Why Americans Are Relocating To Mexico City For A Better Life

I love that the

city

is so full of

life

. It's almost packed. There is action, there is music, there is color, there is noise. Mexico City is a three-ring circus and I love it. It's a cliché that New York is called the

city

that never sleeps, but Mexico City never sleeps. I feel like I am constantly expanding, not only learning the language, but learning a new way of

life

. I think I have finally achieved the American dream outside of the United States. I think that in Mexico you feel free. For me that is the Mexican dream.

Just to be you, just to be happy. Many Americans are flocking to Mexico City to pursue this dream. Over the course of the last century, the population of Mexico City increased tenfold. Compare that to New York City and Los Angeles. Mexico City is currently the largest city in North America, home to more than 9 million people and a population of approximately 22 million. With the rise of remote work during the pandemic, many Americans have had the opportunity to work abroad. In 2022, more Americans visited Mexico by air than those from any other country. That same year, just over 30,000 Americans applied for or renewed residency visas in the country, nearly double the number in 2019.

Many digital nomads arrive on tourist visas, so the actual number of people who call the City of Mexico, even temporarily, is likely to be higher. It's impossible to know how many Americans currently live in Mexico City, but between the climate, proximity to the United States, and affordable prices, a growing number of remote workers are flocking here. This is Kyla, one of the many Americans who call Mexico City home. She moved here permanently in 2019. Then I fell in love with Mexico City and have wanted to live here for years. And then I met my Mexican boyfriend. Hormone free, hormone free.

I grew up here and I don't know, I guess he's changing. Personally I like having a diverse city. I feel like there are more positives than negatives. Despite the digital nomad craze, there are many Americans taking a different route and settling in to create a long-term city life. This is a city of 20 million people and in some ways it feels like a small town. The true richness of living here is how communal it is, how easy it is to get to know your neighbors. Thank you so much. There have always been Americans from the United States living in Mexico.

The problem is the lack of assimilation. So are we learning the language? Are we making local friends? Are we making an effort to be part of the local fabric? So if you're going to come here, make an effort to be here. It's hard being an immigrant, you know, living outside of my native language. But I feel like the quality of life, my community, and the friends I have make it worth it. Mexico City, here for many centuries people have come to meet, work and live. This is Guillermo, a journalist who has lived much of his life in the most central sectors of the city.

These neighborhoods are the heart of gentrification in Mexico City today. So right now we are working through the Condesa neighborhood and we are going directly to Roma Norte. This is Leticia, a local architect with a focus on urban communities. In this neighborhood and Roma Norte is where we see the concentration of tourists, people who come to live here in Mexico temporarily or permanently, settle here and normally don't go out much. So this can sometimes feel a little like Mexican Disneyland. So, Roma and Condesa, there are a lot of people who scoff and say, "We need a visa now to go to those neighborhoods." People say, oh, now dogs speak English.

The excavation continues. The death toll increases. More than 250 buildings in Mexico City have been reduced to rubble. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Mexico kept its borders open to American tourists. This allowed remote workers from the United States to enter the country freely on tourist visas for up to six months. Americans can also apply for a temporary resident visa that allows them to work remotely in the country for up to four years. The amount of peace and tranquility I have in this life, I wouldn't change it for the world. No more money, no more things. None of those things.

Adalia first lived in Mexico City in 2017, and by 2020 she decided to move here permanently. Since moving abroad, what has changed the most in my life is how I think about work and how I think about leisure. Here in Mexico City things are much calmer than in the United States. I'm not in a hurry to do anything anymore. Life is much less about doing things out of worry or fear of what I might miss or what might happen. And it's more about letting go, taking things as they come and really living in the moment. She was a public school teacher in Texas for almost 20 years, teaching social studies, geography and history.

