Sincerely, I don´t know which Puerto Vallarta you´re talking about... I live here 10 months a year since Jan 2007 and I have never had any problem, and I have never seen or heard about any situation with me or any friend that should make me feel unsafe. Of course, don´t walk around at night in El Pitillal, but you can walk downtown with zero problems. I don´t know of anyone that has had his house robbed, but it could happen as it can happen in the US.
Getting into a place (shop, restaurant, church!) and looking for a seat close to the door?! I have never listened to anything more ridiculous!! If you´re in an area whre drug dealers operate (Las Palmas, Ixtapa) maybe... but in any of the "tourist" areas of the Bay that sounds like you are talking about Ciudad Juarez.
you said that Mexico is more dangerous than 5 years ago... I wouldn´t generalize, you can say that for Monterrey, all border cities, Chihuahua and that´s it. In fact, since 2006 kidnappings have reduced by more than 50% in Mexico City (and remember that they are never to tourists).
There has been a rise in small robberies in popular areas of the bay, like Pitillal, Palmas, etc but mainly due to the financial crisis that started in 2008. There is a rise in unemployment and that is a concern for the authorities here, but so far this has not affected any tourist area.
There have been a couple of big "fights" downtown, that have not been publicized, and that are related to the increase of the Mexican tourism arriving to Vallarta (record year 2010) and no one got harmed (teenagers just doing same as they do in the US).
By that same comparison, we should avoid anyone getting close to any school in the US as they could get shot in one of those killing-sprees that happen quite often by the way.
I would never go to any State of the northern part of Mexico (not now), but the rest of the country, including Mexico City, which I visit twice a month, looks as safe as it was, with the obvious precautions that everyone should have (same as in New York, etc).
Statistics:Posted by Tranquilo — Thu Oct 28, 2010 11:33 am
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