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Puerto Viejo being taken over by “Faux Green, Land Rover Liberal, BoBos”?
Posted by Editor | September 11, 2009 | Categories: Economic Development | 35 Comments
 Wild Horse investigating potential development site. Photo courtesy of Sean F. |
Writing in the Newburyport Current in Newburyport, Massachusetts, writer Michael Cook has bemoaned the passing of the sleepy little Puerto Viejo he once knew.
The article is certain to raise some hackles with caustic lines like: “[as] I sat on the upper level of the southern California “BoBo” chic restaurant in the new, glitzy mini-mall built, you guessed it, by an American “Faux Green, Land Rover Liberal, BoBo” who blew into town a couple of years ago with a trust fund as big as all outdoors and decided he was going to remake Puerto Viejo in his own image, or at least his California hometown’s image.”
Cook’s definition of a BoBo is a Bourgeois Bohemian.
Cook says that it “all began to change about five years ago when, with Costa Rica at the height of its hip and trendiness among American ”Faux Green, Land Rover Liberal, BoBo’s”, (not to mention some right wing American whack jobs with good government pensions who love the fact they can often shoot first and ask questions later here), many ”faux green BoBos” found themselves priced out of “Nueva Calfornia”, aka Costa Rica’s Pacific coast. ”
Gone are the dirt roads and “near total absence of cars” which allowed wild horses to roam the streets of town. Instead he observed so much traffic and development that “cars, quads, and, of course, Status Utility Vehicles, clogged the avenue so that pedestrians and bicyclists could barely pass through, never mind a proud stallion with his harem and foals.”
The full article can be found on the Newburyport Current site but I’m sure the article will generate as much controversy here amongst the pro and anti development camps as his original article bemoaning similar development in Newburyport did there.
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and this will be a growing theme and frustration for many as time continues. Puerto Viejo’s greatest risk today is an unknown and undefined future – with a wide open door for chaotic and greedy development like several other towns on the Pacific. We have the advantage of looking across and seeing the mistakes. Criticizing will achieve little – but TAKING ACTION to define the future – with regulatory and zoning plans is the number one thing that can be done to assure a positive future for the Puerto Viejo region. It is a very fragile environment – and if we properly define HOW to develop it – there is much hope to preserve what we came here to love.
This author, Michael Cook has been writing the same article for about 3 years now to any print publication that seems desperate enough for content that might look like it is intelligent. And people wonder why print media is going by way of the dinosaur?
I have listened to this argument regarding local development for 5 years now. In fact, I used to lean towards the point of view outlined in this article.
However after thinking about it and listening to the arguments of foreigners that live here for a long time, I have much different views.
What I came to realize is that, more then protection of the environment, I wanted the place to stay exactly the way it was for my sole enjoyment. I would think that I was being environmentally conscious cause that sounded really good and no one could really poke a stick at that.
Upon further reflection, I also saw in a perverse way another reason I did not want development was that it might bring people with more money then me. This could definitely threaten the perceived privileged situation in which I live in where I as a foreigner have much more wealth then my neighbours.
Over the years of living here, I have never really heard any of these anti-development groups ask what the local citizens that actually have citizenship of the country as to what they want.
So I asked my employees. All of them unanimously said they wanted development that brought them more and better jobs so they could hopefully have a better standard of living and their kids would have a chance at good jobs and a future that may resemble the one they saw on TV as well.
You mean coming here on very limited means and hiring someone to clean your house once a week for 4 hours and having a gardener come in monthly is not jobs? Wow! Who would have thought??? How ungrateful!
Thinking about living in Vancouver, Canada where I am from, I was trying to imagine what my reaction would be if Americans that merely owned a condo were showing up at city council meetings dictating the future of the waterfront of Vancouver and thinking it was their absolute right to do so.
Those of us with merely tourist or resident status are guests in a foreign country. I think it’s time we started acting like it. It is their country and they have the right to decide their future as we did.
After my column lampooning Newburyport and Puerto Viejo’s “Land Rover Liberals” ran in the The Current, I went back through some old files searching for an op/ed piece written by one of my heroes, NY Times columnist Tom Friedman.
I couldn’t find the print copy of the column and, given what a prolific writer Friedman is, and the fact I was told I would probably have to pay to go into the Times’ archives, I didn’t bother to look for the column on line.
I wanted to reread it because I realized my lampooning of people, especially those who often swear on a stack of Bibles about their commitment to the environment and all things “green”, stems from Friedman’s claim in the column that most people, even those who claim to be “green”, really haven’t a clue as to the magnitude of the changes we are all going to have to make, both individually and collectively, if we are to have any real hope of leaving even a habitable world to future generations, never mind a sustainable one.
