San Miguel de Allende retirement?

[Orchidflower]

Has anyone on this board retired to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico? I have a single guy friend who moved there for the more active social life compared to Lake Chapala (this is according to him as I have no empirical knowledge of either really).
Anyone know the cost of living there per month or the rental costs? He is spending around $2,000 a month there, but his apartment is a bigger one with maid service, gardener and some other luxuries I could live without personally.
He lived for 6 months or a year in Lake Chapala but, since he is single and not an artist or writer or other home worker, he found it boring he said and much prefers San Miguel. Anyone have any idea about this, also?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Well what do I know !

Your question is (sort of) a matter of personal preference. Which is better New York City or Los Angeles ?

Both are expat communities. San Miguel de Allende is more noted for the art scene. I understand that prices for homes in San Miguel are getting up there now. San Miguel is more urban compared to Lake Chapala. Is that something that appeals to you ?

If your friend likes San Miguel better then that's where he should be. I am sure you could find others who feel the opposite.

check this forum out:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/mexico/504597-best-single-retired-woman-lake-chapala.html

 

[winger]

We looked into both places about 5 years ago. San Miguel is still a possibility, but it seems the yankees are driving up prices and wanting it to be more like "home".

Just my perception.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

We spent winter '08/spring '09 in Mexico. We were not house hunting there, but exploring various cities to see whether we might be interested in living "part-time" in Mexico. San Miguel and Chapala were just too "big city" for us. I must confess that we didn't spend a lot of time in either city. We did notice that speaking English was no problem in either city, and a lot of people we met were from the States or Canada. That could be a good thing if you are planning to live there. You might try a 6 month stay to see if you like the area. That would be a reasonable test period to see if you think you might like to make the move permanent.

When we were researching for our trip to Mexico, I stumbled on John's blog and found it interesting. His blog has archives and you can "see" San Miguel through his posts, as well as many of the day trips he blogs about. His latest blog shows him and his new bride, so...the social scene sounds promising! This is a link to his blog:

Mexicowoods—An Expatriate Life

Good luck in your exploration.

 

[kevink]

We've spent time in San Miguel and have friends who live there. It's a small city (about 90,000 in SMA proper, 180,000 in the municipality) at about 6300 feet - think Santa Fe-style high and dry, without the snow! Very artsy, lots of wealth, and like Santa Fe the downtown area has a very touristy, Disneyland-like feel - but walk 4 blocks in any direction and you're back in real Mexico.

For a single person or younger (below typical retirement age) person it certainly has much more going on than the Lake Chapala (aka "Lago de Geriatrica) region where we live. There is always something going on: film series, concerts, visual arts, classes, jazz, new high-end restaurants, whatever. Rents and real estate prices are higher than at Lake Chapala, but one can still live very well there on not much more than social security income if one really watches it. There are a lot more tempting things to spend money on though than at the lake.

Here is an excellent web site that's the best portal into life there I know of. Check out the forums, FAQ's, etc.:

Welcome to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

 

[Cruisinthru]

We have a friend who just moved to Merida, Mexico after first looking at San Miguel. She said prices were getting to expensive in San Miguel. She loves Merida which is just now becoming a real in place of ex-pat's. She was able to buy a colonial era home to renovate and is very excited about her new life.