# Guadalajara Neighborhoods



## modfalk (Sep 14, 2019)

We took a reconnaissance trip to Guadalajaraand looked at some potential neighborhoods.

Impressions:
Providencia: nice, very urban but not noisy or mess, maybe a bit to urban for us.
Chapalita: less urban feel and more peaceful
Granja: we really liked this one, central but still with a relaxed suburban feel and next to a nice park for walking and biking.

Would appreciate comments from anyone who lives in or are familiar with these neighborhoods.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

I have lived in Guadalajara for a dozen years and feel qualified to comment.

I think your summary is a reasonable description of the three areas. I will add to it below. But first I would like to make a comment that may not be relevant, but I will still mention it just to put another thought out there. 

It is possible to live in Mexico quite comfortably without the hassle and expense of owning a car. It is not for every one. But for those who appreciate the joys of walking to most things, taking an occasional taxi or uber or bus for occasional longer trips, and avoiding the awful traffic that exists in all cities these days, Mexico is a great option. By choosing where you live, you can walk to a Mercado for all your shopping (not for packaged and processed stuff, but fresh fruits, vegetables, meat etc). Uber and taxis are cheap for occasional trips, and buses are really cheap, run frequently and go everywhere, completely different than the US. There are mercados everywhere including the neighborhoods you mentioned.

Leaving that aside, I will add some comments to the three you mentioned.

Providencia is very upscale and expensive. If you get off the main streets of Pablo Neruda and Terranova, there are lots of very quiet suburban neighborhoods. Behind all those fences and gates there can be a lot of space. I have one friend who has a house in Providencia and his yard is big enough for a regulation sized US football field.

Chapalita is less high end than Providencia but still pretty upper middle class. Probably it has the highest concentration of US/Canadians in Guadalajara, although that still makes them sparse. Guadalajara is a big city and the foreigners are not nearly as common as near Lake Chapala or San Miguel de Allende.


Ciudad Granja is a more typical lower to middle class Mexican area. And Parque Metropolitano is very nice as you mentioned. That area is in Zapopan and overall Zapopan has more money and keeps things up better than any of the other municipalities that make up the Guadalajara Metropolitan area.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

If you are retired you can live live about anywhere if you plan on working then check the commute...


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## modfalk (Sep 14, 2019)

TundraGreen, thanks for the comments. To be honest we did a pretty quick tour of the neighborhoods but we had as a guide a longtime resident of GDL. We did call on a few of rental signs that we saw in Providencia and Granja and prices did not see a steep difference in rental rates. The parts of Granja we looked at seemed very nice. We are ideally aiming for maybe a 2BR apartment (100m2) for around $15000 MXN and that appears doable. We did look at 3BR house in a gated complex in Granja. It was being offered for $17000/month and looked very nice but a bit on the large side for us.

The point about walkability is well taken and we will weigh that against a more suburban relaxed vibe.


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## modfalk (Sep 14, 2019)

Citali,

We plan to semi-retire and probably work part time on-line but we definitely plan to rent at the beginning in case we don't end up liking the area or if we need to commute.


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## Lawgrrl (Apr 24, 2015)

Modfalk, we've lived in Chapalita for one year now, and are very pleased with our choice. We wanted a fairly central location which would not require a car, and Chapalita fits that bill comfortably. We can easily walk to the carniceria & fruteria, the panaderia, WalMart and Soriana, Gran Plaza mall, and many restaurants and cafes. The bar scene isn't big here and it's pretty quiet. We do use the local buses, and can easily get to the Centro Historico and Mercado Abastos (the big wholesale market). We shop at Costco regularly, and an Uber ride home is about 55 pesos.
Chapalita wasn't developed until the late 40's - early 50's. At the time, it was isolated from both Guadalajara and Zapopan, so the neighbourhood associations maintain the many parks, garbage pickup, and the like. We also draw our water from our own aquifers, which have less sediment than other areas.
Our impression is that more Americans and Canadians, especially younger ones, are living in Providencia to be close to the American and Canadian schools, and to the high-tech companies on the north end of the area. Parque Metropolitan is lovely, but to my taste, La Estancia, the neighbourhood near the park, is pretty suburban. We never considered Ciudad Granja as we couldn't see living there without a car.
But there's something for everyone in Guadalajara -- hope to see you here soon!


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## modfalk (Sep 14, 2019)

Lawgrrl, that is great information, very useful. Sounds like the perfect place if you don't plan to have a car. I guess we are still considering a car.


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