Now, lampooning can be great fun. There’s nothing a writer likes more than knowing an attempt at satire and lampooning worked, and someone really was bent out of shape by what was written.
But I’ve realized it also can take away from the very serious issues in play here.
What is often lacking in all of this discussion about development vs. preservation, about what is genuinely environmentally responsible and sustainable and what is not, whether it’s the debate over Newburyport’s waterfront or Puerto Viejo’s, is the input of ordinary people, be they pro development or pro preservation – especially those who are truly local, life long residents of either community.
In both places, when I talk to people about these issues, those who favor development are confident they will prevail. What they advocate, they believe, is inevitable. That may well be true.
Those who favor preservation, although passionate in their commitment to their cause, are often quietly resigned to the “inevitability” of the development because, in most cases, in whatever the community, it is the developers who have the money, and with that money comes political clout.
In both communities, this debate is dominated, by and large, by outsiders who have significant financial interests in both places, but who often know little about these two unique places that, because of their proximity to the sea, are now considered extremely valuable real estate commodities.
I’d like to remind everyone, be they pro-development or pro-preservation, that neither Newburyport nor Puerto Viejo are commodities, they are living, breathing communities.
I guess my biggest fear is that, as I watched out of control gentrification transform Newburyport from, albeit an almost exclusively white, but still socio-economically diverse community, into little more than a tony, upscale, seaside, bedroom community of Boston,I see a very similar phenomenon underway here today.
Long time, often native born, working class, Newburyporters were forced out as rents and property values soared into the stratosphere. Even many lucky enough to own a home, often without a mortgage, had to leave because their incomes could not keep up with ever increasing property tax rates as the skyrocketing real estate assessments gave the city license to charge old locals more in taxes each year than their grandparents spent to build the darned house in the first place.
I have talked to many native Costa Ricans who’ve lived and worked on the Caribbean for years who are leaving because they simply, with the influx of upscale foreigners, and the gentrification and economic inflation that comes with such people, simply can no longer afford to live here.
They are, in essence, becoming migrant workers in their own country.
Such a trend, given that poverty in Costa Rica is on the rise; given you have a major party presidential candidate describing what is happening today in Costa Rica as little more than a new form of “colonization”; given the fact the tourism, restaurant, and hospitality biz here is notoriously low paying; and given the fact the bulk of Costa Rica’s economy is based on such a low paying industry that tends to enrich a select few on the labor of many; all I can say is, the social unrest we all saw in Pavas last week may be just the beginning of some very interesting things to come here in the land of “Pura Vida”.
Development vs.. preservation: whether it’s in Newburyport or Puerto Viejo, is a tough debate.
But shouldn’t we all, myself included, stop the lampooning; stop turning those with whom we disagree into caricatures, and start addressing the very real, and potentially life threatening development/environmental challenges we all are facing before it’s too late?
Not just in Newburyport and Puerto Viejo, but the world over.
Michael Cool
Playa Cocles
&
Newburyport, MA
What does Michael Cool suggest Costa Rica should base its economy on instead of the “low paying” tourism industry?
JC,
It’s a good and valid question.
Tourism, when it is the main stay of a community’s economic base, is always a bit of a double edged sword.
I’ve worked in the industry on the coast of Massachuestts from Newburyport on the North Shore to Provincetown at the very tip of Cape Cod for a decade.
When the economy was good, the money could be phenomenal. But, over the last couple of years, and especially since last September, it has felt like a tsunami washed over the industry.
Restaurants, for example, that had been in business for twenty or thirty years cut back their staffs, reduced their hours, and,in some cases, just closed up shop.
But more than just this current economic downturn, when tourism becomes the economic mainstay of a community or region, it is usually because that communnity or region has something unique and beautiful to offer like Newburyport, Provincetown, or Puerto Viejo.
That’s great. But what then often happens in those places is the cost of everything, from basic food stuffs to housing, whether to buy property or simply rent, goes thru the roof.
For an example, I have been amazed at the way the price of food stuffs, even the most basic of staples, here in PV have skrocketed in the last couple of years. To grocery shop here is, for all intents and purposes as expensive, if not more so, than in the States.
yet I know very few people who earn their livings in the tourism industry here who are earning anything remotely close to US wages.
The other issue is often the cost of housing. If it hasn’t become an issue here yet, as the development, change, and gentrification continue, it most certainly will in the years to come.
