Finding the right place to live in the Amazing Costa Rica

Gracias Robert for your offer of advice!

I am considering a move from USA.

My priorities:
- quiet area, semi-rural location (away from city center: crowds, noise, crime) but close (enough) to amenities, perhaps a 20 minute drive a city center
- near a vibrant city with university, museums, the arts...
- in a location that is mountainous and cool... perhaps 2500m in elevation, partial rainy, partial sun (not hot or humid); verdent green
- close to the int'l airport (within an hour drive)

am I describing proximity to San Jose, or...

Your advice most welcome!

Herlinda (VG)

Hi Herlinda -
I would look at some places east of San Jose:
- Sabanilla (de San Jose)
- Orosi (but probably a bit warmer than you indicate)
- Moravia
- Coronado
- even consider San Pedro. It really is a city, but very vibrant!

all these will be pretty humid in rainy season tho (~73% +/-)

Hola Julie, appreciate the advice!

I'll look at your suggestions, considering a few weeks in CR later this month

Would you (or anyone reading this) know of an exceptionally good spanish school in a rural area, perhaps in one of the towns you mention?

Having grown up in San Francisco (California), I'm done living in big cities. I now live in Hawaii in a quiet area, but the cost of living is just off the charts. I'm seeking a quiet new home, but in CR.

Thanks very much, it's nice being a part of this blog  :0)

Herlinda

Hi!
Well as for your priorities I will definitely suggest San Ramon, it does not have the rush of the city, however It is 30 m from the city and 20 from the airport.
The weather is pretty cool and very mountainous as you want.
An as a piece of advise the only artistic city with museums and artistically stuff will be San Jose, the rest of the country is a natural sanctuary full natural amusements...and the properties will range from 120k up and the cost of living in places such as San Ramon is very low! as for the Spanish lessons it all depends weather you want something private or regular.

Orosi has a spanish school, but there are many to choose from! You could probably bus from any place you live to a reasonable one. 
Or you could try one near where you think you want to live, and take advantage of a homestay while there.  It's a good way to get your feet wet in the area you want to live.
I've been to 3 schools, and there is another one very near my house now (in San Pedro). You can read about them on my blog - click the label for spanish schools to get all the relevant posts.

One thing we did while investigating towns was to check on their elevation. You can do this here:
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/CS/
You have to know the province and town name, and then it helps to double-check it against the lat/long. But you can narrow your search pretty quickly this way.

Thanks, I'm checking your blog re: schools now...
just curious what you think of Robert's suggestion of San Ramon?

San Ramon was on our list of places to check out, mainly due to the elevation and the artist culture.
We tried San Pedro before we got to San Ramon, and decided it was for us .
One couple I know tried SR first, and couldn't take the clouds/fog/drizzly weather.  They moved to the beach.

I would definitely *not* buy anything right away (if ever)! It is easy to get caught up in the moment and buy.  But once you've been here a while, you will notice that the same house has been for sale for years (I'm not kidding).
The reverse of that is that CR laws favor the renter - you want to know your options, and what is your right by law.

Sounds great! All EXCEPT for you saying Costa Rica is noisy everywhere! HUH?

This is one thing I'm finding I'm not crazy about - the constant dog barking, horn honking, disco beat of the city I'm in presently (Xela-Quetzaltenango Guatemala). I'm just not used to it and, in all honesty, don't wish to "get" used to it

But, I'm tempted to come to CR for a few weeks of spanish school. Just to see what it's like.

I've enjoyed reading your blog! We're similar in many ways.

Question: COL in CR? (cost of living); are you and your spouse going back/forth to the US to make money and then return "home" to CR? If yes, do you just lock up and go? (I guess it's no mascotas - dogs- for me!)

:0)

re: noise - yep, ugh.  However, you are looking for something out in the countryside, where it is significantly less noisy - that is, you have fewer types of noises.  You will still have dogs and the occasional car, and perhaps roosters, monkeys, other animals.  I will say that where we settled, it is a *lot* quieter than before.  You just have to pay attention to the types and levels of noise when you are looking for a place (and visit any prospective apartment/house at different times of day. and never judge based on a sunday).  We have a friend who lives in the boonies, and her place is pretty quiet.  (boonies = she has a few neighbors across her dead-end street, a field one side, and a lot on the other. She has to drive almost everywhere for shopping, etc.)

re cost-of-living: yet another "label" on my blog .  We did live like students (our housing and furnishings, but not our eating out) while deciding "where."  Now that we're settled, we have a nicer place, and are getting nicer furniture. So we're spending a bit more. But still a lot less than in California!  Note that we don't have a car - part of what we like about living in the city.  You will probably have one - I'm guessing this, based on the situation you are looking for.

re: going back and forth: we no longer expect to do this - much I'll go if a nice contract falls in my lap, but Rick will only come to the states to visit me if that happens.  When we *did* do this, we gave up our apartment in CR while in the states.  We put our few things in storage.  We used the trip to break up our location, in fact, so it worked out well.  We would say, "well, we're going back to the states, so we won't need this apartment anymore." and "well, we're coming back to Costa Rica, where do we want to live this time!"  sweet...

re leaving your home: the situation you are looking for will probably mean that when you leave your home for more than ~3 days, you will want a housesitter. There are people who do this long-term, and some short-term. You will find them; it's mainly word-of-mouth.

