Met a guy in Medellin who said digital nomads are ruining his city

I was working from a cafe in El Poblado last year, the usual spot with good wifi. This local guy, maybe in his 50s, sat next to me and just started talking. He pointed at my laptop and said, 'You people come here, pay one month's rent what I pay in a year, and then leave.' He wasn't even angry, just tired. He told me his family's rent went up 80% in two years because landlords want to rent to foreigners. I tried to explain I was just trying to live my life, but he said, 'Your life makes mine harder.' It stuck with me because I never thought of it that way before. Do you think about your impact on local housing costs, or is it just part of the deal?

3 comments

3 Comments

alex_flores241mo ago

Did you consider that maybe your rent is too low for locals, not that ours is too high?

elizabeth_lee1mo ago

Too low for locals" is a wild way to look at it.

black.laura20d ago

Ever think about splitting the difference? My building had this exact fight. We got a few long-term locals, like @elizabeth_lee, to agree to a small rent bump that still felt fair to them. Then we used that extra money to fund a small grant for a local artist to live here cheap. It calmed things down a lot. It's not perfect, but it stopped the yelling.