# any expatriates in Mexico City?



## joban (Mar 8, 2013)

Hello Everybody, 

I'm new to this forum and would like to have the advice from Expatriates currently living in Mexico city.
We are french but live in Arizona. My Husband has been offered a great promotion in Mexico city, in 3 months.
We have 2 young kids (7 months, and 2years old).

I saw on the embassy website that Mexico city is one of the safest places to live, among other towns on the south sides and toursits area, but How safe do YOU feel living there?

I'm not talking about the common sense about the big towns (don't wander at nights in bad neighborhoods, don't display your money etc etc), I'm talking about the crimes related to the drug cartel war.

And also, how easy it is to connect to the people there?
And last, how safe it is to just take the car, and spend the week end out of mexico city, in other mexican regions. are there many "2day trip" options in terms of safety?

I guess that if it was just my husband and I, we wouldn't ask ourselves these questions, but with the kids, I don't want to take even 1% chance..

Many mexicans I know in usa advise me not to go, but I'd like to hear the point of view from expatriates actually living in this city...

any help will be greatly appreciated


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

joban said:


> Hello Everybody,
> 
> I'm new to this forum and would like to have the advice from Expatriates currently living in Mexico city.
> We are french but live in Arizona. My Husband has been offered a great promotion in Mexico city, in 3 months.
> ...


I'm an expatriate from the US and have lived in Mexico City for over 5 years. I'm a single woman in my sixties and live in a pleasant centrally-located middle-class neighborhood. I feel perfectly safe here - I walk a lot, sometimes take public transportation, and occasionally take a taxi to get where I'm going. The drug cartel wars have not come to Mexico City, though I'm sure that some of the drug kingpins own homes in the exclusive areas of the city. Re the many Mexicans you know in the States who have advised you not to move here, what reasons have they given, when was the last time they lived here, what part of Mexico are they from? I think you're wise to ask for advice from those of us who actually live in this wonderful and sometimes maddening city.

Re connecting with people - do you mean Mexicans or expats? 

Mexico City is located right in the middle of the country and is the hub of an excellent system of highways, so taking day trips on the weekend is quite easy. Not to mention there are tons of things to do right in the city, including activities geared toward children.


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## joban (Mar 8, 2013)

Thank you Isla for your answer!

To answer your questions, the mexicans who told me not to move in Mexico city never lived in this town, but manly come from Nogales, which is quite dangerous! So I thought they were biased in their perception.
And for the connection to people, I meant Mexicans: How easy it is for a foreigner to connect with the mexicans? 

Otherwise I'm glad to hear your version and to know that you feel perfectly safe. It sure influences my decision to move to Mexico city! 
Thank you


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

joban said:


> Thank you Isla for your answer!
> 
> To answer your questions, the mexicans who told me not to move in Mexico city never lived in this town, but manly come from Nogales, which is quite dangerous! So I thought they were biased in their perception.
> And for the connection to people, I meant Mexicans: How easy it is for a foreigner to connect with the mexicans?
> ...


How amusing that your Mexican friends are from the border and think that Mexico City is a dangerous place! You might ask them what they base their perceptions of the capital on?

As far as connecting with Mexicans is concerned, that would depend a lot on how deep you want the connections to go. Mexicans you might meet at work or in the neighborhood will be pleasant and smile and greet you with _Buenos días_ and so on. However, I would say that becoming intimate friends with Mexicans can take quite a while. This is still quite a traditional country in many ways, and most of them tend to socialize with their families and life-long friends. Young adults not living with their families may be the exception.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

Isla Verde said:


> How amusing that your Mexican friends are from the border and think that Mexico City is a dangerous place! You might ask them what they base their perceptions of the capital on?
> 
> As far as connecting with Mexicans is concerned, that would depend a lot on how deep you want the connections to go. Mexicans you might meet at work or in the neighborhood will be pleasant and smile and greet you with _Buenos días_ and so on. However, I would say that becoming intimate friends with Mexicans can take quite a while. This is still quite a traditional country in many ways, and most of them tend to socialize with their families and life-long friends. Young adults not living with their families may be the exception.


The border regions have a few Mexicans that sometimes think Mexico City is dangerous in the way New York City is dangerous in my experience. They say there are too many muggings and much stealing. This is a stereotypical response you hear there from people who haven´t stepped foot past Baja or Sonora, mainly working class locals I have spoken with over the decades.

On the other hand my wife and I recently met 2 Expates from New York and lately from Pheonix, 5 years there, that have lived in Mexicali retired for almost 3 years, she being from Singapore and 1/2 Chinese [speaks english with a stong Cantonese accent and looks 1/2 Chinese] who were appalled by the constant racial profiling and the hassazing by officials and non officials she recieved in Pheonix and were sort of driven out of there.

My wife´s long time resident and public school teacher of Burbank Calif. bought a house in Pheonix less than 2 years ago, is obviously browned skinned, and has decided to move back to Burbank because she feel very uncomfortable living in Pheonix becuase of the racial tension she encounters being a Mexican there. Also don´t forget Romney had a huge lead in Arizona! Go figure!


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

The French community seems to be well-organized in Mexico City, including sponsoring a French-language elementary and high school, if I'm recalling correctly. It will be a good organization to network with. Also, the American, British, Spanish and other expat communities have social service/community organizations which each help to make life for the expats from those groups easier and more fulfiling in the city. Just a few thoughts. Best of luck with the transition. For some it's an easy move, for others ... it takes time. Especially so for families with children.


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## JoanneR2 (Apr 18, 2012)

joban said:


> Hello Everybody,
> 
> I'm new to this forum and would like to have the advice from Expatriates currently living in Mexico city.
> We are french but live in Arizona. My Husband has been offered a great promotion in Mexico city, in 3 months.
> ...


Hi, I have been living in Mexico City for the past year, working in a company that has quite a few ex-pats (particularly French people, though I am English). Some have young families and I believe that all of us feel relatively safe here. Certainly I am happy walking around my neighbourhood and getting on the metrobus, though you should certainly check out where you want to live carefully. I believe that there is a French school for young children in Coyoacan which is also a lovely part of the city. 
I have manage to connect fairly well with local people though, as is mentioned on another post, they take time to get close to. However, I have been made to feel very welcome here and love living in such a vibrant city. I too was warned by people who had never lived here, how dangerous it would be but came anyway, in part due to the advice of a friend who had actually lived here for 10 years who simply said ´go´. I certainly haven´t regretted it. Good luck, whatever your decision.


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