What It’s Like Living in Panama City

Anyone living in Panama City can’t help but notice a lot of changes. In the last few years the city has had a building boom, partly due to the influx of money from businesses and expats – not all from the US – who are moving to Panama. Now, modern high rises jut into the sky throughout the city and there’s a modern and efficient subway, promising a bright economic future for the country.

This is no third-world country. Not anymore.

We’ve enjoyed our time in the city and have lived in three neighborhoods: San Francisco, El Cangrejo and Coco del Mar. Our San Francisco apartment was a month-to-month furnished place that we rented while we got to know the city. We fell in love with El Cangrejo, a sidewalk café-nightlife kind of neighborhood. Our balcony overlooked a park and beautiful, tree-lined Via Argentina, and we could see mountains and the Panama Canal lifts in the distance beyond them. It was an ideal location … but the construction was so poor that we had to move out to preserve our health.

Our current apartment

It was the social area that sold us on moving into our current building in the Coco del Mar area of San Francisco. We have an infinity-edge pool, gym, racquetball court, hot tub, steam room and sauna, free to use whenever we want. We bought a couple of racquets and Dan’s been showing me how to play, but far more often you can find us moving back and forth between the steam room and the pool. When we’re in the pool we watch the waves and the birds and hang our heads over the infinity edge to see if anything interesting has washed up onto the shoreline by the building.

Every room in our apartment has floor-to-ceiling windows, and both the living room and master bedroom open onto a glass-walled balcony that overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

When the early morning light creeps around the edges of our bedroom’s roller blinds and through my eyelids, I can sometimes find the energy to stumble out of bed and watch the sky change colors over the ocean and Costa del Este—one of the new bedroom communities on the outskirts of the city—or watch the ships disappear beyond the islands of Amador Causeway and enter the Panama Canal.

Soon, cars and buses will snake their way along the Corredor Sur causeway, bringing workers into town and home again.

Our San Francisco neighborhood

Next door we have an artisan shop where Indians and other locals sell their handmade wares and the Panama Viejo museum. We can walk to Panama Viejo, a vital city from 1519 to 1670 that now stands in ruins, thanks to Captain Morgan.

Up here on the 23rd floor, we can also make out the Pearl Islands on the horizon. Recently they became better known as a location for the Survivor TV show. Not being a fan of reality TV, all I can say is that the islands themselves are worth a visit. But that’s another post.

Although we have two parking spots for our car, buses run down the road in front, and there’s a bus stop right outside the door. For 25 cents, we can ride to the Atlapa Convention Center and the very upscale MultiPlaza Mall, or past Panama Viejo’s ruins to the Costa del Este suburb we can see from our balcony. That’s how our maid arrives every week. She charges $25 to clean our entire apartment and do our laundry.

Yeah, living is good here.

More thoughts about living in Panama City

Yes, Panama City lies on the Pacific but people have told me that the country’s shallow continental shelf will temper a tsunami. I don’t know about that, but I do know that when the waves retreat there is plenty of room out there for migrating birds to pick at crabs and other delicacies.

Amid the expanse, the low tide also reveals numerous big, flat rocks and occasional tidal pools. I’ve considered wandering out to see what might be trapped in them, but the city’s coastline isn’t sandy, like it is in Bocas del Toro. I’ve never seen anyone swimming or snorkeling here, although I often see deep footprints in the muck, left by locals who are harvesting seafood for their dinner.

As I’m not a fan of dirty shoes or squish between my toes, I’ll probably just continue to think about it.

As I write this, I’m watching the last vestiges of red and orange disappear in the dusky evening sky. The tide is coming in and the pelicans are chattering as they roost in the mangroves below. For now, I’ll sit on the balcony and just enjoy the country’s beauty.

Would you consider living in Panama?

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