There was a small news story recently that we reported, about UNAM students doing a study and proposal for a gated, planned community that would cater to extranjeros. Another recent newstory mentioned a shopping mall going up in Valladolid, filled with chain stores ranging from Italian Coffee to Burger King. Both these news stories invited a flurry of responses and comments, most of them along the line of "we don’t like these kinds of developments".
Over the past year, Merida alone has started (and almost finished) FOUR new shopping malls. There is one now open behind the fabulously modern Liverpool shopping center that sports an ice-skating rink in the center. The Alta Brisa Mall is open now too, located next to the Star Medica Hospital. MacroPlaza Merida is anchored by a Chedraui grocery store and a Super WalMart. The last one that will be finished is called CityCenter Merida and is also located in the north part of town and will also have a Super WalMart. Between them, the new centers will open 56 new movie theatres, bringing Merida’s movie screens to 86 in total. The five shopping malls that existed before these had 718 separate stores, and these four new centers will add an 420 additional stores. (Thanks to childrenofhabitat.blogspot.com for these figures). Merida has never in its history, even during the henequen boom, seen such unprecedented growth.
Having lived here for the past six years, we’ve watched this happen. We’ve enjoyed the fruits of this growth at times, and agonized about it at others. In particular, a comment sent to us privately about the planned shopping mall in Valladolid prompted us to share our thoughts on this matter. We think there is something important here that all of us who are strangers in these parts need to think about and understand. Pues, (a much-used Spanish expression that means "so" and "then" and "well" and any number of connecting words that basically mean nothing much at all…) the following is the article, the email we received in response and our response to that email.
First, the article in question…
Valladolid to Get New Shopping Center
On the east side of the peninsula, Chedraui is investing $8,000,000 USD in a new shopping center in Valladolid, and it is to be built in the first quarter of 2008. This shopping center will also be home to Italian Coffee, Burger King, Big Home, Coppel, Hollywood Cinemas, Taco Inn, Famsa and Cajun Grill, among others. With the naming of Chichen Itza as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World, the eastern part of our state needs as many new businesses and services as they can get. Hundreds of thousands of visitors are coming and many new residents are deciding to call the area home. It is a long way from Valladolid to Merida (or to Cancun) so this shopping center is good news for everybody who lives there or stops by to visit.
Next, the letter we received…
Our reader wrote: “Regarding the article, is this view about development prevalent in the expat community and at the editorial board of this publication? What interests future retirees about your area is its unique culture and landscape. 
My wife and I visited Valladolid last winter and we loved what we saw. The Yucatan does not need to stay underdeveloped, but your fascination for (this) type of development described tells me that it is in danger of becoming indistinguishable from the snack strips of El Paso, Fort Lauderdale or Costa Rica, and that this will happen too quickly. Surely, you will agree that what you have now is special. I am not saying local government should restrict growth. But my wife and I were interested in the Yucatan and this article tells us Yucatan expats are anxious to recreate the world they left behind in the north. This begs the question, why did they leave it? It also has caused us to cast our attention more seriously to southern Europe for our retirement plans.”
Lastly, our response…
Dear Sir: We don’t originate the subjects of our News summaries on Yucatan Living. We translate articles from Spanish-language sources that are published for a Mexican readership. We do this as a service for our English-mostly readership. If the Yucatecos think it’s a big story, then we try to include it.
We can’t speak for the expat community, of course, but we can make some observations we feel sure about:
people. The expat community has nothing to do with it. Here in Merida, there are at most 6,000 expats in a city of a million Yucatecos. We’d guess there are no more than 70 expats in Valladolid. We have no direct impact on growth that we can tell. The impulse to build and grow comes from the Mexican middle-class.
But there’s nothing like having access to a modern experience when you need one. This is especially true for health care, insurance, real estate and other important matters. If you want to buy a washing machine, you have to go to a modern store. The mercado only carries washboards. Once you’ve actually lived outside of your own country, you’ll perhaps understand that desire a little bit more.5. Meanwhile, is it really fair to impose one’s wishes on people in other countries? If the Yucatecos want a 
shopping center, why not? Did you notice that all but one store in the article was a Mexican corporation? That means more jobs in Mexico, more middle-class Mexicans, and probably more shopping centers. This is happening all around the world. It’s the big global "catch up" to the so-called "developed" world. Good luck escaping it in southern Europe. If you really don’t want to see a shopping mall, we’d recommend the Island of Roatan, off the coast of Honduras, and even there, we’re not sure you’d be completely "safe".
