# Anyone live in Guanajuato?



## cchristian35 (Feb 7, 2013)

It doesn't seem to have many expats there


----------



## Longford (May 25, 2012)

Are you asking about the city, or the state? At least one regular contributor here lives in the city of GTO, if I'm recalling correctly ... and a couple of others live elsewhere in the state. What's your question?


----------



## cchristian35 (Feb 7, 2013)

I'm referring to the city. I find it curious that so few expats have made a home there. It's, in my estimation, the perfect expat haven- perfect weather, absolutely beautiful colonial city, great culture, and very inexpensive real estate. Why isn't a popular destination? Difficult walking conditions for those who aren't in good shape, perhaps?


----------



## Longford (May 25, 2012)

cchristian35 said:


> I'm referring to the city. I find it curious that so few expats have made a home there. It's, in my estimation, the perfect expat haven- perfect weather, absolutely beautiful colonial city, great culture, and very inexpensive real estate. Why isn't a popular destination? Difficult walking conditions for those who aren't in good shape, perhaps?


I think you've been misinformed regarding the city of Guanajuato, the number of expats there and the popularity of the city. Don't judge the presence of expats there ... by people who post here. It's good that you've found a place in Mexico that you so enjoy.


----------



## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Maybe because most of the population are college students and parents of the 40 somethings that moved to DF for work.......


----------



## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

Ccristian is right about not many expats in the city of Guanajuato, truly not as many as in some other places like Queretaro, or even San Miguel de Allende, state of Guanajuato. Certainly Guanajuato is beautiful but other than when the Cervantino festival is on, it does not have many people there, as it is not an industrial or commercial city.


----------



## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

I've heard 400 as an estimate for the number of expats in Guanajuato. My impression is that it is a little higher than that but certainly much less than 1000.

Compare that to the 12,000 expats in San Miguel, which is roughly the same size city and only an hour away, and you can see why Guanajuato is much less expat oriented (that was actually part of the attraction of Guanajuato for us). Most of the expats in Guanajuato don't really consider themselves "expats" - they just happen to live in Guanajuato. Parties and gatherings seem to always have a balanced mix of expats with locals; there are no specific expat events or gatherings that I am aware of. Many of the expats are there due to their job playing in the symphony and their parties are "musician parties" and always have a mix of expats (from several countries) and local musicians and music lovers.

Another difference - the infrastructure in San Miguel is much stronger than Guanajuato. A restaurant owner in San Miguel was telling me that he thinks that that is because Guanajuato knows it will continue to exist and have money due to the university and the fact that it is a state capitol so they are lax about maintaining their infrastructure whereas San Miguel lives and dies by tourism and expats and without a strong infrastructure both of those things would suffer. He may be right about that.


----------



## cchristian35 (Feb 7, 2013)

circle110 said:


> I've heard 400 as an estimate for the number of expats in Guanajuato. My impression is that it is a little higher than that but certainly much less than 1000.
> 
> Compare that to the 12,000 expats in San Miguel, which is roughly the same size city and only an hour away, and you can see why Guanajuato is much less expat oriented (that was actually part of the attraction of Guanajuato for us). Most of the expats in Guanajuato don't really consider themselves "expats" - they just happen to live in Guanajuato. Parties and gatherings seem to always have a balanced mix of expats with locals; there are no specific expat events or gatherings that I am aware of. Many of the expats are there due to their job playing in the symphony and their parties are "musician parties" and always have a mix of expats (from several countries) and local musicians and music lovers.
> 
> Another difference - the infrastructure in San Miguel is much stronger than Guanajuato. A restaurant owner in San Miguel was telling me that he thinks that that is because Guanajuato knows it will continue to exist and have money due to the university and the fact that it is a state capitol so they are lax about maintaining their infrastructure whereas San Miguel lives and dies by tourism and expats and without a strong infrastructure both of those things would suffer. He may be right about that.


Excellent post, Circle. Thank you. How would you describe the tourism scene. Do you know of a good source or tourism and other various economic statistics? I'm trying to determine if Guanajuato has the wealth to comfortably support a brewpub. I'd prefer to be in GTO because I absolutely love the city. But i may end up in Queretaro since I know it has the ability to support my venture. 

Bear in mind, my goal isn't to get rich... If that were the case I'd start the brewery in the US. I just want a slower lifestyle and will need to support my family-- what better way than to brew beer!!??


----------



## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

The university of Guanajuato is there+ thousands of thirsty students= no brainer


----------



## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

I'm sorry, I don't know where to find any statistics - if they even exist. Tourism is heavily oriented to Mexicans here because of the historic importance of Guanajuato and the surrounding area. It's sort of the Lexington/Concorde of Mexico. 

Businesses, especially restaurants and bars, come and go at an alarming rate here and I'm not sure whether it is simple mismanagement or whether the town just can't support them. Some folks do make a business function longterm however. 

Honestly, If I were in your place, I'd consider Queretaro to launch your brewery and think of Guanajuato as maybe a second location if things go well.


----------



## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

chicois8 said:


> The university of Guanajuato is there+ thousands of thirsty students= no brainer


Thousands of broke students -- they call themselves estudihambres, a pun on estudiantes -- that go home to Leon/Irapuato/Celaya for the weekend almost every weekend. 

If you're selling Sol or Indio (the cheapo beers) you'll maybe have customers but a nice micro-brewery will not be patronized much by the kids, trust me. They want to buy the maximum of cerveza liters for the minimum of pesos and take them to someone's apartment and get buzzed on a shoestring with their friends. Something tells me that is not the OP's target market.


----------



## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

circle110 says"
Businesses, especially restaurants and bars, come and go at an alarming rate here"

They probably can't afford the cost of protection money collected by the various gangs...


----------

