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Do We or Don't We? Mexico? Too Dangerous???

#141
pmchenry said:
I've likewise never felt in any imminent danger, though I've mostly only traveled in the Tijuana/Baja area, so I can't speak to the rest of the country. Cambodia and the Middle East were far less welcoming, in my experiences. I've always felt that if you never take any risks, you're missing half the point of being alive.
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Great point, my sentiments exactly. And in my limited travels in the music business (31 countries so far, many of them on a regular basis) i've found the usa travel advisory a bit over the top in their depiction of quite a few ... still, it would of course be quite unwise to ignore any of their info.
 
#142
angel.of.death said:
soemtimes you have to take your chances, if you do, welcome to mexico!!
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LOL! So says the Angel of Death!! "Welcome!" :D :rollno:

My wife and I visited Cancun once, which I realize is not what we're talking about here, but I still felt just a little unsafe. When browsing through the outdoor mall one night, we got to talking to a group of local men at a little t-shirt shop, and the tallest one of them started to make a big deal out of my height (I'm 6'4"). He was shorter than me and it seemed as though, although he was being nice ("mucho grande gringo!"), that he was used to being taller than others and maybe didn't like me because of that...? I've seen guys get that look in their eye when they're acting nice but in reality are having malicious thoughts. (I was also haggling with him pretty hard on his t-shirt prices so maybe that was part of it too...?) This sheltered Midwest boy wasn't scared but I did think, walking away, that... man, what if they decided they wanted to prove something?

You can say all you want about the voilence in the US but at least I don't stick out like an outsider here. Take yer chances somewhere like Monterrey? Naaa...

Having said that, I am anxious to go back to Cancun someday... I certainly didn't feel threatened enough there to avoid such a cool and beautiful place.

Just checked on OP's profile, he posted on TB as recently as May '12 so either he didn't go or he survived somehow.... :D
 
#144
Mexico's national intentional homicide rate was 15 per 100,000 in 2010. That's the same as Russia, and better than the murder rates in Brazil, Panama, the Bahamas and South Africa.

But comparing national homicide rates is pretty useless to decide whether to visit one place out of many in an entire country.

Here are the US Cities with a higher per-capita murder rate than 15 per 100,000:

New Orleans, LA 49.1
St. Louis, MO 40.5
Baltimore, MD 34.8
Detroit, MI 34.5
Newark, NJ 32.1
Oakland, CA 22.0
Washington, D.C. 21.9
Kansas City, MO 21.1
Buffalo, NY 20.7
Cincinnati, OH 20.5
Philadelphia, PA 19.6
Cleveland, OH 19.0
Pittsburgh, PA 17.6
Atlanta, GA 17.3
Stockton, CA 16.8
Milwaukee, WI 15.5
Miami, FL 15.4
Chicago, IL 15.2

Look how many great American cities have murder rates far in excess of Mexico's! Do other countries issue travel advisories for the US? Maybe they should.

But even this is misleading. I am sure there are plenty of people on this board who can point to lots of great places to visit and to live in each of those cities, and who also live there themselves.
 
#146
CrewsControl said:
Mexico's national intentional homicide rate was 15 per 100,000 in 2010. That's the same as Russia, and better than the murder rates in Brazil, Panama, the Bahamas and South Africa.

But comparing national homicide rates is pretty useless to decide whether to visit one place out of many in an entire country.

Here are the US Cities with a higher per-capita murder rate than 15 per 100,000:

New Orleans, LA 49.1
St. Louis, MO 40.5
Baltimore, MD 34.8
Detroit, MI 34.5
Newark, NJ 32.1
Oakland, CA 22.0
Washington, D.C. 21.9
Kansas City, MO 21.1
Buffalo, NY 20.7
Cincinnati, OH 20.5
Philadelphia, PA 19.6
Cleveland, OH 19.0
Pittsburgh, PA 17.6
Atlanta, GA 17.3
Stockton, CA 16.8
Milwaukee, WI 15.5
Miami, FL 15.4
Chicago, IL 15.2

Look how many great American cities have murder rates far in excess of Mexico's! Do other countries issue travel advisories for the US? Maybe they should.

But even this is misleading. I am sure there are plenty of people on this board who can point to lots of great places to visit and to live in each of those cities, and who also live there themselves.
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yeah but those are reported homicide rates. How many of the other countries have many homicides that don't get reported into the system the same way they do in the US. We have pretty sophisticated methods for reporting and cataloging crime here in the US. I'm not saying that every crime gets recorded here, but I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that our numbers are more accurate than other places. So there may be some bias in those figures. I still agree with you though that you shouldn't deprive yourself travel to some of the world's great cities just because of crime. You just need to be aware of your surroundings like you would anywhere.
 
#147
D.A.R.K. said:
Have you ever experienced/ seen any violence there? Just curious, not doubting you.
We take all the necessary precautions, of course, but I felt quite safe there compared to Israel...
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I haven't been to Israel to compare, but yes, I have seen/experienced the violence there. My last trip to Monterrey, a couple of members of my party were accosted in the parking lot of the restaurant we'd be in when they went to get the vehicles to pick us up at the door. Later that evening, traveling between locations, we were crowded off the road and our vehicles were ransacked. We were fortunate and no one was physically injured, but these incidents occurred in supposedly safe areas of the city.