I often liken Puerto Viejo to Provincetown on Cape cod because they both sit at the end of a long road to nowhere, have a history of fishing being a big part of the local economy, and they both also have a history of attracting artists, wanderers, and assorted other characters that have given each place its unique character and charm.
But about fifteen or twenty years ago the gentrification in P-town began to run amok.
Property values skyrocketed, which was great for some. The price of a rental unit went thru the roof.
By the time that started to happen, the local fishing industry was already on the decline, leaving only the restuarant, guest house, and retail shop businesses as the community’s economic mainstays.
It didn’t take long, however, for the owners of those businesses to realize that all the gentrification had sparked a housing crisis vis a vis skyrocketing values and, more importnatly, the price of rents.
Rents soared so high, especially during the fairly short June to September high season, that business owners suddenly found themselves with not enough employees to adequately staff their businesses.
because, even in a pricey restaurant where a server might make 150 or 200 bucks a night in tips for 12 weeks of the year and then things drop off substantially, if the restuarant even stayed open for the off season, that wage still wasn’t enough to cover a rent of what in high season might jump from a thousand a month from October 1 ro June 1, to 1000 a week, or more, for high season.
It was and is a chronic problem.
It resulted in business owners banding together to buy up old distressed properties. MAYBE bring them up to code, and then they began to import seasonal labor first from Ireland, then Jamaica, and more recently college kids from Belarus, the Ukraine, and other eastern european countries. Those employees got housed in those old buildings owned by their bosses, who then collected back some of the employees’ wages and tips in rent.it was a real sweet deal for the business owners and kind of a raw deal for the workers.
And many local American workers in the industry became increasingly resentful over both the housing issue and the fact the business owners’ response to the issue was to bring in foreign workers and house them in circumstances most American workers were unwilling to tolerate.
Much the same thing has happened in places like nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
Its a real dilemma.
I’m not saying the same thing is about to happen here, but the fact is over the next several years such a phenomenon could occur as the changes and growth contine, which they will, and life’s basics like food and housing become more expensive as a result of that growth and change.
To refer to the tourism industry as relatively “low paying” is not a slam against the industry. It’s a vitally important industry the world over.
But people also need to be mindful that as a place becomes popular with tourists it fundamentally changes a place, much of that change is for the better. But if change and growth aren’t well managed and planned, it can also result in a select few making out extremely well, and many others just struggling to get by.
And, whether it’s in a place like Provincetown or Puerto Viejo, there is nothing more potentially damaging to the very qualities that made such places so special and unique in the first place.
Mike, what alternative to tourism do you suggest for Puerto Viejo
JC,
Mike is not suggesting not having tourism…on the contrary – he is suggesting – as I have : “well managed and planned” tourism and development – something that today is completely non existent. With chaotic, greedy and non defined development – Costa Rica / Puerto Viejo is quickly losing the “golden egg” that we originally came to love Costa Rica for.
Well, first off, I am not, nor have I ever been a businessman. I’m a social worker by training.
But JC, before I even attempt to speculate about what other industries besides tourism and real estate speculation might be beneficial to Puerto Viejo, I have to say this.
The community needs to find a way to keep more of its kids in school.
I’m appalled by the number of school aged kids I see, by school aged I mean from the fifth grade or so on up to high school age, who are just hanging out in town.
Some of them are already peddling weed, and more than a few are destined to become crackheads.
If that doesn’t change, no other industry will want to come here. And, in reality, tourism will decline as well.
What industry, let’s say a small green technology company that might like to locate itself in an environment like PV will want to come here if the local work force is uneducated?
When I returned in early July, I saw a young man who, by now must be thirteen or fourteen, but I’ve known since he was six or seven.
I first met him after he turned my wallet in at Chino’s after I dropped it outside Chino’s office after changing 200 dollars in travelers checks the hectic day I arrived back from the states in a private van with not one, but two dogs in tow.
I’d run to ATEC to send an email to my brother so that he could tell my elderly mom the “kids” and I had arrived alive.
Apparently, I missed the pocket I thought I’d shoved my wallet into and dropped it just outside Chino’s door.
This little kid found it and brought it into Frank.
Now, there were two hundred dollars worth of colones, not to mention two credit cards in that wallet. Not a colon, nor a card was missing.
I found that kid and established a friendship with him.
I used to buy him ice cream on Saturdays at manuel’s, but only if he brought his weekly lessons from school with him.
I wanted to make sure he was in school.
A couple of years later when I got back, he avoided me. I finally found out why. His mom did not have the money to buy his uniform and supplies, so he did not want me to know he was not in school. The poor kid was ashamed.
