Puerto Vallarta is originally a fishing village so the older architecture is primitive; concrete block houses and very simple living environments. I came to Puerto Vallarta in the late 60s and the major buildings were religious and church buildings, city halls, and other government buildings.
Puerto Vallarta does not have a great deal of older architecture as you would find in Guadalajara, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, and Mexico City, which are more...
Puerto Vallarta is originally a fishing village so the older architecture is primitive; concrete block houses and very simple living environments. I came to Puerto Vallarta in the late 60s and the major buildings were religious and church buildings, city halls, and other government buildings.
Puerto Vallarta does not have a great deal of older architecture as you would find in Guadalajara, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, and Mexico City, which are more cultural and economic centers. Puerto Vallarta was and still is, in essence, a fishing village. Now, it's become a little more glamorous, but at one time you crossed the river in a wagon.
There are newer buildings. These are mostly under 10 stories, clean, simple, but with nice designs; units that usually have gardens or very nice entrances to them; and, most of the spaces have some commercial spaces on the first floor. These buildings do not have Mexican or Spanish styling. One example is the Icon building in the marina, which is very contemporary and designed by Philippe Starck.
There are still a lot of the red tile roofs on the original buildings in Puerto Vallarta. You have different architectural looks that blend in and work very well together.
Some of the residents of Puerto Vallarta have been a bit upset about so much new construction going on. This new construction is replacing old construction that probably needed to be restored or replaced anyway. Now, you're seeing some improvements. With these improvements, of course, the city is going to have to work on their electrical, sewage, and water systems, which is being done now. These problems of growth are being addressed, although difficult.
(Icon building by Philippe Starck, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico,pictured.)
You don’t have to own a car in the Algarve but many people do own cars here.
The Algarve is a little tricky in the sense that the distances can be misleading. Nothing is very far in the Algarve. A lot of people say they want to be able to be close to the coast, which they will define as about half an hour away, but you can be anywhere in the Algarve in half an hour’s drive.
But it is where you want to be in 5 to 10...
You don’t have to own a car in the Algarve but many people do own cars here.
The Algarve is a little tricky in the sense that the distances can be misleading. Nothing is very far in the Algarve. A lot of people say they want to be able to be close to the coast, which they will define as about half an hour away, but you can be anywhere in the Algarve in half an hour’s drive.
But it is where you want to be in 5 to 10 minutes walking distance that becomes tricky. There are lots of these areas, residential suburbs in the outskirts of towns and cities, which are generally too far to walk into a town and just too uncomfortable for public transport, which is sometimes infrequent on these small secondary roads. We find more and more people requesting a place that is within walking distance to the town center, shops, and restaurants because in that sense, you can do without a car. If you are in a town like Lagos, Portimão, or Faro you will find that they have the bus networks that can take you anywhere in the city so you wouldn’t need a car.
If you are going out of the town or the cities, having a car is definitely advisable.
(The beach at Praia da Luz, Algarve, Portugal, pictured.)
What's the price of a home, condo or apartment in Ambergris Caye?
Bob Hamilton - Century 21 Coral Beach Realty
At Perla Escondida, a condo complex in Ambergris Caye with 24 units, an 800 square foot unit with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom sells for US $200,000. It’s about a mile from San Pedro town center and it’s right on the beach, so it has an ocean view. They have a swimming pool. You can do your morning exercise, go 15 minutes to the center of town and have breakfast at Estelli. (They serve breakfast at Estelli all day. If you go out at 4 PM, you can still get breakfast at...
At Perla Escondida, a condo complex in Ambergris Caye with 24 units, an 800 square foot unit with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom sells for US $200,000. It’s about a mile from San Pedro town center and it’s right on the beach, so it has an ocean view. They have a swimming pool. You can do your morning exercise, go 15 minutes to the center of town and have breakfast at Estelli. (They serve breakfast at Estelli all day. If you go out at 4 PM, you can still get breakfast at Estelli, right on the beach with the breeze.)
We also have higher end condos on the beachfront, for $1.2 million. We are starting to get developments off the beach or at the back. For example, in my neighborhood, there is the Mango House. On the next street, there is Hacienda, which is also a condo complex built by the same guy who built Perla Escondida, so it involves the same designs. A 2-bedroom unit there would be around $150,000 or $160,000. It is located a mile south of San Pedro Town and it’s about 10 minutes away from the sea. If you buy in this location, it saves you about $40,000 to $50,000 and you will be in a much quieter neighborhood.
There are also houses here. We just sold one to a guy from Alaska. It’s a 2-bedroom 2-bathroom, 1,200 square foot concrete house that sold for $250,000.
(Two independent living layouts and swimming pool of the Mango House, Ambergris Caye, Belize, pictured.)
