To put this in a nice way, maybe this was a good thing! I could not agree more with your above statement. I have lived in Mexico for 7 years. I moved from the interior of Mexico to Rocky Point in January. I was shocked to see what this place has become. I have a very different take on things not having come from the U.S. side. The prices here are insane compared to the rest of the country. The fact that many try to price everything in U.S. dollars is simply foolish. Although I love living here and it is nice to be close to my real home (Arizona), I am not delusional about what this place is. It is a tiny town in a third-world country with little to no employment opportunities for U.S. citizens that is in the midst of one of the worst economic climates we have seen (at least in my generation).
I have met un-employed handymen who won't budge for anything less than $200.00 USD, babysitters who want $20.00 USD per hour, house cleaners who were insulted by my offer of $500 pesos to clean my 2 bedroom condo and more. Minimum wage in this part of the country hovers around $90.00 pesos per day. Just wait, the city is slowly being cleansed of these people as they can no longer find any marks or suckers for their offers. Same with the real estate market, gone are the days where that Las Palomas condo was "worth" $2,500 per month.
I am starting to find some wonderful people (both Mexican and gringo) who are grounded in reality and who I will continue to give my business to. I love Rocky Point and want to see it prosper, but we all have to come back to reality for that to happen.
I have met un-employed handymen who won't budge for anything less than $200.00 USD, babysitters who want $20.00 USD per hour, house cleaners who were insulted by my offer of $500 pesos to clean my 2 bedroom condo and more. Minimum wage in this part of the country hovers around $90.00 pesos per day. Just wait, the city is slowly being cleansed of these people as they can no longer find any marks or suckers for their offers. Same with the real estate market, gone are the days where that Las Palomas condo was "worth" $2,500 per month.
I am starting to find some wonderful people (both Mexican and gringo) who are grounded in reality and who I will continue to give my business to. I love Rocky Point and want to see it prosper, but we all have to come back to reality for that to happen.