That year,I talked to his mom because I did not want to offend, and she was thrilled I was willing to help so he could stay in school. So, I bought him two uniforms and his pens, pencils, etc.
Over time, we started to lose touch.
But he was good, honest kid.
That’s why when I saw him in July hanging out barefoot, in front of where the old Bambu used to stand, with a crew I recognized as nothing but trouble, and the first thing out of his mouth when he saw me was, “Hey, mon, can you spare 500 colones?”, I knew this once adorable, honest little “boy” was on the fast track to nowhere.
Finally, I think emerging, especially small, green technology companies might be willing to locate to places like PV if the proper incentives were in place, if they thought the local work force was educated, and if the growing security concerns many non-tourism industry related businesses have about Costa Rica, get addressed,
But if the local community can’t find a way to keep more kids in school until at least the 12th grade and have them graduate, all much of the local work force here will be qualified to do is wash floors, scrub toilets, and wait on foreigners in one capacity or another and, long term, such a reality doesn’t bode well for anyone’s future here in this beautiful little piece of tropical heaven.
All else aside, the only reason the area hasn’t developed faster is because it is a rainforest. Janice
Yes Michael, everyone got that…”Oh those were the days my friend…” But you still not have come up with any viable solutions to this issue as JC has asked twice here what economic base could Puerto Viejo sustain itself with if it did not have tourism?
You bring up the issue of what things cost now a days… Funny.. just today I asked my friend who is visiting here what the price of a beer was in Toronto. He told me between $6-$7 + tip. After I fell off my chair and got back up, I reminisced about the 25 cent drafts we drank at the bar tavern in Toronto many years ago. It’s long gone… I have gray hair.
And Manuel, coming from Florida and working in Real Estate, how could you imagine that human greed would not be an issue in development? As long as we live in a capitalist system, it will always be an issue. Human greed is a human condition you can not legislate. Show me a developing country that deals well with human greed?
As for your suggestion of having sustainable, well-managed developments… It’s a good one. I would almost call it a fantasy. But if the citizens of this country choose otherwise to sell out to greed (like we have in North America… with Florida being a prime example) why should they not be allowed to do so? It’s their country. We are merely property owners, not citizens.
What people describing is happening to the area is the reality of the world we live in. How could you begin to think Puerto Viejo would be exempt from the way the world works around us.
And Janice…. I hate to burst your bubble about “the area not being developed because it is a rain forest”. I feel the only reason the brakes are on is because of world economy and that’s it. I would love to think that developers were sensitive to environmental issues such as a rain forest.
Colinsito, I understand the developers are insensitive to the environment but can you guarantee two weeks of sunshine in this area for tourism, this is why, I think, that there are not dozens of large Hotels here…..J
Colin, in many ways I actually agree with you.
I think tourism has been and will continue to be an important element of the economic base here.
There is nothing at all wrong with that. All I’m saying is that when tourism and real estate development and speculation are the only elements of a community or region’s economy, it will tend to enrich a few and leave many others lagging behind.
As I’ve said, I’m not a business man, but it seems to me that, even with all the development of recent years, this place still remains fairly pristine and ecologically sound. I can’t imagine, especially with all this talk of an emerging green economy and green technology, that this place wouldn’t be seen as a potentially attracetive place for enterpeneurs involved in such work to site a business, a research operation, or really scientifically based conservation effort.
I also can’t imagine that if that happened, it wouldn’t offer potential employment for locals, especially if the local workforce is seen by potential employers as educated and trainable.
Maybe I’m naive, but the more diverse the local economy can become means it could well offer locals opportunities other than those exclusively associated with tourism.
Perhaps even with significantly better paying opportunities than tourism.
My worry is that if the current trends continue it will not be too far down the road in the future when this place will look an awful like jamaica. Where affluent tourists hunker down in all inclusive, self contained, luxurious, Disneyesqe resorts amd the locals will mill about the streets, crime will grow even worse than it’s been, and those affluent tourists will be strongly advised to not even leave the compound.
If that were to happen, it would be a real tragedy indeed.
But that’s just my opinion.
And, if the disparity between locals all too often
Bless you Michael for speaking the truth about Puerto Viejo. Keep on writing!
I don’t know the locals working at Banana Azul, but they are not representative of the many people in Puerto Viejo that I know. Almost every local I have spoken to does not see continue development as good for them or their families. Like Michael stated, many of them are leaving because they cant afford to live here anymore. So some of you foreign business owners can keep on justifiying your continued building by saying its for the good of the people, but but some of us know the truth.