The American dream is a farce. She had the house, the cars, the children. I did all that. But even achieving those things seemed like it wasn't enough. I was collapsing under the weight of all the expectations placed on me as a teacher. I wanted to live a life where I wasn't in constant fear of going bankrupt over medical debt. Here in Mexico I worry less about money, and it is not a factor that I have more because I don't have it. It's more because of the way the system is set up that I have more options than in the United States, if things go wrong financially.

Throughout Mexico there is a great disparity of wealth and inequality. In Mexico City, the top 10% earn 13 times more than the bottom 10%. The top 10% of households earn, on average, about $65,000 a year. While the average salary in Mexico City is about $20,000. Compare that to the New York City metropolitan area, where the average salary approaches $80,000 a year. I try to be aware of how I move, economically speaking, because I am aware of what the salaries are like here. Sometimes, us gringos, we come to Mexico and think that it is very cheap or very affordable, and yes, maybe it is affordable because we have the dollar, but for Mexicans it is not cheap.

The strength of the dollar against the peso further helps Americans achieve the quality of life they have been seeking. If you look at the back, it's full of laptops and just people working and having coffee. It's a strange dynamic. Since we got here, everyone who comes to the counter only speaks English. If you go out, there is only one table that speaks Spanish. Then you start seeing again, you know, the Mexicans behind the counter, doing all the work, preparing the meals and serving the white people. But for African Americans, leaving the United States offers a deeper sense of security.

I have gained a lot of security and protection. No... I'm not afraid for my life. However, Mexico suffers from high rates of violent crime and homicide rates are almost four times higher than those in the United States. Furthermore, it is estimated that 90% of crimes are never reported. Although there is colorism here and Mexicans have their own problems in terms of racial dynamics. I feel more comfortable here. I would say that American history is very steeped in negativity and racism. Seeing a person publicly executed over and over again while we're stuck at home really changed the way I and a lot of people think.

It feels strange to say that I feel safer in Mexico City than in the United States. The United States is a difficult place to live. Tiara moved to Mexico City in 2021 as a remote worker. I liked being here so much that I decided to stay and get residency. After about nine months of living in the city, she was fired from her job. I finally decided to take the plunge and own a restaurant. Thank you for attending the first annual Juneteenth celebration. Do you want a copy? Tiara opened a soul food restaurant in January 2023. Black, Mexican and Spanish cuisine, and if you put it all together, you have Blaxicocina.

So everyone is happy. Some are not because of the economic problems that gentrification brings. But I think it's great. Like this place is cool. The community is great. The food is amazing. How are you? We use this bell when we close the deal on renting or selling a house. And this is for Jenni and I to have good luck. This is going to be a very good year for us. This is also Leticia, a local real estate agent who sees an opportunity in newcomers with deeper pockets. Everyone wants to move here. I think that's very good for me because I have a

better

salary here.

I think there is a good opportunity. So I said to the locals: why don't you try to learn English? Hello, good morning madam, how are you? Here you only see the good side of this and not the bad experience. Okay, this apartment is an exterior apartment. This is the living room and dining room. And it is in the Narvarte Colony. I think there is a good opportunity to rent. This is the bedroom. And here is the bathroom. That's a lot of light. And you have everything for your dishes. $500 per month, plus services, water and electricity. The average cost of a two-bedroom rental in the city is about $880 a month.

This is in stark contrast to large American cities. In Los Angeles, the average rent is about $4,300. In New York, it has skyrocketed to more than $5,000. However, since 2020, rent in one of Mexico City's trendiest neighborhoods has increased by almost 60%. Additionally, more than 50% of respondents in a recent survey reported having trouble paying their rent or mortgage in the city. I think the government is starting to see that a lot of foreigners are coming, so they need to impose rules on the owners to make them affordable for locals. If they just want to expel all the Mexicans, it will be very sad.

I mean, it will be like being in Brooklyn, somewhere else. He will no longer be in Mexico. Basically, what happens is a kind of butterfly effect, where, you know, people from outside the country come and settle in the nicer areas or the nicer parts of our city, and then we're forced to leave. I myself have been displaced, so I am displacing someone else. And I think that shouldn't be the case. And we should not force people to live in precarious or dangerous areas of the city. Part of the problem is the lack of new housing developments.

