Potential retirement location

My wife and I are nearing retirement and looking at places to consider that we feel would best fit most of our needs and desires.

Next on our list is Zihua. When we come down to visit, it is likely that we are going to stay at one of the private homes suggested in posts that I have read here on ZihuaRob's. Fortunately this website exist and provides a wealth of information. Most everything has been covered... the restaurants and many other considerations have been reviewed well enough to provided us a very good idea as to what to anticipate.

One issue we'd like to address is crime. Approximately 1.5 weeks ago I read about a bus that was robbed on the way north out of town headed toward Manzanillo. Having traveled extensively in the past 25 years, we are aware of most the do's & don'ts of getting out & about in certain locations/environments. Perhaps that incident was somewhat of an unusual occurrence.

Work has recently taken me to Mexico City, Monterrey & Guadalajara... and I have been traveling there for many years. The atmosphere has changed to some degree (most noticeably in Mexico City & Monterrey) in part due to the drug trade and the crime that follows it.

My concern is with all the media commentary (hype or otherwise) that has been in the press for the last few years about Mexico... How is the region of Manzanillo/Ixtapa/Zihua been effected? Is it reasonably safe & if so, to what extent? Is there any drug cartel presence there or not?

Thanks, any & all comments are appreciated.
David

Back in 2006, the year I retired, we decided to spend 3 months driving around to the various places in Mexico that we thought would be good candidates for places to live.
(We assumed then that our retirement income was too low to allow us to spend half the year in Mexico and half back home. We've discovered, however, that we can do exactly that.....for the past 10 years, anyway. Some might argue otherwise, but we consider this to be the best of both worlds.)
So, we spent some time in San Carlos, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Guayabitos, Guadalajara, Ajijic/Chapala, San Miguel de Allende, Patzcuaro, Morelia, Oaxaca City, Puerto Escondido, San Cristobal de las Casas, Huatulco, Playa Ventura, Pie de la Cuesta, Acapulco.....and Zihua. We hadn't been to the Zihua area since the mid-90's, when we spent two weeks in Ixtapa.
Of all those places, we would still choose Zihua (or Ixtapa, if we were living here full-time). I doubt we would buy - rentals are very reasonable and you can just walk away if necessary. We've heard enough scary stories about condo purchases in Mexico, especially in touristy areas, that we would probably rule that out. (We've lived in condos for most of the past 45 years, so are totally familiar with all the pros and cons, but condo living in a Mexican tourist area can be a whole other ballgame).
Good luck in your search.