Well this has turned out to be quite a discussion!!! Colin, with all due respect – I disagree with some of your comments. You – as a property owner – and resident investor in your town cannot stop or dictate development, but you CAN do your part to guide it in hopefully an intelligent and sustainable direction. You can be part of planning boards – along side local residents – to help educate what would be the consequences of good vs bad development. You can show them how they would benefit from planned development – how development with a road map is far better then chaotic and greedy development as it is today. For example – you can convince / show them as to why is is not wise to have hardware store in the middle of main street Puerto Viejo where there should be restaurants, shops and hotels – it is just simple planning. You can show them advantages of having one way streets instead of congested and constantly chaotic 2 way traffic jams. Most locals – particularly those in local government – have little idea of what a tourism destination can and should be like…they haven’t traveled like you may have and seen how other options work. They just see today’s benefits without thinking of how today’s actions will affect tomorrow’s results.
Here is another example: The tourists that come to your hotel and spend tourism dollars within the local community – they do so today because of the unique natural beauty in the area – and how Puerto Viejo is different from most other tourism destinations. As Janice pointed out above, the weather here is generally less predictable then elsewhere – and may be a factor in why we have not yet been overdeveloped. But, we are on the tourism / development map and growing. If we try to be just like the other popular destinations – with gold courses, marinas and high roses, then we will be no different or better – only with disadvantageous weather patterns. But if we create (or keep) what attracts tourists here today – then we can offer a UNIQUE tourism destination without high rises, jet skis, casinos, etc…and tourists will continue to come here – BECAUSE it is different and not overdeveloped. If we do just like we are doing right now – we are slowly losing our uniqueness and will eventually be no different then anywhere else – therefore struggle to maintain attracting tourism.
Now if I was to tell you that I am currently working with 2 developers looking at a property next to your hotel in order to build 4 twenty story high-rise towers – this might grab your attention. They are planning a high end condominium hotel project with a large casino in the lobby and water theme amusement park. Do you see this as a positive development? If yes, do nothing and wait. But if this scenario seems shocking, then I would get organized and involved in DEFINING if / where / how such developments will be able to take place in the future. There is NOTHING today impeding such developments. As you can imagine, such a development would significantly affect the future type of tourism we have here. Just to be clear – we are NOT working with such people yet – but I assure you they are on their way down and at this moment there is nothing to impede high rise towers next to your hotel or anywhere else. Most successful tourism destinations DO have zoning and development visions…and that is why they became and stayed successful as tourism destinations. Such examples that I am immediately aware of are like Tulum and Key West – being very popular tourism destinations, but somewhat low density development and with theme. On the other hand, you have chaotic development in places like– Jaco….where anything goes – and we see the results. Would you rather see Puerto Viejo leaning towards the Tulum model or the Jaco model? THAT IS SOMETHING WE CAN BE DECIDE!!!!
There is an area in this region that does have a zoning and planned development and it happens to be one of the main local attractions. It is the wildlife refuge in Punta Uva and Manzanillo. It IS one of the main reasons people come down here…and even though it is being developed – it is a controlled and defined development – somewhat sustainable – and continues to attract tourism because the development is not overly destroying it – and the wildlife can continue to flourish. We know we can’t put in high density structures, or high rises, or small lots – and as a result – it is an area highly in demand – by those desiring “green space”.
Today you can STILL decide (be part of the process) if and where there should be high rise towers permitted to be built next to your hotel – and you can still help protect that “golden egg” that gave birth to Puerto Viejo – and keep it for the future generations of locals – so that you, we and the locals can continue to enjoy it and prosper without ruining it. I don’t think this is fantasy thinking – it is an absolute reality if you care enough to be part of the solution and not the problem.
You are right Manuel… we clearly disagree (yes respectively).
Yes, I can be a part of the process… only if I am “invited” by the people and country of Costa Rica to planning meetings to give input on what I would think be the best direction for development, I would most likely oblige. But to this date, I have not been invited. I was only expected by other non-citizens to attend because I was a local business owner and they felt they needed my voice.
Funny we should talk about this. I was watching many of the discussions with work around new immigration proposals that recently passed and I found it odd (and maybe rude) that non one from ARCR (Association of Residents of Costa Rica) was invited to give input to proposed new financial requirements for residency). But then I realized, they don’t have to if they don’t want to. They can set the criteria of what they want for their country and who can live here. If they shoot themselves in the foot… so be it… they have that right.
