story obviously wasn't about you.... but FW sounds a lot better than Dallas, love FW.

"Does it ever cross your mind?"

I'm having a terrible time with one eye.

We loved FW too.  Our home was in Berkeley, near the zoo and TCU.  Great old English Tudor house.  We still miss it.  It even had a basement, very unusual to a Texas home.  It was so easy to get downtown, Sundance Square, and to the Stockyards.  You would not recognize Sundance now.  It has changed so much but only with improvements.  Still a great place.

Did you ever eat the BBQ at the Railhead?

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Kinda reminds me of something I saw on the inside wall of a McDonald's one morning in Amarillo, Texas, when I stopped for breakfast back in the late 1980"s.There was a rough sketch of a kinda desert scene on the wall and words something like: "one evening, late, when God was creating the Earth, He " roughed out" West Texas. He decided He was too tired to finish and said to Himself that He would just finish it the next morning. When morning came and He looked at what He had done with West Texas, He said to Himself that there was just too much work to do to fix it. So, He said that He would just leave it the way it was, and create people who would love it to live there. And, to this day, you really have to love West Texas to live there. But, those who do, would live in no other place on the Earth.

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8 minutes ago, Hud said:

betty7, IMHO the "elites" are those among us who are Always correct about everything they post, and have absolutely no problem "putting others down" with their replies. They do not like to hear the truth about things that differ from their opinion and when they are faced with the truth, resort to replies claiming the other person is a "racist" or "un-American" or a bigot, etc. Some people call them "leftists". I prefer "elitist", as they think they are so much "better" than others.

Some people here, betty7, have these people as "friends" and are included in activities that they want to be a part of. They do not really agree with these elites, but enjoy the activities. They are well aware of how they would be treated if the "elites" discovered the real feelings of these people, so they go along with the "elites" as they are afraid to express their "real" feelings. I have known several in my time at Lakeside. It is their lives and their choice to do that. I could not live that way, as I am sure you could not either. 

Oh my!

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