Forums > General > General Forum

Uncle Jack

Dec 16, 2002, 6:36 AM

Post #1 of 18 (3203 views)

Shortcut

Gated Communities

Can't Post | Private Reply

http://www.usatoday.com/...-15-gated-usat_x.htm

Mike

Dec 16, 2002, 7:44 AM

Post #2 of 18 (2839 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Uncle Jack] Gated Communities

Can't Post | Private Reply

Jack, an interesting article. The part that caught my attention was:
"Whether they own or rent, Hispanics are more likely to live in such communities than whites or blacks. That may be partly because there is a large Hispanic population in the West and Southwest, areas with the largest concentration of gated communities."
This was interesting to me because some recent posts were critical of some LC area residents that hail from the U.S. and Canada for living in gated communities.
I think the bottom line is that everyone, regardless of where they are from, desires a crime and filth free place to live that offers safety for themselves and their children.
"No matter where you go, there you are"

ChrisB

Dec 16, 2002, 11:03 AM

Post #3 of 18 (2765 views)

Shortcut

Re: Gated Communities

Can't Post |

It's funny how people preceive things differently. I focused on the end quote

"Gated communities are anathema to civic life," he says. "What they do is isolate individual neighborhoods from each other and from the public realm. But the perception was that the marketplace wouldn't support a new housing development unless it had the security of gates."

I think Hispanics are drawn to a gated community because their "life experience" doesn't embrace the American wide open lawns/development idea. They are used to walls around a property, not chain link. Yet that isn't a snob thing. Even in our village and my neighborhood, while there are walls around each house you still have "individual neighborhoods." A place where neighbors look out for one another, plan parties and now posadas, watch your house when you are away, and have a sense of community.

I don't live in a gated community and I have heard snide comments about the people living in gated communities here in Mexico. Just as I feel no one knows me well enough to comment on where I live, somone else shouldn't comment on a person's choice of a gated community. Wrongheaded since you don't know those peoples' life experiences. They may be older, not in the best of health and just feel a bit safer living in that type of housing. NYOB

It was an interesting article oh resident curmudgeon!

Randy in AGS

Dec 16, 2002, 12:35 PM

Post #4 of 18 (2729 views)

Shortcut

We like our gated community in AGS...

Can't Post |

Hi Chris: We live in Aguascalientes in a middle class gated community. We have found that there is plenty of community in our neighborhood.

We get to interact with our neighbors on a daily basis because there are many younger couples & they seem to work more USA style hours, that is 9:00 to 6:00 or so. After they get home, the couples tend to go for walks with their young kids or dogs, so there is plenty of time for interaction. We usually get to talk to our gardeners, who are young & Licenciados, meaning they have a college education & speak excellent English. They have had a hard time finding jobs, so they started a USA style Landscape service, & are reaping tremendous rewards. I like to BS with the security guards who man the gate & ride around on bicycles; they are all good boys. Sometimes I talk with the contractor who is building two homes across from ours; he is a güero from los Altos & knows my sister in laws family there. There is a small mall at the entrance, and we buy most of our groceries there from a woman who did a year of high school in my home town in Oregon twenty years ago!

Might I add that I am the ONLY Gringo or foreigner of any kind living in this community. It is ALL inhabited by Mexicans who have come to AGS to work from what must be every state in the republic; I see many license plates from DF of course, but there are folks living there from Tabasco, Chihuahua, Sonora, Tlaxcala, Morelos, etc. Our neighbors, who we have become close friends with, are from Coahuila.

Mexicans like living in gated fraccionimientos because of the added layer of security, the fact that they can have USA style lawns and gardens without the walls if they desire, no idiots running around with a spray can applying graffiti to your house or car, zoning enforcement, the fact that their children can play in the street & not have to watch out for the borracho in the '73 Maverick or the pendejo in the '03 BMW driving over them & many (I know this will suprise many of you) like the peace & quiet the community affords them at night, including my wife, who is Mexicana & doesn't like noise. She says it is a respect issue, & that in the colonias populars, many people don't respect their neighbors by playing loud music in the middle of the night.

My concunyo & I work most days in the countyside, talking to farmers & ranchers about our product line. We work in AGS, Zacatecas & eastern Jalisco states. Then if we choose, my wife & I can put on our winter coats & head down to the beautiful plazas of el Centro in AGS at night, listen to a concert or just walk around looking at the people or colonial architecture. I get to pick up my teenage nieces at their 'colegio' preparatoria every day, which is always suprising. Three nights per week, I 'work' as a waiter at my concunyos restaurant along with my wife. Lots of opportunity for interaction; in fact with all of this interaction I can't wait to retreat to our family room & veg out to my Direct TV!