What do you think? We welcome your comments…
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I thought Y.L. response was spot on. As a guest in this country I try to accept what goes on and keep my opinions to myself. I think it’s fruitless to get excited or upset about things that I am powerless over. It seems strange to me that those from NOB think that the locals would not have the same wants and desires as anyone else. Is it possible that the locals might know what the locals want? I for one, assume that the locals know what they are doing……. for the locals.
Your answer expresses our opinion 100%, having experienced living outside of the USA on two ocasions we completely understand your point and it is very accurate. It is not easy though, if you have not experienced that, one thing is to “visit” and another to live in a country, which is the way to really get to know it. It is a good idea before you move permanently to spend at least a few months living there to make sure it really is what you want, and still it takes more than that to get past the “culture shock” that everyone goes through. We continue with our plans to retire in Merida this year, we won’t be living in a gated-community (our choice) but we welcome progress, it also means more jobs for the locals…
Marie & Jay
Tourists and expats in old cities everywhere tend to be attracted by “quaint,” but unfortunately “quaint” is often a synonym for “poor” as poverty over time blocks new development.
In that context, it is important to remember that the historic district of every old city was at one time new development, and that new development a) is usually controversial and b) always occurs in a time of relative prosperity. Today’s tradition was yesterday’s innovation, and cities which never innovate eventually die.
In that context Merida’s new developments are a manifestation of a degree of prosperity that evidently was absent when new development wasn’t taking place. That they are developments dependent upon the mass spending of an expanding middle class is emblematic that things are geting better, if not for everyone at least for a significant percentage of everybody.
The key, of course, is to preserve what is good about the past while embracing the future, and to be sentient about the forms which “new” takes. Ideally, the prosperity resulting from new development spills over into preservation and nurturing of a significant percentage of the best of the old while making sure that the new isn’t just a bunch of schlock. If a city can do those things, it may be standing at the threshold of a new golden era.
Having also lived in Mexico as an “EX-PAT” for 7 years on ISLA HOLBOX I know the inner feeling that comes with “NEW DEVELOPMENT”. We here on Holbox are faced with the same as Talk & Rumors abound about a NEW HOLBOX Coming with Modern Hotels, More tourism & the like. I was recently named Director of Tourism for Isla Holbox for the USA & CANADA as the city fathers saw the need to have MORE of this type of tourism coming to Holbox. Merida is a Fantatic place so culturally diverse and the incursion of Modern Shopping Malls etc is simply the desire of the Rising Mexican Middle-Class to have some of the better things of life, things we Expats have had for years & basically “Take For Granted”! Your observations on the hoards of Mexicans who shop everyday in the US is born out in Border towns around the Frontier. One I’m very familiar with having luived there 15 years is El Paso Texas. On the Border with Cd Juarez, the lines of Mexicans who cross daily “Just to Shop” has also spawned a new Business in ElPaso……The Manifesto shop. Here a Mexican citizen can take receipts for items purchased in ElPaso where they Paid the 8.25% Texas Sales Tax along with their Elector Card…….Pay a few Dollars to the processor……Get a form they take back to the store of purchase to receive a FULL 100% Rebate on all taxes paid. (Sure would be nice if MEXICO Reciprocated & gave all of us EXPATS a 10-15% REBATE on all the “IVA” we pay !!!!!
Anyway. life continues, Mexico is evolving & growing and we EXPATS Should just Go with the Flow & enjoy the benefits as WE SEE THEM, to being in this wonderful country. I admit its nice to be able to find a decent cup of coffee. I remember not that long ago in Cancun at 7-11 they served INSTANT COFFEE With a glass of Hot WATER! Even now I see the taste for Gringo Coffee Growing by leaps & bounds. The lines @ Starbucks in the Mex City Airport are immense!
Lastly, if anyone in Merida would like to “Get Away” from it all on a Beautiful Tropical Island ISLA HOLBOX is the place I’ll be happy to assist with answers to your questions & help with attractions, accomodations etc. email me @ bmwrodd@earthlink.net
Meanwhile lets let progress “Take its Course” VIVA MEXICO!
Succinctly put once again YL. Thanks for your measured and thoughtful response. As one of the gringos who really escaped the madness for the peace of the small villages (I live in Izamal, no shopping centers here, and not many gringos at that), I can strongly echo the sentiment “there’s nothing like having access to a modern experience when you need one.” We run a small hotel with a restaurant and we could not exist or serve our clientele if we had to purchase everything out of the local mercado.
