Medellin, Most Modern City In Latin America
This is another of my historical posts prior to the start of Greater Grace Medellin. The original post date was March 7, 2020 – two weeks before the Covid shutdown.
What is the most modern city in Latin America? My wife and I believe Medellin, Colombia is the answer to that question. You are probably asking something like “How can you think that the city of the notorious Pablo Escobar could possibly qualify?” In this post, I’ll share with you our reasons from our own personal experiences over the past 4 years living in Latin America. And since we have lived in four different countries in Latin America and visited two others, we know quite a bit about this subject. I’m going to explore this question in this article, so you can understand what our life is like here, and why you may want to come to check it out yourself.
Medellin has been our home for nearly two years (as of this writing, 3-7-2020). Since we retired over 4 years ago, we have lived in the following places:
- Roatan, Honduras (3 months)
- Boquete, Panama (17 months)
- Peru (visited 1 month),
- Cuenca, Ecuador (3 months)
- San Jose, Costa Rica (1 month)
- USA (visited for about 2 months).
Looking back, we feel the Holy Spirit used that time to train and help us see His leading to Medellin. We came to help start the first Christian church for English-Speakers in Medellin, and we enjoy that ministry very much.
Reasons Why I Think Medellin Is The Most Modern City in Latin America
Of course, these are my opinions, and many will say their city is the most modern. And opinions and experiences are why no one can definitively tell you the absolute best place to live in the world. But here are my reasons for why I suggest Medellin is the most modern city in Latin America.
Transportation
In Colombia and many other parts of Latin America, a car is much more expensive than in the U.S. But the good news is that you don’t need one here. In many parts of Medellin, we can easily walk to grocery stores, malls, restaurants, movie theaters, and special events. If you don’t want to walk, numerous buses are available to take you anywhere you need to go. They are safe, comfortable, and pretty easy to find. And there are also taxis and “Uber” style cars that generally cost under $3.00 for most trips. Many of our trips cost around $1.50. We never found a taxi in Houston for a price close to that.
The Metro

But the best transportation option in Medellin is the Metro. Rides cost the equivalent of $0.75! The public transportation system in Medellin is anchored by the Metro, which is the only rail-based system in Colombia. And the Metro System in Medellin is much more than just rail. It includes:
- Two rail lines – Line A, running north to south with 21 stations and Line B, running west from San Antonio Station with six stations. Line A is located at the bottom of the Aburrá Valley generally along the Medellin River.
- Five Metrocable cable car lines. The elevation in Medellin rises quickly from 5,000 feet along the Medellin River to 7,000 feet and above. Some of Medellin’s poorest citizens live in the higher elevations where there were few transportation options. Metrocable was conceived to help these people get to/from work. It just shows the incredible forward-thinking of the leaders in Medellin.
- One Tranvía tramcar line, running east into the center of the city.
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Metro Tranvia Connects Inner City Neighborhoods with Line A for efficient, inexpensive commuting. Two Metroplús elongated bus lines – special double and triple the length of regular buses with specially designed elevated boarding stations and protected routes exclusively for these buses.
- 80 “Zero Emission” electric buses for a new Line O.
- Over 200 metro feeder buses that connect the metro stations with many neighborhoods in the Medellín metropolitan area.
Medellin’s Metro system carries more than 300 million passengers each year. And it was named one of the top transport systems in the world by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) in 2012.
Modern shopping malls with a twist
Medellin’s shopping malls are spectacular. They are large, beautiful, and very modern. Two brand new malls have opened in the past year. Each one tries to outdo the last. And they are especially attractive when decorated for Christmas. What makes them unique is they are all open-air. Medellin is known as “The City of Eternal Spring”. They all have special solutions to protect from rain. For example, Santa Fe Mall has 2 retractable roofs – one over the center court and the other over the giant food court.
Medellin’s shopping malls also offer some of the most breath-taking views of the city and surrounding mountains. Whenever we have visitors, we always include a trip to Tesoro Mall to see what we think is the best view of Medellin.
High Quality, Low-Cost Healthcare System
This may not sound like a distinguishing factor to determine “most modern”, but just wait. You will be asking yourself why it costs so much in the U.S. You will also wonder how a small South American country can be so far ahead.
The total cost of our health insurance is about $35 per month. That is the total for both of us. Most doctor visits cost $1. My prescriptions cost $1 for a 1-month supply. Many of our doctors are trained in North America. Sometimes, we choose to go outside our system to get faster service. For example, last month I was examined by a Dermatologist. During that appointment, she removed three sun-related lesions. And best of all, the total cost of the visit was only $45.88.
The most impressive story was one I just heard. A friend was in the hospital ICU for about 2 weeks and then had arthroscopic surgery. His total cost for the entire stay was zero! Because of the high quality and low cost, we made the decision to discontinue our Medicare coverage in the US. Including the cost of related supplemental insurance policies, we are saving roughly $500 per month. We would never dream of returning to the U.S. for a medical procedure. Even without insurance, the out of pocket cost here would be less than the deductibles and other uncovered costs back home in Houston.
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
You are invited to visit and see for yourself. I’m sure your visit will be both enjoyable and eye-opening. And while you are here, we would love to have you visit our church groups. If you decide Medellin is right for you, join us in our mission to establish a Christian church and Christian community for English-speaking residents and visitors to Medellin.
You will be excited to know that your Social Security benefits will most likely be enough to cover your living expenses. And I also feel that God will give you the opportunity to serve in a special ministry He has in mind for you.
Ephesians 2:10 says:
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Please leave a comment below and contact me if I can be of any assistance.
Steve Tuggle