Wow! that will be a tall order. I'll be anxious to see these posts.

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Ecuador's climate, safety and cost of living can be all over the map. Cuenca is cold and dirty, safety is becoming questionable. Loja and places further south can be a nice place to live, although a gringo from Canada was murdered by a local in a small town and it was covered up by locals, but if you are the type to stay out of trouble you should be fine. The climate in the south of Ecuador can be quite awesome with the rainy season being minor inconvenience. We found Mexico hot, but the locals a lot friendlier than what we experienced in Ecuador. I felt far safer in Mexico than I did in Ecuador. Ecuador is getting pricey depending on how you want to live. Most of the stuff about how cheap it is to live there is mostly false, but of course it is a lot cheaper than the States and Canada.

I don't think it's reasonable to compare the two. You need to experience both yourself to make a decision.

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I have no hands on experience with Ecuador. Sounds great, but 2 couples (not a large sample I admit) plan to move here to Lake Chapala from Ecuador. One couple from Cuenca. That couple spoke of the pollution and horrible drivers. I would refer you to them, but have lost contact info.
Sid@ChapalaClub.com

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Spain is where we are headed, low cost of living, very good health care, great infrastructure and close to the rest of magnificent Europe.

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Queretaro (30); Guadalajara (32); Quito (33); Puerto Vallarta (33); Merida (34); Cuenca (34); Monterrey (35); Mexico City (40)

Cost of Living based on Numbeo.com; the number in parentheses represent Consumer Price Index + Rent relative (%) to New York City. There isn't enough data to do that calculation for San Miguel, but restaurant costs and rents are both higher in San Miguel than in Cuenca, but utilities are cheaper. IMO, the differences are so small they should be ignored, especially because the differences in living costs within either city will likely be larger than the average between them.

I recently spent a week in each of the your cities of interest. I never felt threatened in either one — day or night. EC isn't considered especially safe near its border with Columbia and I don't feel safe in much of Guayaquil, but I live on the TX-MX border and I have been afraid of going to any border state in MX for six years. There are no US State Dept travel warnings for SMA or the state of Guanajuato, but there are for most states that border it. There are no official travel warnings for EC, but US State Dept personnel are restricted from certain areas and activities. You might want to read all of the travel.state.gov/ travel information for each country, keeping in mind that there are thousands of expats in both countries who feel safer than they did when they lived in the USA.

I felt the local people and the ex-pats to be friendly in both cities. I wasn't in either one long enough to comment on climate. I agree with CoffeeSnob,"I don't think it's reasonable to compare the two. You need to experience both yourself to make a decision."

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THANKS so much for the replies thus far. Numbeo data I have found to be a rough guideline - especially when the data presented is by just a few people. The people moving from EC to Chapala is interesting.

I should have mentioned in my original post.. I did travel to EC for just 3 weeks and I currently live in San Miguel. Sorry about that.

The driving in Quito and Cuenca was just CRAZY!!!!.. and I was just a pedestrian.

Spain is too cold for me in the Winter :))

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Portugal ,lower cost of living than Spain, very friendly people, warmer southern climate, beautiful beaches.

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We are in Ajijic presently to see what it would be like to live here. We have lived in Cuenca, Ecuador for over a yr. We love the beauty of the city with 4 rivers meandering through the city, We also love the Ecuadorian people & the fellow expats we have met there. It is not dirty. Traffic is crazy. We are not totally happy with Cuenca (which is the very best place to live in EC) because of the very high altitude & the rainy, misty conditions....rather like Seattle. Otherwise, it is a safe & great place to live. Never been to San Miguel, so can't compare. Go to Cuenca & check it out for yourself. It is all so subjective. Good Luck

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I lived in Cuenca for a year and it was dirty when I was there. Of course Centro was mostly clean, but then again that's the centerpiece of the city and they worked hard too keep that area clean. I travelled a lot of the city and in general it is dirty.Be careful of tunnel vision, many people have it. The spend every day in Centro and think they've seen Cuenca.

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I've lived in La Paz, Mexico and Cuenca. The cost of living is somewhat high in La Paz, but you can find decent rentals for $300 - $350 a month, but I think the hot season will beat you up with high electric bills for A/C. On the other hand we needed a heater in Cuenca, we found it cold. I would return to Mexico, but I don't really care if I ever go back to Cuenca. You can find rentals in Cuenca for $300 a month there abouts.

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If you would live to message me I'd be happy to have a conversation about that. I have just returned to Mexico (more than 25 years here) after 3 years in Ecuador, not the gringo community of Cuenca though!

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