# Urgent: Which city would you choose?



## diasky (Sep 23, 2013)

Hello everyone, 
I'm in the middle of deciding my potential job and I need your help. 
I was offered couple of job opportunities in Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, El Rosario and Mexico City. 
It seems that jobs in Mexico City& El Rosario will be really hard and not sure if I have time to enjoy my life, so I may have to choose between Zacatecas and Aguascalientes. 

If you were in my shoes, which city would you choose and why? 
Basically, I love warm weather and music!(listening and performing):drum: I know that there are many music festivals in Zacatecas, but it seems Zacatecas is more dangerous than Aguascalientes and it is less people&smaller town. Weather is colder in Zacatecas too. 
What would you do on normal weekend if you are in Aguascalientes/Zacatecas? 
Are there more expats like me in Aguas than Zacatecas? 
Is there any live house in both cities? 

Anyway both cities are close together so I can visit another city anytime, but I would appreciate if you could let me know your input soon!


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

If I were you, and I were young, I'd go for the hard job, because it would give me experience to get better jobs that also pay better. Or, because I'm an entrepreneur, I'd go for the harder job because it would allow me to market my services as a consultant that much quicker, and for that much more money.

But here's the kicker: I'm not you. No one can tell you what job you should choose. Just be dancing with joy that you've been offered that many choices. Many are not offered even one!


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

[_QUOTE=mickisue1;1955793]If I were you, and I were young, I'd go for the hard job, because it would give me experience to get better jobs that also pay better. Or, because I'm an entrepreneur, I'd go for the harder job because it would allow me to market my services as a consultant that much quicker, and for that much more money.

But here's the kicker: I'm not you. No one can tell you what job you should choose. Just be dancing with joy that you've been offered that many choices. Many are not offered even one![/QUOTE]_

Well said mickisue:

Damn few people have the opportunity to choose among four disparate places to live and work as has the OP. I don´t know the details of the OP´s work engagement but, all things being equal, go for the big city and forget marginal regional outposts such as Aguascalientes and Zacatecas no matter how hard you must work to fulfill your duties in the big town. There are climate differences between those two burgs but both are at high altitude and subject to cold weather. Both are also somewhat isolated regional cities which is OK but whether or not either suits your needs is according to your personal goals in life. Hell. I live in truly isolated San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas and at snoozy Lake Chapala but I´m retired and seeking the soft life at this stage of my existence. You must decide based on your personal motivations.

If you are serious about workplace achievement, go for Mexico City. If you like the idea of living in high-altitude regional capitals several hours by bus from the next place of any note, toss a coin.


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## diasky (Sep 23, 2013)

Thank you both for answering my question.
Well, I didn't know Aguascalientes is so isolated from the big city. 
I'm still in the middle of deciding my career and I know I'm lucky to have many job offers.
Main reason that I decided to move to mexico was because I love the culture and music& I felt that living in another country will fulfill my life goal of meeting different types of people and experiencing the new culture. I aprreciated my life better when i lived in another country before.
If I go for better job&money, I would have just stayed in my country.
But like you guys said, money/job is important indeed.

In generally speaking any type of job will be difficult since
I dont speak 100% Spanish. But I'm not sure the job in Mexico City is what I'm interested to do for my career although pay&company is really good. I will have to think over about the decision but is Mexico City really safe? Even the person who interviewed me for Mexico City position said it is not safe. The another person from the interview told me that he got robbed while he is in his car and he had a gun pointed at him  

I'm gonna be livig there by myself so I'm just concerned about safety and one of the reason why I chose aguascalientes is because it's safer than any other state.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

_I'm gonna be livig there by myself so I'm just concerned about safety and one of the reason why I chose aguascalientes is because it's safer than any other state.[/QUOTE]_ 

Upon which informational source do you base this statement? 

If I were asked to choose the "safest" states in Mexco, I would choose: 
* Quintana Roo
* Yucatan
* Guanajuato
* Puebla
* Oaxaca

Just an assessment based on pesonal expereince. Tell me about Aquascalientes and we can discuss the pros and cons of each place.


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## diasky (Sep 23, 2013)

*Proc/Cons about Aguascalientes*

Thank you so much Hound Dog for replying 

I tried to post the website that states about crime and safety report but I can't since I haven't reached to 4 posts yet

If you have a chance, please go to google and search 'aguascalientes mexico crime '. 
Numbeo site and Mexico 2013 Crime and Safety Report: Guadalajara will come up so please check both.

in the safety report It is said that Aguascalientes is generally safe. I was able to talk with people who live in different places in Mexico through job interviews and they all said Aguas is quite safe compared to Mexico City or Monterrey. 

Here are the pros and cons about aguascalientes from my stand point. 

