Location Descriptions - 1In the Colonials or Barrios of Guanajuato, gringos can be found in almost any of them. I am constantly asked how many gringos actually live in Guanajuato and the answer is, ¿Quién Sabe? No one really knows. I saw in the paper the other day a figure of how many of those gringos who are legally registered and the figure for the state of Guanajuato was something like 20,000 total. This figure was obtained from those gringos who have "rentista" visas or "FM3" visas. Whether that figure is correct of not, who knows. Mexico does not keep figures like Americans do and accuracy of those figures that do exist should always be questioned. There is a kind of urban legend that puts the number of gringos in the city of Guanajuato at about 250, give or take 50 persons. Of these few gringos, it seems that some are beginning to congregate in an area known as Marfil. This is NOT a gringo sector or enclave. However, I am getting e-mails from people who "have heard that the American Sector in Marfil is…" This is just more urban legend. Actually what it is, is that a few gringos ended up either buying or renting houses in close proximity to one another and before you know it, someone on the Internet is calling it an American Sector. Recommended Barrios or Cities Guanajuato Barrios San Javier This is one of the newest and modern barrios in the city. This is evident from the upper-class homes that you can rent and buy in this colonial. This is also a quiet area where I suspect the residents of "tipping" the police to take extra care in this barrio. The police have a highly visible foot patrol in this barrio and consequently it is extremely low crime. We have several friends who live in this barrio and have actually stayed here ourselves. It is quite, comfortable, clean, and a bit northwest from the main part of the city. You can walk downtown from here but it is far and a vigorous walk. There is not a lot going on in terms of entertainment. Most of the festivals are downtown as well as the theatres. What San Javier has going for it is that there are many of the traditional small neighborhood stores, pharmacies, and small cafes and some fairly nice restaurants and hotels. If you lived here you could set your guests up at any of the fine hotels that are in this barrio. There is also a fairly new multi-screen movie theatre in a small strip mall that is close by. You could walk there from almost anywhere in San Javier. What San Javier has going against it is that it is pricey. Real Estate prices are high as are the rents. We have American expats friends who are renting a lovely four-bedroom home for about $800.00 usd a month. It is nice but was unfurnished. Most Guanajuato rentals come furnished. The houses in San Javier are modern Mexican. Most seem to have ample parking spaces for cars, a rarity in the rest of Guanajuato's barrios. They are spacious and you will pay dearly for them in this area. The neighbors seem more upscale—educated—in terms of friendliness and seem easier to get to know. If what you are accustomed to is upper-middle class homes in the United States then San Javier would be more up your ally. You might, and I stress the "might" part of this statement, find more neighbors who were bilingual here because of their educational level. I wouldn't count on this, but it just might be so. Puquero This is the very first barrio or colonial in which we lived when we moved to Guanajuato. This area is uber-provincial, and traditional Mexican to the power of infinity and beyond. The houses are old, some were homes that are now cut up into apartments, and most Americans I know would not be caught dead living in this barrio. That's too bad since you can see what traditional Mexico is like living here. This area is very popular with students at the university. Since the Mexican universities do not have dorms, student must find housing in the community. They try to find housing as close as possible to the university and Puquero fills that need. Puquero is right behind the university up the Calzada Guadeupe street making it convenient for students. Some of the houses really are run-down looking while others are fairly nice. Some, in fact, are hidden treasures that are old family homes built generations ago and still occupied by subsequent descendants. You will find one of the largest concentrations of "roof dogs" in Guanajuato in the Puquero barrio. This, of course, makes it extremely noisy. Also, one of the Callejóns leads from Puquero up to the Panoramica and there are a lot of loud partiers who are drunk on the way to the party, at the party, and on the way home from the party, traversing this callejon. The noise level can be deafening and non-stop. The rents are cheap, though. We rented our first place for less than $300.00 a month with all utilities paid. It was in one of the super nice area of Puquero in a super nice house—one of the few. Most of the gringos were students from America studying at the University of Guanajuato. In addition to it being the Party Barrio, with its noise level reflecting this social status, it is also home of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. This is Mexico's patron saint and each December there is the mother of all parties that will last the first two weeks of December that takes place there. Noise. Unless you are deaf or want to go deaf early in life, living in Barrio Puquero is the place to live. Otherwise, looking elsewhere is where you want to focus your hunt for rental properties. Pastita This barrio is one of the oldest sectors in Guanajuato. It is where my wife and I presently live. When you talk to locals in Guanajuato and tell them you are looking at Pastita in which to live you will get all manner of wagging of the head and clicking of the tongue. For some reason, those who do not live in Pastita think and will tell you that they think it is very dangerous in this barrio. We