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We were just wondering why you moved to Costa Rica instead of Panama? What were your main reasons for moving to Costa Rica?
What does Costa Rica have that Panama doesn’t?
Thanks,
DTwe thought about panama but decided against it because the only places we wanted to live (higher altitudes to escape extreme heat and too many bugs) was not convenient to traveling to the US on a regular basis, esp for our daughter who lives in Atlanta. to get from there to, say, boguete, it was a flight to PC, then an overnight stay, then a plane to David, then an hour bus ride. way too much trouble. one friend moved to panama city and now complains bitterly about the noise, the traffic, the pollution, the crowds, etc. and he would move to the campo but the prices are nearly double what they were 5 years ago.
Our number one consideration was political stability. Costa Rica has had a stable constitutional government since 1948. Panama, by contrast, has had its share of civilian and military strongmen and could again. Noriega was not cut from unique cloth.
We felt that a country where political stability is always in doubt is a country where our interests might not be well protected.
Costa Rica also has a longstanding tradition of caring for its populace. The country’s bias toward the good of the masses compares very favorably to the treatment other small nations give their citizens. None of that is to say that it’s perfect, however. The treatment of indigenous populations still leaves a great deal to be accomplished.
And, quite frankly, the possibility of living in a society without a military establishment was a real draw, too.
Panama is much more humid, jungle-like environment without any large towns at a higher altitude. Costa Rica is quite diverse with very dry, arid areas to the north and more humid, jungle areas to the south + many towns at various altitudes. Politics aside, Panama only has very recent political stability in the “Post US Canal” era with an Italian Panamanian in power, but coups have previously ocurred. The advantages appear to be more financial incentives for expats and Panama City is the only true “metropolis” in Central America, courtesy of the canal.
I met a few US expats in Boquete, Panama on a visa run a couple of years ago. They had been living in Costa Rica before moving there and had very few nice things to say about retirement in Costa Rica. I for one was impressed with how cheap it was to eat and drink beer there. Almost 50% the cost of what it is here in CR. The hotels were even half the cost of what it is here in CR. It was also shocking to see how people left their brand new cars and pickups parked in the street all night without any worries about thieves. For those considering retirement in Central America with no strings attached to Costa Rica, I’d say Panama should be a serious contender in your search for a place to live.
Lets just show the facts. I am somebody who has lived in costa rica and panama total over a 5 year period.
1,Costa rica prices on appliances and food gas etc are double panama. Many ticos come to panama to by goods or stop at the free zone in golfito to buy a few appliances, but it is amazing the incredible cost differences between the countries.
2,Panama is a city, a real city, costa rica in comparison is a big town, There are real police in panama, yes there is a military also a navy and other organized trained groups like in a first world system but I would rather have police who are acting like police and trained than the degenerate fuerza publica lerking around costa rica, 3. I was a victim of a robbery in costa rica and the police called me a few weeks later and asked me if I knew who robbed me, while I heard laughing in the backround. Nice.
4. I could not leave my house in costa rica without hearing somebodys robbery stories in costa rica, in the airplanes too!
5. Yes san jose cr has incredible climate but the overunning of nicaraguans is out of control and so goes with it the crime.
6. I think the authorities in cr dont have the balls to control their borders. Panama throws out many illegals, this is a major safety factor! Illegals are scared in panama!
7. In overall comparison costa rica is like a bunch of villages with a mentality of being the switzerland of central america, well sorry in my opinion it doesent work like that down here.
8. The government of panama is a us dollar economy unlike the colones of cr which is like monopoly money to the rest of the world. Panama is involved in all world international business affairs on a global scale, its not just a beach town like cr even though some american companies choose the labor force in cr but I dont care about that.
