Forums > Areas > Jalisco's Lake Chapala Region

jengland

Sep 10, 2010, 5:06 PM

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Neiborhood description for Chapala

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Hound Dog

Sep 10, 2010, 6:09 PM

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Re: [jengland] Neiborhood description for Chapala

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Can some of you Chapala residents tell me about the different neighborhoods in the area? I would like learn about San Antonio Tlay and Riberos Del Pilar in particular. What is the mix of people? Closeness to services? etc.

If this were metropoiltan Los Angeles, San Antonio would be Torrance and Riberas would be Venice Beach circa 1966. The best retail services at Lakeside are in San Antonio within walking distance. If you leave your home to go shopping in Riberas, lock your door and set the alarm.

tashby

Sep 10, 2010, 6:32 PM

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Re: [jengland] Neiborhood description for Chapala

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San Antonio Tlayacapan is a town.

Riberas del Pilar isn't.

jengland

Sep 10, 2010, 7:21 PM

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Re: [tashby] Neiborhood description for Chapala

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OK. Sorry I'm not familiar with much in Lakeside. Can you tell me about the neighborhoods in San Antonio Tlay?

tashby

Sep 10, 2010, 8:28 PM

Post #5 of 16 (6645 views)

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Re: [jengland] Neiborhood description for Chapala

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No reason to apologize. If anything, I should apologize for replying in a curt manner.

I'm no expert on either. I just recognize that San Antonio Tlayacapan is an actual town. (There's a church, a plaza, a delegación, history and traditions, an identity, etc.)

I don't really know what Riberas del Pilar is. Just a bunch of houses as far as I can tell. Maybe it's "San Antonio Adjacent", in realtor terms.

Peter

Sep 10, 2010, 11:00 PM

Post #6 of 16 (6624 views)

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Re: [jengland] Neiborhood description for Chapala

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Chapala to Ajijic all blend into one along the lake with a little break before going into Cosala and Jocotepec. There are shops, restaurants, and various businesses all along the main highway with some concentrations as was mentioned. It's not a large area really, I could drive from Chapala to Jocotepec in less time than it would take me to drive across one end of Morelia to the other.

There are various neighborhoods within those towns and areas with different character. Describing them all may be too time-consuming and different folk having a different take on how to characterize them. It may be as well to pick a particular street and ask what the neighbors are like that live there. One person may prefer a gated community or an easy walk to a given store or attraction while you may prefer a huge home and lot in a more isolated area on the south shore.

There, if I have mis-characterized something the locals can jump in and correct me. I only know the area from a couple visits but it seems I could memorize the whole layout and location of everything of interest if I spent a week or two there poking around. If you like the US with nicer weather and a fair splash of salsa that may be just the place for you, 0 to acclimatized in three days flat.

stevebrtx

Sep 11, 2010, 10:15 AM

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Re: [Peter] Neiborhood description for Chapala

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All are correct and that tells you something, each of us see the area differently either from living there or driving through.

San Antonio is predominantly Mexican with a traditional Mexican flavor, houses on smaller narrow lots, wall to wall. It's my understanding Riberas was originally a "Fracc" which is more a community or development managed by an owners group. It was never a "village" per se and so is a composite or residential & business. The management of the Fracc fell apart years ago so now we're at the mercy of the four winds.

Our electric, like everyone's, is CFE, our water if managed by San Antonio and our police are Chapala, so in that sense we're like most everyone else. That ends the services, there is essentially no road/street maintenance, street lights are spotty and some of us have put in our own.

Riberas really has 4 sections, upper east above the Carrretera with some newer homes, lower east with a mix of new/old and mixed population, lower west where again it's a mix of population and some older (mine is 40+) and new construction. and Mirasol which is a surviving Fracc of homes with services, a mixed population and generally smaller homes, but nice and nicely kept.

Lower west where I live is more "country", the red headed step children with cobble stone streets covered by 6" of mud during the rainy season (in some cases, dust the other 8 months) from floods over the years and never scraped off. But, it has some great attributes - silence, we're between church bells and cohete celebrations, the rough streets mostly preclude the Mercedes snobs from cruising our areas. Our water isn't great, our electrical is unpredictable, I love it, it's unpredictable and Lord knows at this stage of life I need some adventure.
www.chapalaweather.net

RickS

Sep 11, 2010, 11:25 AM

Post #8 of 16 (6518 views)

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Re: [jengland] Neiborhood description for Chapala

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(I see that steve posted as I was typing; some of our comments will be duplicates)

Actually jengland, you are asking a general question that would take 'hours' to answer. As mentioned San Antonio is a small 'town' that sits in the middle of a continuing strip of developed land between Ajijic and Chapala.... about half way. Riberas is a 'collection of homes' just to the east of that. See the clickable map that I have included a link to below.

