What will Lakeside be like in 2035?

I can see a lot of factors that will affect Lakeside in the future. Global warming might be a positive in that it will make the US South less livable for longer parts of the year. Increasing hurricane activity and higher insurance rates will likely dampen the appeal for Florida.
Covid has shown the benefits from working from home. Why not work from home in an area that has a nice climate?
Well-off Gualalajarians might increasingly see Lakeside as a better place to raise their families. Also Guad seems to be growing in the direction of the lake.
On the other hand will Mexico's seemingly inability to control criminal gangs lead to fewer North Americans coming to Mexico in general?
So many questions!
What do you think the future holds for Lakeside and/or Mexico in general?

Colder and wetter!

I imagine lakeside will be a rich suburb of Guadalajara by then the way Guadalajara is expanding between here and there. It will really depend on Mexico's economy over the next 15 years. Hopefully they will have fixed all infrastructure around here by then.....lol.

Who of us will still be here in 2035? A few maybe....

I can't for see Guadalajara coming over the mountain until the Tjamulco area -little Lake Chapala, is used up all its available land. It actually is already a suburb of Guadalajara and has good transportation to the City and a brand new toll road.

Poor planning will make traffic gridlock, poor water and sanitation, decreasing air quality and the value decreasing. Chapala is a bargain as you can move but no parking, traffic and the lack of funding and infrastructure will make it a challenge in the future for many.

I'll play, since I should still be here then (God willing), and I used to do this (prognosticate) for a living.

Lakeside won't be a suburb (a place people live in, in order to commute to a city) because the area south of the airport has to fill in first. That will happen, but that will worsen traffic for anyone wanting to live here and work there. At some point much later, some Governor will decide they need a mas transit system (probably a train) to the airport, and eventually that will be expanded to lakeside. But that's after 2035.

Around here, the carretera between Chapala and Jocotepec will be completely developed. If you drive from Ajijic toward San Juan Cosala, you already see this happening. It won't be planned and it won't be pretty: small developments next to shops next to restaurants next to shacks next to materials yards. Growth will start to head east from Chapala, where more open land is available. That will probably be sparked when some type of libramiento heads east around Chapala where the current one runs west.

At some point between now and 2035, some local leader (Presidente? Gobernador?) will figure out that the largest freshwater lake in all of Mexico is an underutilized asset. We have little in the way of fishing, boating, and other recreational activities on the lake. We all know what the reasons for that are, but they can be addressed and there is a ton of money to me made. Somebody will do just that. That will force improvements in health and sanitation which will never be funded just because they should,but might get funded if someone can get rich.

Finally, the $64 million dollar question is: what is the solution to transportation along the lake? The Carretera is unworkable, especially with increased growth. There really isn't space or volume for mass transit. My guess is they will build another bypass between the lake and the mountains, up on the mountainside. Where it sits will be a negotiation with developments, ejidos, and others. There will be winners and losers, but it will go in. Just ask the ejidos about the Guadalajara airport.

Thoughts?

To make the Lake a recreational asset would require the world's largest solar heater and massive silt filters. At a max of 72f for swimming and lot of silt on the shores, making the water look muddy and dirty. Now I have swam in colder and muddier lakes and rivers, but that was a long time ago. Few Mexicans can swim because they were never taught how. Only those attending elite private schools were taught to swim, or play tennis or golf. Everybody else has a healthy fear of the water, even fishermen.

Wow.....tell that to all the Mexicans I see in the pools in SJC and all the beaches. "Only those attending elite private schools"........geesh where do you come up with this stuff???

CanuckBob wrote:Wow.....tell that to all the Mexicans I see in the pools in SJC and all the beaches. "Only those attending elite private schools"........geesh where do you come up with this stuff???

It must be hard work for him if you judge by the volume.

I just hope we have a Home Depot around here by then.

A Home Depot, A Canadian Tire and a Tim Horton's and my cup would runneth over.

There’s no Home Depot in Guadalajara?
There’s one in Zamora.

They are enforcing it.

Jreboll wrote:There’s no Home Depot in Guadalajara?
There’s one in Zamora.

There are several in Guadalajara. I would like one in the lakeside area.

I lived and swam fulltime and part time right on Los Muertos beach in Puerto Vallarta for many years, right beside the lifegaurd tower. I know what I saw and this also a point of discussion among local expats there. The water temperature there varies from 82 to 85 f, the same temperature of public swimming pools. Try swimming in 72f without a wetsuit, not nice at all. Look at this webcam, less than a half block from where I lived and tell me exactly how many people you see actually swimming?
http://www.cuatesycuetes.com
The local Vallarta boys can swim, sort of, but they are mostly on their boogie boards. You will only see very rarely see a brown skinned person ( I am assuming Mexican) swimming an Australian Crawl, a Backstroke, or an accurate Breast Stroke. The foreign tourists bake in the sun and go for a cooling dip or splash. The kids play in the tide wash. The girls, especially, are afraid of the water. They constantly scream which would annoy my father to no end.
The wealth diversity comes to play in the Easter break. The first week packs the beach with the hard working folks and their extended families. They have their coolers and umbrellas and stay put. The second week a wealthier group moves in, most often occupying a restaurant table to serve them all day. Here you will see some swimmers. I don't know too much about golf but I know Mexico has produced some world class players. As far as tennis, our family lawyer has been President of the Puerto Vallarta Tennis Club for many years, and they have very wealthy clientele and beautiful facilities. A lot of members are from Guadalajara.