Further, it may be a painful fact for those fortunate enough to live in the developed world, but they have set the standard of aspiration for the developing world. People see what the wealthy Norteños have, and they want it. Can you blame them? Rather than complain about development here, why not do something about it there. Perhaps if people in developed countries stopped eating at MacDonalds and Burger King, they would not proliferate around the world. Maybe if those same people shopped in small local retailers rather than supporting WalMart, we’d see small retailers here being able to compete and better serve their clients. The list goes on and on.
It only goes to support that old yogic adage, “be the change you want to see.” I find it a shockingly juvenile attitude to basically say, “well, we’ve got ours, but you cannot change because we want to be entertained by your quaint lifestyle.” If anyone prefers not to see mall development, then do not support it. This is not development driven by one group or another, it is driven by large corporate interests and they live or die by attracting consumers. We cannot judge what others want, but we can exert pressure by our own buying habits.
“Pobre México,” dijo Don Porfirio Díaz en los últimos años de su larga dictadura a un reportero norteamericano. “Tan lejos de Dios, tan cerca de los Estados Unidos.”
My wife and I, speaking currently as two 7 1/2 year part-time Norte residents of Valladolid - and soon in a couple years to be fulltime residents - we are thrilled that Chedraui is coming to Valladolid as the anchor of a new small mall on the Northern ourskirts of Valladolid.
Their wide variety of merchandise and competitive prices will save us from many many extra trips to Merida or Cancun to buy basis things we can not currently buy at any store in Valladolid.
Also - as I mentioned the new mall is NOT on the Zocalo / nor anywhere near any part of the Zona Historica - so Valladolid will remain a wonderful time capsule of historic buildings.
We are also just as thrilled with the fact that was widely reported in newspapers in Valladolid at Christmas time this year, that the State government of the Yucatan is making a grant of several million US dollars to Vallodolid to invest in the city’s tourism image by putting all the electrical wires and phone wires underground and requiring property owners to “present a historical facade” to the street. Calle 40 will be the second street this has been done to in Valladolid going all the way from the Zocalo to San Juan Church. The other street that has already been handled in this manner quite a few years ago goes on a diagonal to the Convent from approximately 2 blocks from the Zocalo (too bad they did not do it all the way to the Zocalo).
“Progress” is something that should be embraced - and both these news stories about Valladolid are positive happenings to better serve the needs of the 70 thousand plus residents and tourists alike.
THANK YOU for publishing news items for other than just Merida (which we understand most of your readers live)!
We very much appreicte hearing news about our adopted town Valladolid!
I returned to Merida for a week visit (January 23 - 30, 2008), to see my wife. I call her: “Working Yucateca”, in honor of the “Working Gringos”. We visited the Alta Brisas Mall. Wow! What a mall! My question is this: Is the economy in Merida that strong, to have all these malls? Does this widen the gulf between the rich and poor in the Yucatan? Will this force such smaller malls such as Plaza Oriente and Plaza Fiesta to close because of not being able to compete? Amazing all the malls/plazas are centered to the economically strong northern sector. How about the southern sector of Merida? One thing I love about Merida that is different from the Touristy CanCun, is the Historical richness and the stand still of time. Will Merida become another CanCun in another 10 years? My wife, born and raised 100% Yucateca has much concern about the changing of Merida and the Yucatan. A worried concern. Is it a concern of matter? Don’t know. I hope Merida can keep its rich Colonial history, while being guided into the modern world.
We just returned from a trip to Merida, and yes, we noticed the “Americanization” of this gorgeous city; however, it is still very Mexican, and the people are what give it its charm and character, not the fact that Wal-Mart is there. I have also lived in Mexico over a period of 9 years, and it is about time that the Mexican public has access to reasonbly priced appliances, American products. Keep the progress going- Merida and Mexico is not in danger of losing its charm.
I feel this is just the tip of the iceberg. Is not that growth and progress is not good for the people, it’s what happens to small businesses after giants like Chedraui and Walmart take over. Even if it generates employment for local folk, people still being exploited, and the Maya people will benefit very little.
Don’t stop supporting the local merchants, continue to buy your bread at the local panaderia and your fresh vegetables at the local open air market.
YL is a window into the Yucatan and everyone wants a piece of it, the power of the Internet could not be felt so strongly as now! The XPAT community may not dictate what happens in the Yucatan but the power of the dollar is felt strongly and big brother is watching!
You can come to Merida and hang out in the Centro Historico and never see a modern shopping center if that is what you want. You can do all your grocery shopping at Mercado Galvez if you so desire, but don’t deny the Yucatecans the choice because you don’t want to indulge in it.
One thing that I have noticed is that some of the little tienda owners shop at Costco and Walmart, because they are reselling those products! Either they are passing on the savings or making a larger profit, but someone is benefiting.