The construction standards here in Panama are not up to US standards. In the US, it is more controlled. We have decent builders here in Panama but some of them might not be as good as others.
I do hear complaints about finishing. A typical expat would be concerned with good finishing because he knows how it should be done and sometimes it can be disappointing because they do not get what they are used to.
The construction...
The construction standards here in Panama are not up to US standards. In the US, it is more controlled. We have decent builders here in Panama but some of them might not be as good as others.
I do hear complaints about finishing. A typical expat would be concerned with good finishing because he knows how it should be done and sometimes it can be disappointing because they do not get what they are used to.
The construction standard here in Panama depends on who your builder is. There are builders who are at par with US standards. I just would not buy a property without looking at it. We have a lot of buildings here in Panama that are 70 feet high and they are still standing, so they are well-built. It is just the finishing that some people complain about because it is not what they expected.
If I want to live in Nicaragua, what's the difference between citizenship and residency?
Jonathan Butcher - NICA
The difference between residency and citizenship is about the same is every country. One establishes where you live semi-permanently or permanently (residency) and the other establishes where your home country is located (citizenship).
For example, I am still a U.S. citizen, but I have applied for residency in Nicaragua because I live here most of the time, and I want to conduct business here carefree. Usually, people will only change their citizenship for political...
The difference between residency and citizenship is about the same is every country. One establishes where you live semi-permanently or permanently (residency) and the other establishes where your home country is located (citizenship).
For example, I am still a U.S. citizen, but I have applied for residency in Nicaragua because I live here most of the time, and I want to conduct business here carefree. Usually, people will only change their citizenship for political reasons such as exile or refugee. However, its highly recommended to invest in a cedula (residency card) if you want to live in Nicaragua most of the time. It will cost about $800 for the attorney fees.
The short answer to what are the best places to live in the world is where you are happy 75% of the time. Cost of Living, ease of living and solid medical care are what you need to consider in finding the best place to live in the world. There are a few cities in Canada that are on the top 10 yet as a former Toronto resident we were looking for a warmer climate, solid infrastructure so we could take our careers virtual and a lower cost of living. We found that in Panama....
The short answer to what are the best places to live in the world is where you are happy 75% of the time. Cost of Living, ease of living and solid medical care are what you need to consider in finding the best place to live in the world. There are a few cities in Canada that are on the top 10 yet as a former Toronto resident we were looking for a warmer climate, solid infrastructure so we could take our careers virtual and a lower cost of living. We found that in Panama. Others have found it in Ecuador that is now up and coming and yet others found it in Spain and parts of Europe. We also needed to find a country that allowed us to get back to Canada in one flight, two max. As well as a country that was in our time zone as we are still working with North American clients. If one destination checked off the boxes for everyone that would cause huge problems as you can well imagine.
We have just had the most amazing weekend without having to go away, pay expensive hotels or drive for hours!
Saturday we took a trip to La Laguna in Las Lajas… we have wanted to go there for ages and had heard all about this stunning lake.
It was approximately 40 minutes’ drive heading from the entrance of Las Lajas and following the road all the way into the mountains… the scenery was breathtaking! Eventually you will come to a...
This is our second Christmas in Boquete. Our first Christmas was just three weeks after we arrived in Panama. We are now enjoying our second Christmas with some of the many new friends we
have made this year in Boquete.
Arne and I spent the first Christmas with our landlord and his friends.
We have been to a couple of small holiday events.
Parties are all over the place, festive decorations are
The voting for the Panamanian presidential election will take place on the first Sunday in May. Voting is done on Sunday to ensure maximum voter participation. Presidential elections are held every five years, and presidents cannot succeed themselves. Under this system you don’t have a president-elect campaigning to win the next election instead of governing, so the election season is much shorter than the U.S.
Puerto Vallarta is originally a fishing village so the older architecture is primitive; concrete block houses and very simple living environments. I came to Puerto Vallarta in the late 60s and the major buildings were religious and church buildings, city halls, and other government buildings. .png)
You don’t have to own a car in the Algarve but many people do own cars here. 
At Perla Escondida, a condo complex in Ambergris Caye with 24 units, an 800 square foot unit with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom sells for US $200,000. It’s about a mile from San Pedro town center and it’s right on the beach, so it has an ocean view. They have a swimming pool. You can do your morning exercise, go 15 minutes to the center of town and have breakfast at Estelli. (They serve breakfast at Estelli all day. If you go out at 4 PM, you can still get breakfast at...
The construction standards here in Panama are not up to US standards. In the US, it is more controlled. We have decent builders here in Panama but some of them might not be as good as others. 
Voting is done on Sunday to ensure maximum voter participation. Presidential elections are held every five years, and presidents cannot succeed themselves. Under this system you don’t have a president-elect campaigning to win the next election instead of governing, so the election season is much shorter than the U.S. 
