Retirement in Puerto Vallarta--dangerous Living in Mexico?

Have you heard the horror stories about travelingto return home with negative feelings about Vallarta.
through Mexico? Worst yet, can you imagine livingThe objective of each and every Vallartense is to
there?assure all tourists an enjoyable and safe time while
Well, being the adventurous and courageous retireesvisiting so that they look forward to returning. The
that we are, in 1997 we bought a beautiful newyoung Mexicans are taught that safety is the prime
mountainside villa overlooking Banderas Bay and Elconcern of all visitors and to harm a tourist would be
Centro, or downtown in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Theequivalent to taking food or money out of their own
villa is actually a compound, surrounded by 10 footfamily household.
walls with a walk-in gate and doors for car entry.As a side note of interest, there is currently a film,
Our initial thought while closing the doors during our first"South of the Border" being shot here in Vallarta by
evening in our new villa was to hire a couple sentriesthe Disney Company. It's a cute story about a
to guard the villa at night. One could be positioned inchihuahua, owned by a Beverly Hills socialite, that got
front and the other down below on the backsidelost while she was visiting a spa in Mexico. A group of
facing the bay, thus providing the security required inlocal Mexican chihuahuas found this pup, took care of
this foreign new land.and entertained it, and then assured its safe return to
Well, we never got around to hiring those guards andBeverly Hills. The film will be released in 2008 and will
furthermore, we've never heard of anyone beinghelp promote the social, cultural, and economic relations
burglarized in the neighborhood for the past ten years.between Mexico and the US. The bottom line being,
Municipal Police do cruise through the neighborhood athat the safety and security that one feels in Vallarta is
few times every night and we do have excellentquite comforting and is demonstrated in the film
street lighting; however crime in the neighborhood,through the life of a chihuahua.
known as the "Beverly Hills of Vallarta", is virtuallySerious crimes such as murder, rape, kidnapping, etc.
non-existent.are unheard-of in Vallarta. Security is such that armed
Ten years ago, we would be pulled over by the localrobberies are virtually non-existent. One reason of
police every two or three months for any of a myriadcourse is, guns are not permitted in Mexico. The
of concocted reasons. It was the typical corruptpenalty for carrying a firearm is much more than
Mexican police shake-down where after you handedanyone would ever want to pay.
him 200 pesos or $20, you were no longer guilty ofThe one crime that persists in PV is related to drugs.
breaking any laws or committing any crimes. YouAlthough the Mexicans seldom use them, they are
instantly became his amigo! That corruption is seldomplentiful for those tourists too ignorant to understand
seen anymore in Vallarta and we haven't been pulledthe consequences. The penalty for drug possession
over by the police for a number of years. In fact, theyand use is so severe that anyone dependent on drugs
seemed to have gone 180 degrees the oppositeis best off avoiding Paradise. With full employment in
direction being very friendly to all Americans andPV, even the art of pick-pocketing is no longer
Canadians.practiced here; it's just too easy to find a job!
The city of Puerto Vallarta, referred to as PV orThe US and Canadian Consulates in Vallarta are well
Vallarta by the residents, has exploded in populationstaffed and ready to assist any tourist with just about
during the past ten years to the current level ofany problem that could arise while visiting here.
350,000 inhabitants. That growth can be attributedEven though Vallarta has reached the size of
solely to tourism. Virtually every job in PV is based onAnaheim or St. Louis, it's still a small city where
tourism and without the influx of foreigners from theeveryone seems to know what others are doing. Any
US and Canada, Vallarta would still be a sleepy littlecrime committed by a local would be known about by
Mexican fishing village. Because tourism is so important,many others immediately. Not to be picking on
the young locals are taught to treat the AmericansAnaheim or St. Louis, but when comparing Vallarta to
and Canadians with dignity, respect, kindness, and ascities in the US of similar size, our hunch is that it's
friends. The very last thing they can afford is to havemuch safer in Paradise!
tourists encounter problems while visiting Paradise and