Just a perspective from someone living outside 'the Gringo islands'...

(This post was edited by Randy in AGS on Dec 16, 2002, 12:58 PM)

Howard H

Dec 16, 2002, 3:38 PM

Post #5 of 18 (2671 views)

Shortcut

Re: [ChrisB] Gated Communities

Can't Post |

Where I live in Naples, Florida gated communities are the way of life, and every new community is gated. Some of the gates are manned and provide some security, others are really more auto traffic access control. Like lakeside many of the homes here are seasonal, and controlled access is a little more secure.

pedro naco

Dec 16, 2002, 3:56 PM

Post #6 of 18 (2658 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Howard H] Gated Communities-what the ....?

Can't Post |

unbelievable -it's such a crock ,these stupid gated communities-what's happening to people-since 1974 -i've always lived in the inner reaches of large cities-the divesity is exhilarating-except for the last 7 yrs.-small town pop. 2000-i miss the melting pot and thats what we future migrants to mexico are going to be looking for-we don't want to live in a fort-bring on the chickens the goats and burros and the partying-i want to LIVE the short rest of my life!

Howard H

Dec 16, 2002, 4:34 PM

Post #7 of 18 (2641 views)

Shortcut

Re: [pedro] Gated Communities-what the ....?

Can't Post |

If you really want chickens, goats and burros I have a barn stall you can rent!

Seriously, hope you find what you want when you get there.

ChrisB

Dec 16, 2002, 4:43 PM

Post #8 of 18 (2650 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Uncle Jack] Gated Communities

Can't Post |

After reading all the posts it goes back to what I said. It is a matter of personal preferance and no one should cast aspersions on anothers choice/style of domicile. <g>

Jeannie

Dec 16, 2002, 4:47 PM

Post #9 of 18 (2641 views)

Shortcut

Re: [pedro] Gated Communities-what the ....?

Can't Post | Private Reply

If your moving to Mexico, no matter where, I would suggest a "gringo/mexican" community, be it gated or not, for the first year.

As with anywhere you live, there are good areas and bad. Our first 1 1/2 years here began in an old Mexican area that we did not realize was a bad area. The culture shock was bad enough, but the harrassement was terrible and left us very disallusioned about the supposedly "wonderful Mexican people". Had we thought about it ahead of time we would have lived in a gringo/Mexican community while we scouted other areas and found out the good and the bad areas. Hindsight is 20/20 though. The rosters, horses, donkeys etc. did not bother us at all, but the way we were treated had a lasting impression.

If you want a gated community and that's where you feel most comfortable then go for it. If on the other hand you want a totally different experience as Pedro does then go for that also.

There are no right or wrong communities. Everyone is entitled to live where they feel most comfortable.

pedro naco

Dec 16, 2002, 5:02 PM

Post #10 of 18 (2630 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Jeannie] Gated Communities-what the ....?

Can't Post |

it's simple all you had to do was party with them and they would have accepted you

Jeannie

Dec 16, 2002, 5:09 PM

Post #11 of 18 (2607 views)

Shortcut

Post deleted by Jeannie

| Private Reply

jennifer rose

Dec 17, 2002, 6:07 AM

Post #12 of 18 (2588 views)

Shortcut

Re: Gated Communities-what the ....?

Can't Post |

A trailer court is a gated community. So too, in a way are Cabrini Greens and The Dakota. The cavernous tenement blocks, vecindades, of Mexico City which Oscar Lewis depicted were gated communities. The great haciendas were gated communities. It’s ignorant to characterize gated communities as only for social elites and the wealthy.

As Randy pointed out, there are tremendous benefits to a gated community. There’s the common landscape, shared goals and values, and a sense of security. Property values are more likely to be preserved, but there’s a price tag to all that – contribution to maintenance fees, HOAs, and rules. Another sacrifice is the privacy afforded by walls surrounding residences.

Gated communities aren’t everyone’s cup of atole, but today hardly anyone is forced to live in one (except for those in prison).

