How WESTERN is Costa Rica - would the American feel comfortable living there? ?

Show all answers

chrisdabum

You should know how to speak Spanish at least a little before you go and you should be fine. There are "gated communities" full of Americans down there but separating yourself from their culture would be missing the point of living abroad if you ask me.
They have good hospitals and all your favorite foods are available, the crime is high in the bigger cities, but that's no different than here in the states.

CostaRicaBlogger.com

As many as 60,000 Americans live in Costa Rica, according to the American Chamber of Commerce ... making Costa Rica the country with the highest per-capita of U.S. citizens outside the United States.

Although you will currently not find a Starbucks, you can go to certain street corners to find each of the following: McDonald's, Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut AND Burger King.

U.S. currency as well as U.S. based credit cards are accepted everywhere and multi-plex movie theaters offer the latest film releases in English (subtitled in Spanish).

Western enough for you?!

I personally enjoy the fact that you can choose to live in an area as 'Western' or as 'tipico' Costa Rican as you desire ... and you don't have to drive to far to visit the other.

Do your homework and Costa Rica should be able to offer all you desire.

Â¡Pura Vida!

ticosland2008

I made the transition almost 4 years ago and never looked back. It does help if you have a working knowledge of Spanish. After all, it is the official language of the country. However, you will be in high demand if you should decide to work and your English is up to par. If you have a profession, you should do well enough. If you need any other information about Costa Rica, try the TicosLand.com website.

el jefecito

costaaaaa rica is very western compared to other central american countrys andd yes may b an american will feel good living there theres bunch of gringos(americans) living there now but its kinda expensive though im not from there so i cant tell u that much but i know it has almost all the fast food chains and restaurants that are there.

if you go to nicaragua then to costa rica you will see the big diference even though nicaragua is a niceee country with bunch of nice people

the best places to live will b either puerto rico,nicaragua,costa rica, or panama

the other countrys liek salvador or guatemala are full of crime and ugly =p

tico times directory

How Western is Costa Rica? Interesting question. As Costa Rica Blogger said, sure you will see the McDonald's, Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Office Depot, IBM etc, but you will also see the same in TJ and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with more Americans living in Baja California then almost all of Costa Rica. No doubt CR draws Western influence (as Japan and many other countries have), but it is still a Spanish-speaking country with its culture and traditions and hopefully that will ever change to Western ideology.

Would a Western feel comfortable? It really depends on the Westerner. I have known many that have traveled to CR, loved the country, but would never live there. You have to remember, CR is a country that lives under Napoleonic Law as Mexico also. And if you can deal with cultures, traditions and San Jose/s traffic that make New York/s city traffic look like a deserted road ;- ) then you should have no problem living in CR as many Americans are doing.

AttorneyKearney

Most americans and foreigners of all areas feel right at home, mainly because of the friendly and educated people and many other reasons.
It has all the comforts of the USA, or Europe , you can get all kinds of imported stuff as well as local products.
In Costa Rica the the Laws are based on Civil Law which is based on Roman Law and Canonic Law,
Civil law or Roman Law is the predominant system of law in the world,
Costarican Law is similar to Napoleonic code because the Laws are organized in code books instead of purely past cases.
It is pretty safe as long as you use common sense.
Once your here you donÂ´t want to go back.

Lic.Gregory Kearney Lawson.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: