With each passing year, there are more and more Americans living in Costa Rica, whether they are young graduates wishing a change of pace or lifestyle, or looking for a beautiful, peaceful country to enjoy their retirement. Costa Rica is an ideal place to relocate because it has old world charm and new world sensibilities. You can buy the freshest food downright cheap and bring it to your home, with all its modern amenities. One of the most politically stable countries in Latin America, Costa Rica is a peaceful haven of uninterrupted democracy, lush rainforests bursting with life and easily your very own paradise on earth.
It’s difficult to tell the North Americans living in Costa Rica from the majority of its people because 94% of the population is mestizos and Caucasians. Mestizos are considered white, and Americans are usually spotted as those with faltering Spanish. Some of those who wish to retire in Costa Rica are alarmed with the number of North Americans that have settled down in Costa Rica, over 40,000 and growing, wishing that they could have a little piece of this paradise to themselves. Well, that all depends on where you wish to stay.
The majority of North Americans living in Costa Rica can be found in the suburbs near San Jose, particularly Escazu, Ciudad Colon and Santa Ana. Real estate is much more expensive in these locations because they’re so near San Jose, but then still cheaper than in the US, and a better deal all around. There are not a lot of Americans with beach property on either the Atlantic or Pacific side. There are few, and only because owning beachfront property is expensive. 2.25 acres on the beach will cost around $75,000, quite a lot compared to a half-acre inland worth only $15 grand.
If you don’t wish to bump into a fellow American every block or so, and if you would like to find less expensive areas to reside as well, you could try any other town or pueblo found in Costa Rica’s other six provinces. In these towns and pueblos, the living is literally easy. While you will have to contend with bad roads and finding all sorts of exotic animals visiting your house every now and then, you will find peaceful living at a very, very low cost of living. Some Northern Americans from the US swear that they can get by on Social Security alone.
On the other hand, if seeing other fellow Americans comfort you, you should check out the pueblos of Sarchi, Naranjo and Grecia in Central Valley, which many other Americans living in Costa Rica are also looking into. Worth checking out is San Ramon, also in Central Valley, which also offers a semblance of a cosmopolitan lifestyle, with malls, supermarkets and several restaurants.
Other reasons why there are so many North Americans living in Costa Rica these days are whitewater rafting and kayaking are getting more popular, healthcare and medical plans are quite cheap, yet good, considering that Costa Rican doctors are trained in the US, education is the best in South America, and there’s no beating the quality of life. As most former US residents put it, there’s no safer, more restful, more comfortable, more beautiful place they’d rather be.
Related links:
Retire in Costa Rica
Costa Rica Retirement Communities – Finding the perfect location to retire
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