Thanks so much for having me on Josh! It was a lot of fun.

I can add a couple of things to this interview after living in San Miguel de Allende about 4 years. UNAM, the national university is building a campus in San Miguel, which will bring an influx of some 5,000 students. When that happens the students will have an impact on the culture here and bring a youthful vibrancy. Also, there has been a trend the last few years of young families moving in. I think this will change the character of the city to some degree. Guanajuato is quite beautiful, more dense than San Miguel, and with GTO's hilly streets, you need to be in shape to walk them. GTO has got a great creative energy that you can feel. San Miguel is one of Mexico's most expensive cities; some call it the Beverly Hills of Mexico. Some of the fancier restaurants have prices that are close to those San Francisco or New York. SMA offers opportunities for cultural activities and from what I've seen, the expats are quite generous with their time and money to support nonprofits that benefit the local community, from feeding kids in the campo, to paying full college tuition for students, toy drives during Christmas, animal rescue and sterilization, etc. Both cities are quite lovely and each has its unique charms. Sorry to say, the economic division is everywhere in Mexico; you find it in any industrialized place, even America. As well, you can choose to live outside the expat Centro bubbles and live in a traditional Mexican neighborhood. The small street I live on has both expats and Mexican families, and I couldn't be happier. Guanajuato is definitely the "cooler" city, though. San Miguel has its own vibe.

Careful, Guanajuato is the cradle of Mexican independence not Mexican Revolution, that's 100 years of difference. Also Mexico is in North America.

I was in Guanajuato. It is beautiful and lively town, enjoyed it very much. I will go back

Great interview! Interesting and informative, you didn’t interrupt him, and no annoying background music. Love it!

I was really happy with this interview because it was so straight-ahead, this guy Josh doesn't have a huge ego that needs to be fed! Keep up the great interviews!

Different towns in Mexico, like in US, appeal to different people and things they look for. Personally I like the gringo Mex mix in San Miguel. I'm a Cuban American so I speak Spanish but I like a more liberal town, a place with lots of artists, I like greater variety of food options, I like lots of farmers markets and organic options, and finally I like a town that is forward thinking vs stuck in tradition and the past. For me San Miguel better fits this bill but the expat populations is a lot older although it's slowly becoming more mixed. Finally San Miguel these days is one of the more expensive places to live (by Mexican standards) in Mexico but that is usually a indication of the quality of lifestyle also.

Thanks to both of you for this great info on those 2 gems of Mexico 🇲🇽 👍 . Good job and great interview .gracias

I liked the interview, how you guys compare -contrast two of the most beautiful cities in 🇲🇽. Totally agree about San Miguel de Allende how there is a large population of immigrant retirees from the US and Canada🇺🇸🇨🇦. But for The young visitors prefer Guanajuato because it’s more lively, especially during the Cervantino festival in October✌️

I'm going to retire to SMA next year so the age deal is great for me! I like to think of SMA as 'yuppie Mexico' because as he discussed the restaurants are fabulous, the city is super clean and there's a lot of art going on there....I can see why GTO is a better fit for a young person. Liked that city as well!

Good interview man! My family is from Jalisco, but have been to GTO a couple of times and totally agree the culture and energy is awesome!

Great breakdown, both cities are amazing. Been in SMA now for a while...definitely the preferred one for me for various reasons, but everyone is different.

Thank you. Guanajuato is a city I so want to visit. Hopefully this year.

I hope expats don't take over Guanajuato city. It's a lovely place but many of our Mexican people are tired of these rich expats over pricing homes in their cities. Young Mexicans can't afford those homes and have to leave in order to have a decent lifestyle. San Miguel de Allende is already too pricey, even for us regular US citizens!

Wonderful information !!

I lived in San Miguel for three years and while it has a definite liberal bent to it, the word "hippie" is not a word I would use to describe the ex pats. Are there some old hippies there? Sure, but it is by no means the vibe of the place. The thing that makes me really discount this video is that neither of these guys know how to pronounce Guanajuato. How can you take someone seriously if they can't even pronounce the place that they're talking about?

