New Caribbean land law
is a dream for developers

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Excuse me, Costa Rica, but you broke your word. 

I did everything that you asked of me to move here as a pensionado.  I started my resident application before I came.  I gathered all the documents and signatures.  I followed the rules.  I left every 90 days until I had my cédula.  I have my Social Security check direct deposited here.  I spend my money locally.  I pay into the Caja.  I got all the legal inspection and tax stickers for vehicles and the driver’s licenses and health insurance. 

I researched Costa Rica before I retired.  I was so impressed by some of the very progressive and forward looking laws made to preserve the environment and provide a living for the inhabitants here.  I love that people can move into vacant homes and use them for shelter.  I loved that there was no standing army that over 25 percent of the land was in parks or preserves, that from the sea you were not supposed to be able to see any lights or homes.

I especially loved the Puerto Viejo to Manzanillo area.  The Caribbean sea was more gentle than the Pacific side.  There were trees like huge old growth forest trees and giant wetland trees that you could circle with six people holding hands.  The crossroads of Puerto Viejo were dotted with an eclectic variety of foods (Chinese, Thai, pizza, fish, barbeque…) and surfer/hippie/Bob Marley music and tie-dyed merchandise came out of many beachfront grass shack stalls. 

Five miles away, nestled between the maritime zone and the Gandoca Preserve, I found a paradise of nature and wildlife.  I built my home here.  

Gradually, with time, some of the magic was diminished.  When I first walked on the beach I had to mark certain trees or outcroppings so I could find the path off the beach.  Now there are cars on the beach, benches, walkways lights, etc.  Little by little that feeling of being back in time has been eroded.

Now greed and corruption has managed to put forward a new law that is the developers' dream.  It eliminates from the preserve the strip of land by the coast from Cocles to Manzanillo, thereby opening up to be another “US Highway 1 - Key West Annex”!

If this law remains unchallenged, the natural beauty that I and many others have come here for will be replaced by manicured lawns and mono cultures of coconut palms.  The “poor” people that the law was supposed to protect will be driven out by expensive requirements to come into environmental compliance. 

I suggest that this is not why I came here.  Already overdevelopment has stressed the available water source.   If I wanted a hot, unshaded beach with no natural vegetation, no wildlife, no peace, no solitude, I could have stayed in Palm Beach County, Florida.  The people here are acting as though this law will be unchallenged.  Local property owners all of a sudden are wearing suits and carrying brief cases.  The undergrowth has been cleared for a view in so many areas.  Trees mysteriously die.  Crabs disappear.  Sloths and iguanas are eaten by dogs, coastal wetlands are ditched, drained and used for vegetative dumping grounds.   Raw sewage is trickled into the canals that go into the beach.  You have heard it before, but you really are “killing the goose that laid the golden egg.”  And you are breaking trust with me! 



Rental market for condos
has changed since Jan. 1

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:
 
Since the start of this year, we are noticing a major change in the condo apartment rental business in Costa Rica.

It appears there are only two types of North Americans coming to reside here now: The ones who have lots of funds to spend monthly on luxury units $1,500 to $3,000, and those who want to spend $500.  In the last few days we have received several requests per day for $500 to $600 units in Escazú and Santa Ana.  It started me trying to compare rates for a U. S. city which we consider not too expensive.  We searched garden apartments in Atlanta and found most complexes comparable to one of our upper middle class condo complexes like Avalon Country Club to run from $850 to $2500 in Atlanta for one- or two-bedroom units.  Of course in the U. S. most garden apartments are not furnished.
 
So for all the complaints about Costa Rica being too expensive, a typical furnished garden condo complex here runs $850 to $1,000 for one bedroom and $1,000 to $1,500 for two bedrooms.  Most condos Gringos are seeking are furnished, so the price is no more than Atlanta but the difference is that most here are furnished.  Now there is a major advantage to Costa Rica as the utility bills are much less.
 
The complaints you publish so often about Costa Rica being expensive for Gringos we agree about restaurant prices and imported food in our upscale grocery markets, but there are much less expensive alternatives like the farmers markets in almost all areas on the weekends.  The other saving is you really do not need to have a car here like so many places in the U. S.
 
So why are we receiving so many Gringos who ask for $500 apartments.  We can only guess the middle class in the U. S. is really in trouble, and they want out.  We continue to wonder why they think they can find safe, secure, gated, guarded condo complexes for $500, but they are coming every day more than ever.
 
Santa Ana is overbuilt at this time, and we doubt rental prices will go down since most investors here prefer to keep them empty rather than lower rents.  We recently rented a two-bedroom furnished unit to the auditor for a fortune 500 company at $1,100, but this one had been vacant for one year.  The investors face two problems in our opinion: They have ever increasing maintenance/HOA and the vacancy rate is high.
 
For the next couple of years until the market absorbs the oversupply we do not think real estate values will rise and perhaps will fall.  We hope the new government will understand we need all the new expats possible, but we wonder what the new policies will be.


Was miracle heavenly
or product of thought?

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Was this so called miracle of a physical healing actually made by the pope or was it Ms. Mora's own thoughts changing her own physical reality or condition?  There are many that believe in miracles from God.  There are others that believe the power of thought can cause what we might refer to as miracles.  There have been thousands of healings that have happened over the millennia.  Was it an act by an outside force or the actual ability of what our thoughts can create or change?  At this moment there is still much skepticism on both sides of the aisle.

I have personally seen people have physical healings that would be considered miracles performed by alternative therapies.  One such therapy is called neuro-linguistic programing and time-line therapy.  These therapies change your neuro pathways to think differently and thus can also heal or make physical changes in your body as well.

A good example of this is stress.  What is stress?  It is our thoughts that cause this stress.  These thoughts that produce mental stress can cause a number of negative physical conditions.  Such conditions as high blood pressure, heart problems, eczema, and the list goes on.  So, if we are able to cause these diseases through our thoughts, we can also cure diseases through our thoughts.  In the case of the woman who prayed to the pope, she may have been so intense in her thoughts that she was able to heal herself as so many have done in other alternative methods.

There are many books regarding this subject.  Three come to mind.  One book is called "Evolve Your Brain" by Joe Dispensza.  The book" by Louise Hay, "You Can Heal Your Life," is a great read about thoughts and dealing with health issues.  Another good quick read in regards to this way of making changes in your life is a book called "Spience."  It brings science and spirituality together and how to make positive changes in your life whether physical or mental.

I guess I will leave it up to what you believe.  But until you have researched thoroughly the power of thoughts, I wouldn't come to any quick negative judgment in regards to our thoughts being able to change our health for the better.