Where to live in Colombia?

If you are from Upstate NY I don't think you want to live in a big congested city like Medellin.  A better choice would be the coffee area south of there, places like Manizales or Pereira are much more livable and close to the countryside.

Another good option is Rionegro and/or La Ceja. These are two towns locales 45 minutes from Medellin. Temperatures in these 2 towns are 4 grades Centigrades lower than Medellin and with  Lower cost of living ( except Llano grande area).
I am Colombian/American and lived in Atlanta, Georgia 30 years.  I moved back to Colombia 5 years ago and i am living in Rionegro.

Hello everyone,

Please note that a new, separate topic has been created on the Colombia forum with your posts to allow for this conversation to continue freely.

Best,

Diksha
Team Expat.com

Hi lisa, i live in upstate NY also. I am giving serious consideration on moving to colombia. Next week i am going to Medellín for a week. I am a vet and there is a medical clinic just outside of Medellín in a town called Sabaneta that treats American veterans. So for me. Medellín or the area surrounding is a good pick. Good luck with your adventure.

Brian

Best wishes Lisa.

Hello
Here are a few truthful suggestions
Bogotá is a extremely large city with a population of about 8 million people, elevation 8,700 ft. The weather is basically winter 12 months a year with daily overcast and rain, temperature is never over 70 and never lower than 60.
Commuting anywhere at anytime is terrible, street crime is out of control.
Cartagena is beautiful but the majority of the year is hot and humid, but seemingly safe.
There are many other areas which I have seen photos of but at this time the US Embassy in Bogotá has basically the entire Country set at a Do No Travel status because of the FARC and ELN.
Good Luck

Although people do call Bogotá "La Nevera" (The Refrigerator), it's not really winter there 12 months of the year!  And it does get over 70, and it does get lower than 60.  In fact the weather forecast for this week shows lows in the 40s.

I've been comfortable there in a short-sleeve t-shirt during the day.  But a light jacket at night, and for rainwear, is always welcome.

This site says Bogotá is "rarely below 37°F (3° C) or above 70°F (21° C)":

https://weatherspark.com/y/23324/Averag … Year-Round

Just about whatever weather you enjoy, you can find it somewhere in Colombia.  But you have to find it for yourself.  Since the weather can change drastically by altitude (higher = cooler), and because of the weather phenomenon known as "rain shadow effect" as well as prevailing winds, places only a few kilometers apart can have quite different climates.

Brokenman wrote:

I live in upstate NY also. I am giving serious consideration on moving to colombia... I am a vet and there is a medical clinic just outside of Medellín in a town called Sabaneta that treats American veterans....

Brian

Dear Brian a.k.a. Brokenman,

Welcome to the Colombia forums of Expat.com ....

Thank you for bringing the Sabaneta clinic for USA vets
to our members' attention.

The clinic opened last year (2020) shortly before The Situation.

The Medellín Guru website has an article on the clinic's offerings to USA vets (including physiotherapy and assistance with federal paperwork).  The article tells the address in Sabaneta and how to get there.

www.medellinguru.com

The article is easily Googled.

cccmedia

Laker4115 wrote:

If you are from Upstate NY I don't think you want to live in a big congested city like Medellin.  A better choice would be the coffee area south of there, places like Manizales or Pereira are much more livable and close to the countryside.

First of all, this is a great and evergreen topic and I salute the OP, Lisa, for initiating this thread.

---

I'm from "upstate New York" as well, if you consider Peekskill upstate.  Lisa lived in NYC for years and now in Putnam County, which is commuting distance to the city, so Medellín can't be ruled out based on the upstate-tag.  Depending on where you're at, there's an enormous difference between "upstate" locations such as Brewster (Putnam County) and Ogdensburg.

I agree with Laker that the Coffee Triangle is a livable choice, although Pereira is noticeably hotter and more congested than Armenia and Manizales, the latter being higher in elevation by a couple thousand feet.

USA Expat Loren Lowe (rhymes with cow) has a wealth of information and opinion on Armenia at his YouTube site, Gran Colombia.

cccmedia

For those who like cool weather and don't need a lot of English-speaking folks around, I suggest considering Ipiales, Nariño.  I'll be going there for an extended stay (already booked on airbnb.com) starting in early October.

Ipiales is on the border of Colombia and Ecuador.  It is well known by folks in the area for its stunning, built-over-a-river cathedral (Santuario de las Lajas, several miles outside of town), budget-shopping for electronics consumers who 'arbitrage' Colombia's currency advantage .. and its close proximity to a relatively safe entry point into the country at the Rumichaca crossing.

Ipiales is above 9,000 feet elevation, about the same as in Quito, Ecuador.  So it's always jacket weather after dark .. and swimming is done at indoor pools.

I stayed there for 10 months once (2016-17) .. and loved the seafood restaurant across from Gran Plaza, which is a wonderful shopping mall filled with Ecuadorian shoppers on weekends.

There are other excellent restaurants near the mall as well. For instance, B&Steak on Carrera 6.  Even though I don't eat beef, I appreciate B&Steak's varied menu, its unhurried ambiance and the friendly staff.  Any time I brought in a few of my favorite raw veggies, B&Steak's staff would pass them on to the kitchen and they were cooked and presented with my plato fuerte just as I desired, usually sautéed in mantequilla.

On weekdays, traffic in Ipiales is light and the city is easy to navigate. 

Hotel and AirBnB rates are a dream any time.

Ipiales has the only blackjack/table-games casino between Cali, Colombia, and northern Peru.  (Ecuador banned casinos about eight years ago.)  Casino Ventura is on the upper floor of the Gran Plaza mall.  Blackjack rules are player-favorable with surrender allowed.  Regulars get a pile of free match-play chips at blackjack once it a while, or at least they did before The Situation.

A personal attraction for me is being able to drive my car to Ipiales from Quito and use the vehicle to bring up all kinds of stuff to an AirBnB apartment.  This can include space heaters, an extra microwave, some foldable utility tables, my favorite adjustable lamps and more clothing than I can take on trips to more distant cities such as Lima.

cccmedia

When it comes to the weather the best large city for retiring is Medellin.....It is spring time year round...........Known as ¨The City with the Eternal Spring Time¨ and ¨The City of Flowers¨.   You can not beat it for a large city....has everything for my needs as a retiree and more......I lived in Bogota from Sept 2009 til June 2011, when I first arrived from the states......I have dual citizenship.........kept waiting for a summer that never came to Bogota.........finally all fed up with the weather, I came to Medellin, never looked back and been here since,  with one short stint in Popayan...........In Bogota you can never go out without a jacket and your umbrella.........makes no difference if you wake up early and it is gorgeous......before the end of the day it will be chilly and probably raining, so you will need an umbrella.......I was not use to carrying an umbrella during my  stay, I lost over 8 in my year and a half of living there.........all I can say is.......Bogota never again!