Crime is normally measured in cities by the number or murders per 100,000 people, which is something that sounds really technical but that’s the way people compare one city to another. When reviewing those numbers with regard to San Miguel de Allende, unfortunately the crime in San Miguel de Allende has been worse in the last few years than it used to be, but it is still much less when compared to the crimes in other cities in Mexico or in the United States.
The last time I checked this information, there were about three murders per year per 100,000 people in San Miguel de Allende, while cities New Orleans and even Dallas have eleven to twelve murders. That is what you would see if you look at the statistics, but in reality, every city in the world is either the most dangerous or the safest one if you know how to live in it. People who live here in San Miguel de Allende and are part of the community feel much safer to be in San Miguel de Allende, walk in the streets, and to be part of the community than to live anywhere else. I happened to have the chance of living in many different cities in the world, including Mexico City, Barcelona, London, and Munich, Germany, and I have never felt safer anywhere else than right now here with my family and my two babies in San Miguel de Allende.
Like anywhere else in the world, if you live in San Miguel de Allende, you would have to use your common sense so I would not recommend anybody to leave an iPhone inside their car and visible from the outside because it might call for attention and somebody might come, break your car window, and get the phone. However, that is not the case on a daily basis. Of course there are neighborhoods in San Miguel de Allende where you would worry more about putting perhaps an alarm system in your house but one of the things that amazes me about San Miguel de Allende is how the community works together. When crimes happen, the neighbors get together and start organizing groups inside the communities where if they see something happening in the community, they would call the other neighbors and they would make sure that nothing is wrong. They would call the police if needed. These groups here in Mexico are called Vecino Vigilante, which is equivalent to a Neighborhood Crime Watch.
If you live in San Miguel de Allende, there would be certain practices that you would do just as you would anywhere in the world. You wouldn’t leave your house empty and unwatched. Don’t post on social networks that you’re away from home. Putting an alarm system in your house would keep you on the safe side.
Many people in several communities in San Miguel de Allende have been wise enough to hire people from the neighborhoods around these communities and so these people who are hired are the ones who become the housekeeping people, gardeners, workers, etc. Communities that do this become the safest and crimes of opportunity in these communities have diminished.
A few years ago, there were cases of home break-ins when nobody was home but that kind of crime happened for about six months and then stopped around six years ago. Fortunately, it’s not the case any more. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that new employment has been created here so more people in San Miguel de Allende have jobs.
The expat communities are also very involved in charity work in San Miguel de Allende. They like to give back to the community so the poor people who have fewer opportunities are really thankful to the people in the expat communities. There is really an interesting mix between the expat community and the Mexican community in San Miguel de Allende.
(Keller William volunteers gather to erase graffiti in San Miguel de Allended, Mexico, pictured.)
There are no waterfalls close by in Corozal.
The public doctors in Portugal are not very good because the public health system here is almost the same as the rest of Europe. You have to wait a month to get an appointment with a doctor and once you get one, the checkup is all done very quickly and is not very thorough. They give you lots of medicines because they want to get rid of you quickly. If you need tests done, you have to go to the National Health System and the queue is very long. You have to wait a week to get an...
After a year of retirement in Turkey and 6 months back in Australia, I decided on Thailand and have been here 11 months. My one-year 'Retirement Visa' is up for extension in a month and is a straightforward process [HA!!]