My mother took me to SMA 50 is yrs ago. We landed on a school s blacktop! The coolest! She was studying about making silver jewelry. We now have bags full in a bank vault. Special isn't the word but it s special. She s 81 now. She s retiring. I m just packing up for us to move around there I ll keep ya posted . Talk about our journey s. This is only one. Peace and good will to all. Gwendolyn

No ! It was not the birthplace of the Revolution! You are getting the war for Independence and the Revolution mixed up.San Miguel was the birthplace of the war for Independence which was against Spanish rule.This was in 1810.The Revolution was in 1910 and was fought against Porfirio Diaz.This is like confusing the American war for Independence and the Civil War.BTW , both of my parents were from Guanajuato and I have been all over Mexico in my lifetime..

Just let the guy know Independence (Not Revolution) started actually between San Miguel de Allende, Dolores Hidalgo and Querétaro, Guanajuato city was part of the route, important yes, but with a little bit of research you'll learn that San Miguel and Dolores are considered Historically the starters of the Independence War.

Love your channel!

Very nice video. I enjoyed it. Thank You. I subscribed.

Interesting to hear the two cities broken down and compared. 9:35 looked like Lake Atitlan Guatemala. All three are on my “retirement tour”. 🌴

Good stuff! I’d be very interested in similar commentaries on Oaxaca and Querétaro!

The buildings and houses feel like Taking a Trip 300,400 years back in time !!! pretty cool video!!!

I lived in SMA for a year. Great place to get started in your journey in Mexico. I applied for my permanent residence visa and went to spanish school for a year. It is a great town to visit and even live there for a year but after you lived there for a while. I realize that people sold their house in the USA for $1M in LA or NY then moved to SMA to show off their fortunes and brag about their careers and how much money they had. Most of the expats are very old and don't bother to learn Spanish. It is a very USA place to be and is not really Mexico. you don't get a chance to learn about Mexico. Expats are doing expats things with other expats at expat prices. I agree about the restaurants. I do really enjoy going out to eat in SMA. Also being a guy, it is difficult to meet other guys since there are no other guys there. After learning Spanish really well, I moved to Guanajuato and that is where a really good experience is. People are younger. Not a bunch of old people. I don't really want to live in a expat protected bubble. It is very common to go to a dinner party SMA with 40 people there (pre covid) in a very very fancy house where the person brought down 5 truck loads of belongings from the USA in an enormous house. Yes, the houses in SMA are very very amazing. There would be three guys at the party. Two would follow their wifes around and one would talk to me. Then I would talk to a woman who complained about her 30 years of marriage and how ugly her divorce was. Finally I had to leave the party early. Nobody interesting to talk to. I do have my 3 friends in SMA who I adore and talk to all the time. I miss them. I do not miss SMA with all the FALSE wealth of money. I still live in Mexico. I will visit SMA in July for 2 days.

I agree with him 100% Both of these cities are in the State of Guanajuato and rival one another .They are both beautiful colonial cities .Guanajuato city is much larger than San Miguel .It's pretty much like he said ,in San Miguel most of your expats are of retirement age in Guanajuato city much younger people but not many expats live there.The food and music is awesome in both cities.I would say that rental and house prices are much lower in Guanajuato due to not being a large expat retirement area.In all honesty it all depends on your life style and what you are looking for.

Mexico is the most beautiful country in the World...😍

Interesante!! Thanks

Thanks for this! It reinforces what my impressions about GTO vs SMA. I'm heading down in February to look for my new home, and I think might just skip SMA.

It would be nice if you learned how to pronounce Guanajuato.Thank you

San Miguel De Allende is beautiful but but it does lack culture. Most if not all the businesses around the main square are Americanized. They are like a movie scene and not authentic to Mexico. If you want to mingle with local culture you need to walk away from the heart of the main square of San Miguel De Allende. I feel this city has a superficial element that takes away from its charm. They even have a rotary club. 😒

How did you deal with the crowds in Guanajuato? I left because the crowds were just too crazy. San Miguel becomes more interesting once you become more fluent in Spanish and get to know the local layer of the culture.

Thank you

Maybe consider talking about nightlife (bars for example). In SMA, its basically impossible to find any decent bar in the city, but Id like to know about the situation in GTO. Not much info on other KZfaq channels, so I'm assuming the worst.

Is organic food available in Guanajuato? I've been there and loved it, but not long enough to check out grocery stores or farmers markets. Thanks!

Guanajuato is where the Independence movement began.