Julie
Thanks for your thoughtful replies to my questions
I have a business to sell in Hawaii once the recession begins to abate (which is anyones guess- what- 2 or 3 years from now, perhaps?) and I plan to live off investments. My boyfriend, however, isn't quite so lucky, and he'll need to work.
Will he be able to find work legally? Or will he be an illegal "alien" all of a sudden?
(I have this thought you're going to say you have a "label" for US citizens working abroad/in CR... but heck! It's so much more fun to ask you directly! When you're not in the mood to converse, just say "go to this (or that) label". (!)
Okay, re: COL. Por ejemplo, how much is a liter of organic 2% milk? Or two shots of good espresso at a cafe? Or a kilo of mangos. Normal stuff. How do prices compare to the U.S? (well, actualmente, after Hawaii, almost ANYwhere will sound cheaper!)
How is the culture towards women? Typically latin? Or possibly respectful? (I'm idealistic.)
Thanks for being so perceptive as to where I might like to live. And you're right. I'm likely to be your neighbors friend (the one with a field for a neighbor)  and I will most definitely own a car. Unfortunate but I'm a homebody so can exist on going "shopping" maybe 2-3/month.
I'll check out your col blog.... thanks

re working in CR: this is tricky. To legally work here, you must have one of these:
(1) a work visa (almost always through an international company that "sends" you here)
(2) permanent residency (usually gained after 3 years of temporary residency such as pensionado or rentista)
(3) telecommute for a non-Costa Rican company (for example one in USA). In this situation, you aren't technically working "here"
(4) investor residency (covers only you, not your family)
(5) maybe something else, but I haven't heard of it

Living here legally - I mention this because it is tied in w/ above.  While in the past, many people have lived here for years (decades even) on continually-renewed tourist visas, there is a strong possibility that this situation will not be allowed to continue.  This living situation is known as being a perpetual tourist - you leave the country for 3 days every 90 days, and then you get a new tourist visa.  However, the new immigration law has just gone into effect as of March 1, and we are starting to see that many perpetual tourists no longer get 90 days automatically.  They can be asked whether they have applied for residency, and only given 30 days.  The stories go on and abound.  So, I would plan on applying for some type of residency.  I guess "perpetual tourist" is as close as you get to a "label."  I don't address this in my blog, so no label there for it :-).

re COL: 
- Milk is generally pretty expensive here.  I don't worry about organic, but know people who do, and I know they can find it.  There are organic farmer's markets, and you would probably have to find a source. I haven't seen it in the supermarkets (but I don't look for it).  I know that 1.5kg of powdered whole milk is about $12. That's what we use in coffee.
- mangos! it is currently high seasons for these, so you can get 4kg for c1000 (~$2) at the feria.  In the last off season, I paid as much as c1500 per kilo.
- in a mall cafe, a large cafe au lait is about c850. w/o milk is less, but I don't know how much. I get a single shot w/ milk at my school for c350.

re shopping: I would count on shopping for food a lot more often than you are used to.  Don't ask me for all the reasons, it just turns out that way. I go to the feria every other saturday (sometimes I wait 3 weeks) - that's where all the good fruits and veggies are.

re: women, men, culture:  interesting question! and it deserves a more involved answer than I can put down here. But some short slices are:
- women are respected.  This is especially apparent with older women.  Mothers rule.
- my Tica classmate (~30 yrs old) said (with a frown) about an exercise we had "it seems very machismo" - it was about a woman doing household chores all day, then her husband coming home from work and reading the paper. (fwiw, this was a class in French)
- all my female classmates are either in University or have graduated (also the men, but this makes my point that women prize higher education too)
- seemingly contradictory, you will see men turn to watch a woman walk by. You will see this *everywhere!*  I don't believe it is meant disrespectfully, more appreciatively. We have been conditioned to think this is insulting, but I don't believe it is that way here. There is no pretense.
- a special effort has been made in the laws here (for example, if a man hurts or *insults* a woman, she can have him jailed)
- you are probably aware by now - we will have a new president next week, and she is a woman :-).  And (I think it is over 50%) much of her cabinet is made up of women.
- you will definitely have to be ready for a cultural difference (in general). If you are prepared for that, then (if you're like me) the man/woman differences aren't really very big, and are less jarring than they might be.  There are so many other cultural differences to notice!

Hi Julie!

WOW! You're awesome, and wonderfully generous with your advice. Thank you. I am drinking it all in, and appreciate it more than you know.

(I'm just recovering from a bout of fever and sinus infection, sorry to have disappeared for a few days.)

Today is the first day I'm feeling "I really like the United States, it's not such a bad place to live." "Maybe I'm not cut out to live in the 3rd world..."  or "What you REALLY want is to live in a progressive place like Portland or San Francisco, but at a price that you can afford to retire."

Hmmm.... only we can tell ourselves the truth to this extent.

Maybe this is true. Maybe I don't have "what it takes" to move to a "3rd world" country. Better I examine this now not while unpacking in Sabanilla.

I realize how very attached I've become to curbside recycling and all that goes with it, how intolerant I am of the spewing buses and pollution that is completely rampant and a non-issue, at least here in Guate.

We are similar in that you're also from the Bay Area - and I believe of similar vintage. Did you also deal with these issues and if so, how did you resolve them so you could live happily in CR?

Thanks
Herlinda