Apartment-hunting

Have you checked out San Miguel De Allende??

I liked Mexico City, but the crowding and earthquakes put me off.  That's why I left California!!

Welcome to ex-pat Mexico Pamela,
Have you checked the housing section at the top of the page?

Carrie,

While I have not been to San Miguel de Allende, I have a feeling it might be a bit to "artsy fartsy" for me...I've heard quite a bit about it. Like I said earlier, I'm a "big city girl."

Regards,
Pamela

No, I have not checked out the Housing section here, but will do so right now. Thanks!

Gotcha.  I'm from LA and NYC.  Nowadays New York is like an unpopulated ghost town, but with the same high rents.  Who knows what the future holds?

NYC Rob:
I agree completely about NYC. Personally, I believe it is dying. Manhattan used to be a kind of beacon for talented young people who wanted to try their hand at painting, making music, writing, etc. In other words, those with more drive and talent than money. This is what made the city vibrant, interesting, full of life. Now, it is full of "trust fund babies" and college students from wealth whose parents pay the rent for them so they don't have to worry about life in the real world. I had a beautiful rent-stabilized two-bedroom apartment on a peaceful block. It was so inexpensive, that my landlord knew that if he got rid of me, he could easily charge ten or fifteen times what I was paying legally. We went to landlord/tenant court numerous times. Each time, the judge found in my favor, until the last time when I think the landlord bought himself a judge and I lost the apartment. That is one of the reasons I left for Mexico City...

Agreed, on all counts.  The Village nothing but NYU trust fund brats.  When I first arrived in NYC 20-years ago, a couple was arrested for hiring a hitman to murder an old woman because she wouldn't leave her rent-controlled apartment.  Rather drastic method, in my opinion!

Horrible, but true. There was a famous/infamous case of a model named Marla Hansen who had a lovely rent-controlled apartment in a gentrifying neighborhood. To terrify her into leaving the cheap apartment, the landlord hired thugs to slash her face. The case was quite famous, the woman had plastic surgery, survived and thrived but it could have ended quite differently.

In my own personal horror story, I was not slashed but the landlord had the lock from y apartment door removed by one of his handymen. As I had been there for many many years, everyone know that my husband had died (from a diabetic coma) and that I was alone. I would awaken to find three or four strange men standing over my bed, and ask them "Are you going to rape me or are you going to leave?" Fortunately, they always left. I had to resort to pushing a heavy piece of furniture up against the door at night!

Manhattan real estate has become a vicious thing...