Why live in a gated community?
Welcome to Boquete and to Valle Escondido.
Hi, my name is Sam Taliaferro and I am the developer of Valle Escondido. Before building Valle Escondido, I had not lived in a gated community and to be honest, did not think I would ever want to live in one. I thought that living in a gated community would be like living in a compound and alienate me from the local community. After all, you enter any city or town in Latin America and see that everyone lives behind bars and all buildings and apartments are guarded. Why would someone do that here in the beautiful countryside where it seems so peaceful?
When I moved to Boquete in 1998, it was very much as you see it today. It was a small town with small town charm. The main difference now is that there are many more foreigners living here, and there are more moving in almost every day. With this increased number of foreigners, there are more shops, restaurants and activities available in town. These are the things that I envisioned happening, and are things that, I believe, make Boquete a more attractive place to live.
Along with all of this prosperity came something else I anticipated, crime. Thus far crime is still relatively low and violent crime is unheard of, but home burglaries are very common. Most foreigners that I know in the area have had their homes burgled at least once. Before I moved into Valle Escondido my home had been robbed. Unless you have a guard, or someone in your home at all times, the probability is high that your home will be robbed. Some people armed their homes with alarm systems, but the police force here has no means of being alerted or responding if an alarm goes off.
Crime is the unfortunate side effect to the prosperity that we have seen in the past two years. The country spends very little on police and spends even less on the investigation of crime, therefore there is a high probability that crime will continue to escalate. We can only hope that these burglaries continue to occur when the owners are away and that they do not turn violent.
Anywhere that you live in Latin America, or in the world, you have to be alert to protect yourselves and your assets. In Valle Escondido, we have 24/7 security personnel and alarm systems on every home that connect to the front guard house. At night we have an additional patrolling guard with a radio to the front gate monitoring system. The guards are trained to respond to intrusions, but the high valley walls, natural geological barriers, offer our greatest protection.
While protection is one of the primary reasons for living in a gated community, another important reason is noise control. Before I moved to Valle Escondido, I lived next door to a man with three dogs. These dogs would bark at all hours of the night. He also had roosters and they would crow at all times of the night. No matter how I tried to persuade the man to quiet his animals, he would not comply. Just across the street, another man had an auto body repair shop. There were cars parked all along the road waiting to be repaired and the mechanic would sometimes work until late in the evening banging out fenders. When there is no zoning, and little law enforcement, you are at the mercy of your neighbor. The people in this agricultural community had been living with animals and noisy neighbors all their lives and it simply does not bother them.
Another important reason to consider a gated community is property value. Most people look at their homes as their primary assets, and expect those assets to appreciate over time. What happens if the road to your house deteriorates and is never repaired or someone buys the lot next to you and starts a chicken or pig farm? Don’t laugh because it happens here everyday, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. There are laws against it, but no enforcement. You can build a beautiful $100,000.00 home and a $5000.00 shanty can go up right next-door.
Consider utilities and other services. Is there a good road to enter your property? Is there plenty of water; not just today, but year round? Is there good electric utilities and Internet access? What about regular trash pickup? You’re not in the first world where they have crews to repair utilities quickly. Here in the interior of Panama, you must learn patience and practice it regularly. In Valle Escondido, we have new underground utilities. When utilities are underground, they are not easily damaged by vandals, or forces of nature. If something does happen, and the utilities are damaged, we have service personnel on-site to ensure that they are quickly back up and operational. All of these things bring value to the investment that you make in your home.
After you make the choice to build your dream home in Valle Escondido, you have the choice of six quality builders that are committed to ensuring that your dream comes true. They maintain high construction standards and sustain the homogeneity of the project’s architectural design. This further adds value to the project and value to your investment. My job as the developer is to make sure that your investment continues to grow. That is why we have community rules and bylaws that are enforced by a homeowners association.
We call Valle Escondido a lifestyle community. To most people, life is more than just sitting on the porch swing of their house or puttering in the garden. It is about living the best life you can live. This is why we have a church, equestrian center, golf course, amphitheater, shops, bar and restaurant. This is why there are gardeners to care for your lawn and maids to do your housework. There are people to assist you with everything from a getting a cell phone to finding furniture. We have attorneys to help you with visas and customs on your vehicles or items you may want to bring here from your home country. All of these services are available to make moving and living here stress free, which after all, is why you are coming in the first place.
Yes, you can have the best of both worlds. You can live in a place that time seems to have forgotten but still live in a first world community. Enjoy all of the natural beauty and the many things this area has to offer, but do it on your terms. Have a great lifestyle, live in Valle Escondido!
Sam Taliaferro
Developer, Valle Escondido