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If you were to move what city in Mexico would you go to?


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I would like more info on Morelia also, also an interest of mine.  There is a new FB group called Expats in Morelia, not any activity on the site yet but hoping some of us with interest can get some feedback and answers to our questions.

 

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Responding to "Cielo", I too would be very interested in more information, and thanks. What I've gathered thus far, no clubby groupie enclaves. Simply living, without obligation of belonging to any formation of any kind. Surrounded by historical buildings and a university is a calling for superb cultural events. Lots of established cafés, restaurants etc. "Morelia is the capital of the central Mexican state of Michoacán. The colonial city center's narrow streets are lined with well-preserved 17th- and 18th-century buildings built from the region’s characteristic pink stone. One such building is the imposing, baroque-style Morelia Cathedral. Its elegant, soaring twin towers preside over the city’s main square, Plaza de Armas."

Next, I'd want to look into real estate and will do a research, then a visit.

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On 7/27/2017 at 8:27 PM, PaulD said:

I like the beach towns north of PV.  Sayulita used to be a treasure but has gotten too popular. SFO a little further north. Oaxaca maybe ???? 

Anyone for Chiapas ?? SMA is too cold in the wintertime.

Check out my post for El Tuito. A log house in an oak forest and close to the beaches?

Sayulita has major sewage problems, San Pancho not so much but muy carro.

Loved Huatulco but hot, hot, hot and we live in PV. Gorgeous beaches off the beaten track.

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18 minutes ago, tzevi said:

Responding to "Cielo", I too would be very interested in more information, and thanks. What I've gathered thus far, no clubby groupie enclaves. Simply living, without obligation of belonging to any formation of any kind. Surrounded by historical buildings and a university is a calling for superb cultural events. Lots of established cafés, restaurants etc. "Morelia is the capital of the central Mexican state of Michoacán. The colonial city center's narrow streets are lined with well-preserved 17th- and 18th-century buildings built from the region’s characteristic pink stone. One such building is the imposing, baroque-style Morelia Cathedral. Its elegant, soaring twin towers preside over the city’s main square, Plaza de Armas."

Next, I'd want to look into real estate and will do a research, then a visit.

What? No LCS? How could a gringo survive? No newbies to give advice to?  Impossible.

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Ajijic is quite hot from mid April to mid June and the smoke often discourages opening windows and doors so cooling is recommended. SMA is cool for similar amount of time in winter meaning a heat source is recommended. SMA does not get as hot weeks before rainy season. 

Cuernavaca and towns near by for best weather, proximity to airport, hospitals and educational facilities plus lower new home costs. Example new, gorgeous, contemporary home with pool and 3300 sq ft asking 4,800,000 pesos. It had 5 bathrooms including one with pool and a maid's quarters plus gorgeous cabinetry and quality windows and doors. Property is in a gated community. We visited this home with Canadian friends and their mouths dropped as home was so impressive. House is bigger than most would want but gives a good idea of costs. Below are two photos. This home would be at least 50% more in SMA and likely Ajijic. Homes in Cuernavaca are priced in pesos. We visit often and would live there except an excellent business keeps us in SMA.

Morelia as noted is worth exploring.

Patzcuaro is for those wanting less population, on a lake, much fewer expats and for people seeking a little cooler temperatures. The jardine is beautiful and restaurants provide some amazing meals. The "energy" is very different from SMA and Ajijic in that it is calm and relaxing. Patzcuaro for those wanting what I noted should visit. And while there nearby Uruapan has a beautiful park and nearby are towns famous for copper works.

Huatulco where we just visited is very nice on southern Pacific coast but the heat and humidity are high and for most not comfortable. That can be said of most coastal areas although Mazatlan for 9 months would be a better choice.

 

 

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Sonia we have lived  in May in Ajijic for 17 tears and we have windows open and fans on and smoke is part of life in most of Mexico in villages or towns near agricultural areas.. 

There is no Chiapas because that is where we live part of the year.. In the highland people burn in April and it is smoky and hazy in San Cristobal as well ... So we get it in April in San Cristobal and in May in Ajijic and our windows remain open in both places.. The rains soon comes and the air gets nice and cool again..

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And numerous posts about heat and need for A/C or evaporative coolers.

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It is the same every year , people in the Lake area love to complain but it is the same in many towns.. It gets very hot in Oaxaca as well but you do not hear all the complaining.. Peole always complain before the rains come.. they are sick of not having rain and the burning of fields along with forest fire can be basty but they canalways go to the coast where the wind blos and escape the month of the year they do not like..There are usually at least a couple of months or more  that are less pleasant in just about any place  in the world..

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On 7/28/2017 at 11:55 PM, pappysmarket said:

Check out my post for El Tuito. A log house in an oak forest and close to the beaches?

Sayulita has major sewage problems, San Pancho not so much but muy carro.

Loved Huatulco but hot, hot, hot and we live in PV. Gorgeous beaches off the beaten track.