In my opinion, what keeps those tiendas open is convenience and the availability of small quantities. If I need a couple of tomatoes or a quarter cup of raisens, I walk across the street to La Guayabita, I don’t get into my car and drive to Costco or MegaBalcones (my favorite supermarket) unless I am doing a major shopping or really need something I can’t buy in my neighborhood
Sometimes when I am in the tienda I watch what other people are buying. I doubt that the customers that buy their ciggarettes one at a time, could even buy a carton of smokes at Costco, no matter how much cheaper it is, when they can’t come up with pesos to buy a package, let alone an entire carton. These certainly aren’t the people going ice skating at the new mall either, but that doesn’t mean other people shouldn’t be able to.
regards,
Theresa
Once again YL is informing some of Us still an outsider as Myself who has to wait afew more years on the progress going on all over the Yucatan. I truly hope in 7- years till I can move, My first stop like everybodies is the airport in Cancun, which is building and rebuilding everyday, is this change going to be another LA-EX, or Miami, O-HARE ??? Change is Good to some extent as long as it doesn’t totally consume People, Who in the US People are so dependant on going to the Mall… I personally hate that 3- word statement. Because of what it has done in America from the East Coast to the West Coast, no matter where One travels off the interstate or paralell to the roads of USA STRIP-MALLS have taken over every little town all the way across the country…. Little shopping Malls that were once new have been abandoned only to close up and or run down, to build a new shiny, glitzy one right on the other side of the highway,because its newer, when will they enough? Two years ago We were in Playa on vacation when in the cab We were in I noticed the block work of a new huge building going up and just as I noticed a huge banner at the top saying comming soon WAL-MART… I joked with the cab driver. I said alright You can Buy New Underwear….We both laughed because He knew what I was getting at. The Great People of Mexico deserve choice,change if to improve Their life in any way,and I think They will be able to handle it much better than We Gringos who don’t know when Enough is Enough,with beauty comes the spoil… When I visit Mexico I go to take in the Blue sky,clean air,the beautiful Hand crafted plazas,fountains the Genuine People, the Heritage and culture. I think it will be so sad to go to the NEON MALL that has artificial lighting,fake trees fake fountains high prices and mindless People who hang around just for something to do, I’m basing this on the GRINGO WAY OF LIFE HERE….. The Mall Developers’ only act out of greed and money,not People’s values first!!! I wish We in America could go back in time , I miss all the Mom and Pop stores,staying for an hour or so talking to the owner because I’m proberly the only one there at the time… Wal-Mart, Home depot, Lowes, Cosco what ever try talking to Manager of a big mall or the Developer who built it… Viva MEXICO I know and hope You can handle the changes that are comming..One Love to all TIM PERRY
You nailed it. The notion that somehow Mexicans need to be “protected” from the potential destruction of their culture, when the development of the bulk of these projects is being driven by the wants and needs of the Mexican economy itself, strikes me as presumptious, smug, and, well, icky.
Thanks WG for a thoughtful take on developments in Merida. Change is inevitable, and while it’s important to appreciate the value of the historic and traditional, it is necessary to understand the good and the negatives that the future presents. You’ve done a good job in setting the stage for that understanding.
It’s a positive that the expat community is playing such a positive role in preserving and restoring a growing proportion of the housing stock in the centro historico. We should take some pleasure that we are helping to preserve the heart of the city. It’s also a good thing that Merida is so large that even the growing number of expats doesn’t pose the possibility of turning Merida into a San Miguel de Allende, where the Mexican residents are completely priced out of the living in the heart of their city, or are outnumbered in the zocalo.
One of the best things about Merida is that it’s economic vibrancy provides what appears to be a decent living for many average people, certainly better than some other places I’ve visited in Mexico. Merida is not your average city, let’s not forget. It is claimed by some to be the oldest continuously occupied city in the Americas, and a city at the turn of the 20th century that had as many millionaires as New York City or other western capitals. The huge stock of colonial homes is testimony to that.
Might these new mall investment pose a threat to the local markets and smaller independents? Generally, the larger chains and malls do. Is it inevitable? No. We’ll have to see how it shakes out in five years or so. It will be interesting to watch and be a part of.
This is an issue larger than Valladolid, Merida, or Mexico. People are catching on to the idea that there is something insane about the constant grab for more, and more, and more. Tonight’s NightLine showed couples who had bought luxury homes in Florida for $1.5 million, took out a second mortgage for another 1/2 million to “upgrade” the brand-new luxury home, and now are unhappy that they cannot make their $6000 per month house payments nor find buyers. My heart breaks.