Generally speaking there is Ajijic (Upper and Lower), then coming east there is La Floresta (Upper and Lower, homes only), then WalMart, then the start of San Antonio which is mainly south of the carretera (north of the carretera is commercial and Colonia Chula Vista, a 'neighborhood' complete with golf course). Just east of San Antonio, which runs maybe 1/2 mile, is a 2-block-wide Fracc., Mirasol, and then starts Riberas which is a conglomeration of cobblestone/dirt streets in a mostly wooded area, mostly all south of the carretera. It runs for about 3/4 mile.

Without an exact figure, I'd say San Antonio is about 99.9% Mexican Nationals (this is somewhat tongue-in-cheek but you get the drift). Certainly there are a number of non-Nationals who live in S.A. but I dare say there is no 'conclave' here as there are in other areas. The center Plaza is several blocks down off the carretera... maybe 1/4 mile. The local bus, which runs continuously between Chapala and Ajijic, makes a detour down to the Plaza and back up to the carretera. The 'town' is mostly homes, but in Mexico that might mean a house next to a mechanic's garage next to a small grocery store next to the another house which is next to a mom 'n pop restaurant, all connected without a break except for narrow streets, some one-way.

This will all make sense when you (one) look at the map below and (2) you come to Lakeside in November.

Clickable map courtesy of chapala.com http://www.chapala.com/maps/lakechapala.htm

(This post was edited by RickS on Sep 11, 2010, 11:29 AM)

jengland

Sep 12, 2010, 2:30 PM

Post #9 of 16 (6408 views)

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Re: [RickS] Neiborhood description for Chapala

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Thanks for the link. It helps to get a feel for the layout of the towns.
I am just trying to learn as much as I can before our trip. Your post was very helpful. There seems to be great differences in each town in such a small area. Even from neighborhood to neighborhood. I hope I will get a feel for the area in our 4 days. I know I won't even begin to understand the intricacies of each area. Everyone says rent for at least 6 months, and the more I learn (and realize I don't know) the more this seems to be absolutely necessary. However, I will continue to research in the meantime.

RickS

Sep 12, 2010, 3:43 PM

Post #10 of 16 (6393 views)

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Re: [RickS] Neiborhood description for Chapala

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...but I dare say there is no 'conclave' here...

Or an 'enclave' either..... ;>)

tonyburton

Sep 12, 2010, 4:08 PM

Post #11 of 16 (6388 views)

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Re: [jengland] Neiborhood description for Chapala

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For a superior map (the online version of the map on which the chapala.com maps were originally based), try the interactive pdf format map right here on this site:
http://www.mexconnect.com/...6/chapalamapspdf.pdf

(This post was edited by tonyburton on Sep 13, 2010, 11:10 AM)

Anonimo

Sep 13, 2010, 1:53 AM

Post #12 of 16 (6316 views)

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Re: [tonyburton] Neiborhood description for Chapala

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Tony; the link doesn't work.

Anonimo

tonyburton

Sep 13, 2010, 11:11 AM

Post #13 of 16 (6263 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Neiborhood description for Chapala

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Not sure what happened there, but should be working now,
Sorry about that
Tony

tashby

Sep 13, 2010, 5:11 PM

Post #14 of 16 (6224 views)

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Re: [tonyburton] Neiborhood description for Chapala

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What a spectacular map!

Is there a professionally printed version?

jengland

Sep 13, 2010, 5:25 PM

Post #15 of 16 (6217 views)

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Re: [tonyburton] Neiborhood description for Chapala

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Great map. Thank you.

Jim

tonyburton

Sep 13, 2010, 6:03 PM

Post #16 of 16 (6211 views)

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Re: [tashby] Neiborhood description for Chapala

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Yes, the equivalent print map (without the interactivity, obviously) is sold as
"Lake Chapala Maps" - cover is of a boat on the lake, with colored lettering (as here).
They are on sale at various places in Ajijic, including La Nueva Posada, Opus Boutique, Diane Pearle, Lake Chapala Society and Libros y Revistas (Plaza Bugambilias).