Gentrification

[donblanco]

As with most things in life, you generally get what you pay for. Are you looking to rent a fully furnished place with all utilities included? How furnished is "fully" furnished? Does it have a few basic pieces of furniture or does it come with everything from comfy furniture, higher end cookware, sheets, towels, etc? Or are you putting your own money into things like shot glasses, lamps, and curtains? I know people who did a long term rental here in GTO and didn't even get a full set of dishes for four - or a TV, or a microwave (gasp!). They ended up buying a number of things even though they were renting a "furnished" place for three months. In my experience, the prices you've quoted from Numbeo are low. Given that, I still think prices here are much better than what we'd spend for comparable quarters in the States. Plus, people are friendlier and more tolerant and the weather is unquestionably superior!

We've had perfectly wonderful furnished apartments for 6000mxn in Mexico, so we know how things *can* be. But each city is different. We tend to prefer fully furnished with utilities included, but having utilities in our control can be a benefit, especially if it lowers the rent a bit. We mainly want to find a better balance between rent, climate, view, etc. We've accumulated more things than we would like, but no furniture, mainly kitchen things. We prefer long term leases.

Chiapas was great for being forced to speak Spanish, but a bit too chilly and wet. Ajijic is great for weather, but thousands of Gringos are here specifically because they don't have to actually learn Spanish. We're hoping Guanajuato can be a nice 'just right' mid-point. Not too large, less white, not *too* cold, less wet, less rural.

That's one thing expats don't get about Ajijic. It's been a lazy fishing village for centuries. We've managed to gentrify most of that out to the periphery, but the locals are still what we would refer to as 'country folk' back in the States. It's quaint to hear horse hooves on the cobblestone, but it's a bit rough on the octogenarians, who then complain about the streets and the horse poop.

Another thing, and I'm afraid this is turning into a bit of a rant so my apologies. (no relation to Don Juane, promise) I'm a bit tired of the oldies bands. Most of the music is from *before* my time. I look forward to the day when Ajijic is filled with hair metal cover bands LOL (not really). So we're hoping to expand into salsa, cumbia, bachata, etc in GTO. But please, for the love of Pete, no more banda!