Yes, there are places like Key West that have a development plan. I am sure that those development plans were conceived by American citizens and not by Cubans that recently showed up on their shores.
As to the prospect about having a 25 story hotel and casino next to me… That was a potential “what if” reality I asked myself before I even bought the property… If it does… I either stay or move. It is that simple. Whether it is going to happen is not for me to decide. It is not my property and to date the country has not decided on a final zoning for the area.
Just because I might have other mostly self-serving ideas and agendas, does not mean the Costa Rican government and people of Costa Rica (especially Talamanca citizens) don’t have theirs. I think they have more rights to their ideas and agendas, then I do to mine.
Long and short of it… So far from either you or Michael (or anyone else for that matter that I am aware of), I have never heard anyone ask “What the locals really want?”
I just feel I don’t feel I have the right to March around the world and tell everyone that I know what’s better for you. Maybe I do… Maybe I don’t. To be honest, I may have a couple good ideas on a few things, but to pretend I know all about what is best for a country and it’s future in this complicated world we live in, I really don’t. If truth be known, I don’t even have a high school education.
It is obvious many here people do think it is there place to tell people how things should be developed and what their future should look like. That’s okay… and I am not going to stop them. But just don’t expect me to join them.
And lastly, I do take small issue to your final comment “if you care enough to be part of the solution and not the problem.” That sounds too much like “you’re either with us or against us”. And many of us around the world got to see where that point of view and course of action got us.
Colin….you are correct: a very important question and repeated theme is: What do the locals really want?
They wants jobs, security, safety, education, hope for an always better future, better services, etc.
We are quick to say: more development will bring them that – and that is where this discussion is heated…because YES, development is part of that solution….but intelligent and sustainable development should be the KEY…and we hear that not often enough. Putting in a marina or a high rise will NOT solve our local problems or bring them what they need…
I also agree that you should not be going in the streets (or meetings) demanding certain issues as a foreigner – however well intentioned. Many foreigners here – including myself – have made serious errors in trying to be part of certain solutions and expressing their voices at town meetings. The only result will be no result using such tactic. If we want anything done – it should always be WITH the local community and using their voices. All we can do is offer them perhaps other / better choices and options in order for them to better decide on important issues. I am just concerned that we don’t always go about the right tactics to get the right message across and many opportunities are lost. It is a very delicate and difficult process…but I do feel strongly that if we put our minds and good energy together – solutions CAN be achieved as a strong town for a sustainable future.
Oh Colin, I think your arguments just don’t hold much weight. Don’t worry, quit trying to look like the good guy and go about doing what you do best, running what appears to be a successful Inn. AND don’t worry about what the locals in Puerto Viejo want, as you clearly do not know. Just keep asking your hotel guests what they would like. That pool was a terrific idea, gringos love their pools. Perhaps you might think of putting in a giant water slide next, just keep building, like I said it’s what you do best.
Hey Colin, With all due respect, reading between the lines of your posts, I think it’s time for you to put Banana Azul on the market and for you to move on.
Man, even your commentary here is, in the interest being somewhat diplomatic, bitter and jaded.
Let me guess, you’re just holding out for the marina so you can REALLY cash in.
But guess what, given some of the local opposition to the marina that I am familiar with, an opposition that has an almost century long history here, and their understanding of the importance of maintaining and building upon LOCAL strengths and attributes, I think the marina plot, even though it sounds like you’re banking on it, may yet hit another brick wall.
I for one, sure as heck hope so.
The last thing Puerto Viejo needs is a “Los Suenos” in its midst.
Colin, if you do sell banana Azul, I’d suggest you buy a B&B in Provincetown. Given your airs of superiority and your bitterness, trust me, you’d fit right in.
I had been congratulating the Puerto Viejo community for the fact that discussion was been held about the issues in an open and constructive manner and not heading down into personal attacks. But it is now heading that way.
I would hope that civility can be maintained here. I don’t want to edit or moderate these comments but I don’t want this site to act as a forum for rudeness either. So I would appreciate if all would keep that in mind. If you wouldn’t say it to a person’s face, please don’t write it online either.
I think everybody will be happy to know that after 30 years of legal wrangling the rules have been set and the way is cleared for a comprehensive zoning plan for Talamanca. 98% of the area already has some form of coastal zoning plan, plan de manejo or are indian reservations and national parks so the resting 2% will receive zoning plans for sustainable development. The zoning is elaborated by renowned specialist in zoning from University of Costa Rica, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad del INBio and ICT. The implementation and management of the plan is collaborated with MINAET and the Municipality of Talamanca.