If Chapala is interested in teaching swimmers, why did they shut down the pool in Christina park? Too damn cold, thats why

Meanwhile, global warming continues to increase exponentially. All over the world, glaciers are melting while rivers and lakes dry out. Our own lake will be no exception. The air will be filled with toxic dust clouds rising from the dry lakebed and smoke from the constant wildfires in the surrounding hills. Food scarcity will become a reality. Civil authority and institutions will evaporate as well. Marauding gangs from Guadalajara will be a constant threat. I could to on...but I've probably bummed out enough people for one day.

Chapala/Jocotepec will become the typical Mexican pueblos.  Because of the Covid pandemic of 2020-2026, the travel and other restrictions in Canada and the USA, there will be no more retiree's living lakeside.  There will be a glut of half finished construction projects and abandon houses.

All gringo centered businesses will be gone.  Lakeside's Mexican population will shrink without the money gringos bring into the area and the jobs that money provides

There's one flaw in Playaboy's prediction:  There are many gringos who retire in Mexico because they can live much better on their income here than in the U.S., which is becoming increasingly less afffordable.  Some of them don't travel to the U.S. after retirement at all.  They'll still be here.  Naturally, you will find very few who will admit that this was their reason to retire here.  You'll hear all kinds of b.s. instead.

Playaboy wrote:Chapala/Jocotepec will become the typical Mexican pueblos.  Because of the Covid pandemic of 2020-2026, the travel and other restrictions in Canada and the USA, there will be no more retiree's living lakeside.  There will be a glut of half finished construction projects and abandon houses.

All gringo centered businesses will be gone.  Lakeside's Mexican population will shrink without the money gringos bring into the area and the jobs that money provides

Wanna bet a few more thousand pesos?

10,000 Americans continue to retire everyday. They can't all go to Arizona and Florida, and the costs in both are higher now and increasing. Covid here (for me, a healthy retiree) has been much better than anywhere back in the States.

Yep, it's always better in Mexico. Canadians have no warm climate and retiring to the US is expensive and next to impossible. They will always look towards Mexico even if they have to sneak in....lol. But who knows by 2035 Mexico may not allow expats to reitire here as easily as they do now.

CanuckBob wrote:

Playaboy wrote:Chapala/Jocotepec will become the typical Mexican pueblos.  Because of the Covid pandemic of 2020-2026, the travel and other restrictions in Canada and the USA, there will be no more retiree's living lakeside.  There will be a glut of half finished construction projects and abandon houses.

All gringo centered businesses will be gone.  Lakeside's Mexican population will shrink without the money gringos bring into the area and the jobs that money provides

Wanna bet a few more thousand pesos?

You got him all to yourself, I don´t want anymore of his money.  
He needs it´s for his travels and having fun.    

gringal wrote:There's one flaw in Playaboy's prediction:  There are many gringos who retire in Mexico because they can live much better on their income here than in the U.S., which is becoming increasingly less afffordable.  Some of them don't travel to the U.S. after retirement at all.  They'll still be here.  Naturally, you will find very few who will admit that this was their reason to retire here.  You'll hear all kinds of b.s. instead.

Because of laws enacted during 2020-2026 pandemic, people will not be free to move about where or when they want to.  

Later this year it is discovered that paper and coin money is the #2 source of transmission of the virus.  In 2022 President Harris signed the Digital Currency Act eliminated the use of paper money.  Canada passes the same type law too.  Only digital transactions starting in 2024.

In 2024, Senate majority leader AOC champions a 500% tax on fossil fuels, virtually killing an already dying airline industry.  Gasoline is a luxury.  This in the name of saving the planet and preventing the spread of disease.  

In 2028, domestic passports will be needed to leave you assigned area.  You will need permissions to leave you assigned area and for your digital money to work outside your assigned area.  No money, no travel.  Your self driving electric cars will just die when you leave your assigned area.  International passports are only for the elite

In 2029, the new Yukon virus, 100 times more deadly than Covid, causes the Canadian Government to mandate a TOTAL nationwide  lock down for 6 months.  Nobody can leave their homes (much like Wuhan last year)  Canada and the USA completely close their borders to all travel.  Canadians thank their leaders for taking such bold action.  

In other words, you are losing your rights and won't be able to travel anywhere you want.  You will not be allowed to do what you chose without permission.  You will not be allowed to travel where you want, especially places like MX.

No money, no travel, no retirement in Mexico.

Governments have always used FEAR to control the population.  Climate change and viruses are the perfect combo.

It all sounds like science fiction, right?  There are places around the world that already imposed these restrictions o their populations (China).

CanuckBob wrote:

Playaboy wrote:Chapala/Jocotepec will become the typical Mexican pueblos.  Because of the Covid pandemic of 2020-2026, the travel and other restrictions in Canada and the USA, there will be no more retiree's living lakeside.  There will be a glut of half finished construction projects and abandon houses.

All gringo centered businesses will be gone.  Lakeside's Mexican population will shrink without the money gringos bring into the area and the jobs that money provides

Wanna bet a few more thousand pesos?

Jajaja, good one Cbob.