were also told that about Barrio Puquero by those who did not live there. Strangely, everyone seems to have some horror story, and it is just a story, about each other's barrios that may or may not be based in fact. We love living here. It is mostly quiet (for Guanajuato), relatively safe, and a good location in the far eastern part of town. We live on a dead end "Privada". This means "private" street. The houses are middle-class with a few rentals available from a very nice couple at a reasonable price. Pastita is east of Embajadoras and you can easily walk to downtown—El Jardin—in less than thirty minutes. The buses traverse the Pastita Street making it simple to make connections to every part of the city at large. There are scores of small mom and pop stores for you to shop and of course there is the gigantic weekend market in Embajadoras for your pleasure. You can get most anything there or find someone who can get it for you. I've heard so many rumors about Pastita being dangerous that I have to issue the warning. If they are true, you should avoid the baseball stadium late at night and the Pastita Street nearest the Panoramica. There is always such a good police presence there that I cannot imagine much going on in terms of crime. But nevertheless, we've been told stories by reliable sources to avoid walking the streets past midnight to avoid muggings. Another warning is the street, Privada de los Arquitectos. There is a woman on that street that has built a large real estate empire. She has some very nice houses, all with phones, and some with washers and dryers. These are lovely homes that are horribly overpriced. This lady is charging San Miguel de Allende prices for these rentals. Also, she is crooked as Al Capone. In fact, you could call her the Al Capone of Guanajuato. She will do all manner of unscrupulous things to you if you dare rent from her. She is not above coming into your house and taking money you might have lying around. She will also wire electric sources into your meter so you end up paying for her private electrical needs. We know this from personal experience. So, avoid this woman like the plague because she is in fact, the plague of Guanajuato. El Centro This is going to be the prime spots that just as in San Miguel de Allende, the gringos are going to want to buy up for residential (and business) investments. I was told a few months ago that prices were going to go up so high simply because there is a backlist of gringos waiting to buy it up. The attraction is that in El Centro is literally The Center. It is where everything is centrally located, where all the events are happening, and people want to live as close as possible to this area. For that reason the locals that do own the property in El Centro will hold out for the highest possible price just as they did in San Miguel de Allende. I know of gringos who are so adamant about living as close as possible to The Center that they will hold out until something is available and will pay almost anything for these properties. Again, this is what happened to San Miguel de Allende and I am hearing reports of this about to happen in Guanajuato. The Center, or El Centro, will be where it is probably the safest, the most patrolled by the police, and where you can access everything located in the center of town. This is what gringos want. Frankly the appeal is grossly overrated. The area is the most crowded, the most nosiest, and hard to navigate during the festivals. The noise level alone is enough to make me run for the more isolated barrios like Pastita or La Presa. The restaurant prices are higher in El Centro as are the few little local stores strewn throughout the small plazas. La Presa I really love this area for several reasons. The primary one being, it is quiet—for a Guanajuato barrio. This area used to be the "out of town" or the "outskirts." It was outside the actual city limits where the rich kept their "other homes." You can still see evidence of this in the huge homes that have been converted into government office buildings. They were essentially mansions and are fascinating to look at while trying to imagine what life was like in the days when families lived in them. I think this area is the quietest in Guanajuato. That, at least, is how my wife and see it. There just isn't a "draw" that brings the masses into this area. Having said that I do have to mention that there are certain holidays and festivals where the area nearest the dams (La Presa de la Olla) is crowded. But those are few and far between. Another advantage of living in the area that it is close to some of the finest restaurants and hotels in Guanajuato. The guidebooks mention these but fail to describe exactly the ambience and charm of the area. We regularly walk from Pastita to a restaurant on the Paseo de la Presa (the street leading to and through the barrio) that is charm and delicious food personified. Also, if I had out-of-town guests I would put them up in one of the fine hotels in the area. There are also some dumpy, "Won't Tell Motels" there that appeal to the backpacking crowd (and others). All of the common guidebooks mention this area in passing. I guess I can understand this to an extent. The exciting stuff in this city is almost all centralized in the El Jardin area. La Presa is the place you want if you want a goodnight's sleep as a tourist or resident. We've lived in barrios here where parties and festivals went on all night long and sometimes even longer. If you don't want that then I would look into this area. Some of the residential housing for rent is super basic to high-class. Even as I write this chapter the prices are beginning to skyrocket due to the fact more and more gringos are coming here seeking out places to live. So, La Caseras (the landladies) are going to charge what the market will bear—and why not?
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