Pros 
Safer than most of states
It's not so busy /crowded as Mexico City but still 70-80k people
(not so small as zacatecas)
there are many Japanese people/companies so they will help me going through life in MX and I will have another chance of finding a job there even if i lose one. 
Weather can be up and down but it is generally warm during the day 
seems like City is filled with art and music (two big festivals in one year: San Marc and day of dead )
living cost is cheaper than mexico city 

Cons 
Too small? (still not sure the size of aguas)
one said it is boring and nothing to do there... but really? 
I might need to buy a car once I get there... and I dont know how safe it will be to drive in Mexico
the pay that job offers is not the best but the job seems interesting and I still can survive and save money. 

I think I'm choosing my job depending on the city I want to live and also type of job. 

This is just my perception about aguas and I will not know how it really is until I live there. But your input will be much appreciated...


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

diasky said:


> Thank you both for answering my question. Well, I didn't know Aguascalientes is so isolated from the big city. I'm still in the middle of deciding my career and I know I'm lucky to have many job offers. Main reason that I decided to move to mexico was because I love the culture and music& I felt that living in another country will fulfill my life goal of meeting different types of people and experiencing the new culture. I aprreciated my life better when i lived in another country before. If I go for better job&money, I would have just stayed in my country. But like you guys said, money/job is important indeed. In generally speaking any type of job will be difficult since I dont speak 100% Spanish. But I'm not sure the job in Mexico City is what I'm interested to do for my career although pay&company is really good. I will have to think over about the decision but is Mexico City really safe? Even the person who interviewed me for Mexico City position said it is not safe. The another person from the interview told me that he got robbed while he is in his car and he had a gun pointed at him  I'm gonna be livig there by myself so I'm just concerned about safety and one of the reason why I chose aguascalientes is because it's safer than any other state.


Yucatan is the safest state, then Queretaro, in any case, those are much safer states than most cities in the US, please don't mind what you hear from those guys, while we are concerned about robberies, possibly kidnapping, and such, as anywhere in the world, we are certainly not concerned about that, plus, terrorism, buildings falling on our heads, guys shhoting at you while eating a hamburger, kids carrying guns to school, going to the movies and being shot, etc, etc, etc, etc

I would go for the Mexico city option, no doubt


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## diasky (Sep 23, 2013)

Hello Gary,
Thank you for yor reply 
What is the thing that is so great about Mexico? 
Many people said Tokyo is a great city but I find it differently.

Could you give me a detail of why do you go for Mexico City option? 

Thanks!


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

diasky said:


> Hello Gary,
> Thank you for yor reply
> What is the thing that is so great about Mexico?
> Many people said Tokyo is a great city but I find it differently.
> ...


I suppose it depends on whether you like big cities. Mexico has lots more options for everything: more restaurants of different kinds, lots of choices of movies, lots of museums, an opera company, and on and on. Zacatecas is a Pueblo Magico and an interesting place to visit but pretty limited in choices of things to do and see. But it certainly would be quieter and less trafficky than Mexico city.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

diasky said:


> Hello Gary, Thank you for yor reply What is the thing that is so great about Mexico? Many people said Tokyo is a great city but I find it differently. Could you give me a detail of why do you go for Mexico City option? Thanks!


Good morning!
On the first part of your question, I don't know what is so great about Mexico, I was just born here , I don't know Tokio yet, but I don't speak or read Japanese, that would be a problem for me

Mexico City is the heart of the Country, everything happens there, everything comes and goes in that direction.
There is lots of things to do, and places to go, mostly if you are young.
Much more job opportunities there
I was born and raised in Mexico City and don't live there for 24 yrs now, but I would be spitting to the sky if I said it is not interesting


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Mexico City like any big city has areas that are not safe but it probably would not be an area where you would live.
Mexico City has lots of different neighborhood so if you are not comfortable with one you will find another one that may be more to your liking . Mexico city is a whole lot safer than it used to be but listen to the people who are offering you the job about the area where you will be working..The city is huge and you have a lot of variety about the area you can live in. You can chose a quiet colonia or a crazy one, it is up to you.
If you like the excitement of large cities that is the city to live in.
It is also close to very nice towns like Queretaro, Puebla, Cuernavaca and also a little further, Morelia, Guadalajara Oaxaca Vera Cruz.
As Gary says it is the heart of the country so if you want interesting with lots of things to do Mexico is it.
The other two cities are pretty and nice to visit but if I were young I would go for Mexico city not a provincial town.
It all depends on what you want to do and how you want to live.

When you can PM , Ican get you in touch with someone who moved to Aguascalientes and lastes a couple of months there. He can tell you why he got out so fast. He speaks fluent Spanish so the language was not it.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Interesting fact about all the Latin countries in which I have been privileged to visit or live. In their respective political entities, all roads lead to Mexico City or Paris or Rome or (with much pain and suffering in seperatist regional centers) Madrid. As for Mexico, Aguascaliente and Zapatecas are second or even third tier cities; not to be confused with first tier regional power centers such as Guadalajara or Merida. Really attractive towns I´d say but then, so is Tlacotalpan, Veracruz and all you need to sustain yourself there is monthly check from your social security system, a rocking chair overlooking the river, a few cervezas and a bag of potato chips. 