How is this related? Because the desire for more is being engrained into our mind-set, yet somehow on the most fundamental level, we know that kind of greed is just wrong. The “happiest nations on earth” (google them) are not those which are the richest or the most materialistic or even have the most democratic governments.
The happiest people on earth are those who are happy with what they have, regardless of how little or how much. (If only I could stop collecting books!)
Regarding development and Mexico, it may be that some folks tie a sort of romantic notion into their concept of Mexico: It’s a simpler time there, before “the rat race,” before rabid commercialization. And particularly in our later years, looking for a comfortable retirement and escape from the wear and tear of the daily commute, the pollution, the noise, the overbearing boss (or whichever kind of boss), Mexico seems to fit the bill.
Then reality breaks in. Someone lets out the news that Mexicans are not particularly happy about living in drafty leaky bug-filled thatched huts with dirt floors or buying their meat where chicken feathers are still fluttering to the ground. And that means modern development. It shatters the dream that ‘an escape’ is out there. And it provokes an emotional response: “No! Not in that place! Not where I want to live.”
We have to be the change we want to see. We have to find peace inside, not elsewhere.
As television and advertising encourage us to ask for more, we have to recognize the crass grab for our cash for what it is - yet more greed. It’s hard to open your eyes to materialistic consumerism when you are literally drowning in it 24 hours a day. As Merida has gained the capacity to generate more electricity, as people have saved up for a refrigerator and television, the same sort of “ganas” - desire - for ‘more and better” sprouts here as well.
All that said, what I find particularly abhorent and short-sighted in Merida are the massive “suburban developments” without any space for green living plants and trees. Just huge heat-islands for warehousing people. Depressing.
And the government funding of so many loans for car purchases just when Mexico’s oil reserves are beginning to falter.
The cement jungles will lead to all sorts of social problems - most of which have already been noted in the Diario by local experts in sociology, psychology, urban planning, etc. But, the educated professors have little influence over the profit-taking commercial interests accepting government handouts to build on one hand and selling homes to workers paying with government-backed mortages on the other.
Yet more turmoil will appear (than the traffic already?) when gasoline prices go higher and higher, and then supplies begin to dry up, because it was all wasted on bazillions of little cars and wider roads rather than a more efficient transportation system. Where Mexico is behind the US in some ways, I just wish they’d learn from the many US mistakes and leap-frog into new solutions, rather than mimicking their pale neighbors to the north. More and more “ring roads” is not the solution, as so many urban US areas have discovered. Good planning and good public transportation can take the pressure off roadways, so that cars can be enjoyed too - but other members of society can live without autos if they so choose.
So… yeah. People are complex, huh?
Many cultures around the world have tried to protect itself from the outside influences. China and Japan fought long to closethe world out. The Amish community in the USA tries to keep out the outside influences. Guess Merida and Mexico are no exceptions. Yet, people like Chef Rick Bayless have already shown much of Mexico foods have been influenced by other cultures. The culture of Spain is wide spread throughout Mexico. What is the fear of USA or gringo influences? Unless you are a tribe living in the remote part of the Amazon, every culture on earth is influenced by another.
Perhaps the real question is not what is built, but how it is built. Tasteful development can be a benefit that pleases almost everyone. Controlling new development should mean putting restrictions on impermeable space so that square footage is naturally controlled by green space requirements. This forces developers to think a little more creatively about what they are building, rather than throwing up another box with a crowded parking lot and a Wendy´s at the corner.
I am an expat hopefull living in Lodi, California. Merida is the next place I’m going to live. I planned to start a business with my family there, not retire. A clothing boutique. My concern is Wal-Mart keeping my prices very low. Can I still raise my kids on that? Does this mean I have to go to plan B?
While I do not think that Mérida needs any more of these malls (and instead more parks), I think it’s okay to have more choice.
I think one should be more concerned about old buildings (or even not so old but original buildings from the ‘50 or ‘60) being torn down to build up yet another Extra, Oxxo, or small Plaza in all the colonias. That seems to be really stupid. About six months ago they razed a nice Quinta-style building in Col. México including a incredible beautiful & old tree and now the spot lays bare and is “For Rent”. that happens all over the place.
With all this development, is there any word of air flights from the eastern part of the US directly into Merida being discussed, or a ferry from Florida?
Great article, great discussion points. I agree with the points that change is inevitable, and that expats have little ability to influence the changes described in the article. In the epoch of TV, people around the world view the entertainment and affluence of the US and Europe, and they want similar things for themselves and their families.