9. Panama is growing like crazy, houses for the people are growing by the thousands all over with government subsidy.
10. Towers in panama city are popping up like flowers. Panama is much more international and connected with the world. Yes costa rica has a better work force quality but im not looking for a job I accept the slightly lower quality of the lower skilled common workers for the many more advantage in panama as well as much higher security. 11. Panama is the safest place in central america peroid fact. There are areas like boquette, cerro azul,and other higher altitude areas similar to costa rica sanjose climate, but you dont have to worry about your nicaraguan security guard planning your next robbery for you in panama, sure it happens all over but cr just gives me the creeps.
12. Also shopping malls in panama are bigger and they just built another giant metro mall, there are at least 5 or 6 giant malls here now and many with high end shopping like gucci stores to malls where you can buy a pair of jeans for 3 dollars, yes believe it, womens dresses for 5 dollars in the states would be 100.00.
13. Trump is popping up a new giant tower, the amador causeway has fun ocean front dining,
14. I never feel creepy or unsafe here, of course I use my street smarts like anywhere but there is no comparison in the overall scale of safety and quality of life. Dont get me wrong I think cr is a beautiful country but it is a place to visit as the tourism service quality surpases panama but if you live in cr it is a totally different story.
just my piece of mind.But you are not providing us with facts soflodoug, you are giving us your opinions which are simply WRONG!
I have had dealings with the OIJ who helped investigate various threats against me… They were simply superb. In my humble opinion they could not have been more respectful or more professional.
I leave my house regularly without feeling “creepy or unsafe here” and don’t hear stories about robberies and having lived here for ten years none of the homes I have lived in have ever been robbed and neither have I… My car radio was stolen once and a rocking chair was stolen from my garden but that’s it…. In my humble opinion, that’s nothing to worry about…
You say that the “overrunning of nicaraguans is out of control” and they are to blame for the crime are they? Please show us any data that could back up that claim.
And Costa Rica doesn’t have the “balls to control their borders”, you mean to control it effectively like they do on the US/Mexican border?
Could #8 contain more contradictions? Intel, Hewlett Packard and dozens of multinationals chose Costa Rica over Panama and have tens of thousands of employees in Costa Rica. So much for monopoly money…
I also believe it’s everyone’s right to be able to express their opinions, but at least soflodoug could try and show us some facts to back up his opinions!
Here are a few facts for you!
Panama is NOT the safest place in Central America… Costa Rica is…
Please feel free to see ‘Deadly Crimes in Costa Rica. The safest country in Central America.’ at [ https://www.welovecostarica.com/members/Deadly_Crimes_in_Costa_Rica_The_safest_country_in_Central_America.cfm ] and check the links to see the sources…
The numbers vary a little depending on the source but no matter what statistics you look at, they all prove that soflodoug is 100% wrong and Costa Rica remains the safest country in all of Central America.
1. El Salvador has a homicide rate in 2009 of 76 per 100,000 inhabitants
2. Honduras has a homicide rate in 2009 of 66.8 per 100,000
3. Guatemala has a homicide rate in 2009 of 48 per 100,000
4. Panama has a homicide rate in 2009 of 24 per 100,000
5. Nicaragua has a homicide rate in 2009 of 13 per 100,000
6. Costa Rica has a homicide rate in 2009 of 11 per 100,000
According to the CIA – https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pm.html The percentage of Panama’s population living below the poverty line? 28.6%
According to the CIA – https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cs.html The percentage of Costa Rica’s population living below the poverty line? 16%
So if Costa Rica is in fact MUCH safer than Panama and the poverty level in Panama is MUCH higher than it is in Costa Rica, your sweeping statement saying that; “there is no comparison in the overall scale of safety and quality of life” is simply wrong!
In the future please feel free to give us your opinions soflodoug but please also feel free to provide FACTS otherwise some people might prove you wrong with a few, quick Google searches.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comPS. I’m thrilled that you’re life is so fulfilling with the big shopping malls and the cheap jeans you find in Panama.
Panama has Gucci? sheesh. i’d reconsider panama to be able to buy good shoes!! bet they have Ferragamo, too. And no Wally Worlds. i’m going!