Rachel and Mike, both foreigner, seem to just know what the Costa Ricans need and when their arguments don’t hold water they are the bitter (and may I say arrogant) ones that go for the jugular and retort to personal insults. Reading the previous post it seems like the Ticos know how to take care of themselves just fine without much input of the alikes of these two.
98% already zoned?????? really!! would like to know…being in the business…am not aware of such an accomplishment. JC….that remaining 2% is a massive area! please be specific about your facts
what your red phone didn’t ring, Manuel ?! Well the good news is that its a well publicised fact and was frontcover as late as yesterday in Diario Extra and you can read up on it at their website
No, Michael, I am actually not bitter any more. I feel much better now where as before when I was constantly looking over my fence and complaining about what everyone else was doing and desperately trying to control it.
I find it very interesting and dishearting reading this string.I have been going on the satellite from it’s conception I believe. Following the news and the stories and comments.
Here is the reson why I am upset – bear with me.
I come from a small town in rural Ontario.It is a beautiful place (Blue Mountain/Beaver Valley). Being a small town there is a lot of generational fighting – one family upset with another over someing stupid that happened 20 years ago.We could never really a achieve a lot because of this.As time went on city people from Toronto etc.. came into the area and started buying up land and opening business.Soon the locals where pushed to side and lost control over the area. The new folks went on council and took places of important decision making etc… They had that right but the locals got left behind (partly their own fault).Now the majority of the locals are are displaced and forgotten about.
When I first started spending time in PV 5 years ago I seen a lot of the same thing. Locals infighting over who knows what.I also see what is going on with the foreigners and expats .
What I find disturbing on this string is the anger and divisions.It’s ok to disagree. Manuel and Collin are often at different ends of the spectrum but they seem to repect each others opnions.When I hear some of the other comments that are personal it makes me shake my head.I think everyone here wants the same thing. Perservation and better life for the locals.I agree with Manual that we need a plan or we will be overwhelmed. At the same time Collin is right we are not locals and should not tell them how to run their area. I know what happens to locals when outsiders take control – they get further push to the back and eventually displaced.
As a land owner in the area I am concerned with these issues.I have spent most of the past 20 years in social service and see the need for community development here. Locals and outsiders can work togather- have to work togather or what we know will be lost.
Please folks put away your petty differences and personality conflicts and rise above.The future of the area depends on all of us working togather.
This has been an interesting debate. What I find especially curious is that none of the posters expressing their concern for the future of this area can be found at any meetings that are called just for that.
As the Secretary of CATCAS (Camara de Turismo Caribesur) and the coordinator for Cuenca Sixaola, where I represent some 25 local associations, I attend several meetings every week were we work on issues that faces this community. We welcome you all to put your efforts in constructive forum where we together with the local and regional associations and chambers of commerce and tourism, Assoc de desarollos, Municipality, Ministry of health, Ministry of security, Ministry Tourism, Ministry of Transportation, just to mention a few, to coordinate our efforts.
Worth pointing out is that this effort is without pay or even reimbursment of expenses but I am happy to inform that even people that have just enough money to pay for the bus ride still show up without fail working for a better future for everybody.
Att. Jorge Molina
Well put Jorge !
Let people put their money where there mouth is.
The satellite might want to put a link on to include these associations and updates from them. Alaine on Greencoast gives updates from time to time but maybe a dedicated link would be a idea.
Just a thought.
Jorge,
Indeed it is wonderful that there are so many organizations. I have participated in hundreds of hours at many meetings myself – but EVERY single one of them are never announced – except from a phone call from another participant at the very last minute ie: “There is a meeting today at 4, can you come?”. You would do the community a massive help if you would post any future meetings from any of these organizations on a pubic website such as PuertoViejoEvents.com for example – so that people who are interested have better opportunities to join. Communication seems to be the weakness – not the desire – many times. Likewise, if there was a public place / board in town so that those that do not have Internet – can see when and where any such meetings take place – such as ATEC. Let me know if I can help – but this is something that is needed drastically – communication and notification of meetings. Perhaps DOUGDO from this site will pick up on this issue and create a special calendar section for COMMUNITY MEETINGS.
JC – I looked up the article – indeed – as well – looks positive…though your numbers are somewhat off….12% (not 2%) still needs to be “zoned” and that is specifically the areas we are discussing: Puerto Viejo / Cahuita and the beaches – ie: where “undefined” development is taking place.
just realized there IS a Community Events section here on this site, but 95% of the local community meetings are not posted…this would be a great start.