I spoke to the man and his wife who started this small enclave... http://www.banderasnews.com/real-estate/tierra-alta.htm

 

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I would prefer the historic downtown in Morelia although I do not know much about it yet, I will be doing a trip in the near future.  If all of us interested in Morelia would join the FB group expats in Morelia maybe we could post our findings as we visit and can collectively gather more information.  It has a major airport, from what I gather it is an easy drive to CDMX and Guad, 3 hours to beaches in Michoacan and the weather seems fairly close to the weather here lakeside.

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There's a Michoacán Yahoo group that is long-established and active that'll likely be a much more useful resource for those interested in Morelia and Pátzcuaro than Facebook groups. 

It's considerably colder in Morelia in Winter (and WAY colder in Pátzcuaro) due to their respective altitudes (6300 and 7000 feet) and much more influence from coastal humidity. Morelia has a decent airport but flights to the U.S can be pricey and limited. There's a deluxe bus to Mexico City airport though. Friends who live in Pátzcuaro sometime fly out of Guadalajara as well; there's a late night/early morning bus from there that gets into Guad. in time to catch morning flights. 

Obviously no comparison with having a major airport 30-40 minutes away, but Morelia is an easy drive to so many places of great cultural and culinary interest. Here's a fun blog post by one expat who's chosen Morelia. Poke around on her site and you'll find an even more entertaining comparison of San Miguel de Allende vs. Pátzcuaro:

https://redshoesarebetterthanbacon.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/why-i-live-in-morelia/

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7 hours ago, michael2595 said:

That's one bustling city. Has an airport. Hondas 1 billion dollar assembly plant is not far in another town close by, but many companies have factories or offices there.

Yup. Yet it seemed cleaner and more organized than our big neighbor Guadalajara. The Centro historico was very well maintained too. 

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6 hours ago, Kevin K said:

There's a Michoacán Yahoo group that is long-established and active that'll likely be a much more useful resource for those interested in Morelia and Pátzcuaro than Facebook groups. 

It's considerably colder in Morelia in Winter (and WAY colder in Pátzcuaro) due to their respective altitudes (6300 and 7000 feet) and much more influence from coastal humidity. Morelia has a decent airport but flights to the U.S can be pricey and limited. There's a deluxe bus to Mexico City airport though. Friends who live in Pátzcuaro sometime fly out of Guadalajara as well; there's a late night/early morning bus from there that gets into Guad. in time to catch morning flights. 

Obviously no comparison with having a major airport 30-40 minutes away, but Morelia is an easy drive to so many places of great cultural and culinary interest. Here's a fun blog post by one expat who's chosen Morelia. Poke around on her site and you'll find an even more entertaining comparison of San Miguel de Allende vs. Pátzcuaro:
4-
https://redshoesarebetterthanbacon.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/why-i-live-in-morelia/but after staying there for   

I agree with Kevin. Jennifer Rose is the gal you want to talk to (or follow) if you are seriously  interested moving to Morelia. I was her follower way before her website and "wordpress" existed. We were interested in "snowbirding" to Morelia in early 2000 but found it cold in winter. So was SMA and  Pátzcuaro ...too cold for us .There used to be an ex-pat group in Morelia which met every month (?)

We also considered Merida but after being there for couple of months we found it too hot. :rolleyes:  So we went back to coast or Ajijic.  Past couple of winters I found Lakeside cool at nights. None of the places we tried (there were several more) were perfect in one way or other. I guess we just will have to pick " our poison" and live with it.

We are more interested in weather than other reasons people are moving to Mexico for. We love our beautiful place on Vancouver Island (in summer) but would love to find similarly  perfect place for 4-5 months during the winter. I hope more people will post about non-touristy places they lived in Mexico.

We have never been to Cuernavaca . ( I hope that not all new houses are built in the style Sonia posted.:)} I am attracted to "old" Mexico.  Comala did not speak to me and also it is way too close to active volcano.

Did anyone lived in Tequisquiapan?

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One thing that is awesome about living in Mexico is that it is a fairly large country with a large variety of topographies, climates, and the special  micro-climates.  You can choose locations in low lying sea level areas with the famous beaches and high heat and humidity, the high altitude desert regions and the high altitude cool tropical forest and even alpine pine forest zones.  The majority  of Mexico's cities are amazing and fascinating all in their own and unique rights.  Many of Mexico's cities are, for me, wonderful places to visit and spend extended visits but are not places I would choose to buy a home and live out my years.  I love Zacatecas, San Miguel, Guanajuato, and Queretero , all are amazing wonderful colonial places but they are high altitude desert areas basically and dry and brown much of the year.  Queretero I would rate as the most affordable and livable out of that group.  I prefer the high altitude wet green cities but those that maintain a cool verdant environment. I have just returned from vacation for a week in Cuernavaca and Tepoztlan.  I agree with Sonia that it is an excellent city and it has been dubbed the Beverly Hills of Mexico for the Mexico City wealthy elite.  It is  usually 2 or 3 degrees cooler than Chapala but it stays green and gorgeous year round.  The thick forests surrounding the city and much of the state of Morelos almost makes one feel that they are in western North Carolina or some Eastern Atlantic wooded area.  Morelia is also a wonderful green forested cool city to consider with wonderful pinkish stone architecture.  If you like green with good weather, also consider the nice high altitude cities of Veracruz, I haven't visited this area yet but from the look of the cities I have seen on youtube travel documentaries, I think Orizaba and Cordoba look really promising, especially Orizaba.  Check it out out youtube.  Also, for those interested in Morelia there is a video on you tube called expats in Morelia.