Ready to move need to get out would love to find something chesp to rent long term any ideas

San Miguel has been an expat haven since WW II , hence the older community. Guanajuato is a university town. While visiting SMDA , less than 70% of my dining experiences where Mexican.

Alex, have you tried Oaxaca?

I go to both cities quite often and I’m not a big fan of SMDA. I’m from Guanajuato State, born and raised. I choose Gto City in spite of all gangsters and lack of space.

Dude's, loved the vid. But, please learn how to pronounce Guanajuato! Drop the hard G.... I love both San Miguel and Guanajuato. But, I ended up moving to Merida. It's super hot, but has all I want. Que te vaya bien.

Why not ? Guanajuato is the most beautiful city in this continent Queretaro , Zacatecas , Morelia Oaxaca this cities are beautiful and have a very heavy cultural life , every one should see the festival cervantino at least once in a life time In Guanajuato you Can not drive a car the streets were designed. For people , to walk , and fir some horse dd or carriages People drive their cars under ground there are plenty of tunnels , with sidewalks and light , great architecture, wonderful people , there are. Hundreds of small cities or towns , as moves as this cities. And no far away from this colonial cities

It has been about 16 years since I left San Miguel, but from what I remember living there for 6 years there were a good amount of young expats, not as saturated as older retirees, but living there as a kid there were some other American kids that I met. My mom who was in her 30s-40s and met a lot of people around her age as well.. it really depends on where you are hanging out and involved in. I left as a teenager, and that was probably the most scarce age range of expats there. The art scene in SMA has a diverse range of ages and is a mix of both local and foreign artists. I'm sure it's different now, and the population is more senior oriented.. which makes sense since it's an appealing retirement area.

Guanajuato city ❤️

Otra diferencia es que mucho extranjero hace dinero . En san miguel . Y honestamente dan mucho mas caro que un nacional. Y que entre ellos se compran. Sin importar lo caro. Sin ayudar al propio mexicano. Tienen emplesdos mal pagados. Y exigentes!! Lo sé porque se como se vive aca!! El mexicano es trabajador . Sociable y ofrece lo que tiene. . No eetoy diciendo que todos. Pero asi es. Una vez estaba en la luciérnaga en un restaurante con mi familia . Y llegsron una mujer y un hombre gringos que por su vestimenta trabajaban en una compañia . El mesero amablemente mexicano les dio la carta. Y el gringo dijo Inglish por favor. Mi hermana y yo automaticamente volteamos a ver al gringo.. osea?? Se notaba que ellos vivian ahi. Y todavia espera que le hablen ingles. ? En estados unidos discriminan por no hablar el idioma y elllos?? No se tiene que hablar el ingles . Ni se debe exigir. !! Y asi hay mas . Guanajuato tiene mas cultura es mas barato. Y el turista es mas nacional

Please say the city names correctly.

What is the cost of living for a couple?

🖒🖒🖒🖒🖒

Is that really how you pronounce San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato?

Remember, you are not expats, u r just immigrants. It is important to use the right words. Mexicans in the US and Canada are immigrants, usonians and Canadians in Mexico (like yourself) are immigrants too.

I was enjoying the video despite the mispronunciations, but I started getting triggered towards the end when Alex made the “sanitized Mexico”’comment, as a Mexican I found that disrespectful. Also what in the world does “too much haves and have nots” even mean? You lost me there…..

The two citys are beautifull butt GUANAJUATO is amazing , while San Miguel is cute. It's very very atractive GUANAJUATO.

Queretaro

How do you get around? Do they have uber? I'm a black woman who is worried about safety travelling alone

I believe that queretaro is better for your demographic age. It is a university city and has a lot younger population.

I wouldn't call sma hippie as Alex did; more like snooty yuppies. But the last time I set foot in the place was some 20 years ago.

It kills me how in the intro he pronounces @0:14 Guanajuato and is NOT GuanajuaNto is Guanajuato :I

Guanajuato is NOT the center of Mexican Revolution. You mean Mexican INDEPENDENCE, an event which took place about 100 YEARS earlier than the revolution. And México is NOT in Central America. This guy is clueless. 🙄

11:23 'A very sanitized version of Mexico' ??? That can be interpreted as an offensive comment to some.

