Bubba
Aug 10, 2003, 12:44 PM
Post #9 of 23
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Re: [pat] Anything negative about Lakeside living?
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Well, I can't resist another post because many who read here are contemplating retirement so, while the other posters have been very enlightening about this place and certain inevitable cultural clashes that occur, I want to try to add my little contribution.
One needn't move to Mexico to see these resentments. I am a native Alabamian and my wife is Basque from Paris. We married in Mobile and then I tricked her into moving to San Francisco way back in the early 70s.
(When she first flew into San Francisco in August from Birmingham after having driven through the lush Alabama countryside [kudzu covering trees, etc], she spotted brown [excuse me, golden] San Bruno Mountain with the icy fog rolling in from the Pacific. On top of it, Tonto here had rented a motel room at Ocean Beach. As we say down south, Bubba had a lot of splainin' to do. Northern Californians will understand. She did grow to love it there over time.)
So, we had the good fortune to modestly ride up the real estate boom in San Francisco, Sonoma and Napa Counties but there is a down side to that. These are nice places but they aren't that nice if you get my drift. I mean, you want a one bedroom 600 Sq. ft. apartment in SF for $750,000? I can find you one. If you are willing to stand tiptoe on the toilet and peer out the miniscule window in the one bathroom, I'll get you a view of the Golden Gate Bridge - with luck.
So, it was time to leave. We are sunshine people so The Pacific Northwest was not in the running. So, the southern tier of states (excluding Texas), Mexico and certain parts of southern France were our options.
We were attracted to Mexico because we surmised that Highland Mexico would have a wonderful climate as opposed to the Desert Southwest or humid Southeast. We considered the Lake Chapala area,Oaxaca, Cuernevaca and San Miguel de Allende. My wife flew down here and was sold immediately on the Ajijic village. Never used the rest of her ticket.
So here is our experience:
Anywhere you go in places considered attractive and underpriced, you will find yourself bidding up real estate prices and this is a function of scarcity not simply realtor greed. No way arround it. Californians moving to places like Oregon, Washington and Idaho generate enormous resentment for several reasons. They have, through no fault of their own, ridden the California real estate boom and are often willing to pay top dollar for the best locations. Home prices, consequently become to dear for locals who haven't had such good fortune. Those Californians can also be as arrogant as a Tapatio teenager on a dirt bike in the summer at Lake Chapala. But this isn't just a West Coast phenomenon as most of you know. The Alabama coast has attracted a very large number of snowbirds in the past 20 years and so waterfront property there is outrageously expensive if popular. You can find less expensive bayou properties but might wake up in the middle of the night to find that you are sharing your bed with a gator or water moccasin.
I theorize that you will find most retirement communities, whether in Arizona or some other sunbelt area, full of intrigues and backstabbing. People normally only retire once - often with great anxiety- and they find time on their hands to hang around the club house and talk about what an idiot Billy Bob is. It's normal after 30+/- years in the business wars where antagonisms were channeled toward "that jerk" in the corner office. Expect meanness just about anywhere unless you move to Kodiak Island into a backwoods cabin where you may become bear poop. Well, that is certainly an ignominiuos end, no?
So, here is what I know after two plus years here:
The climate is excellent. People who complain about the heat here in April and May have certainly never been anywhere near Crawford, TX or Mobile, AL.
Learning Spanish will not only help you enormously even if your skills are rudimentary, local people will see it as a sign of proper respect and it's damned good therapy. Even the French will be tolerant of foreigners who try to speak their language - a tolerance they would never extend to their fellow countrymen.
Over time, if you are anything like the two of us, you will appreciate the fact that the Chapala area is so near a major airport and large, sophisiticated city such as Guadalajara. In Oaxaca, for instance, you are there bro. Nice place but periodic change is important.
You will find that the outstanding access you have to satellite TV and the internet are priceless assets for retirees. You will not get that in France.
It's not that easy to become proficient in a foreign language. The remote Mexican community you may alternatively choose may bring you a sense of profound isolation bordering on despondency that will eventually drive you out. Having others around who share your language and cultural base will be more important than most expats realize. You simply must control yourself and not become totally immersed in the expat culture. Look, I lived in France for over a year as a young man and only married a French woman three years later when she came to work temporarily in Mobile. There is no way I understood the French culture, despite having lived there until I married into a French family and even then it took years.
Finally, living in a foreign country is endlessly entertaining. Would you really rather be living in Sun City?
Gotta go.
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