{"id":225,"date":"2025-07-14T12:00:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/?p=225"},"modified":"2025-07-31T14:36:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T14:36:09","slug":"the-high-cost-of-cheap-rent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/es\/2025\/07\/14\/the-high-cost-of-cheap-rent\/","title":{"rendered":"The high cost of cheap rent"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kb-image225_fc95de-cd.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .kb-image225_fc95de-cd .kb-image-is-ratio-size{max-width:765px;width:100%;}.wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image225_fc95de-cd.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image225_fc95de-cd .kb-image-is-ratio-size{align-self:unset;}.kb-image225_fc95de-cd figure{max-width:765px;}.kb-image225_fc95de-cd .image-is-svg, .kb-image225_fc95de-cd .image-is-svg img{width:100%;}.kb-image225_fc95de-cd .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image225_fc95de-cd\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"850\" height=\"564\" src=\"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Gringo-go-Home.webp\" alt=\"\u201cGraffiti on pink wall reads \u2018Gringo Go Home\u2019.\u201d\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-227\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Gringo-go-Home.webp 850w, https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Gringo-go-Home-300x199.webp 300w, https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Gringo-go-Home-768x510.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><figcaption>\u201cGraffiti saying \u2018Gringo Go Home\u2019 in Mexico\u201d <br>(source: Mexico News Daily under fair use)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>For some of us USAmericans\u2026 well, at least for <em>this <\/em>USAmerican living abroad, there are moral and ethical dilemmas. First of which is: what do I even call myself? The most common handle I\u2019ve seen is <em>expat<\/em>\u2014short for expatriate\u2014but I\u2019m sticking with <em>immigrant<\/em>. Not because it\u2019s more accurate, necessarily, but because it feels more honest. Less colonial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s been a flurry of protests in Mexico City reported lately, demanding that gringo immigrants \u201cgo home.\u201d The complaints against us include offensive behavior, failure to integrate\u2014or even learn Spanish\u2014and most pointedly, that we are driving up the cost of living, especially rent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I saw something similar in Bogot\u00e1 last year. A group staged a theatrical protest, clearly modeled on activist tactics like those of ACT UP. And just like with ACT UP, the larger public dismissed them. Too loud. Too messy. Too easy to ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of us immigrants feel welcome here in Colombia. We don\u2019t recognize ourselves in the anger of the protestors. But that\u2019s exactly the point. The protests get ignored because they don\u2019t reflect the average Colombian experience\u2014and that\u2019s how their legitimate concerns get buried.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"576\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/bogota-street-protest-2-576x1024.png\" alt=\"Woman walking past barbed wire.\" class=\"wp-image-230\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/bogota-street-protest-2-576x1024.png 576w, https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/bogota-street-protest-2-169x300.png 169w, https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/bogota-street-protest-2-768x1365.png 768w, https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/bogota-street-protest-2-864x1536.png 864w, https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/bogota-street-protest-2.png 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Street protest installation, Bogot\u00e1, Colombia. A red shirt caught in barbed wire, a blanket on the ground\u2014part of a performance art protest about migration and borders.<\/em><br>(Photo by Jon D Barnett)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Protest always risks being caricatured. The media focuses on the drama, not the demands. The angry chant, not the root cause. It\u2019s a classical dilemma I\u2019ve watched play out dozens of times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the passion felt by protesters demands a response\u2014from whom?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Who\u2019s responsible when rent soars out of control in cities that once housed their own people affordably?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s easy to blame the gringo. Or the landlord. Or Airbnb. Or the mayor. Or the algorithm. But maybe that\u2019s just what we humans do\u2014find someone slightly more guilty than ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yesterday, I posted a <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/EJGKw3OlxL8?si=OAO_TCB8yhpRc_Ik\">video tour<\/a> of our new apartment in Bucaramanga. It&#8217;s lovely. Three bedrooms, two baths, a balcony view. It costs us $375\/month in rent, maybe $600 all-in with admin fees, internet, and utilities. I admitted, maybe a little too eagerly, that the price was one of the reasons we chose to live here. A few people responded with admiration\u2014and a kind of wistful envy. \u201cWow,\u201d they said, \u201cthat\u2019s so cheap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it\u2019s not. Not really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cheap rent isn\u2019t cheap if it comes at the cost of someone else being priced out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Colombia, let alone Bucaramanga, is not yet a hotspot for English-speaking immigrants, but if enough of us show up with U.S. dollars, that can change fast. It already has in parts of Mexico, Ecuador, and Costa Rica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And while we may be contributing to the economy\u2014buying food, hiring help, paying taxes\u2014we\u2019re also reshaping the local housing market. Unintentionally, maybe. But still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Protesters shouldn\u2019t ignore that inflation and the cost of living in Colombia would be rising regardless of foreigners. Our presence may exacerbate the issue, but making us go home won\u2019t fix it. The real culprits\u2014greed, policy failure, and globalization\u2014aren\u2019t leaving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, so-called expats\u2014and I include myself in that messy label\u2014need to accept that we have a moral and ethical responsibility to the communities we now live in. That\u2019s part of the cost of our own struggles to maintain a high standard of living on a reduced Western income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the very least, this should include being willing to pay the dreaded \u201cgringo tax\u201d\u2014whether it shows up in inflated prices or just a social tax on privilege. And for gawd\u2019s sake, let\u2019s stop bitching about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t have the answers. But I do have the questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe one of my epithets will be: \u201cI found the right answer, only to learn I was asking the wrong question.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or maybe: \u201cThe right question is more important than the right answer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One question I can\u2019t shake is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Can we live gently in a place we love, without becoming the thing we ran away from?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What happens when too many outsiders come looking for \u201ccheap rent\u201d? A personal look at gentrification, protest, and privilege from an immigrant in Colombia\u2014asking not just what we owe, but what we displace.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":290,"href":"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions\/290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jondbarnett.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}