# Where to Live in Mexico?



## Gayla (Dec 31, 2012)

Is there anyplace in Mexico that has a decent climate, sane noise levels, clean air, and ex-pat amenities such as Chinese food and ecological consciousness?


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## Waller52 (Jun 17, 2015)

Gayla said:


> Is there anyplace in Mexico that has a decent climate, sane noise levels, clean air, and ex-pat amenities such as Chinese food and ecological consciousness?


San Miguel de Allende, Mexico?

No?


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## Gayla (Dec 31, 2012)

I used to live in San Miguel, but had to leave because factories were burning computers and plastic at night, and I couldn't breathe...


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

What does a decent climate mean to you? Like the old movie name "Some like it hot" others not.

I travel all over Mexico and for a hot spot I would choose La Paz,BCS
For a cold spot maybe San Cristobal de las Casas area.
For mid temperature maybe Valle de Bravo - Cuernavaca........


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## Gayla (Dec 31, 2012)

I like San Cristóbal, but I'm told the air is often smoky, and there are lots of fireworks. I've been 5 years now in Mexico and Guatemala, and I really want/need clean air and reasonable quiet. I'll look into your other suggestions, thanks.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Since the locals burn wood to cook and burn to clear fields and burn garbage it is difficult to avoid smoke...Maybe some where along the Pacific coast where sea breezes are prevalent but it may be too hot and humid for you...
I like La Paz because its on the water and in 1/2 an hour you could be on the Pacific coast at Todos Santos in fog, much of its electricity is provided by solar, they have some but not lots of expats and there are chineese restaurants. Being the state capital there are museums and universities...


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## Gayla (Dec 31, 2012)

Thanks for the info. It sounds like La Paz has the standard smoke situation, but perhaps not too bad? Does La Paz have the noise culture? How much might I expect to pay to rent a small house with fenced yard?


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Gayla said:


> Thanks for the info. It sounds like La Paz has the standard smoke situation, but perhaps not too bad? Does La Paz have the noise culture? How much might I expect to pay to rent a small house with fenced yard?


No smoke in LaPaz, surrounded by sea and sand, sand does not burn...
Maybe some noise along the Malecon on a Saturday evening.
I do not rent so can't help you with that.
I meant all the burning in San Cristobal...not La Paz.......


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## Gayla (Dec 31, 2012)

Thanks for the answers. La Paz goes on my list of possibilities.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

San Cristobal is smoky in April when they burn otherwise it is not.
Noisy...it depends where you live. I live in the historical center and I have 3 chrches around so lots of fireworks but I would think that if you live on the Huitepec or other neighborhood it would not be noisy .


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## Anonimo (Apr 8, 2012)

Chinese food? Cantonese or Mandarin or Sichuan? :confused2:

Noise free? 

From your exacting criteria, Gayla, may I gently suggest that Mexico is not the best place for you to live?


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## Gayla (Dec 31, 2012)

An entire country with no place in it to live that has clean air, is reasonably quiet, has decent weather, and has amenities such as international cuisine???


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

Anonimo said:


> Chinese food? Cantonese or Mandarin or Sichuan? :confused2:
> 
> Noise free?
> 
> From your exacting criteria, Gayla, may I gently suggest that Mexico is not the best place for you to live?


I swear that there are more Chinese restaurants in el centro than Mexican. All are buffets, i.e., all you can stand.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

Gayla said:


> An entire country with no place in it to live that has clean air, is reasonably quiet, has decent weather, and has amenities such as international cuisine???


I would say the town where we have a home meets 3 out of the 4 above criteria. Tepoztlan, Morelos has clean air (it's on the edge of the Tepozteco National Park, a bioreserve), beautiful weather (think _eterna primavera_ - eternal spring), some international cuisine, although more Indian (South Asian) than Chinese. Given its reasonably close proximity to Cuernavaca and Mexico D.F. you should be able to get your international food needs met without too much hassle. Also, there are many people in and around Tepoztlan with a strong environmental consciousness (which you mentioned in a previous post).

