Friday, January 06, 2012
Dear Reader,
Streams babble down the mountainside, sending cooling mist up to the bamboo and rich dark green foliage above. These streams take their own course. The city neighborhoods clinging to the slopes of the Andes accommodate them, creating a network of roads, restaurants and cafes that weaves around the streams.
At 5,000 feet above sea level the weather is perfect. High enough for fresh mountain air and breezes but low enough not to feel the lower oxygen levels in your lungs. A typical day…year round…is sunny and in the mid-seventies. You won’t need air conditioning or screens for your windows. Bugs are almost non-existent.
The leafy high-end neighborhood of El Poblado in particular is a great place to sip coffee or enjoy a nice meal in the shade next to one of the streams. You can easily get around this neighborhood on foot. Expats hang out in the Irish pub and the many open-air restaurants. The locals are warm, welcoming, and friendly. They seem genuinely happy that foreigners are beginning to visit them.
For much of the last three decades this city of 2.5 million people (3.5 million if you include the outer suburbs) in the Andes had a reputation it wasn’t proud of. It was rated as the world’s murder capital.
This is Medellin, Colombia.
The notorious Medellin drug cartel was based here. Headed by the infamous Pablo Escobar the cartel blew up shopping malls and even passenger airplanes with impunity.
Forbes counted Escobar’s wealth at $25 billion in 1989, making him the seventh richest man in the world at the time. Escobar was killed in 1993. However, Medellin’s notorious reputation persisted.
That is, until now. Today, the old cartel and thoughts of terrorist activity seem to have faded into history.
I must admit I was a bit cynical at first. But that cynicism faded the morning after I arrived.
Early morning was spent strolling through the leafy El Poblado area. It’s green and lush with mature broad trees lining streams that race through this neighborhood. It feels as if you are in a parkland setting.
Roads and buildings follow the contours of the hillside and streams. This is no grid. More like a natural wonderland. In places, giant 5-inch-diameter bamboos shoot for the sun until they start to sag under their own weight. In other places, wide trees give shade to babbling brooks.
I made several stops… for delicious pastries stuffed with chicken, or ham and cheese, washed down by a rich dark coffee. There’s a real cafe culture here, similar to the one you’ll find in the leafy neighborhoods of Buenos Aires.
But here you get to sip your coffee or dine outside year-round. Scorching summer heat or cool winters won’t cramp your style, since the perfect weather only varies by one degree all year. Year-round highs are 80 degrees, and lows are in the 60s.
Minutes away the golden mile (as it is known) of banks, offices, boutiques and outdoor eateries is buzzing and humming with traffic and commerce. The main nightlife area of Parque Lleras fills at weekends (Wednesday through Sunday) with revelers. This tree-lined park is the focal point of the Zona Rosa which is the most happening part of town.
This area of Medellin—El Poblado—is clean, safe, green and upscale…it’s the place to be.
From my desk in a rented apartment I have views across the valley. The weather is perfect. A refreshing breeze rustles through the window. Prices here—in this leafy area of El Poblado—range from $900 to $2000 per square meter. That means that a 100-square-meter (approximately 1,000-square-foot) apartment will set you back as little as $90,000. Here, your money goes a long way.
The rental market is strong. I’m scouting with colleagues. We are paying over $1000 for our week’s rental here in El Poblado. I’m here to see if this is a place that should be on our radar. Specifically, to see if this is place where we can earn strong short-term rental yields.
On paper, it looks like there’s an opportunity. But I want to see how it stacks up on the ground.
Stay tuned. I’ll let you know on Monday how my search works out.
But one thing’s for sure: This is a really nice place to spend time.
Ronan McMahon
Editor’s Note: The winners of our free prize draws are:
Jama Campay, Ecuador: S. Anderson, N. Larsen, and T. Fortier. Arenal, Costa Rica: M. Degner. Salinas, Ecuador: J. Mardones. Pacific Lots, Costa Rica: E. Hartman.
Tao, Mexico: M. Bovee, P. Wright and K. Krysak. Orchid Bay, Belize: P. McCaskey. Los Arboles, Mexico: A. Salte.
Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all our readers for taking part.
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