That seems weird. I wonder why, since from my admittedly anecdotal experience, it's reasonably safe here. Lots of Americans and Canucks come down this way for winter (or to Ajijic where Doug is). There IS the Cártel de Nueva Genercion Jalisco, but things have been really quiet in the city here since I arrived, or perhaps I just don't follow the news well enough. I have heard that there are higher-ups in the cartel that live around here, but they apparently have followed the adage "don't crap in your own back yard" as of late. Guadalajara is a colonial city with a beautiful city center. A city with vibrant art and wonderful culture. A city of genuinely friendly and helpful people. A city with a ton of international business in manufacturing and technology. It's considered the Silicon Valley of Mexico and GE, IBM, Intel, Freescale, Hitachi, HP, Siemens, Flex, Oracle and more have campuses here.

Truthfully, there are very few places in the US I would choose over living here, and I'm not sure at this point whether I'll ever move back, especially since my Spanish is constantly improving. We'll see. The wife and kids might have other ideas Anyhow, anytime you feel like exploring, I'll be happy to serve as tour guide and you can decide for yourself whether to believe the propaganda.

obligatory tourism promo video