So, I am “for” improved living standards for those that want them. I am “for” improved economies and economic opportunities. I am “for” better medical care and better education and more access to education that often result from the changes that come with economic development. I am however slightly saddened by the influences of materialism and mall-culture. “More, more, more! …” The influences and effects of neural-marketing are particularly troubling. How do we maximize the benefits, and minimize the cultural and familial disruptions?
I believe people are smart enough to make their own choices, and a few are wise enough to keep the pendulums of “going-too-far” in check, before these pendulums ultimately swing back. Most correct their mistakes while the consequences are small. Some (a few?) will crash and burn, but ultimately we make choices that keep the things we find important and shed at least some of the dreck. Mexico is a land of contrasts, filled with resilient and resourceful people.
I don’t care about development per se, but I do think it is ashame that Mexicans now have the same health problems as Northamericans. McDonald’s, Burger King, and Coca Cola are not my idea of good development.
Sra. Ruiz…the answer to your question is simple; don’t sell what Wal Mart sells. Instead, find interesting, distinctive clothing from smaller manufacturers and/or designers, and Wal Mart will have no impact on what you do.
And…Tim…Mexicans ARE North Americans. Perhaps you meant to say…the same health problems as “gringos?”
Just Rented a neat house in Valladolid so our daughter could get a better education than on ISLA HOLBOX. Its only 2 hrs back to Holbox & the Beaches Our Business & tranquility there. Valladolid is similar to Merida w/o quite so much “Hustle & Bustle” or Cultural opportunities. It is very Laid-Back and Mellow & has a nice Vibration. Prices are GREAT! Fantastic Full Brunch @ the DeLa Luz Hotel downtown $5 US! Chedraui will be a welcome sight with more choices & avoidance of trips to the Drug Haven Metropolis of CanCun. Just keep Walmart OUT! Chedraui is a Mexican Company as is Soriana. We look forward to hopefully meeting other ExPats in Valladolid!
Obviously this article hit a nerve with Yucatan Living readers - as I do not remember seeing any one article generate 23 (and still counting) very thoughtful responses.
I would assume since we as a group all feel we will benefit (or suffer) from new developments in the Yucatan as the readers already live in the Yucatan and therefore have substantial financial commitments with real estate already in place / or they plan to in the near future - that the future development of the region is a topic of strong interest to us all and that Yucatan Living will continue to be a good source of information for us all as far as what new things are planned through out the Yucatan.
Let’s hope that new development is well done / meets the needs of Mexicans and expats alike and does not bring too many unanticpated negative consequences.
I think I share some of the view CasiYucateco expressed on the subject of malls and creeping U.S. commercialization.
If Mexicans want malls, and Wal-Mart, that of course is their choice. They might want to take a look at the U.S. experience to realize the Faustian bargain. While Wal-Mart has been championed for its low prices (I’ll take that on faith, as I avoid Wal-Mart on principle), has it really raised the level of wellbeing in the U.S.? Arguable. My take is that for some lower prices on what I understand to be mostly Chinese imports, Wal-Mart has driven down wages and eliminated whole downtown shopping areas across the country and helped send most consumer electronics and textiles production to China as well. Most of its employees can’t make ends meet. Wal-Mart is extending some health benefits to more of its employees only after the harsh glare of adverse publicity. Architectually, it’s buildings are ugly — at least the exteriors.
As for the malls, it’s hard to know which city or even state one is in inside one of those commercial centers. It’s the big chains that can afford the space. Their near minimal wage employees — and the managers — have little or no incentive to know or care about the products they sell. Enough already.
Okay, I confess, the Oxxo stores are convenient — and carry great tasting FRESH
milk. Something not (yet) available in the mercados, tienditas, in Merida or in the countryside (because of the lack of refrigeration in many homes and general lactose intolerance among the Mayans).
Second topic. When I see a city or region or country, it interests me as to the source of its income. So what is the basis for the real estate boom in Merida? It’s not the few expatriates. What’s the source of the conspicuous wealth on display in certain local quarters? There’s an ugly truth that everyone in the Yucatan knows. It’s our modern day economic basis, and it isn’t henequin. Reflecting on it, should sober us up somewhat. So far we can count our blessings that the bloodshed in the streets of the northern states (and Cancun) is uncommon in the state of the Yucatan.
