For years downtown San José has had a bad reputation with most the gringo community in Costa Rica. Unfortunately many neophyte gringos don’t remember the good old days before all of the glitz of Escazú existed and tendency began to live in places like Heredia, Atenas, Grecia, San Ramón and the beach areas.

There is a lot to do in downtown in and around San José and I am not alluding to those activities strictly limited to single men. The Patio Restaurant on Central Avenue is probably the best people watching spot in the country. The food is excellent and the ambience is equally as good. The Presidente Hotel’s open-air café and the Gran Hotel ‘s restaurant are also worth checking out. You won’t find places like these anywhere else in the country.

Two of the county’s best oriental restaurants and a great Argentine restaurant are located only a couple of blocks from the very heart of the city and a new China Town in the same area will be a reality by the end of 2011. The revamped Dunn Inn is the newest nightspot in the downtown area. The owners have poured more than a million dollars into creating Rick’s Café. Stop by and check out the scene.

I also recommend going to the top of Holiday Inn. The view of San José is beyond description.

In case you haven’t been to the Central Market , you should check it out during the day.

There used to be about a dozen gringo watering holes scattered around the downtown area where you could meet an interesting assortment of characters. Joe Bees is probably the only remaining bar where you can mingle with some of these off-beat gringo types. The atmosphere is lively almost every night of the week and a lot more down-to-earth than you will find in some of the trendier places like Escazú, La Lindora or in the suburbs or smaller towns around the country. This bar isn’t for everyone but it will kind of give you a glimpse of what an old-time America hangout was like before the country became so popular and overrun with North Americans. Some of the people you meet Joe Bees have been living here for twenty or thirty years and are great storytellers.

San José isn’t a steady diet for me but I manage to try and go downtown at least once a week to see old friends and check out the scene.

Franklin “Tiny’ Phelps passed away this week after many years of battling a several illnesses. Tiny’s Tropical Bar on Central Avenue was Costa Rica’s first sport’s bar and flourished during the late 1980s, and 1900s. Tiny closed his doors because he was unable to run the business due to his declining health around 2003.

The last time I saw Tiny was a few months ago when he was visiting Costa Rica from Michigan with his brother Bill. I am really fortunate to have spent a few hours with him reminising about the good old days in a very different Costa Rica.

Tiny was originally from Michigan and played football for the Detriot Lions during the 1950s. So, the name “Tiny” was misnomer since he was over six feet tall and weighed about 250 fifty pounds in his prime. He told me that at one time he worked as a bouncer for a couple of bars which was had to believe because he was such a gentle man. He lived and worked in Las Vegas for many years prior to moving to Costa Rica around 1986. Shortly after that he opened his bar in a building with a beautiful brick facade and interior on Avenida Central between Calle 9 and Calle 11. Prior to Tiny purchasing the place it was a popular Costa Rican bar and restaurant called “La Fonda” owned by Fabio Quesada and his father.

Tiny’s became the hangout for many a gringo in the downtown area. Unlike many of the bars downtown Tiny tried discouraged the working girls from hanging out there. Tiny could always be found interacting and throwing down a couple of Heineken beers with his loyal following. During football season the bar was packed on Sundays. A lot of people frequented Tiny’s because of the food and not just the drink. Doña Carmen ran the kitchen like a battleship and always mingled with the customers.

Over the years I made a lot of really good friends at Tiny’s and shall always cherish the memories of the good times there. One of my fondest memorizes was right after I got married Tiny hosted a party for my wife and I at the bar. Fee of charge.

With all of the information on the Internet about retiring in Costa Rica readers can often become confused. One of the biggest myths is that Costa Rica has become too expensive, therefore you can live more affordably in the U.S.

Here are some facts to help you put things in their proper perspective:

(1) Fruits and vegetables are DIRT cheap at Costa Rica’s weekend farmers markets. For example, a bag of Bell Peppers (6 to costs around a dollar. If I am not mistaken one pepper can cost about $2.00 in the U.S. So, you can see the savings here.

(2) Rentals are quite affordable here. A nice apartment, condo or home can be found for well under $1,000

(3) Real estate taxes are .25% of one percent. In the U.S. You would be hard-pressed to find property taxes so low. Most everyone in North America I know pays a few thousand dollars yearly.

(4) Hired help is a also affordable here. A maid, gardener or repairman will cost under $20 per day. People in the States pay their maids around $100 a day.