However, it might not meet your noise criteria. As in the majority of Mexican culture (and Latin American culture in general, in my experience) celebration and festivity are a major part of the town's ambiance, with one barrio or other celebrating a Saint's day on a regular basis. Along with the burros braying, the roosters crowing, children playing, etc. etc. it isn't exactly an oasis of quiet, although this varies by neighbourhood and is certainly not constant noise, just intermittent. Personally, I embrace the sense of life and energy this brings, but of course we each have our own preferences - no judgment on my part of different preferences, unless someone in turn becomes judgmental towards others' preferences or mine. Then I get annoyed. 

When I think about it, our home, which is a ways from the centre of town, part way up the mountain with a lot of surrounding trees, is quiet most of the time. Sometimes there is lovely, melodic, meditative instrumental music heard from the nearby church. If someone is having a party, of course, that can be heard, but the houses in our neighbourhood are spread out, so we don't hear a lot of that. The main noise that can be intrusive is Rufina, our neighbour's _burra_ who brays loudly when she wants her food. That can be at 5 a.m. There are also the gas trucks, water trucks, etc. passing buy announcing their wares, or other cars driving by with various announcements coming out of their loudspeakers. That's just part of living in Mexico, as I see it. NOB, you might be exposed to a neighbour's lawn mower or weed whacker.

That being said, there are some of the outlying areas near Tepoztlan which are probably quiet, with a more Zen-like atmosphere (semi-rural). One of the main drawbacks of Tepoz is that it can be more costly than other parts of Mexico.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

ojosazules11 said:


> However, it might not meet your noise criteria. As in the majority of Mexican culture (and Latin American culture in general, in my experience) celebration and festivity are a major part of the town's ambiance, with one barrio or other celebrating a Saint's day on a regular basis. Along with the burros braying, the roosters crowing, children playing, etc. etc. it isn't exactly an oasis of quiet, although this varies by neighbourhood and is certainly not constant noise, just intermittent. Personally, I embrace the sense of life and energy this brings, but of course we each have our own preferences - no judgment on my part of different preferences, unless someone in turn becomes judgmental towards others' preferences or mine. Then I get annoyed.
> 
> When I think about it, our home, which is a ways from the centre of town, part way up the mountain with a lot of surrounding trees, is quiet most of the time. Sometimes there is lovely, melodic, meditative instrumental music heard from the nearby church. If someone is having a party, of course, that can be heard, but the houses in our neighbourhood are spread out, so we don't hear a lot of that. The main noise that can be intrusive is Rufina, our neighbour's _burra_ who brays loudly when she wants her food. That can be at 5 a.m. There are also the gas trucks, water trucks, etc. passing buy announcing their wares, or other cars driving by with various announcements coming out of their loudspeakers. That's just part of living in Mexico, as I see it. NOB, you might be exposed to a neighbour's lawn mower or weed whacker.


The 3 houses I have lived in in Mexico have different noise levels daily. The first in a middle class/upper middle class neighborhood in Mexicali had gas trucks, a guy sellling pastries and bread with loud speakers blasting "Tin Pan" at 5 P M daily except Sun [I had to adjust my nap schedule because of him]. and a truck with a loud speaker blasting buying scrape ítems and a church 5 blocks away with bells ringing daily. Some parties lasting until 4 AM especially Christmas and New Years with fireworks.

The second in San Luis Potosi in a middle class/upper middle class neighborhood had large gas tanks on the roofs, not in Mexicali unfortunately, and only had gas trucks there when called, no loudspeakers blasting. No church nearby. No one selling anything driving by or trucks buying scrap. Some people ringing the bell asking for money or gardeners wanting work at times. The one neighbor´s college kids had a few parties but where quite ones. It was a dead end street.

The third house we now live in San Luis Potosi is in an upper middle class "Privada" and the noise is construction crews building house here 8;30 AM to 6 PM Monday to Fri, and a 1/2 day Sat. and the trucks taking supplies and cement trucks and the odd party until 1 AM when they have to turn off the music or get an infraction.