I realize this is a complex issue and appreciate all the different opinions. I also realize I am oversimplifing by saying simply that I am soooooo saddened to see what is happenning in Yucatan!!! I am a gringa who has lived and worked in Merida since 1995. In that time, I have not made even one trip to the USA, so I am sure I am out of touch, and I love it. My husband is from Celestun, and our kids go to public schools. I am a hard-working employee at a Mexican company who earns $1,200 pesos a week. My husband earns $950. We drive a “Volcho” and have an ‘Infonavit’ house and IMSS health care. I originally came to Yucatan to do volunteer work and just fell in love with it, as you most likely have. The main reason I fell in love is because it seemed to be everything that the usa is NOT. Now we cannot even to to Celestun without seeing the greed of foreign beach-buyers and the frantic race of the locals to get tourist dollars. My father-in-law scraped by with his family in a cardboard hut for years: poor in dollars but rich in health and family. Then came tourism, more income from boat tours, then came taking the daily ‘botin’ to the cantina for booze. Then marital infidelity, and kids out of wedlock and a family destroyed. But the money rolls in still and neither of his ‘viejas’ as he now calls them gets a dime. Wonderful progress. Yes, I know responsibility is an individual choice, but we have all seen this time and time again and it is very sad. The ‘inges’ at my place of employment bring fried eggs and rice to work because they’d rather have $$ to pay for a nice, new car. Greed and an over-identification with certain goods and cervices has been the downfall of many, not just Yucatecos. I know I may be an extreme case in that I don’t have any gringos in my life any more (except e-mail with my mom in the usa!) But I can’t help but think that this commercialization of Yucatan will be very bad in the long run. I applaud the reminder to support local vendors. But each time anyone supports an ‘american’ business I think you are contributing to a social ill. Perhaps that should be left to the native-born Yucatecos.
On a side note and perhaps stating the obvious…the ‘middle class’, for lack of a better term, very, very rarely shops at Wal-Mart, Sears, Home Depot, or eats at Wendys. It has been my experience that doing so seems to instill some sense of ’superiority’ upon many shoppers…very bizarre and quite scary I must say.
I love Yucatan and is just breaks my heart to see this kind of ‘progress’.
I am not online much and have never seen this site before so I don’t know if you’ve touched on the subject: I understand that the number of u.s. citizens who are relinquishing their citizenship is on the rise. I wonder how the ‘modernization’ of Yucatan will effect this??
Thank you for the article and comments.
PJA….yours is an insightful, articulate, post from a perspective different than most who post here. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Keep in mind that the Yucatan you came to was not the “original” Yucatan, but was itself the product of many changes over hundreds of years. Once, there was a Yucatan pre-gringo, pre-henequin, pre-Spanish, even pre-Maya. Yucatan (and Mexico) have a turbulent history as proponents of various changes and their opponents have struggled to create the future. In all of this, there is this truth; change cannot be prevented, only shaped. The most complex cultures are usually those with the greatest histories of change. Radical, quick change is always the most disruptive, but, once assimilated, becomes the new normal, the “way things are,” just as you came to a Yucatan that is the way it was when you arrived.
Let your voice be heard, and participate in the shape change takes….the best future is always one which is informed by the past, preserving that part of it which was best BUT combining it with the best the future has to offer.
What stores are in the new mall i would really like to konw before i go on saturday, so if you could please email me before then that would be great thank you so much!
Actually, Erin, we haven’t had a chance to go there ourselves, so we’re not sure which stores are there. Indulge your sense of adventure and go and find out!! (Of course, maybe one of our readers will share that information for you…)
Ah, you’re in luck! the lovely and amazing Beatriz HAS been to the Liverpool mall and she reports that these stores are there: Liverpool, Zingara (men & women’s clothing store from Spain… kind of like a European GAP), Sasha Colección (women’s clothing), Nutrisa (healthy foods), Optica Lux (eyeglasses store), perfume store with Clinique products, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani y Clarins. The main attraction is the ice-skating rink, which is in the center of everything. There is also a fast-food court, a casino, and Piccolo Mondo (a children playgroung). There are also something like 14 movie theaters.
Bar the door Mary! We ain’t seen nuthin yet.
Someone commented on the obvious wealth and sources. A lot of Mexicans have moved to Merida from DF. These are upper-class type folks with piles of money. Mom and the kids live in ’safe’ Yucatan, and dad commutes weekly (if very rich) or monthly (for those down on their luck) back and forth to Mexico City where he works.
I’ve also met Columbians - students who have been sent to live in Merida more or less permanently - to escape violence there. And some from other areas of the world.
For the very rich, Merida is valued for its safety and tranquility, even though their mass movement to the White City attracts a few criminals too. (Several high-profile crimes were committed by guys who went from DF to Merida to “rob someone rich” in the past couple of years.) And the burgeoning growth is creating its own set of problems, reducing some of the tranquility.
So, retired or wealthy Americans, working Mexicans (with money), wealthy foreigners from around the world, plus those with “connections” to “activities” that are less than admirable are all part of the mix. BUT….
