Z Heart of Ixtapa

I really have to hand it to the gardeners who work for Fonatur. They do a commendable job keeping all the boulevards looking colorful and well maintained. Even though Zihuatanejo also has gardeners, unfortunately the result of their work doesn't even come close to the quality of the work in Ixtapa. I suspect it has a lot to do with the fact that Zihuatanejo is administered by politicians while Ixtapa is administered by bureaucrats. There also aren't any land invasions in Ixtapa. Not one.

A colorful Tibouchina tree in bloom on the well-manicured Paseo de los Viveros in the residential area of Ixtapa.

We fell in love with how beautiful the boulevards are in Ixtapa the first time we visited in 1999. When staying at Pacifica, we love walking r/t from the entrance on the boulevard to the center of town. You always see workers working making sure it stays beautiful. Being Ixtapa is government run, money is allocated for maintaining the beauty of Ixtapa. One of the prettiest views is coming from "Z" and looking toward the ocean with the islands off in the distance- our favorite view in Ixtapa.

"I suspect it (the beautiful gardening in Ixtapa), has a lot to do with the fact that Zihuatanejo is administered by politicians while Ixtapa is administered by bureaucrats."

"Being Ixtapa is government run, money is allocated for maintaining the beauty of Ixtapa."

Wow! Kudos for both governments and bureaucrats in the same thread.
Has Hell frozen over?

Wow! Kudos for both governments and bureaucrats in the same thread.
Has Hell frozen over?

Or perhaps even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

When you see results, makes all the difference in the world even though you know money is disappearing somewhere. You have both good and bad managers in both corporate and government.

Yeppers. Shame The Devil

Perhaps it is because Ixtapa actually uses WATER when maintaining their plants while in Zihua they plant and give them a "there you go" and that is practically the end of maintenance.

Perhaps it is because Ixtapa actually uses WATER when maintaining their plants while in Zihua they plant and give them a "there you go" and that is practically the end of maintenance.

BINGO! That was really good, Carol.

I guess you've noticed that not one single coconut palm tree that was planted at the zócalo during the administration of Alejandro Bravo has survived. And to boot, the lone palm tree that stood beside the basketball court near where the amate tree was has also died, I suspect from the same thing that killed the amate, which I suspect was the oil the from the popcorn vendor. Amazing that Mexicans have such a good reputation as gardeners in the USA, yet in Zihuatanejo we can't even grow a friggin' palm tree on the main plaza even though they are practically zero maintenance.

But change is a-coming...

hey rob,

perhaps the boulevards bloom with abandon due magic residue of cattle grazing days.

perhaps just more bs from martin

¿quien sabes?

We lived in Ixtapa for 6 months before moving to Z. While in Ixtapa, we always saw groups of 6 - 10 Fonatur employees in their green vests watering, sweeping, ect.. I have not seen anything like that in Z. In fact, I did not even know that Z had any maintenance or landscaping employees??

Stealing of land by Fonatur from Ejido Families in the early 1970's ( think Canada/America Natives 19th century) which brought about this tourist mecca that has plenty of water and beautiful arbors. Just recently under the Ejido leadership of one Edgar Danilo Lopez compensation law suits are moving, at a snails pace, through Mexican federal agencies to compensate families.

Stealing of land by Fonatur from Ejido Families in the early 1970's ( think Canada/America Natives 19th century) which brought about this tourist mecca that has plenty of water and beautiful arbors. Just recently under the Ejido leadership of one Edgar Danilo Lopez compensation law suits are moving, at a snails pace, through Mexican federal agencies to compensate families.

Yes, there's certainly THAT.

They originally tried to expropriate Zihuatanejo but the ejidatarios threatened that blood would be spilled if the federal government tried to take their lands. So the project moved over the hill to Ixtapa where they still haven't paid the ejidatarios for the lands they took from them over 40 years ago, ignoring the agreements they signed at that time. If we had a functional justice system this all would've been settled decades ago.

We can only hope. Appoint me to oversee the gardeners.

Gorgeous....

I've always just figured the the budget is much larger. The number of workers in Ixtapa doing that job is a lot.