Coming to Lake Chapala

Hello all;

My husband has retired and I will be turning in my keys in June. We are planning a trip to Mexico this summer and want to check out both San Miguel and Lake Chapala. We have looked into both area's housing market, but only through searches on the Internet. Our plan is to travel through Mexico, south America and do some trips to Asia, but we need a base home. We would like to have some feed back as to what would be a better area to create our nest for our next adventure of our lives.

Some questions for Lake Chapala residents are:

How is the crime in the area?
How is shopping, for every day items, house wear, and car maintenance?
Are there any areas in Lake Chapala to avoid?

We welcome any comments from people who currently reside at Lake Chapala area.

Thank you,
Starr

Crime is mostly petty. Shopping is fine, there's a Walmart here. There are a couple of barrios to avoid. As a base Ajijic is better than SMA since we're only 30 minutes from GDL an International airport.

If you want convenience this is the place.

1. International airport. 40 minutes.
2. Mexico's second largest city in less than an hour. Costco, Malls, Home depot etc.
3. WalMart here FWIW.
4. Better weather than SMA.
5. House prices better than SMA.
6. Better views here if you like living by a lake.
7. Easier walking here compared to SMA. Everything is relative.
8. World class medical care in Guadalajara.

San Miguel de Allende
1. A bit more sophisticated.
2. A lot colder in the winter.
3. No Lake views.
4. Probably a few better restaurants, but when you add in Guadalajara it's no contest.

Crime here has become worse in the last 6 months or so. Having said that we were robbed in Canada, 4 times in various houses, and once in my mother's house while we were there. Here we've been robbed once, and they didn't get much. Usually you don't get home invasions, although one area has been hit pretty hard recently. If you're concerned you might want to look at gated communities. That's not foolproof, but it is a deterrent.

We also looked at SMA, but found that we preferred Lakeside, for the reasons mentioned. Several forum members have moved here from there. They can probably add a lot more to my comparisons.

Good Luck.

Dang, those guys said it better than I could so as a humble moderator let me be the first to welcome you aboard Starr.

P.S In the end I'm betting you decide to home base here.

Don't live in either place but do have a couple of photos albums that may give you a visual:

Lake Chapala Album
https://picasaweb.google.com/118146709599975173363/LAKECHAPALAJALISCOMEXICO#5650092495744447730

San Miguel de Allende Album
https://picasaweb.google.com/118146709599975173363/SANMIGUELDeALLENDEGTOMEXICO#5548766081294175266

I lived in San Miguel for three years and here in Lakeside since 2007.

Recommendation: Go and look for yourself; stay awhile an see which flavor you like best.
Raqueteer made some very good points.
Weather here is the best; no question. Also, it's at a lower elevation for maximum breathability.
Welcome.

Raqueteer used the term "robbed" and I think she mean "burglarized." Robbery is a face to face crime. Very little of that here.

David wrote:Raqueteer used the term "robbed" and I think she mean "burglarized." Robbery is a face to face crime. Very little of that here.

Yes, quite right David, I wasn't aware there was a distinction. It might have been face to face had it not been for our dog.

Good dog!

equote="Starr"]Hello all;

My husband has retired and I will be turning in my keys in June. We are planning a trip to Mexico this summer and want to check out both San Miguel and Lake Chapala. We have looked into both area's housing market, but only through searches on the Internet. Our plan is to travel through Mexico, south America and do some trips to Asia, but we need a base home. We would like to have some feed back as to what would be a better area to create our nest for our next adventure of our lives.

Thank you,
Starr [/quote]

We have resided in the Lake Chapala area for eleven years and San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas as well for six years. We don´t know much about you from what you have written but based on your desire to establish a home base to use as a place from which to expore Latin America and parts of Asia, I recommend you reconsider your choices of a home base and consider Puebla City which is within a short distance of Mexico City´s international airport from which you can easily explore the world you are considering with far less hassle and live in a large, sophisticated city in between jaunts to foreign lands. You could establish your home base anywhere in Metropolitan Mexico City but your best access to Mexico City´s interrnational airport is from that city itself or its or east side or thereabouts. Puebla and environs is your best bet. A great city with a fine climate at 7,,000 feet and numerous great restaurants. Compared to Mexico City and its periphery, Lake Chapala and San Miguel are the outback if you are seeking a home base from which to explore the world. Both communities are provincial and filled with expats from Texas (shudder). The climate at Lake Chapala is far superior to San Miguel´s climate and there is no urban area near San Miguel that comes close to Guadalajara and its access to air transport. No contest there but if you plan to fly to Asia, Latin Americasn or Europe, forget Guadalajara or San Miguel and head for the area around Mexico City.

We found when we spent five years looking at Expat communities that what
Dawg said is true. When we looked at the lower Caribbean we found that
the extra flight back to Puerto Rico to find our nearest cheap flight to the
west coast of US cost us $400 round trip extra. Lake Chapala has a great
airport in Guad but if you travel a great deal that extra flight to Mexico city
is going to cost you over and over. Now we only fly a couple of times a year
so no big deal but those little flights to the nearest big airport costs you
if you fly alot. On the other hand Guad is a pretty nice airport and Mexico
city is only an hour away and if you combine the two flights you might be
able to get a good deal. We found going to Bogata it wasn't much more
adding the Guad to Mexico city flight. Guad works for us but we don't travel
that much and when we do it is normally up north we go.

Z