Where do Most American live in Costa Rica?

Is Costa Rica the best Central American country to live part or full time for US citizens looking for change?

• I read somewhere that there was another "Jewel" that better suits both the American and European lifestyle but the poster was not specific. Belize maybe? What are your thoughts?

• Answer:

  There are ex-pats in most countries in Latin America. Except for the fact that English is the primary language I probably wouldn't put Belize at the top of the list and I can't imagine it being anywhere near as popular with american retirees as Costa Rica currently is. Antigua is a beautiful town. I enjoyed my stay there very much but would I live there? I don't know. It has become very touristy having been virtually taken over by expats, foreign language students and all the businesses that cater to them. I'm guessing Jose is an ex-pat who made the move there and I'm glad he enjoys his decision, but I'm not sure it is the type of thing every would-be expat is looking for. There certainly not as many good deals to be had there as there once were. Costa Rica is much the same case. It is practically the poster child for gringo retirement. This is because they have much more of a 1st world infrastructure - healthcare, roads, utilities etc. than most of their Latin American neighbors. It also has a very temperate climate in the central highlands. But the huge influx of US investment has pushed prices up radically and its not the deal that it once was. Another result of its popularity is that they've eliminated most of the tax incentives that once existed (they no longer need them to attract retiree money).So all those aforementioned pluses come with a huge price and it is much more expensive than its neighbors. Another big plus that it HAD going for it vs. other latin countries was its greater political stability. Now things are improving in countries like Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua after years of war and CR is catching up to those other countries due to rising crime and even some political instability as Ticos become squeezed by the worsening economy. I'm going to have to go with Homeless on this question. Some of the people I know who had moved to CR have actually moved on to Panama, which still has a lot of tax incentives. It has become very stable since we got rid of Somoza though like CR the flow of drugs north from Colombia has caused problems with crime. The fomer longtime presence of US workers on the canals and soldiers at military bases has left a legacy of widespread english speaking and like CR it is more 1st world than most other Latin countries with good healthcare, shopping etc. The big negative in my mind is that most of the country is at lower elevations than CR and that makes it much hotter, though that doesn't seem to stop gringos from buying up much of the coast of CR. So go figure. You really need to study, investigate and decide which place has the best balance of things for you rather than rely on short answers here. One excellent source of info for central america and the rest of world is http://www.escapeartist.com and for just CR: http://www.arcr.net