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Gentrification - Colibri - 01-15-2019
Thoughts and opinions on the "gentrification" of Guanajuato? Are we fast becoming San Miguel?
RE: Gentrification - laconstance - 01-15-2019
I don’t know about becoming San Miguel, but for sure the Americans and Canadians are coming in droves!
RE: Gentrification - jesm - 01-15-2019
Unquestionably. Far more foreigners seem to be here. Various web groups and boards with increased traffic. Folks asking questions and visiting. GTO can handle, and perhaps benefit, from a few more foreign residents. I think we are a long, long way from being another SMA, Chapala, San Carlos, etc.
RE: Gentrification - DonJuane - 01-15-2019
You have to have more than 2 descent restaurants before you are San Miguel de Allende LOL.
If newcomers can take the back breaking stair climbs, disproportionate step distances that send so many of us flying, 250 stair climbs to various facilities and visits to friends around the perimeter, and maintain enough pairs of clean shoes to at least keep their own living room walk-able, perhaps they deserve to stay. Still there's no Sano Market, drop-dead Gourmet food court, no duck pate, nothing but goat cheese, no Beverly Hills style art openings, no theater performances (outside of symphony of course), no library open air coffee-sipping and "be seen" activities, no roof top cocktails and gourmet meals, no obnoxious rich west coast expats bored enough to allow even me to crash their fine home cocktail parties, no bonnet wearing or Panama hat wearing social events, no multi-million dollar home "walking tours", no yoga classes or holistic anything, no vegan based restaurants, no organic section .... instead our markets are removing gourmet offerings rather than adding, and since there's no place to park, much less to drive your fancy automobile, well for now it's still a long-shot.
Also most newcomers who have tried to infuse the aura of "expat mania" and drum up business to create another Gringo paradise struggle to find the participants or the venues to keep everyone interested. And it's not always that there's not that much to do here that keeps me in, as I find myself skipping meals just to avoid another walk downtown. It pays to have plenty of cans of tuna around here.
So I am thinking it will retain it's charm until they are able to get rid of all of the locals here. With all the other obstacles, I'm thinking and hoping that will be a slow process. It's happening slow enough now and with the bonus of all the graffiti activity here, requiring weekly house paintings, this keeps the San Miguel style at critical mass because a key element to that style of gentrification is to be able to show how affluent your are. If someone sprays a donkey reproductive organ on your door constantly and there's no way to show off or even park for God's sake that fancy automobile, and add to that you quickly discover that every trip to the grocery store feels like a day at boot camp, the "growth factor" here is bound to be slightly slower than seen over at our good neighbor SMdA.
RE: Gentrification - DonJuane - 01-16-2019
Another thing that GTO is lacking compared to San Miguel is a gigantic garden with a focus of interest where the trolls of the afternoon can stake out their claims. The latest crowd I call the Fabios and movie producers who hang and do their numbers on the touring female population. In San Miguel on the front row facing the Parrouquia, on this side of the Jardin there are two rows of seats. One can find a seat on the back row and watch the charades transpring on the front row as various actors conduct their routines. The so-called movie producers dressed in stereotypical directors attire with the glasses hanging on a band around their neck and wearing beanie-topped director's hats will stake out a position on the front row, normally with a sidekick who is an outgoing person who serves as the front man for the movie producer. The two of them talk loudly between themselves about either their past film works or the plans he has for his upcoming project in San Miguel. This conversation is just loud enough to capture a couple of attractive females who stop to rest or are passing by (the movie producer always stands so he can capture the attention of both those sitting and passers by. The key is that he never begins a conversation with a stranger, thus the magic part of his style is it's always the female who breaks into the many pauses in the conversation to say "I couldn't help but overhearing but are you really ...." Once he nets them in you can see their face flushing as he tells countless tales of the many movies he has worked on, answering all the questions about various actors he has worked with. If they ever get around to asking what he's going in San Miguel, he's just scoping out a set for a bla, bla, bla movie he's working on. By the way, maybe he's having a cocktail party or he might be able to work in some time to show them some of the locations they are looking at for shooting their upcoming movie. Numbers are exchanged and usually the group of two or more females walk away with their faces lit up like a Christmas tree, not believing their luck to have run into this famous guy. Always wonder what happens later when they actually hook up.