Merida has economic powerhouses aside from those:
1) It is the education center of all of SE Mexico, without a doubt.
2) It is one of the premier health care centers of all of SE Mexico.
3) The abundance of water has led to more farming and livestock activities (chickens, pigs, even some cattle ranching).
4) There are a number of quite large maquiladoras (sp?) and many many smaller ones. Larger ones employ a thousand or more people per shift.
5) It is a main shipping hub for Mexico as the Port of Progresso provides access to the world of industry.
So, besides just the type of people moving to Merida, there is innate economic activity. Merida has been a leading city in the SE area of Mexico for a couple hundred years.
To the readers who think that Merida and overall Mexico is too American you are totally right. Just think that Mexico is becoming South USA or an extension of USA without a border(someday in the future we all know it will be erased). Something like the next American bunch of States. Someday Mexico is going to have dollar currency and more American expats moving here running from expensive life in the USA. As an Americanized city Merida will not be the exeption and the American influence here will grow more and more until there will not be more space for the next USA like mall that Yucatecos now embrace so much like a big playground. It is call progress as we all know and it is a constant fact. To the expats who do not want to see such an American influence you most move very south like to Brazil, Peru or Bolivia. I know people from Mexico living there that they do not like the American influence so much and they move very south. Believe me that there you will not see monster stores such like wallmart and there less people speak English also. What you will see is a lot of Brazilian influence being Brazil the biggest economy in South America. In Mexico we still are North America because below of Mexico is Central America. The American influence in Mexico basically is due to its geographical location.
A few sidelights about some of the rustic or quaint qualities of the Yucatan: Controlled development the Yucatan may ultimately be the best way forward into the 20′th century for many Yucatecans. A recent research study reported a number of troubling statistics for the Yucatan, showing just how far behind the Yucatan is from the rest of Mexico, and describing the need for improvements in public health and the economy.
Households with no Toilet or Latrine: Yucatan 25% vs. 7% - 15% for the rest of Mexico
Working Population earning less than $4 USD per day: Yucatan 23% vs. 7% - 16% for the rest of Mexico.
Population older than 15 yr illiterate or with incomplete primary education: Yucatan 40% vs. 24%-44% for the rest of Mexico (Michoacan area ranked highest here)
Households with no sewage system: Yucatan 41% vs. 20% - 37% for the rest of Mexico.
Average prevalence of Salmonella in Retail Meat: Yucatan 59% vs. 14% - 30% for the rest of Mexico.
Average prevalence of Salmonella in diarrheal episodes: Yucatan 16% vs. 6% - 13% in the rest of Mexico.
Average prevalence of Salmonella in asymptomatic kindergartners: Yucatan 11% vs. 2% - 4% for the rest of Mexico.
What do you readers think?
The low literacy rates and relatively high % of workers earning
Conditions within or close to Merida and in the far reaches of the state are vastly different. The state has done a fine job of building up port activity and concentrating industry nearby (Progreso, Merida, Motul…etc). But there are far reaches of the state literally living in very similar conditions to those before the Spanish conquest.
Improving the shipping infrastructure, for example, so that maquilladoras can be opened deeper in the interior or spread more widely would be beneficial to all. Overcrowded cities do no good for anyone. Rail lines for shipping or highway routes safe for a mix of bicycles, pedestrians, horse carts and semi-tractor trailers are needed. (With luck, separated sections for bicycles & pedestrians would be provided.)
Development in the form of locally-run schools, better sanitation facilities, better food standards are all improvements. But - to me - the gray area comes when ‘better sanitation facilities’ means concentrating people in small continuous cement warrens, as opposed to widely spaced rural homes. Yes, the cement homes individually are “better” than palm-thatched huts. Yet, the concentration of people can actually lead to more rapid disease transmission, even if sewage facilities are much improved. (I guess I question whether thousands of tiny homes with thousands of undersized septic tanks are a “good” sewage solution.)
Dengue fever, for example, is a “city disease.” The mosquito must bite an infected person, then bite an uninfected person within a limited time period, or the disease is not transmitted. Thus, dengue fever is very rare in rural circumstances. The disease simply fades out as the transmission means are not possible amoung widely spaced populations. In the city, dengue fever quickly can become epidemic or endemic.
So, there is a lot of gray - to me - in the way that “controlled development” is done. Unquestionably, people everywhere deserve healthy safe living conditions. Some of the proposed solutions, so far, seem to substitute one problem for a neater appearing solution that brings other, perhaps unforeseen, problems. Often, the fast solution isn’t quite the improvement hoped for.