For those of you who don’t have access to La Nación newspaper, the article which you can see online at…
[ http://www.nacion.com/2010-07-25/Sucesos/NotaPrincipal/Sucesos2457799.aspx ]
Refers to how homicides in Limón have halved during the last year while homicides in San Jose remain at about the same level as last year.
The printed newspaper has a number of charts (that are NOT online) and one chart (sourced from the police and Central American news sources) compares the number of homicides throughout Central America in 2009.
Guatemala 5,975
Honduras 5,265
El Salvador 4,365
Panama 797
Nicaragua 759
Costa Rica 494Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comPS. I’m thrilled that you’re life is do fulfilling with the big shopping malls and the cheap jeans you find in Panama.
Well I will admit you got a chuckle out of me with this comment,however I was making a point.
I dont wear the $3.00 jeans but I buy them for my devilish girlfriends as in one of your other articles the ticas are putting spouses in jail,cheaper than marrying them, but onto more important issues…
My responses to your comments:
Well if you made it through the death defying drive through san jose to oij headquarters and somebody was on duty at the computer you did get superb service I agree. Im sure the line up is coming up for the suspects anyday now. Hey, maybe the oij can get back your rocking chair and radio because somebody there is probably rocking and rolling!
Regarding your minimal robbery experiences well, if you say so. Just the senior citizen who I spoke to on a plane from cr told me he hunkered down in his kitchen in guanacaste and shot a known intruder who entered his house armed, guess its just my bad luck, or the old man in rohmerser who had a fist fight wit 3 criminals breaking into his house and then when the police arrived and caugh one of them and then in front of him let the guy go, naaa just bad luck.
My data is a nicaraguan guard who was responsible working with a co worker guard for an entire development when I witnessed the co worker guard with a large cooking pot on top of his head hitting it with a stick, naaa just bad luck.
As far as your questioning my facts, well your statistics are very questionable I dont care what the source is as so much happens behind the scenes im sure.
I agree the work force is better in costa rica than panama, much more experience in service in cr, but the other issues prevail.
Ive learned to go with my gut instincts in life and it has served me well,with that a little luck and a few good people you can make it.
Hope you bought a new chair and radio, you know they make recliners with built in stereo, never a better time to upgrade. Good luck.You make it crystal clear that you “dont care what the source” of your facts is and you have just blown whatever little credibility you had left…
You scare the living daylights out of people with your sensational comments after getting your data from a “senior citizen… on a plane,” an “old man in rohmerser” and “a nicaraguan guard” and you have the “balls” to tell me that statistics from the CIA, the local police authorities and various Central American newspapers are “very questionable?”
“Gut instincts” are a combination of facts and life experience and as we have proven here, when you get your facts from unreliable sources like “a nicaraguan guard” then you’ve got it all wrong man!
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comSeems like we’ve had this conversation over and over again in this forum. Somebody learns of a single instance of something happening (and tell me, please, anything that hasn’t happened once) and generalizes it to the entire country or the world.
soflodoug wrongly asserts his “man cowering in the kitchen” anecdote as proof that Costa Rica is overrun by criminals; but today’s account in A.M. Costa Rica of a couple suspected of multiple murders in Panama equally negates the argument that Panama is any better.
And his “old man on the bus” anecdote is neither more nor less convincing than the assertions of others, and there are a legion of them, that, for example, 40% of expats return home in three years because they (the writers) know of a couple of instances or read it somewhere, or that the crimes of every mass murderer who makes the news are due to their use of prescription medications because they’ve read someplace that some may be, or that any and all childhood vaccinations inexorably lead to autism (the research has lately been scientifically refuted), or any number of other baseless assertions that grow out of a limited sampling of the data.
soflodoug is welcome to question the validity of the CIA data, the OIJ data, or any other data he wishes. In doing so, he may be doing us all a favor. What he should refrain from, however, is substituting his own limited perceptions and interpretations in their place.
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