5 Reasons Why People Like Costa Rica
Foreigners who live in or have visited Costa Rica as well as Costa Ricans themselves seem to agree on five things about the country: 1) the friendliness of the people, 2) the comparative prosperity of the economy, 3) the good climate, 4) the peacefulness compared to other Latin American countries, 5) the attractiveness of the women, and 6) the beautiful countryside, plus the interest and care being taken to preserve the ecology.
In a January 1997 issue of The Tico Times, Dennis Woltering, anchor / reporter for WWLTV, New Orleans, said: "We have noticed that Central America is becoming an increasingly attractive destination for retirees. And Costa Rica is said to be one of the best places to live in this part of the world."
In 1994, Editorial Texto, a small publishing house in San José, published my book entitled Developing and Managing Profitable Rental Real Estate in Costa Rica. In it I mentioned that the country has been able to make use of its contrasted regions as a source of strength, and that it's one of the few countries in Latin America which has been able to develop a strongly coherent national life. Its people are vigorously at work strengthening their democracy and making it a more pleasant place in which to live.
A writer for the Miami Herald called Costa Rica a bright spot in a troubled world. That was during the days of Communism and the Sandinista regime in power in Nicaragua, and the Civil War in El Salvador. He said: "since it's the big noise-makers who get the attention, Americans for the most part pay scanty attention to Costa Rica. Yet this fine little Central American country is one of the bright spots in the troubled hemisphere. It has the highest literacy rate in Latin America. English is virtually the second language. The US system has been its guide and inspiration and the United States is much admired there, which is hardly a universal condition. We'd do well to pay more attention and more honour to this stalwart little republic."
Some years ago, when the Twentieth Century Fund in New York made a survey of Costa Rica and its economy, the group who conducted the study described the country as follows: "The charm of this beautiful republic cannot be conveyed by a mere catalogue of its virtues, though these are impressive enough. The people are highly literate. They are personable, intelligent, happy and good looking.
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