Then there is also a guy who is almost always there on the front row mid-morning, especially during high tourist season. He has a big mane of wind blown salt and pepper hair that flows like a hair color commercial. He and his friend who is completely dressed in leather and has gold chains hanging on every extremity both stake out a seat close but not directly next to the movie producer. This guy who I have penned Fabio stands in front of his friend who is sitting on the bench and also speaks so loudly you can hear him half way round the Jardin. He makes quite a spectacle of himself, moving about as if acting in a scene and also claiming to "work in film" as does his friend who pass back and forth tales trying to draw the attention of a majority of passing Gringa female tourists walking the area. Once he lands his prey he begins constantly flattering them with compliments, speaking continuous tales of his complete knowledge of the city and Mexico as well. He'll continue to toss out offers to accompany them here or there until one sticks and coincidentally the pair of them exchange numbers, he embraces both shoulders and smacks an imaginary kiss on their cheek, and again the two guys give each other a slightly noticeable wink as the flushed faced females again walk away imagining future adventures on their soon to be encounter.
So luckily, we've still a little way to go before both we and Mexico have lost another city to the make believe.
RE: Gentrification - Clay01 - 01-16-2019
DonJuane again you nail it?☮️
RE: Gentrification - DonJuane - 01-18-2019
Thanks! Finally a compliment here :-) (Or do you speak in jest - surely not a GTO member LOL.) Yes, I've been traveling around Mexico full time for around 12 years now. San Miguel is a fascinating place, full of every type of expat from starry-eyed newcomer to some of the phony bologna's I have pointed out. There's a great expose which occurs and experience of enlightenment once one stops living just on the surface of Mexico and starts digging a little deeper. I've only started exploring the Spanish speakers, but it's often too tempting to get all wrapped up in the typical expat Gringoish illusions. You would never believe some of the things that transpire in San Miguel de Allende. I've always liked this article and since you expressed interest, I'll share .... SO TRUE!
https://richland.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/manuals-for-living-in-san-miguel-how-to-reinvent-yourself/
RE: Gentrification - roberb7 - 01-19-2019
Quote:'ve always liked this article and since you expressed interest, I'll share .... SO TRUE!
https://richland.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/manuals-for-living-in-san-miguel-how-to-reinvent-yourself/
I agree, this was excellent. Keep in mind, though, that we want the doors of SMA to continue to be open to these people. We sure as hell don't want them coming here instead.
RE: Gentrification - Waymond Smith - 01-24-2019
I'm discovering that the expats are "gentrifying" Guanajuato with the high costs of rents.
I've come across expats who want to rent their property for what one would pay in the USA, or more! One person became upset when I told them that the rent they wanted to charge was too high. I understand the costs of purchasing and rehabbing a place, but to attempt to recoup it all in one year is ridiculous!
What good is an investment when you charge so much and you don't get any renters? Kind of reminds me of the small vendor that doesn't have any sales, so they increase their prices to compensate!
RE: Gentrification - donblanco - 01-25-2019
I have no way of verifying their accuracy, but according to Numbeo this is the average rent price/range in GTO:
Code:
Rent Per Month Average Range
Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre 3,750.00 MXN 2,500.00-5,000.00
Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre 2,416.67 MXN 2,000.00-3,000.00
Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre 8,600.00 MXN 6,000.00-10,000.00
Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre 6,300.00 MXN 4,000.00-8,000.00https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Guanajuato?displayCurrency=MXN
Do those numbers ring true to you? Are they skewed by the many student roommate rentals?