other colonial cities in Latin America

[DonJuane]

May not be many exact matches for Guanajuato out there. Most places that are appealing in Latin America get advertised (here and otherwise) and thus the word spreads, the Gringo accommodations rise in response to the Gringo traffic, the expensive restaurants and shops pop up, the prices overall go up and the place gets gentrified as the locals get railroaded out and more Gringos and high-rollers move in, while all charm is lost as it is traded for the almighty dollar.

The thing that could possibly be keeping GTO primarily Mexico oriented and Spanish speaking is that in general it is the older retired generation that is most able to travel in significant numbers and the walk about town can be a little taxing to relentless on many of us and thus this keeps the numbers thinned down a bit. Also, if you want to anger most N. Americano's, just take away their cars and for the most part GTO proper is no place for a car. Also for some reason the typical tackiness that drives gentrification can't seem to catch on here for some reason (and to most of our delight, I might add). Or it could be a slow evolution for the same reason the forum posts don't take off here, everyone is sort of zombi-ed out doing their own thing and the drive to make it a tourist city with each of us anxious to invest and rake in dough while making it "tacky town" is not as great as that natural migration at other locations. Still lots of tourists do seem to visit - they just (thankfully) don't seem to "stick". So that's my opinion of why you won't find too many cities populated exactly like GTO (with it understood that there is no other place with underground streets a death wish of relentless climbs up the sides of a mountain).

Morelia (as previously mentioned) is likely a close candidate to compare due to the boogy man tales of many years of the drug runners enjoying the good Michoican growing soil as much as the avocado farmers do. That "vibe" has kept a lot of N. Americanos off the streets as the city slowly becomes cosmopolitan for more and more Spanish speakers who don't seem to live in fear like the typical N. Americano does. So I personally think it is a great contender.

Patzcuaro is being slowly overrun with Gringos and will soon lose it's Mexican heritage, mirroring before too long the likes of San Miguel de Allende, MX, Lake Chapala, MX, Antigua, Guatemala, Granada, Nicaragua, etc. Still as much as I like GTO I would say you shouldn't hesitate to at least once visit these cities for a few days or a week or so to see if you get a different "vibe" than I do.

And I would also consider moving to or spending more time in Guadalajara and personally even more-so than Queretaro but since these cities are big US manufacturing and wholesale hubs, the English speakers may be more than you are willing to tolerate. It's easy to find at least one person on most blocks in Guad, Morelia, Queretaro who speaks English.

And while San Cristobal de las Casas is a great place to learn Spanish due to the fact the many indigenous in the area have Spanish as a second language and therefore the local Spanish speakers communicate via a slower paced and clearer Spanish dialect, the fact of the matter is that this place is cold as hell, well hell's not cold but this place is, with temps down to freezing for a couple of months each year. Here you'll find mostly European tourists, not much English and the only N. Americanos seem to be missionaries bent on separating the local indigenous from their tribal roots while getting them expelled from their previous communities, or in other words, those on a mission. Otherwise, most N. Americanos still have memories of masked Zapatistas who ride into town with machine guns to take over the city, and it, like Morelia remains a great place to remain designated as a place to be scared of (and to the advantage of most of us who would like to also keep it that way, as do most established residents of GTO.)

I also have two or three towns that I would choose "other than" or "after I am climbed-out and rheumatoid-frustrated from" GTO, but if I mentioned them they might soon meet the same fate that GTO is currently falling into, a slow but sure inevitable gentrification.

So the key I would say and answer to your question is to obtain an elevation map and check out some cities of similar size at a similar altitude and keep your mouth shut while you adjust to your new hidden jewel. Otherwise if you ever long for like-cultured company, just drop into any of the aforementioned bi-lingual cities. But no matter what, please dismiss my opinion, visit them all and form an opinion of your own. Happy Travels!