• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE
*No spam: We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else.
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
No Result
View All Result
Home Retirement/Living

Expat Life In Panama City, Panama

Live And Invest Overseas by Live And Invest Overseas
Sep 05, 2011
in Retirement/Living
0
the cinta costera road with the Panama skyline next to the Pacific ocean
210
SHARES
3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A Year In Paitilla

When we were planning for our move from Paris to Panama City three-and-a-half years ago, Lief and I had to make a choice:

Where in the city should we locate ourselves?

We knew Panama City well enough to understand that, while it may be small, Panama’s capital is eclectic. Different neighborhoods offer very different ways of life.

I wanted Casco Viejo, the old quarter, where, centuries ago, the Spanish and then the French hung their hats when they were in town. I like old buildings the way some women like new shoes, and the Casco, as it’s known today, boasts one of the world’s finest collections of Spanish- and French-colonial structures, plus shaded plazas and parks and ocean views in every direction. It’s one of the few areas of this city made for walking. In most of the rest of Panama City, you have no choice but to brave the chaotic traffic. In Casco Viejo, you can wander from plaza to plaza, from café to café, at your own pace, as you might in a European city. That appeals to me.

Lief, on the other hand, wanted to be based in the center of new Panama City, in or near the banking district, where the infrastructure we knew we’d need to launch our new business would be most easily tapped into.

Living in the heart of the new Panama City, though, meant living in a high-rise apartment tower. The thought of that appealed to me not at all.

In the end, I acquiesced. Lief was right, at least for the short term. Better to be based where the infrastructure would be more developed and most reliable. Otherwise, we’d be creating, perhaps, unnecessary business challenges for ourselves during this getting-started phase.

We found and rented an apartment in a brand-new tower in Punta Paitilla, on Calle Winston Churchill, that became our home for our first year in Panama City.

It was a good first step. In Paitilla, you’re very nearby two of the city’s biggest malls, as well as two of its most expat-friendly grocery stores (Riba Smith and the kosher Deli K) and what has become my favorite furniture store in the country.

A few blocks from our apartment also was a pharmacy, a dry cleaner’s, a hardware store, a pet shop, and a small greengrocer, plus a movie theater, a bowling alley, a budget-level hotel where visiting friends and family could stay, a higher-end hotel, and the Hard Rock Café. All these nearby resources made our adjustment period (including, and importantly, furnishing our new digs) easier to navigate.

As Lief had predicted, life in Paitilla was comfortable and convenient. From this central base, during our year in residence, we were able to explore the city, get our bearings, and figure our next, longer-term move.

This first apartment was rented (rather than acquired), because, while we agreed that Paitilla made good sense as a first step, we were both pretty sure it wasn’t where we wanted to be based in Panama City long term. We were right.

The reasons, though, why we decided that Paitilla didn’t suit us long term, were less to do with Paitilla than to do with high-rise living. Paitilla we liked. This neighborhood is not only convenient and user-friendly, but it’s also one of the greener parts of Panama City, with a large park overlooking the Bay of Panama where Jack could play catch with his dad and ride his skateboard with his friends.

As well, Paitilla is a residential zone. You find the grocery stores and other shops I’ve mentioned, but no office towers or government buildings. While much of the rest of the heart of Panama City is clearly open for business, Paitilla remains an enclave reserved for families. You see children riding their bicycles and nannies pushing their charges around in strollers, not businessmen in suits rushing from meeting to meeting, as you do in Marbella, say.

Paitilla is one of Panama City’s most established neighborhoods, a place where the upper-middle class has been raising its children for generations. Today, 20- and 30-something Panamanians with the resources to afford it prefer Costa del Este. Still, Paitilla has a lot to offer a family with young children.

What it doesn’t have are houses. This peninsula is a jungle of high-rise apartment towers. They all have “Social Areas,” with swimming pools, party rooms, and, sometimes, playgrounds and gyms, but, living in a high-rise, you don’t have a patio or a back yard.

And, while some of Paitilla’s towers are brand-new and fully loaded (in terms of amenities), they couldn’t be described as charming. Built of concrete, glass, and steel, they’re hardly cozy.

Long term, we knew that we wanted both a garden area and a place that felt less like the big city and more like home. Since that first year in Paitilla, we’ve made two subsequent moves, trying other areas of this city on for size. We’re settled now in a house in Marbella with a big back patio bordered by gardens with mature trees and flowers. We even have room for a basketball hoop. Finally, we feel like we’ve found our place in this city.

But that’s us. Depending on your situation and your preferences, Paitilla…or some other neighborhood entirely…could be what you’re looking for in your new home in Panama City.

Here’s my real point: Wherever you’re considering launching your new life overseas, give yourself time to get to know your new city (or town or beach) before committing to long-term digs.

It takes time to peel back the layers of a place…to penetrate beneath the tourist level…to get a feel for what it’d be like to be a resident, rather than a visitor.

Kathleen Peddicord

Tags: 'Retire To Panama City'Panama
Share84Tweet53
Previous Post

Light Leaseback Investment In France

Next Post

Retire To Granada, Spain

Live And Invest Overseas

Live And Invest Overseas

Live and Invest Overseas is the world's savviest source for top opportunities to live better, retire in style, invest for profit, do business, and own real estate overseas. Established in 2008, the Live and Invest Overseas' editors and correspondents have more experience researching and reporting on top opportunities for living well, investing for profit, doing business, and owning real estate around the world than anyone else you'll find.

Related Posts

3 Popular Seaside Towns In Mexico Within Driving Distance Of The States
Lifestyle

3 Popular Seaside Towns In Mexico Within Driving Distance Of The States

by Lee Harrison
May 4, 2022
0

One of the most valuable conveniences you could hope for when purchasing a home abroad can be the ability to...

Read more
The Best Places To Live Abroad And Launch A New Life

The Best Places To Live Abroad And Launch A New Life

April 27, 2022
The Eiffel tower in Paris from a tiny street

While Away Your Days In Paris

April 26, 2022
A view of Cinta Costera in Panama City, Panama

One Of The Greatest Melting Pots

April 25, 2022
A relaxing Panama shoreline

Is Retiring In Panama Still A Good Choice? If So, Where?

April 24, 2022
Ferragudo, Algarve, Portugal

How One Couple Discovered A Great New Life In Algarve

April 21, 2022
Portuguese beach villa in Carvoeiro classic fishing boats

Retirement In Algarve, Portugal, Is A Breeze For Americans

April 17, 2022
Next Post
a hill covered in white buildings and pine trees in spain

Retire To Granada, Spain

A world full of fun, adventure, and profit awaits! Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In Style Overseas Today.

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas

LIOS Resources


  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs

Quick Links


  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE report: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2022

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Countries
  • Budgets
  • Archives
  • News
  • Events
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Members Area
  • Contact Us

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

The World’s Best Places To Be In 2022?

Discover Them Here…

WANT TO RETIRE OVERSEAS?

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we’ll immediately send you a free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE in style overseas. Each day you’ll learn about the best opportunities for international living, retiring overseas, offshore diversification and asset protection, and investing in real estate around the world.