That said, I wouldn't give up on going to Mexico ever. I quite enjoyed the country and Monterrey is quite beautiful. Mexico City seemed like a much safer place to travel and I've heard that Puebla and many of the more southern cities are amazing. I'm sure I'll go back, but it won't likely be for work given our travel policies.
 
#148
Tat2dHeart said:
I haven't been to Israel to compare, but yes, I have seen/experienced the violence there. My last trip to Monterrey, a couple of members of my party were accosted in the parking lot of the restaurant we'd be in when they went to get the vehicles to pick us up at the door. Later that evening, traveling between locations, we were crowded off the road and our vehicles were ransacked. We were fortunate and no one was physically injured, but these incidents occurred in supposedly safe areas of the city.

That said, I wouldn't give up on going to Mexico ever. I quite enjoyed the country and Monterrey is quite beautiful. Mexico City seemed like a much safer place to travel and I've heard that Puebla and many of the more southern cities are amazing. I'm sure I'll go back, but it won't likely be for work given our travel policies.
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Wow that's a bummer. Sounds like Baltimore!
I get accosted when here almost daily.
So they held you at gunpoint and looted your vehicles?
 
#149
Definitely don't go.
Mexico is almost as dangerous as South Chicago, East Oakland, or even some parts of Miami!
It is really best to limit touring and gigging to mid-western towns of 25,000 population or fewer. Make sure that the population is mostly white and you should be okay.
 
#151
CrewsControl said:
Mexico's national intentional homicide rate was 15 per 100,000 in 2010. That's the same as Russia, and better than the murder rates in Brazil, Panama, the Bahamas and South Africa.

But comparing national homicide rates is pretty useless to decide whether to visit one place out of many in an entire country.

Here are the US Cities with a higher per-capita murder rate than 15 per 100,000:

New Orleans, LA 49.1
St. Louis, MO 40.5
Baltimore, MD 34.8
Detroit, MI 34.5
Newark, NJ 32.1
Oakland, CA 22.0
Washington, D.C. 21.9
Kansas City, MO 21.1
Buffalo, NY 20.7
Cincinnati, OH 20.5
Philadelphia, PA 19.6
Cleveland, OH 19.0
Pittsburgh, PA 17.6
Atlanta, GA 17.3
Stockton, CA 16.8
Milwaukee, WI 15.5
Miami, FL 15.4
Chicago, IL 15.2

Look how many great American cities have murder rates far in excess of Mexico's! Do other countries issue travel advisories for the US? Maybe they should.

But even this is misleading. I am sure there are plenty of people on this board who can point to lots of great places to visit and to live in each of those cities, and who also live there themselves.
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Mmmmm. L.A. and NYC did not even make this list.
 
#153
wong99 said:
Definitely don't go.
Mexico is almost as dangerous as South Chicago, East Oakland, or even some parts of Miami!
It is really best to limit touring and gigging to mid-western towns of 25,000 population or fewer. Make sure that the population is mostly white and you should be okay.
Click to expand...

And take Kevin Bacon with you...should anyone want to dance, but fear doing so. He'll break down those barriers!
 
#154
To those of you who are still advising the OP about whether to travel to Monterrey or not, have you not noticed that the original post is nearly two years old??? :eyebrow:

Carry on dispensing whatever general advice or impressions that you so choose, but as for the OP, this has already been water under the bridge for a long while now... :rolleyes:

MM
 
#155
CrewsControl said:
Mexico's national intentional homicide rate was 15 per 100,000 in 2010. That's the same as Russia, and better than the murder rates in Brazil, Panama, the Bahamas and South Africa.

But comparing national homicide rates is pretty useless to decide whether to visit one place out of many in an entire country.

Here are the US Cities with a higher per-capita murder rate than 15 per 100,000:

New Orleans, LA 49.1
St. Louis, MO 40.5
Baltimore, MD 34.8
Detroit, MI 34.5
Newark, NJ 32.1
Oakland, CA 22.0
Washington, D.C. 21.9
Kansas City, MO 21.1
Buffalo, NY 20.7
Cincinnati, OH 20.5
Philadelphia, PA 19.6
Cleveland, OH 19.0
Pittsburgh, PA 17.6
Atlanta, GA 17.3
Stockton, CA 16.8
Milwaukee, WI 15.5
Miami, FL 15.4
Chicago, IL 15.2

Look how many great American cities have murder rates far in excess of Mexico's! Do other countries issue travel advisories for the US? Maybe they should.

But even this is misleading. I am sure there are plenty of people on this board who can point to lots of great places to visit and to live in each of those cities, and who also live there themselves.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I live in Philadelphia and I imagine it is the same as most places. Do your research before hand when traveling almost anywhere. Know what parts of town to avoid. Know that where you are staying is in a good neighborhood.

I can tell you I almost never feel scared of my surroundings in the neighborhoods I visit in Philly. I could also send you places late at night that would almost certainly cause you to get in some trouble.
 
#156
MysticMichael said:
To those of you who are still advising the OP about whether to travel to Monterrey or not, have you not noticed that the original post is nearly two years old??? :eyebrow:

Carry on dispensing whatever general advice or impressions that you so choose, but as for the OP, this has already been water under the bridge for a long while now... :rolleyes:

MM
Click to expand...

Yeah we know. But if you read the posts in between you'll realize that we transitioned into a general discussion on the risks of travel and how seriously they should/shouldn't be taken....

Sheeesh Mystic, trying to kill our vibe man!
 

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