For the last 10-15 years, Panama has been promoted by most international living gurus as one of the top places to live in the world. In fact, it is even ranked #1 by some offshore pundits. I bought into this promise and in 2006 I invested in real estate and set up a business in Panama City. I finally moved to Panama permanently about two years ago. I traveled to over 50 countries before I decided to move to Panama and another dozen or more since moving here. That may not make me an expert, but after reading what the "experts" have to say, maybe I don't want to be one anyway.
I have come to the conclusion that - regardless of your age, income, health, skills, etc - Panama City is a terrible place to live. Before I give the details about how I came to that conclusion, I want to report on the same reasons why all the experts believe this is a fantastic place to live. For one, the economy in Panama has been on fire for a good number of years now. What I admire most is that the economic growth has had a huge impact on the poor and middle class here. The middle class is bursting at the seams, and even the poor people here all have jobs (under 5% unemployment) that allow them to afford a place to live and food for the family. The poor in Panama are doing better than the middle class in most third (is there a second?) world countries. If you want to start a business here that caters to the locals, you will probably succeed.
Some other key points that make Panama a better place than most places to live: low crime - Panama is super-duper safe, non-violent culture, the police do not extort gringos (like Mexico), the rest of the country outside of the city are incredibly beautiful, cheap, quality healthcare, many residency and citizenship options including discounts on everything from groceries to movie tickets just for showing your pensionado card.
So how did I come to the conclusion that, given all these wonderful things, Panama City is a terrible place to live? I also asked myself another question: Are there cities in the United States that, given the cost of living, amenities, culture, cleanliness, safety, etc - would they be better or worse than Panama City? There are many reasons, and the top two are the pollution and the traffic. The traffic is what gets all the press, but in my opinion the pollution is the #1 problem. As far as the traffic goes, if Panama City was in the United States, it would be ranked the worst traffic city in America. The traffic here is beyond insane. It is not uncommon to be able to walk faster than a car can drive for stretches up to 2 miles! I used to drive from central city to east, about 11 miles, in an average time of about an hour and fifteen minutes during rush hour, which could last well past 7:30pm. Saturday and Sunday used to be better, but not anymore. I read a lot of wishful thinking articles about how this problem will go away soon because of the conclusion of construction projects. Lie. When those projects finish, others will start, and even if all the projects vanished, the infrastructure of the streets is insufficient to handle the amount of vehicles - in other words, not enough lanes, no turn lanes, etc.
Now to the #1 problem that, in and of itself makes Panama City a terrible place to live: POLLUTION
I now only ride a motorcycle, so I am up close and personal with much of the filth coming from trucks, cars, construction sites, etc. I am going to create a separate post with pictures dedicated just to the topic of pollution in Panama. Every morning there is a layer of black death dust on the floor of your apartment, especially if you live in a low level unit in the heart of the city (ex: El Cangrejo). There are multiple sources for this, but one I can't stop cringing about that makes me sick when I think about it is that in Panama there are no regulations or enforcement for vehicle exhaust. So every commercial truck blasts out a cloud of black death smoke every time the driver hits the gas. Cars are no better. Someone told me an excuse that the gasoline here is inferior so it affects the cars, and so as I ride my bike down the street all the vehicles are killing me with the black cloud. Besides Costa del Este, a master-planned community, there is no such thing as a clean street. I will post pictures in my pollution report coming soon. Even in the "high end" neighborhoods such as Punta Paitilla, as you walk down the street you are reminded - and disgusted - by the filth that is everywhere. No, it is not as bad as Cairo or Alexandria (I was in Egypt in May), but Panama is supposed to be this great place to live. How can it be if at every turn, in every street, you are exposed to the dirty, filthy air and ground?
To be fair to Panama City, not many third world tropical cities do city life very well. They don't seem to know how to manage these problems and the excuse is usually, "well, we don't have the money to fix this problem like the US". The problem is, Panama does not have that excuse. Panama is NOT a poor country. With the revenue from the Canal, the taxes generated from PTY being an international hub, foreign investment, etc - there is no excuse for the filth.
Other reasons why it is a terrible place to live are not as important, but when you add it all up they count. I ask myself, "What things make me say WOW... I have to live in PTY because its got____ that other cities don't have for the same price or convenience or other benefits to living in a place. I can't find any reasons why PTY is a top city. In fact, I don't even put PTY in the top 100, or even 200 cities in the world to live.
Cost of Living. Put simply, you can live in a first-world city like Las Vegas (where I lived from 1994 to 2006) or Miami, clean, superior amenities, for LESS than it costs to live in PTY. Why would you pay more money to live in a filthy third world city?
I just sold my apartment. I am leaving Panama. The 70-year old American guy that bought my place loves it here. He keeps buying more real estate, close to the hospitals. He tells me he picked Panama over all the other places he traveled to because of the reasons above and because he wants city life but also to be close to good hospitals. I have heard this excuse before and if your health is so bad that you have to factor in being a rock's throw to the doctor, then it probably doesn't matter where you live. I think some retired people put an illogical overweight on the need for instant access to cheap medical care.