Not everyone wants to live next to a barnyard – especially those who’ve put substantial investment into a dream house. Simply “partying” with the neighbors isn’t necessarily the solution. The neighbors, regardless of class, may not genuinely welcome your intrusion into their private affairs and disrespect for their boundaries. It’s a mistake to confuse courtesy with a genuine invitation. While it ought to spell mutual respect, proximity doesn’t necessarily mean social attraction. And harassment and disparity can occur just as easily in a gated community as anyplace else. Boors exist everywhere – in gated communities and in the inner city. The evangelists of diversity, ironically, are frequently reluctant to acknowledge and appreciate the lifestyles of those living beyond their own ghetto.

Life in Mexico has its rhythms, but it’s really not a matter of burros and nonstop partying.

pedro naco

Dec 17, 2002, 6:42 AM

Post #13 of 18 (2568 views)

Shortcut

Re: [jennifer rose] Gated Communities-what the ....?

Can't Post |

it's amazing how my attempts at humour and satire can get people sooooo riled up at times.on occasion i am simply asking people to either lighten up or consider an issue from a different perspective.

i realize this is difficult for some,as they are so set in their thought process that the learning curve no longer exists-mores the pity!no?

my only concern is for those people who choose the gated community for the sole purpose of issolating themselves out of shear parannoia(sic)and /or false sense of superiority.

tony ferrell

Dec 19, 2002, 1:54 PM

Post #14 of 18 (2406 views)

Shortcut

Re: [pedro] Gated Communities-what the ....?

Can't Post |

Hey Pedro,
I liked your posts. While gated communities can range
from the barrios to the super rich, I find it funny that
the people who like them are the rich ones that
have a delusion of safety. I didn't know there was a
screening process that didn't allow drunk people and
spray cans in these areas ;>) To each ther own. One thing
I can say is that most gated communities are not a
reflection of avaerage Mexico. Which makes me think
that the people who like them cannot handle average
Mexico. Coo Coo Roo Coo Coo! tony

Brad.

Dec 19, 2002, 2:34 PM

Post #15 of 18 (2396 views)

Shortcut

Re: [tony ferrell] Gated Communities-what the ....?

Can't Post |

In Reply To

One thing
I can say is that most gated communities are not a
reflection of avaerage Mexico. Which makes me think
that the people who like them cannot handle average
Mexico. Coo Coo Roo Coo Coo! tony

Can you define this "average México"?

tony ferrell

Dec 20, 2002, 9:30 AM

Post #16 of 18 (2347 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Brad Smith] Gated Communities-what the ....?

Can't Post |

I'll make it very simple. I guesstimate less than 10%
of all Mexicans live in gated communities. This means
more than 90% (the overwhelming majority) or
average mexican lives outside of these areas. This
is my definition. tony

Brad.

Dec 20, 2002, 10:14 AM

Post #17 of 18 (2334 views)

Shortcut

Re: [tony ferrell] Gated Communities-what the ....?

Can't Post |

In Reply To

I find it funny that
the people who like them are the rich ones

Which makes me think
that the people who like them cannot handle average
Mexico.

I agree that most gated communities are the domain of middle and upper class residents. Is it a matter of personal preference or a matter of economics? Would Juan Perez, maestro albañil, whose income suddenly went from 5000 to 150,000 pesos monthly choose to live in such a gated community?

I have a concuño that was raised in a working class neighborhood in Gdl. He has done well financially and now lives in a gated community. Does that mean he can't handle your "average México"?

Richard

Dec 21, 2002, 4:27 PM

Post #18 of 18 (2283 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Brad Smith] Gated Communities-what the ....?

Can't Post |

Gated communities are getting very popular everywhere IMHO. We have bought and will soon be building in a 1000 acre gated community. WE like the idea of solitude and that everyone feels the same way about the rules as we do. Or you don't buy : ) Conveniences are 3 pages type written they were a selling/buying point for us. About 90 % of the "rules " really are just common sense but you know some just either have very little of that or don't care about anyone but themselves. But its good for us we really look forward to living there. No trailers of any sort no modular built no this and no that . Permission to cut down trees to build your house no fences a lot of no's but IMHO and all of those who have chosen to reside there , these are all acceptable NO's. Not bright colors on you house all good common sense rules . Its 1000 acres of rolling wooded home sites with a 100 acre private lake , all owned by about 250 families / Couples and its in Western IL. So see their everywhere now . Though we have no age restrictions those communities are getting very popular too and for some very good reasons for those who choose that life style .