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jennifer rose

May 21, 2008, 8:43 AM

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You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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Many times we read posts about how great some place is in Mexico, its virtues hawked in breathless prose unrivaled by best of Chamber of Commerce boosters. Let's take a different twist on this theme, and talk about the worst places to live in Mexico. Your Poza Rica may be someone else's Nirvana, and there may be some folks who simply can't abide by places you adore. Which places in Mexico, in your opinion, deserve ranking among the Worst Places to Live in Mexico?

Ed and Fran

May 21, 2008, 8:59 AM

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Re: [jennifer rose] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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Which places in Mexico, in your opinion, deserve ranking among the Worst Places to Live in Mexico?

The Atasta peninsula, just west of Cd del Carmen, Campeche, and just a bit east of Frontera, Tabasco. Hot, humid, no services, worst infestation of mosquitos I have ever seen, little infrastructure, did I mention that it was hot and humid? Belongs to the municipality of Cd del Carmen, but local vendors in Cd del Carmen won't even deliver to the area (but some places in Villahermosa will, even though it's farther.)

Cd del Carmen itself is little better.

Been there, done that, won't do it again.

Did you know that "atasta" is an old mayan word for mosquito hatchery?

Regards

E&F

jreboll

May 21, 2008, 9:27 AM

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Re: [Ed and Fran] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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Matamoros and Reynosa Tamaulipas.
Unplanned growth. Hot, muggy, dusty.
Very little natural beauty.

raferguson

May 21, 2008, 1:35 PM

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Re: [jennifer rose] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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Ixmiquilpan Hidalgo. The town was dirty, and the main square was a mess, with vendor tarps everywhere. It looked pretty ugly. There was a sick dog lying in the road. It seemed pretty poor, with people living on remittances from the states. I took one picture of the fountain with the church in the background, and figured that was the only picture that one could have taken in town to make the town look good.

I went into a panaderia, where a very bored teenage girl was waiting for customers. She paid me no attention until I came up to the counter, when I think that she suddenly realized that she had a foreigner in her shop. Ixmiquilpan gets few tourists, and much fewer foreign tourists. Anyway, she told me "Eres muy guapo." I thanked her and left. I figure that she was hoping that I would take her out of there, and that anywhere else would be better.

If you are ever that way, stop and see the churches in Ixmiquilpan and Actopan.

Richard

http://www.fergusonsculpture.com

esperanza

May 21, 2008, 3:38 PM

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Re: [jennifer rose] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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That long stretch of deserted nothing between Matehuala and Saltillo. If you've driven that route to the border, it's the part where impoverished inhabitants sit at the side of the road with rattlesnake skins, the odd hawk, and a tied-down wild mammal or two for sale, where all the sad and empty roadside restaurants are named Base de Claudia, Base de Tere, Base de Fernanda.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

bournemouth

May 21, 2008, 4:33 PM

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Re: [esperanza] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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You're right Esperanza - I hate that stretch of road. Also the area around Ramos Arizpe with incredible, horrible pollution. How that can be allowed always blows my mind - but, yes, I do know where we are. You can see Monterrey in the distance blanketed in pollution and I wonder about the city fathers tolerating it and where their families actually live. Couldn't pay me to live in any of those spots.

julietl

May 21, 2008, 4:40 PM

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Re: [jennifer rose] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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Cuidad Nezahualcoyotl (Neza), just outside of Mexico City - definately.

The utility services are spotty of at all, sewers overflow on to the street & into houses when it rains, 100s of gangs are based there, and it's the location of D.F.'s largest garbage dump.

Many families living there support themselves by what they scavenge from the dump. A few years ago I saw an art exhibit about the people who have to do that, and one eight-year old girl said her biggest dream was to someday take a long hot bath in a real bathtub.
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raferguson

May 21, 2008, 5:08 PM

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Re: [esperanza] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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I remember the people on the side of the road selling birds also, sad.

Richard

http://www.fergusonsculpture.com

travisdyer

May 21, 2008, 7:42 PM

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Re: [raferguson] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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My understanding is that those poor people on the side of the road between Matehuala and Saltillo are the descendants of the Huichol Indians. They are also known as "pediches" because they are always waving towards themselves in hopes that you might toss a few pesos their way. Can anyone confirm that these are the famous Huicholes? I stopped at one of their roadside stands many moons ago. I was literally attacked by children in search of some food and clothes. I gave away several old shirts, pants and quite a few bags of chips. It was truly very sad.

sioux4noff

May 21, 2008, 9:41 PM

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Re: [esperanza] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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That is the area where we always wonder, "why the heck would anyone live out here? And how do they live?"
So dry, nothing there. The snake skins and assorted animal stuff is creepy.
I had forgotten about all the sad and empty "bases."

alex .

May 22, 2008, 9:45 AM

Post #11 of 17 (2148 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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Acapulco. Traffic is horrible. Downtown looks like someone exploded a bomb and didn't bother to clean up afterwards. Aggressive taxi drivers. Too many Americans. Highway 200 to Zihuatanejo. Roadblocks outside the city, can't tell if they are manned by good guys or bad guys. Crooked Notarios.
Narco-Violence.
Alex

ncferret

May 22, 2008, 1:28 PM

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Re: [alex .] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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Culiacan. You'll end up dead.

Dirty, crowded, and too many military vehicles with BIG guns!

Anonimo

May 22, 2008, 1:34 PM

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Re: [raferguson] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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I enjoyed visiting Ixmiquilpan, but only to visit. It was interesting, and the plaza when we were there was attractive.

Saludos,
Anonimo

bournemouth

May 22, 2008, 2:14 PM

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Re: [travisdyer] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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Travis - I'd be surprised if those folks are Huicholes, who seem very traditional to me and keep to their costumes etc. but, as I always say, I've been wrong before and I'll be wrong again.

Here is a link to an article in the archives of MexConnect - there are several articles on the Huicholes in there - all very interesting:

http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/huichol/huichol2.html

Esteban

May 28, 2008, 6:54 PM

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Re: [bournemouth] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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Cuamiles is a place in Nayarit that is up near Tuxpan.
It's a flat land agro town that is dusty and hot. There is nothing there but maybe the perfect spot for those from the north who would like a quaint Mexican village. I found a whole house to rent for 250 pesos a month. It boasts a cantina but I'm sure when the rains come that town is a mudhole.
Reminds me of some 30's depression area movie. Up the road a bit is a town of a different color, a beautiful old railroad village called Ruiz. What a contrast in living.

jerezano

May 29, 2008, 7:50 AM

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Re: [Esteban] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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Hello Esteban,

You are right about Ruiz. And did you know that there will soon be a paved road from Ruiz to Jesús María Nayar in the heart of the Huichol and Cora country?

I wish you had made a check on the real estate potential there in Ruiz, just as you did in that small town along the beach. Ruiz offers much potential to wannabees coming to México.

Hasta luego. jerezano.

Esteban

May 29, 2008, 7:58 AM

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Re: [jerezano] You Couldn't Pay Me to Live There!

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People have threatened me if I started talking about Ruiz. One of the last virgin pueblos in Mexico. Santiago is a better place to send the masses.