Tokyo is not Mexico City so do not confuse the two and presume to know anything of one from your experiences with the other. For safety, I would choose Mexico City over any big city I have visited or lived in in the U.S. On the other hand, there is Los Angeles where I lived for about five years. My kind of town with great beaches and Nanette Funicello .


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## kcowan (Jul 24, 2010)

My wife chose Mexico City (before me) and never regretted it. She had to learn Spanish quickly but otherwise really enjoyed living there as a single woman. OTOH she is an adventurer. She traveled around the country as a part of her job. Mostly the larger centers.

Now we are retired and living in PV. YMMV!


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## diasky (Sep 23, 2013)

citlali said:


> Mexico City like any big city has areas that are not safe but it probably would not be an area where you would live.
> Mexico City has lots of different neighborhood so if you are not comfortable with one you will find another one that may be more to your liking . Mexico city is a whole lot safer than it used to be but listen to the people who are offering you the job about the area where you will be working..The city is huge and you have a lot of variety about the area you can live in. You can chose a quiet colonia or a crazy one, it is up to you.
> If you like the excitement of large cities that is the city to live in.
> It is also close to very nice towns like Queretaro, Puebla, Cuernavaca and also a little further, Morelia, Guadalajara Oaxaca Vera Cruz.
> ...







Thanks for your reply. It will be nice to hear from the person who lived I'm aguas but I don't know how to PM. Could u let me know? Thanks


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

You need to have 5 posts before you can send or receive PMs. I just tried to send you one and it did not work.
After the 5 posts you should see Private message under your name on the top right and you can send and receive e-mail that way.


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## diasky (Sep 23, 2013)

Hello Citali, thanks for your message. My last post was the 5th one but seems like it is not working. I will post this one so that I may be able to message you


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## geoffbob (Oct 24, 2010)

I chose Mexico City and will arrive there to live in less than two months. Early this year I vacationed in a smaller city in the Sierra Madre and loved it. The people I met humbled me by their fundamental decency. I might still settle down in a Mexican City of intermediate size but I decided on Mexico City (D.F.) because of its world class restaurant and cultural offerings. I feel that my sense of adventure and discovery would be far more long lasting in the capital. As others here wisely point out the decision is very unique and personal for each of us. For example, I'm a guy and we are basically off the radar of other guys as far as inappropriate behavior of a romantic nature. I won't be working at all so the daily commute won't be a factor. Like New York City, D.F. has many self contained neighborhoods that will cater to all your daily needs that can be met by walking. If you could live within walking distance or at least a short distance of your job, life could be like living in a village.

The very best of luck to you. I hope that Mexico opens your heart and soul the way it did mine.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

geoffbob said:


> The very best of luck to you. I hope that Mexico opens your heart and soul the way it did mine.


Care to relate an example of how this happened to you?


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## geoffbob (Oct 24, 2010)

I grew up in the shadow of a Spanish mission style two towered Cathedral on the top of a hill. My dad helped build it and I went all through k-12 across the street. I memorized the Latin and "studied" it for four years in class; a more apt description would be, was exposed to it for four years because at the time it was only mildly interesting to me. But some of it must have sunk in because it served as a kind of subconscious launching pad into a Twilight Zone of attraction from which I've never returned. The onomatopoeic Spanish language, Mexican style, is spoken in particularly respectful tones to people, animals and objects alike by many there. Their Pueblo style architecture I find particularly comforting to behold. The weaving of tapestry varies greatly by region and preserves the pre-Colombian centuries old distinctions so valuable in preserving identity and continuity in a land of 110 million souls. That launching pad of an upbringing propelled me way past Taco Bell let me tell ya. I've had unpleasant things happen there to be sure. Ugly reality isn't about to pounce on me for the first time. Lots of folk would read the lurid headlines and close themselves off, preferring instead the safety of the walled fortress and the cozy confines of a leather Lazy Boy and surrounded by all those shiny reassuring trinkets. A specific example of something which opened my heart springs to mind. Recently in Morelia I accidentally over-paid at the market. The merchants immediately stopped me in my tracks and gave me a little tutorial about the coinage. It was so obvious that they did not think in terms of ****** prices or shady deals. I felt that I'd found the real Mexico. We Twilight Zoners know that there is a fifth dimension; not only of sight and sound but of mind. It's a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. It lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his or her knowledge. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, things and ideas. You've just crossed over into...Mexico.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

It´s really impossible to pinpoint which city or region one would choose in which to spend the rest of one´s life at any point in time whether one liimts one´s choices to Mexico or the world in general. Not only does one change significantly over the years but the places one experiences in youth do as well and I am speaking here of massive transformations as ineluctible migrations from unsettled rural areas to urban centers transform both the rural areas and urban areas in ways not previously imagined. When I backpacked in Africa through such urban centers as Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and Kampala in the 1960s, these were relatively small and largely charming cities now, according to the media, surrounded by squalid slums as far as the eye can see.  That transformation of the urban landscape is not limited to Africa or any other place. Just keep in mind that what you see today any where on earth may not be what you will see tomorow. I suggest a rural setting not subject to too much turmoil as a place to settle but keep your fingers crossed.


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