Whenever I talk to folks seriously about our "Plans to Retire in Mexico", the first question is always regarding safety. Not only do I feel that we are indeed safer in Mexico than in the United States, we are focusing our efforts on the single safest state (out of 32) in all of Mexico. The Baja Sur reported only one homocide in all of 2008, which is 100 times safer than the same population area of North, Alabama (including Birmingham). In fact our little city of Decatur reported one homicide for 2008, Huntsville, 28 and Birmingham much more than that. Not only is the area of focus, San Jose del Cabo nearly a thousand miles south of the drug cartel related violence at the border, it is the most sparcely populated state in all of Mexico. Here are some well made points and statistics from Arthur Frommer-
Arthur Frommer, publisher of the famed travel guides, recently traveled to Mexico and stated, “In actual fact, the resort areas of Mexico . . . have experienced no violence directed against tourists and are, in fact, almost totally serene, as I myself witnessed on a recent stay. It is as safe to vacation in the tourist part of Mexico today as to go to any city of the U.S. or Canada.”
Arthur Frommer makes a good point. Looking at crime statistics, it would appear that Americans are safer in Mexico than they are in many parts of the United States. The United States is the most crime-ridden country in the world. Mexico is not even in the top five. The top five are (based on total crimes per country):
1. United States – 11,877,218
2. United Kingdom – 6,523,706
3. Germany - 6,507,394
4. France - 3,771,850
5. Russia – 2,952,370
On a per capita basis, the United States ranks 8th, while Mexico is 39th. Reporting that all of Mexico is not safe based on violence in three or four cities is like saying that the United States is dangerous based on the crime statistics for New Orleans (209 murders in 2008), Detroit and East Los Angeles. In 2008, more Americans died in New Orleans (one city) than in all of Mexico.
With all of that, and 360 days a year of sunshine, wouldn't you feel safer there?