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dichosalocura:    "I love Zacatecas, San Miguel, Guanajuato, and Queretero , all are amazing wonderful colonial places but they are high altitude desert areas basically and dry and brown much of the year.  Queretero I would rate as the most affordable and livable out of that group."

 

You missed the best of all in the high plateau semi-arid Bajio region - San Luis Potosí. SLP. IMO.  Almost as large as Querétaro but much more middle to upper middle class than Querétaro and the Historic Center is several times larger than Querétaro´s and much more open and the ciy has more gardens and small parks and 2 large parks in town [one is a 1,115 acre park ] and cleaner and much less traffic congestion. Zacatecas is much smaller with a small Historic Center just like Guanaujato and SMA. Querétaro is more statigically located than SLP. SLP is about 200 klms north of Querétaro. We can drive 2 hours to get to any of the 4 cities you mentioned.

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Queretaro is for those wanting a larger city. It is growing rapidly. It may be the fastest growing city in Latin America and it is fastest growing in Mexico. Educational and medical facilities are excellent. The new Arkansas State University opening next month is a major asset located on 370 acres. The centro area is extremely inviting. Shopping at the relatively new Antea mall is world class and another similar mall is being built. In addition there is a large mall where major highways intersect. The city is one of the safest and cleanest in Mexico. Infrastructure is constantly being improved.Temperatures are about 2 - 3C warmer than San Miguel. The large bus terminal and airport make access easy. High tech industry brings with it an educated work force and literally billions are being invested by electronic companies such as Huawei and aeronautical research and manufacturing plus auto parts, etc. It is for those who want city living.

Cuernavaca though would be our first choice with likely best weather in Mexico, smaller city; lower housing costs and easy access to Mexico City (family), airports and coast. There is also a large variety in housing available from the traditional homes with fewer windows and smaller rooms to what the younger more affluent Mexicans seek.... modern, contemporary homes with open floor plans, modern windows and doors and the latest conveniences. The cost of these new homes is 10,000 to 11,000 pesos a sq meter with pool, which is half of what one finds in SMA, lakeside etc. For more information re the state of Morelos and Cuernavaca this FB page will be of interest. https://www.facebook.com/MorelosTuristico.Oficial/ Plus Youtube is always a great source as already noted.

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This has turned into a really fascinating thread thanks to the variety of insightful posts. Much appreciated!

One city not yet mentioned that my wife and I would like to spend extended time in is Puebla. It is every bit as culturally and culinarily rich as Oaxaca but has far better infrastructure and livability (Oaxaca is constantly running out of water and beset by blockades from the teacher's union and others, not to mention horrendous crime due to the extreme poverty of the state). I'd guess we'd probably choose to do as many savvy locals do and live in Cholula, which is now pretty much just a more relaxed suburb of Puebla proper. 

Plenty of hi-tech and sophisticated manufacturing there, amazing arts and food ( tacos arabe and moles to die for), world-class restaurants, phenomenal hiking nearby BUT- and I think this is going to be the "clincher" issue for any of the places mentioned in this thread except for Lakeside and SMA - very few fellow expats (so much so that we didn't even see any gringo tourists in our time there. 


Of course there are the admirable few with fluent Spanish, those who've married locals and are thus almost required to "go local" to some degree, but my observation has been that the perhaps the single most viable predictor of long-term success in living down here full-time is the quality and depth of one's friendships with fellow expats. Even at Lakeside and in SMA the "pool" of full-timers is quite small - much smaller than in a typical American retirement town. On the other hand, we have good friends up in Pátzcuaro who are thriving not because they've "gone native" but because the ~150 or so year-round expats there are such a good fit interest and sensibility-wise that they have plenty of friends, while they also are diligent about improving their Spanish and slowly but surely expanding their network of Mexican friends. 

Lakeside and SMA may well be "expat life with training wheels" but there are good reasons why few ever graduate to riding without 'em. 

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On 7/27/2017 at 11:31 AM, elisabeth said:

Would love for anyone who has lived in Morelia to tell me about living there.  Would like to consider it, but am afraid we might find it too distant from easy air transport as we get older.  One advantage of Lakeside is the easy proximity to GDL.

The Morelia airport is about an hour from the city--only a little farther away than the GDL airport is from Ajijic.

I lived in beautiful Morelia for years and love the city and its incredible and year-round array of cultural events.  I live in Mexico City now,  miss living in Morelia and often consider going back.

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