Alex... You forgot to tell your audience all these were YOUR OWN VERY PERSONAL takes on your idea of both places. Secondly, please keep in mind Guanajuato Capital was the birthplace of our INDEPENDENCE war and movement, not our revolution. As per Josh's teaser, I find it a bit biased as it suggests SMA (San Miguel de Allende) is a no-no, which sounds waaaay out of line and even fearsome... The fact that your age didn't match that of the ex-pats in SMA doesn't have anything to do with being a place not suited for American ex-pats in general and it suggests lots of red flags. As with being a great choice to visit and experience... There are rotten apples everywhere... Good and bad in everyone.

expats or immigrants? what's the difference?

Cuz SMA is a gringo bubble?

I’ve never heard that the University of Guanajuato has the best performing arts college in the country. That’s very shocking.

"Life coach"

We hope to retire in 3 years to Mexico but we speak Spanish and really do not want to be around a lot of old people/expats.

si me gustaría que no solo se fueran de san miguel, sino de Guanajuato no queremos turismo nacional menos internacional , este siempre le ha convenido Alos inversionistas que se benefician de el turismo , pero los naturales anhelamos ya un san miguel de antaño y propio para los que somos de aqui por generaciones. gracias.

Haha, neither San Miguel, nor Guanajuato are Central America, it´s still North America,..the difference between young American and young European expats is that Europeans want to stay in contact the locals, they even try to avoid their Europeans as much as possible, .. this is why Central Europeans adapt easier and faster to the MEx culture and even learn Spanish faster

Expat teaching 101!!!!!!!! Mexico / the city of Guanajuato are not in central america. For an artist, your guest speaker is quite ignorant. Your guest speaker should be ashamed for calling Mexico central america. For an US person, who has lived in Mexico for a while, not knowing geographical facts/latitudes about the place where he is living is completely shameful. I think, your guest speaker should return to where he came from, and perhaps, he should consider reading a bit more. Otherwise, he just looks unclean, not very smart, and immensely ignorant.

San Miguel is boring, Guanajuato is energetic.

Josh & Alex need to work on their Mexican History a bit, as well as knowledge of the Music in Guanajuato. The Revolution in GTO was NOT about workers rights! It was the principle Mining center of Mexico, and the Silver barons did NOT want to give the Mother Country - SPAIN their take from the mines, or pay taxes! That REALLY pissed some people at the Top off pretty badly! An army was dispatched from the Capital to put the Guanajuatenses (people who live in GTO) in there place. The Insurgents heads were put on spikes at the Big Grainery - and that big Monument that overlooks the City...the statue of Pipila - an Indigenous man who deflected cannon balls with a huge slab of rock he carried on his back! Workers Rights?!! WTF? As for the Music and Culture scene: THE Most Important Music/Art/Performance Festival in all of Latin America , aka Festivo Cervantino has taken place in Guanajuato annually for almost 30 years! - (JESUS!...I should be doing these Videos!). Guanajuato also has a Superb Symphony Orchestra - one of the best in Mexico! AND - they perform a lot of 20th Century Classical as well as New Music by Mexican, and Women Composers! C'mon Dudes! - I spent 4 months there and learned all that! There are also String Quartets, Chamber Ensembles, and even Choral Groups that specialize in Early Music of "New Spain"...that would be - Latin America! Add to this one of the most prestigious Film Festivals in the Country - GIFF. Guanajuato International Film Festival. I'll leave it at this, even though there is so much more...like - Guanajuato being the Birthplace of the painter, Diego Rivera! I mean, really Dudes! What do you do with your time? - Oh Right... Street Tacos, and Mezcal - the Important Stuff!

Conclusion: IF U R YOUNG, U SHOULD GO TO GUANAJUATO. IF U R A SENIOR, GO TO SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE.

"Expat" You're an immigrant bro.

Please learn how to pronounce the word GTO.

Pronounced wrong my friend

Clickbait

San Miguel is a joke Guanajuato rules Love it there I will never visit San Miguel again

Thank you very much for your information, I can now sleep in peace because of your gringo perspective of two beautiful cities in Mexico. No let me give you my perspecitve, go back to your country and get a real job. By the way do you have legal persmission to be working and living in Mexico?. They certainly give a hard time to Mexicans up north when they do not have documents.