What you described in my Father in Law´s neighborhood, a "colonia popular" [working class neighborhood], plus he is on a bus route.

I presume it depends on where you live to get away from or get into a noisy enviroment. Sometimes I can see why high rise apartments are getting more popular.


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

At one end of my block is a primary school and at the other end is a kindergarten. Between these is a DIF centro de salud. A law office with a BMW parked in the driveway and a few doors from him is an auto repair shop with junkers parked in the street. The centro de salud gets crowded on days when rabies shots are offered for ones pets or vaccinations for flu or for children's diseases. We do have trucks selling tanks of gas traveling the street. They come at all times of the day except when my tank is empty. I live in the back of lot and when I hear the clanging of the truck I run down to the gate, but by the time I get it opened, the truck is turning the corner at the end of the block. Next door the neighbors rent a number of rooms to students of the university. They must be serious students as I never hear their parties. The most noise I do hear is from the the gallo and his five gallinas in my patio. There are times when I'll ask my neighbor if everyone on this block has left for the coast. All I can hear is the distant road of traffic two blocks away. It's not that I'm isolated as there is a shopping center two blocks away. A weekly mercado on Tuesday a block away. My doctor's office is just down the street next to the bus stop. I often think of moving, but the rent is low, the landlord and his family have made me part of the family, and I'm a bit lazy.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

joaquinx said:


> I swear that there are more Chinese restaurants in el centro than Mexican. All are buffets, i.e., all you can stand.


Lots of Chinese food in Mexico City, mostly at buffet, all-you-can-eat type places, with really bad food! I ate in one on first arriving here, and never again!


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> Lots of Chinese food in Mexico City, mostly at buffet, all-you-can-eat type places, with really bad food! I ate in one on first arriving here, and never again!


It's rather hit and miss. I went to two of them where the food was decent while the third was terrible but the beer was cold.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

IN the D.F. the Chinese buffet food tends to be greasy, fairly tasteless and no Chinese mustard on the side, though Mexican hot sauce is available. These places are popular because they're inexpensive and offer seconds and thirds, if desired.


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> IN the D.F. the Chinese buffet food tends to be greasy, fairly tasteless and no Chinese mustard on the side, though Mexican hot sauce is available. These places are popular because they're inexpensive and offer seconds and thirds, if desired.


Yea, what is this "no chinese mustard." Nowhere to be found, yet they have sriracha sauce, which is good, but I want mustard on my egg rolls.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

joaquinx said:


> Yea, what is this "no chinese mustard." Nowhere to be found, yet they have sriracha sauce, which is good, but I want mustard on my egg rolls.


These eateries cater to the less-sophisticated part of the Mexican population, whose taste buds are attuned to chiles, not Chinese mustard, hence the absence of the latter at the buffets.


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## Anonimo (Apr 8, 2012)

*Almost, but not quite everything*



Gayla said:


> An entire country with no place in it to live that has clean air, is reasonably quiet, has decent weather, and has amenities such as international cuisine???


We live in the Pátzcuaro, Michoacán area. It's a beautiful, mountainous area with mostly clean fresh air. Where we live, some 10 miles away from population centers, is quiet except for the passing gas trucks loud announcements. (oops! What did I say?) Fiesta days bring loud noises from exploding _cohetes_ (rockets) and oompah bands.

The Chinese food yen is a no go except when cooked at home. Even nearby Morelia, the state capital, is noted for low grade Chinese buffet restaurants, which we don't patronize. There is, or at least was, one "aren't we precious" Asian fusion restaurant with decent if untraditional cuisine. We ate there only once. It wasn't bad, but it didn't tempt me to return. I won't even discuss Mexican sushi which depends heavily on simplistic combinations using Philadelphia Cream Cheese and mayo.

NOTE: There are at least a couple of excellent Chinese restaurants in Mexico City, one of which (Jing Teng) has pretty good dim sum. How often do you need Chinese food anyway? Mexico has its own regional cuisines worthy of respect (although there are exceptions.)