Hey Manuel… Just curious… You say that “most people come to this coast to visit Punta Uva and Manzanillo”
I was just wondering if you had some sort of stats to support that? We run a busy hotel and according to local tour providers, the tour company I co-founded is the single largest vendor (Gecko Trail) of local tours in the area.
I have been working closely with guests for almost 5 years now with their holiday and excursion plans for this area the whole time. My experience would in no way support that claim.
Punta Uva and Manzanillo are definitely gems of the area, but more people in my experience are more interested in Cahuita National Park. This is nothing official… it is just a quick guess on my experience.
Also after living here for a while I have heard many people that live in the Punta Uva area have some very disparaging comments about Puerto Viejo and Playa Negra area. Your area that you live and do business in is very nice, but I can assure you, from our experience it is hardly the “main reason” people visit the coast.
But… I might be wrong. If you have some evidence to prove otherwise, it would be great if you could share it. Some of us might want to re-examine marketing strategies.
I post most of the community events that get sent to me. But not everyone send them (CATCAS is great at sending them, thank you!). Some others arrive with so little notice that they are over by the time I see them. And finally I have limited time unfortunately.
This effort at collecting community news and events really requires a dedicated person. I would consider partially funding such a resource as part of Puerto Viejo Satellite’s commitment to this community but don’t personally have the time available for this project.
I do encourage all community event announcements to be sent to editor@talamancanews.com
Colin,
That comment is certainly not scientific…just a general observation / personal viewpoint that – yes – other then Cahuita National Park – many / OR most of our clients ask about and visit the OTHER national park…that being the area below Maxi´s in Manzanillo…which is not a national park and is – unfortunately still developable (a lot but not all of it). Because it already has SOME protections and thus the natural beauty has been protected – it is a local attraction. It is easily accesible and tours are not required to visit most of it. I see hundreds of tourists ride their bikes from Puerto Viejo on their way down there all the time. Cahuita is fully protected and is a main attraction. My point Colin – was the better protected certain sectors are, the more tourism appreciates it!! Tourists and residents dont want to see highrises…they want to see high trees!!! And unless we get very serious about that…then there may come a time when there are more hotels, high rises, marina slips and casinos then there are natural wonders nearby to enjoy.
As for Playa Negra – I love Playa Negra and think it is definitely an often overlooked section of our region…why that is I am not sure – but for those that down talk it – I tell them to go back and spend more time there. It has by far the most “quaint” feeling of a neighborhood in this sector – and also is an area that today is a high risk of being overdeveloped – yet has minimal protections against that.
OK, I apologize for my getting personal.
But I only did so after a certain person who, from what I understand, controls this web site, and the person who does that controling local person’s bidding in terms of what gets posted here is editing this site from back in Canada, insulted my intelligence and the integrity of another poster because we dared to challenge the controlling individual, who controls this web site’s vision for el caribe Sur.
Manuel, I have lived off on and here for eleven years. I have absolutely NO use for Playa Negra.
The two years I rented a house there, I was constantly robbed and living in fear.
Back “home” in Playa cocles, in the simple house I rented for many years before I made the mistake of thinking I was “upgrading” by renting another, fancier house in Playa Negra, has been a joy.
Sorry, let’s all just tell the truth here.
Playa Negra always was, and continues to be, dicey territory. The person who controls this web site, for obvious reasons, won’t like it if that truth gets posted, but it is the truth.
lol… Mike you really crack me up… Playa Negra is just fine and ceartenly not any more unsafe then any other area around here… your commentary is irresponsable at best
Kind of a lame apology Mike by “apologizing” then going on with more baseless unfounded personal attacks. We’ve never met yet somehow I’m some sort of puppet being controlled by an evil puppetmaster??? LOL.
BTW, I started this site because I loved the area and thought the area was dying for better resources to promote it. The site content is not “manipulated” by anyone. Colin, however, was nice enough to put a lot of effort into getting a lot of details right on the site when it was first started and again lets me know when things have changed. Other community members who have constructive views have done the same as well — contributed content, let me know when the site has outdated info, have sent notifications of community events.
I post whatever comes my way and accept listings from all local businesses (have only ever made one exception for a environmentally destructive business I personally made the decision I didn’t want to support by listing).
I’m just one person basically working as a volunteer. The small amount of advertising revenue covers the expenses of the site but almost nothing for my time.
So this kind of attitude is really not helpful. If you’re not happy with the content of the news or the site and aren’t willing to post with civility and contribute in a spirit of community building you’re welcome to start your own website or whatever and take your rants there instead.