As far as the rest of the country goes, Panama is a dream come true tropical fantasy. From Bocas del Toro to the rainforests and mountain towns like Boquete to the San Blas Islands. But not one of these places are any good to LIVE. Great places to VISIT, but not for permanent stay. There are no real beach communities. To me, Coronado doesn't count. There's not enough to do there and there really aren't any young, fun people living there, just old retired people. And almost nobody uses the beach because its ugly. You would die of boredom and beg to come to the city every weekend.
In conclusion: Panama is a great place to visit and do business, but a terrible place to live.
Some other key points that make Panama a better place than most places to live: low crime - Panama is super-duper safe, non-violent culture, the police do not extort gringos (like Mexico), the rest of the country outside of the city are incredibly beautiful, cheap, quality healthcare, many residency and citizenship options including discounts on everything from groceries to movie tickets just for showing your pensionado card.
So how did I come to the conclusion that, given all these wonderful things, Panama City is a terrible place to live? I also asked myself another question: Are there cities in the United States that, given the cost of living, amenities, culture, cleanliness, safety, etc - would they be better or worse than Panama City? There are many reasons, and the top two are the pollution and the traffic. The traffic is what gets all the press, but in my opinion the pollution is the #1 problem. As far as the traffic goes, if Panama City was in the United States, it would be ranked the worst traffic city in America. The traffic here is beyond insane. It is not uncommon to be able to walk faster than a car can drive for stretches up to 2 miles! I used to drive from central city to east, about 11 miles, in an average time of about an hour and fifteen minutes during rush hour, which could last well past 7:30pm. Saturday and Sunday used to be better, but not anymore. I read a lot of wishful thinking articles about how this problem will go away soon because of the conclusion of construction projects. Lie. When those projects finish, others will start, and even if all the projects vanished, the infrastructure of the streets is insufficient to handle the amount of vehicles - in other words, not enough lanes, no turn lanes, etc.
Now to the #1 problem that, in and of itself makes Panama City a terrible place to live: POLLUTION
I now only ride a motorcycle, so I am up close and personal with much of the filth coming from trucks, cars, construction sites, etc. I am going to create a separate post with pictures dedicated just to the topic of pollution in Panama. Every morning there is a layer of black death dust on the floor of your apartment, especially if you live in a low level unit in the heart of the city (ex: El Cangrejo). There are multiple sources for this, but one I can't stop cringing about that makes me sick when I think about it is that in Panama there are no regulations or enforcement for vehicle exhaust. So every commercial truck blasts out a cloud of black death smoke every time the driver hits the gas. Cars are no better. Someone told me an excuse that the gasoline here is inferior so it affects the cars, and so as I ride my bike down the street all the vehicles are killing me with the black cloud. Besides Costa del Este, a master-planned community, there is no such thing as a clean street. I will post pictures in my pollution report coming soon. Even in the "high end" neighborhoods such as Punta Paitilla, as you walk down the street you are reminded - and disgusted - by the filth that is everywhere. No, it is not as bad as Cairo or Alexandria (I was in Egypt in May), but Panama is supposed to be this great place to live. How can it be if at every turn, in every street, you are exposed to the dirty, filthy air and ground?
To be fair to Panama City, not many third world tropical cities do city life very well. They don't seem to know how to manage these problems and the excuse is usually, "well, we don't have the money to fix this problem like the US". The problem is, Panama does not have that excuse. Panama is NOT a poor country. With the revenue from the Canal, the taxes generated from PTY being an international hub, foreign investment, etc - there is no excuse for the filth.
Other reasons why it is a terrible place to live are not as important, but when you add it all up they count. I ask myself, "What things make me say WOW... I have to live in PTY because its got____ that other cities don't have for the same price or convenience or other benefits to living in a place. I can't find any reasons why PTY is a top city. In fact, I don't even put PTY in the top 100, or even 200 cities in the world to live.
Cost of Living. Put simply, you can live in a first-world city like Las Vegas (where I lived from 1994 to 2006) or Miami, clean, superior amenities, for LESS than it costs to live in PTY. Why would you pay more money to live in a filthy third world city?
I just sold my apartment. I am leaving Panama. The 70-year old American guy that bought my place loves it here. He keeps buying more real estate, close to the hospitals. He tells me he picked Panama over all the other places he traveled to because of the reasons above and because he wants city life but also to be close to good hospitals. I have heard this excuse before and if your health is so bad that you have to factor in being a rock's throw to the doctor, then it probably doesn't matter where you live. I think some retired people put an illogical overweight on the need for instant access to cheap medical care.
As far as the rest of the country goes, Panama is a dream come true tropical fantasy. From Bocas del Toro to the rainforests and mountain towns like Boquete to the San Blas Islands. But not one of these places are any good to LIVE. Great places to VISIT, but not for permanent stay. There are no real beach communities. To me, Coronado doesn't count. There's not enough to do there and there really aren't any young, fun people living there, just old retired people. And almost nobody uses the beach because its ugly. You would die of boredom and beg to come to the city every weekend.
In conclusion: Panama is a great place to visit and do business, but a terrible place to live.
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