I live Av Las Costa Downtown, now i'm not sure how dangours or safe this is compared to other streets around. When back in England I live in East London and find it far far safer here, in 4 months of living here I have gone to many local bars and clubs untill the early hours and only ever had one person try to pick pocket me. Now i'm a male 30 and not big at all.
Media vs Mexicans I've mentioned before that I feel pretty safe on the streets here- but understand that a single incident could change that; however I do think there is a media blitz in the US against Mexico and Mexicans It seems to have two wellsprings- the initiation of a war against the drug lords of Mexico by the Mexican Government which became protracted and very violent and has captured a lot of headlines; and the threat of changes to the immigration laws of the US which might admit more Mexicans and legalize those who are already there Some people in America don't like to see Mexicans taking over public parks on the weekends with their large families and Mariachi music blaring; and with the recession in full swing it accentuates the feeling that jobs are being lost to illegals Furthermore there is the language issue: many feel Mexicans should learn English and not rely on Spanish so much Bilingual education and Spanish as a second language- recognized by law as it is in some states like Texas where many government documents must be published in both languages- really sticks in the craw of some Americans who may also object to recorded messages saying "press one for English" when they call for service from their electric company ___________________ That there is a media blitz against Mexico and Mexicans is pretty obvious: anything unsavory that goes down in Mexico gets noticed and reported now in the US: it's not easy to keep the news machine adequately fed and stories about Mexico have helped in recent years to do that There are also those who are opposed to changes to the immigration laws that would legalize those Mexicans already in the states or admit even more: painting a picture of "those" people as having a dangerous bent supplies a motive for keeping them out Yesterday I met a reporter from a US national television network whose full time job it is to identify and investigate anything unsavory that happens in Mexico: there's plenty to keep them busy though most of us who live here feel pretty safe I pointed out to them that there were approximately one million Americans living full time in Mexico and they would head out if they felt a heightened sense of personal danger: the response was to tell me to "be careful" or I might be the next victim Oh well ____________________
Read an interesting article yesterday about the media's portrayal of Mexico.... Follow the Money: Why the U.S. Mainstream Media has Mexico Under Seige « Baja Wine Guide – Baja California Wine Country – Mexico – Vineyards I feel less safe here than I did five years ago, that's for sure. I think it's still incredibly safe for tourists, but the security of residents in centro is on the decline. In the last year we've had our pipes stolen, water meter stolen, my wallet stolen, and numerous extorsion calls that scared the willies out of us. I walk looking over my shoulder a lot more than I used to. :S
Very interesting article CC suggesting there is concern about US industry moving to Mexico (especially high tech like aerospace) together with the baby boomers who are headed south and might be taking their wealth with them- cashing out to move to Mexico to live in retirement and spending their retirement funds on the Mexican economy instead of the US economy Reinforcing the idea now that Mexico is a dangerous environment could discourage some from making the move
I have heard of 2 armed robberies in the last 2 weeks and it has made me nervous- one was where my husband works and 8 gunmen stormed the place and held guns to the employees heads and took them hostage for an hour. The police arrived and all 8 gunmen got away! The other was a friends office and again guns involved and everything stripped from the office. It does seem to be getting less safe- but I still dont feel the need to move. Now if my husband had been one of the guys with a gun at his temple I may feel a little differently.
An armed robbery wouldn't raise an eyebrow in Dallas but eight perpetrators make it sound more like an invasion! Perhaps overstaffing occurs in the criminal world here- just like it does in other Mexican enterprises The police response sounds lame: I contrast that with the police response when a report came in that Free's mom had been snatched off the streets: multiple units responded- gave chase- and ran the criminals to ground along with rescuing the captive Now that was good police work!