Adaptability is a valuable trait to be cultivated if you want to live in Mexico. Desire for impossible things is a cause for unhappiness.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> Lots of Chinese food in Mexico City, mostly at buffet, all-you-can-eat type places, with really bad food! I ate in one on first arriving here, and never again!


My biggest complaint about the Chinese restaurants is that the food is not Chinese. Chinese cuisine features lots of steamed vegetables and tasty sauces, not just steam tables keeping fried dead animals warm.


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## Meritorious-MasoMenos (Apr 17, 2014)

TundraGreen said:


> My biggest complaint about the Chinese restaurants is that the food is not Chinese. Chinese cuisine features lots of steamed vegetables and tasty sauces, not just steam tables keeping fried dead animals warm.


I agree with Anonimo's "There are at least a couple of excellent Chinese restaurants in Mexico City."

I've been to at least one in DF's "China town." (Is that now unpolitically correct?) I went on a recommendation but I was pleasantly surprised that Chinese nationals were eating there. That is one way, to peek in and see if Chinese are patronizing the place. The second is that "real" Chinese prepared dishes are usually not on the menu, which is created for what Chinese think Westerners like. You have to ask what else they have. I've been to China, and that often works, if you mention that and say you are seeking food as you enjoyed there. That also has brought fabulous dishes in the States.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

We lived tight above Chinatown in San Crancisco and I learned over the years that the crowded restaurants were not the best but the cheapest. May be different in Mexico but that is the way it was in Chinatown in San Francisco. Also the best Chinese restaurants were not in the old Cantonese Chinatown.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

But the largest cockroaches were there, lol


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## mes1952 (Dec 11, 2012)

Isla...
Did the Mexico City Chinese restaurants have the same problem with dog meat as in Mexicali & Tijuana? A large percentage of Chinese restaurants in Baja Norte have closed due to lack of demand once people discovered they were eating dog instead of beef or chicken. Most of those buffets tend to be very greasy but I guess if you're eating chorizo can't be any worse right.


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## mes1952 (Dec 11, 2012)

Everywhere in Mexico has noise culture unless you live on an island or way out in the boondocks. I never travel in Mexico without a couple of pairs of good earplugs. They're a necessity in Mexico.


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## Gayla (Dec 31, 2012)

ojosazules11 said:


> I would say the town where we have a home meets 3 out of the 4 above criteria. Tepoztlan, Morelos has clean air (it's on the edge of the Tepozteco National Park, a bioreserve), beautiful weather (think _eterna primavera_ - eternal spring), some international cuisine, although more Indian (South Asian) than Chinese. Given its reasonably close proximity to Cuernavaca and Mexico D.F. you should be able to get your international food needs met without too much hassle. Also, there are many people in and around Tepoztlan with a strong environmental consciousness (which you mentioned in a previous post).
> 
> However, it might not meet your noise criteria. As in the majority of Mexican culture (and Latin American culture in general, in my experience) celebration and festivity are a major part of the town's ambiance, with one barrio or other celebrating a Saint's day on a regular basis. Along with the burros braying, the roosters crowing, children playing, etc. etc. it isn't exactly an oasis of quiet, although this varies by neighbourhood and is certainly not constant noise, just intermittent. Personally, I embrace the sense of life and energy this brings, but of course we each have our own preferences - no judgment on my part of different preferences, unless someone in turn becomes judgmental towards others' preferences or mine. Then I get annoyed.
> 
> ...


I have been to Tepotzlan probably 20 years ago. I liked it; thanks for reminding me and for the detailed info.


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## Gayla (Dec 31, 2012)

Thanks for the reminders... I've been living in Guatemala the past couple of years and had forgotten the gas trucks and construction of Mexico. Not that Guatemala is quiet.


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## Gayla (Dec 31, 2012)

Yep re the gas trucks not being there when you are. Re noise, after 5 years in Latin America I think I just may be over my quota.


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