Villa Nova

I lived there for two and a half years and loved every minute.

uj

I have lived in Villa Nova for 5 years ....I was the one that renamed it "Villa No-agua" to the amusement of fellow residents ......since the new well and pumping station , we have had no problems and great water ( except when we have power outages ) .....a well cared for FRACC

We live in the village and have had power outage as well , Villa Nova is not alone.

jrm30655 wrote:Lived in VN for 4 years. Nice, quiet and safe. Good neighbors.

Haven't really had any water problems other than a couple instances of maintainance.

jrm quote - "Nice, quiet and safe."
Copy & Paste from TOB:
I've lived in Villa Nova for more than 3 years, in two different houses. Both of them have been broken into and both times I have lost a laptop computer, cameras, cell phones, and the like. Others I know who live here have been burglarized as well. In my case, both times I was away from the house (much to the good fortune of the burglar(s) in question). Both times entrance to the house was accomplished by forcing the locks on the doors to the street and house. Yes, I have changed the locks for ones that are more secure and have added extra security in the way of barred windows and so on.

My point in posting this is not to complain about thieves in Mexico or to decry the conditions in this country that lead to their seemingly ubiquitous existence - things are as they are and there isn't much a few of us foreigners can do about them. My point is to alert any others who live in Villa Nova that burglaries are common here and that all precautions should be taken if they are to be avoided.

Such precautions are the responsibility of the resident because the fracc does nothing to ensure their sucurity or that of their property. This is a strictly residential neighborhood, yet people wander these streets at all hours and I have never - not once - seen a police vehicle patrolling here. Fraccionamiento management is apparently unable or unwilling to address this, so Villa Nova residents are on their own.

I lived in downtown Ajijic for a year and got hit twice. My neighbors got hit a couple of times. Lived in VN for 4 years with no problems.

Guess it is just luck.

I do see the cops patrol here occassionally.

jrm30655 wrote:I lived in downtown Ajijic for a year and got hit twice. My neighbors got hit a couple of times. Lived in VN for 4 years with no problems.

Guess it is just luck.

I do see the cops patrol here occassionally.

The Fracc should have a meeting of it's owners to determine the best possible solution at the least cost. I assume you pay a fee there? How much do you pay?

Copy and Paste from TOB...
If the Villa Nova office is not informed of these break-ins....how is the office able to pass this information unto the residents? The last break-in that the office is aware of happened a year ago, so by that standard how can you say that burglaries are common here? Yes people wander here.....Chapala will not allow the Fracc to close off the access points. There was a security service a few years ago but it was considered ineffective since the Fracc is not allowed to close off the streets, so how can the Fracc be secured? If you see people wandering around....ask them what they are doing hanging around. I have done this many times, including taking pictures of them with my camera phone.

It would have been far more productive to have informed the office, with all the details, so that the office would be able to inform the residents rather than lambasting the Fracc on this forum. Or else call one of the officers, the numbers of which are listed outside the office.

Burglaries happen everywhere and yes, I agree with the above post....security is our responsibility.....we have infra-red outdoor motion sensors that are monitored 24/7 as well as 4 cameras....in the four years we have been here, we have never had a burglary and neither have our neighbours.

And unlike the OP, we HAVE seen police trucks patrolling here.

For the OP's information, the board has been looking at quotes to install security cameras....so his comment that the board is doing nothing is completely wrong. It would have been nice if he could have gotten his facts straight before making criticisms.

The police come through every night, sometimes several times. Once I left the door in the garage porton open and they banged on the door and called out. I went down barely dressed and thanked them and locked the door. The young woman officer was very amused.

We have lived here eight years. The Fracc doesn't have enforcement powers for its rules, which makes for some amusing hassles with building violations and so forth. The well is very good, the pumps and control panel not so hot. But water has never been out more than a few days and the Fracc arranged for pipas of water to be brought in by truck. Many of the over 200 homes are second homes for folks who live in Guadalajara. A good number are vacant at any given time, and some of the absentee owners are not good about paying their Fracc fees. Not unique to Villa Nova. A lot of the local owners are very decent and pleasant folks. There is a lot of street traffic, but it is largely caused by domestic help and construction workers, gas vendors, and occasional salespersons. I don't see much loitering at all, and I have noisy dogs that notice everyone who comes by.

There has been a little crime, but none affecting us directly. We are a mile walking distance from the intersection of the carretera and Colon. For health reasons, I am happy with that. Only if one of us became disabled and couldn't deal with a multi level home and walking to town would we consider relocating.

The area is mostly single family, detached, homes. I walk around it every day and have never been hassled in any way.

The discussion on Villa Nova is continuing on chapala.com and now Chapala Haciendas has entered into it.

Hola, It's been a few years since this original post.  We are looking at 2 homes in Villa Nova tomorrow and would like an update as to if this is a safe area.  We have driven around and walked the dog around the neighborhood and it seems quiet and safe, during the day anyway.  I also like that it is walking distance to the village.  We were at dinner and told some friends that we were looking there and got the "it's not a safe area" from the people at the table.  I did notice security cameras have been installed.

It has been a target area for break-ins; probably appearing to be gentrified and upscale, as such fraccionamientos often are. Personally, I like many of the homes there, having visited friends, but always preferred living in a home on a normal street in a normal neighborhood; first for a few years in Ajijic, then for a decade in Chapala.

Villa Nova is a very well-run, financially solid fracc in an excellent location. The concept of "what's safe?" is so subjective and personal, it's too complicated to successfully address on an internet forum. I know that I personally, from a "safety perspective", would not hesitate to live in Villa Nova. But that's just me.

annied wrote:Hola, It's been a few years since this original post.  We are looking at 2 homes in Villa Nova tomorrow and would like an update as to if this is a safe area.  We have driven around and walked the dog around the neighborhood and it seems quiet and safe, during the day anyway.  I also like that it is walking distance to the village.  We were at dinner and told some friends that we were looking there and got the "it's not a safe area" from the people at the table.  I did notice security cameras have been installed.

It would probably be a good idea to ask those same folks who said Villa Nova is not a "safe area" to tell you what they do consider a "safe area". I have two or three friends who have lived in Villa Nova for quite a few years and none of them have been burgled. They like the place. But then, I live in the center of Ajijic Village and I haven't been burgled, either. So much depends on your security measures.

I suppose that a totally gated community like the one John in Ajijic lived in might be less of a target, but those really secure gated communities seem to me to be located in another country.

I haven't heard of any problems in Villa Nova in quite some time. I know people who lived there without any problems and I wouldn't hesitate to live there myself. Like Gringal, I also live in the village and enjoy the "non-gated" Mexican neighborhood life style.

I've lived in VN almost 7 years and I like it. I live up high and have a great view of the lake and mountains.

I lived 2 other places and this is by far the quietest and best.

I have lived in VN 6 years, never been broken into and the police turn around in my drive at least every day sometimes 2-3 times a day. I see them parked on the lower streets parked for 20-30 minutes at night quiet often.