Moving to Mexico
- See also: Visiting Mexico
Archived Q&A and Reviews
Moving to Mexico City with kids
May 2014
Hi BPN-ers,
I'm considering doing a fellowship abroad and my research keeps leading me to Mexico City - I've heard it's surprisingly liveable and safe (if you're in the right neighborhood), family-friendly, close to a number of universities, etc. But I know NOTHING about the city and have never been there (I've lived and traveled all over the world, however). Does anyone have any advice for me? Neighborhoods to live in, schools for the kids, things to watch out for, experience with the universities there? I'd love to get some more information before going further down this road . . . thanks. Gracias padres!
Yes, Mexico City is one of the safest cities in Mexico right now. It´s an amazing city, a little overwhelming at first but very, very interesting. I have traveled around the world and still find Mexico City fascinating.
You will find a big variety of private schools but I suggest that you live close to your work and to your children´s school as the traffic can be insane. The American School and The Edron Academy are one of the best schools, but you can find many other excellent bilingual schools. You will find the National University (UNAM) that is located in the south of the city very closed to a very charming neighborhood called San Angel, ITAM an excellent university and also in the area of San Angel, Tecnológico de Monterrey that has I think two campuses Santa Fe and Xochimilco and Universidad Iberoamericana. These are the best universities in Mexico.
My advice will be not to walk at night in any neighborhood unless it´s a busy street with restaurants and stores and don´t wear jewelry. If you are going to walk in crowded areas like down town or the subway don´t look clueless.
It´s such a big city with so many things to do that I suggest buying the Lonely Planet Mexico City. But just to name a few neighborhoods where you would like to live:
San Angel. Charming and old money. Coyoacán. Charming. Santa Fe. Very modern. New money. Lomas de Chapultepec. Huge houses. Old money. Colonia Roma. European style and walkable. Colonia Condesa. Walkable and nice. Polanco. European style, very international and walkable.
There are thousand of museums, restaurants of all kinds, markets, theaters, stores. I send you a link that may interest you.
http://travelmamas.com/attractions-for-kids-in-mexico-city/
There are so many things to see and enjoy in that humongous city. See the contrasts. Go to the little taco place in the corner of the street but also to the world class restaurants, go to the poor neighborhoods in down town, to the colonial neighborhoods, the rich ones.. all that is Mexico.
Make little trips by car to Tepoztlán, Cuernavaca, Taxco, San Miguel de Allende, Oaxaca.
Don´t miss the Lucha Libre you can take your kids and they will have lots of fun.
Missing Mexico City
We are currently doing this with our 5 & 8 year old kids and I'm happy to share more details about our experience directly, so feel free to message me on BPN. We chose Mexico for several reasons and are very happy with our decision. It was hard to research schools in advance, both because neither parent was fluent in Spanish (I was at a low intermediate level when I was looking for schools) and because schools often don't have websites or answer emails. My husband and I visited without the kids in March to look at schools and cities and chose a place to live based on the school and how happy we thought our kids would be (because that obviously impacts us tremendously!). Then we moved in late July; I think I started researching about a year in advance. We rented out our home in Berkeley on sabbaticalhomes. The thing I wish I had discovered earlier in the process is that there are facebook groups for English-speaking expats for particular cities and/or regions. They are invaluable for advice on schools, renting, living, etc. But if you are interested in more details about Mexico, definitely contact me!