American Expats in Costa Rica – What We Dislike

In mid-January 2013, we packed up and hit the road for Costa Rica. Jen had gotten a job teaching fifth grade at an English-speaking international school, and as long as I had reliable internet access, my work would not be affected. Our kids (ages 4, 4, 1) would be enrolled in day care. We didn’t want to wait until the kids were out of college and we were empty-nesters to do something crazy like this, so off we went.
Sixteen months later we’re having hard time saying good bye to many friends we hope to stay in touch with. We’ll be heading back to the States in July. It’s been a great experience filled with lots of family time, lots of great trips and many experiences that would not have been possible in the States. Here’s what I’ve disliked about Costa Rica. My likes are here.

My Dislikes
Lack of Physical Infrastructure
Costa Rica is famous for its potholed-streets, so I won’t knock the country for this known annoyance. Instead I’ll hit on its barely-sufficient infrastructure. The roads are too narrow, very bumpy, don’t have enough lanes, and often there is only one legit way to get somewhere, so big traffic jams are common despite this being a small country with less than 5M people. There aren’t enough stop lights and stop signs, and it’s super annoying that most bridges narrow to just one or two lanes, so even when there isn’t much traffic, traffic gets backed up. I guess you get used to it. No shoulder means if a car or truck has to pull over, it simply stops on the road causing traffic to back up in both directions. And similarly, there are no platforms for buses to use to load/unload passengers, so again, traffic backs up for no good reason. It’s as if the infrastructure was designed for less people and less cars, and unfortunately, there’s little opportunity to fix the issue because in many cases buildings aren’t more than a few feet from the street.
Lack of Parks
There’s one park in Heredia that’s ok (by US standards). There’s another in San Rafael that’s eh. Otherwise almost every park I’ve come across is decades old, broken down and in terrible condition. I’d be surprised if any maintenance has been done on any of them in many many years. Swings are missing or broken. Slides are rusted. Teeter totters have missing seats. It’s sad. The weather is so nice here, and people generally live in small houses. Congregating at a local park is a no-brainer…unless those parks are in bad shape and unsafe. Since our kids were born, most of our friends were people we met at the local parks around our house in Colorado. That opportunity doesn’t exist here.
Not Bike Friendly
This is related to the lack of physical infrastructure comments above, but it deserves its own attention. Before moving here, I thought my first purchase would be a bike. A car would be used for weekend getaways to various spots all over the country, but a bike would be my primary means of transportation around town. Sixteen months later, I still haven’t bought a bike because it just too darn dangerous to ride here. Roads with potholes results in swerving cars. And when those roads are narrow, not much room for a biker or walker is left on the side of the road. Sidewalks are either non-existent or in bad shape, so they aren’t an option. It’s a shame. Costa Rica has such great weather, and the country is so small (the airport, downtown San Jose, many farmer’s markets, and numerous little towns in the countryside are all less than 10 kilometers away), one would think making the country biker/runner/walker friendly would be a priority, but it’s not. This country probably cares more about the environment than any country in the world (CR did in fact get rid of its military in 1948 and devoted the resources to preserving the environment). Improving transportation abilities for bikers and walkers would reduce traffic and set off a chain reaction of a happier, healthier population that would get to benefit from less pollution.
Everything Else Is Expensive
Fruits and veggies at the farmer’s markets are cheap, but everything else is expensive (thanks to an import tariff). Gas is more than 5 bucks/gallon. A highchair that costs $75 in Babies-r-Us in the States costs $200 here. A Cozy Coupe that costs $55 on Amazon costs $150 here. A box of cereal, a gallon of almond milk, a pound of chicken – they’re all significantly more expensive. Even a slow cooker that costs $30 at Costco in the States costs $60 here. If you eat the local cuisine (fruits, veggies, rice, beans), you can save a lot of money here, but if you’re addicted to processed food and meat, start saving. But I shouldn’t complain too much. The import tariff pays for something, and unlike the States where subsidized sugar and corn causes processed food to be cheap, it’s the fruits and veggies that are cheap here. This is the way it should be, right? Life’s necessities are cheap; the luxuries are expensive.
It’s Inefficient
Latin America is known for its inefficiencies; Costa Rica contributes to the deserved reputation. Standing in line at the DMV for thirty minutes in the States is relaxing down time compared to the lines you’ll encounter in CR. A simple trip to the US Embassy requires at least a half day of time blocked off. Visiting the Ministerio de Seguridad Publica to register required us to stand in line for three hours in the sun. Banco National is a joke. Before the bank even opens, an hour-long line has already formed. We got our license plates removed on January 1 (we didn’t know we had to re-register the car before the end of the year). It look at least 30 hours spread out over an entire week to get them back. Costa Rica is great…until you have to deal with a government agency…then it will take all the patience you can muster to prevent yourself from going insane.
Lack of Online Presense
Yes internet exists throughout Costa Rica, but very few business have an online presence. If you need a hardware store, doing a search does you no good. If a friend tells you about a restaurant, remembering the name with intentions of looking it up later will yield nothing. Maybe I’m spoiled coming from the States. Here, if someone explains something to you, you better fully understand everything they say because odds are you will not be able to look up further details later.
Addresses Don’t Exist, Streets Don’t Have Names
We used to live in a white house 400 meters east of Paseo de las Flores. Now we live 400 meters north of Pizza la Finca in San Rafael. I’m not kidding. Directions don’t entail making a right on Santiago St. and then a left on Mary Ave., they entail making a right at the statue and then a left at the shoe store. It makes perfect sense if you’re from here (because you know all the major markers), but otherwise it’s a joke. How hard is it to give streets names and addresses like the rest of the developed world?