Don J
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I have lived in this city for almost 15 years. It IS a major city and Mexico is still struggling to get out of the third world, so crime is a concern of course. But it is very exaggerated especially by hysterical "gringos" (and Hollywood!)
While I have never been robbed in my 15 years here, my wife (Mexican) has been once in a local taxi, and my brother-in-law was held up at gun point at a traffic light and they took his wallet and his Rolex.
(While I deplore all crime and NEVER like to blame the victims, to drive around Mexico City in a late model Audi with your arm hanging out the window and a gold Rolex on your wrist seems to me to be pushing the bounds of luck, safety AND the good will of the Virgin......)
I first started visiting my wife's family here about 23 years ago and I can tell you that crime was MUCH worse back then! When someone quotes the crime statistics like "14 kidnappings a day" you also must remember that with 22 MILLION inhabitants, Mexico City, for a few years, was in the running for largest metropolitan population in the world! (I think these days about four to six others have overtaken us, I sure hope so!) But my point is that while you do have to be careful here, Mexico City is nowhere nearly as bad as many other HUGE world cities.
While there is crime, there is LESS crime here than say Rio or Sao Paulo (only about a quarter in fact), less than Buenos Aires, Trenton, Legos and less than Moscow, Mumbai or Karachi, less in fact than many other over-crowded world cities.
Yes we have bad pollution, but thanks to strong government action, that has been on the steady decline for 20 years. Where once we were the worst in the world, Mexico City is no longer even in the top ten.
You write that you have a friend here in Mexico City, That is absolutely the very best way to ensure that you will enjoy a trouble free vacation, that and speaking some Spanish, which I see that you also do!
Look, you are from the UK which as a nation has one of the worst crime rates in the First World! Just don't do anything here that you wouldn't do in the back streets of London, Liverpool or Manchester and you'll be fine! (I have to visit Houston, LA and Miami periodically as part of my work, because I know this city well, I feel MUCH safer here than I do in any of those places.......)
(Look, some Gringo gets blind stinking drunk on "aguardiente," smokes 10 joints then accepts an invitation from a drug pushing total stranger to go watch a cockfight at 12 midnight 20 miles out of town at an illegal cat house, then he screams "I was robbed, Mexico is SOOOOOO dangerous" ...... get my point?)
Having Mexican friends to look after you is just the very best protection you can have! Come on over, you'll love it here! Mexico City for all its warts is culturally, racially, historically, musically, culinarily as well as physically: the undeniable "Heart of the Americas" ................ |
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