Additionally, there is the problem of short-term rentals, which decrease the housing inventory for residents. This is not just happening here, it is a problem all over the world. From 2019 to August 2023, short-term rentals in Mexico City increased by around 45%. In 2022, the Mexico City government partnered with Airbnb to promote the city as a global remote work hub. In a statement to CNBC Make It, an Airbnb representative said the company is committed to helping develop lesser-known destinations and helping redistribute tourism. Airbnb also collects and pays accommodation taxes and says it continually shares statistics about the platform's activities with the government.

Airbnb's association with Mexico City raised the ire of many. Short-term rentals are not regulated in Mexico City and, as in any other large city, this greatly damages the social fabric. Why is it regulated in New York, in Barcelona, ​​in Berlin, where this became a problem, and then in Mexico City it was the opposite? I think it's fantastic that people are coming and then tourism is flourishing in Mexico City. But when people take the free six-month visa and stay longer and, you know, don't mix with the locals, don't spend in local areas and don't understand what their presence means in political and economic terms, I think there That's when it's hard.

There are also reports of tenants being kicked out of their homes, so that landlords can renovate units for the short-term rental market. In September 2023, lawmakers introduced a bill in the Mexican Congress that would tax digital nomads after their 20th day in the country, although it remains just a proposal. And then peanut butter. There are some spoons. Let's get it out. For example, if you say my country is the United States, you would say your country is Mexico. Well. I decided to live in Mexico City. Actually? For love. This is Caitlin. She was a paralegal in North Carolina before moving to Mexico City in 2011.

I live in Mexico City with my Mexican husband and my binational daughter, who is nine years old. Mexico has a collectivist culture. I appreciate that my daughter is growing up with that kind of mentality of there's an us, there's an us, and I really appreciate that. Caitlin and her husband Victor make their living in pesos. When I moved to Mexico City while waiting for a work visa, I got into a dance program and it turned out to be like a full degree in modern dance, which was the biggest coincidence of my life. She works as a choreographer and takes on other roles in the performing arts.

I'm sure I would never have been able to pursue this thing I've wanted since I was a little girl, and I had really held myself back and talked myself out of it. But I am so grateful to be able to do this with this precious life. In response to thetension created by digital nomads, there is consensus on ways to mitigate the impact. Get to know your neighbors. Get dirty. Get in the trenches. Allow yourself to become a student of culture, because there are so many things in our hearts and minds that can be transformed by the cultural richness of this place that we would never experience if we didn't strip ourselves of the privilege of being someone from a dominant culture and having those dollars. who speak loudly and move things.

One of the best things about being here is that the people are very, very patient. And the more Spanish I learn, the more doors open, the friendlier people become and the cheaper things become. People will always be on the move. What we must understand is that people who migrate only seek a

better

quality of life. We are all human and we all seek to be able to cover our basic needs, have a family, rest.time. As for these Americans, they may have found what they were looking for. I am deeply, deeply happy and simply grateful for this strange and uncalculated life I have stumbled upon.

And I'm really grateful for the people who adopted me and formed a community with me. I am now a permanent resident, so I can be here as long as I want. And that is the dream. I'm so happy. I don't think I'll ever go back full time. There are so many things in my life here that really enrich my day-to-day experience, that I wouldn't want to give that up. It's just a dream that I have, and that dream is to be treated like everyone else, to be treated fairly, equitably, and to have peace. And Mexico City is a place where I have been able to achieve this.

And I'm rooting for the US. But as for returning, I have no plans to return home. I didn't know I needed to leave to achieve what I have. I will stay in Mexico as long as you love me. I have always seen myself as an immigrant because my intention was to move here and build a life here. Mexico City is my home. I hope to be here forever. My dream life is almost the antithesis of what we consider the dream life in America. It's not about accumulating wealth, it's about having control over my time. That's the life of my dreams.