(5) Medical care is much less expensive. The cost to belong to the country’s public healthcare system is under $50 monthly for 100% coverage with NO deductable. I have private insurance for my family that runs around $2,000 per year with a 20% deductable. I have friends in the States who pay over $1000 per month for a similar policy.

(6) Electric and water bills are cheap in the Central Valley. I just paid my monthly bill which was $56. I had a client on my tour who lives in Texas that pays about $500 monthly for air conditioning in the summer. Heating bills in the winter are also sky high there. You don’t need to heat your home here because of the country’s spring-like climate.

(7) Cell phone bills are the lowest in Latin America. I pay about $25 per month for two lines. I had one AT&T line from the U.S. and paid almost $100 per month.

(8) If you are a single male there are obvious advantages to living in Costa Rica which is a single man’s paradise.

I rest my case!

On my monthly relocation/retirement tours I am always asked about what types of furniture and appliances are available in Costa Rica. So during the orientation sessions I provide for my clients I explain the wide range of options when it comes to purchasing furniture here.

The small country town of Sarchi, nestled in the countryside of Costa Rica’s Alajuela province near the neighboring town of Grecia, is the country’s most famous place for hand-made furniture. The town’s excellent products are made with pride and high-quality by its many craftsman. Upon entering Sarchi countless furniture stores begin to emerge along both sides of the road, each offering a variety of items including oxcarts, elaborately painted bowls and trays, natural wood serving utensils, tables, jewelry boxes and carvings. Elegantly-made furniture ranging from rocking chairs, tables, bedroom sets, dressers and chests are also available. Many Costa Ricans and retirees make special trips Sarchí in order to buy home furnishings from the numerous furniture stores located there. These establishments will even deliver the finished furniture to your home of apartment wherever you may reside.

Hand-made rustic-style furniture is another option in Costa Rica. About ten years ago I became very interested in rustic-style Colombian furniture that was being sold in Costa Rica. At that time this type furniture was not being manufactured here and had to be imported from Colombia which made it very expensive. Despite the price I began to fill my home with this kind of furniture. Well, the good news is that Costa Rican furniture makers started to manufacture rustic- furniture a couple of years ago and it is much more affordable than the Colombian version. Recently, I purchased another bed, a hat rack, bar stools and a dinning room set which were all made by local craftsman and the quality is as good if not better than the rustic furniture imported form Colombia. The best part is that it is about thirty-percent cheaper.

In addition, there are dozens of furniture store like Artista and importadora Monge, to name a few, which sell other types of furniture as well as appliances. Retirees can find a good selection of products in anyone of these chain stores as well as smaller furniture shops all over the country.

As I have mentioned in some of my previous articles and blogs Costa Rica has more American residents proportionately than any other country outside of the United States. Many of these people are of retirement age and choose to purchase a home. There are many types of homes and prices vary according to size, location and the style and age of the structure.

Some retirees buy new homes while others opt for an older home. If you purchase an older home you may be faced with the prospect of doing some major remodeling. While it is difficult to build a home from scratch, remodeling is usually much easier and very, I repeat very affordable.

For example, about a week ago my friend Ernie came over to my house. Ernie has lived here for about 20 years but recently spent time in the States taking care of his elderly mother. Ernesto, as we fondly call him, has had ample experience in the field of home improvement in the U.S. and in Costa Rica. He hadn’t seen my home for a few years since I had remodeled part of it.

First, I showed him my kitchen cabinets. A few years ago while with a couple of clients in the Santa Ana area I saw some incredible cabinetry in a condominium project called Los Jardines. The quality of the work really impressed me so I asked the owner to give me the cabinet maker’s contact information. The guy’s name is Joaquín and he has his furniture business in Santa Ana. To make a long story short, I hired Joaquín to build me a full set of kitchen cabinets and install granite counter tops. Ernie asked me how much I paid for the work. I told him it cost around $4,000. He said the same work would have run at least $25,000 or probably more in the U.S.

Next, I took Ernie upstairs to see my second-floor addition which has a panoramic view of part of the Central Valley on the south side and the mountains of Heredia on the north side. Ernie congratulated me again on the quality of work and asked about the price. He just couldn’t believe that I had paid a little over $10,000 for the addition. He said the same job in the States would have run at least $50,000.

The above are examples of how affordable it can be to remodel a home in Costa Rica. Retirees and others don’t have to purchase a new home here knowing that it is easy and inexpensive to upgrade an older property.