New sights in Puerto Vallarta...

Its been only a year since we've been back to one of our favorite cities and were amazed at the GROWTH!
There always seemed to be major construction going on the last 4 or 5 years, but it was really staggering to behold this trip...new condominiums in every direction, new restaurents replacing old favorites, new "modern" malls springing up. Fortunately, downtown "Old Town", our favorite area to hang out, remains much the same (thankfully)....so far. These new OXOX convenience stores are everywhere, just like our 7/11's.



In the new Peninsula Mall brand new ultra modern Starbucks and a Chili's Restaurent greeted us.






And the old flea market and ancient park were completely renovated. Very few vendor "stalls" even remain anymore. Behind the older condominiums and shops you can see one of the "monster" condo's under construction. You can't even see the full length of it in this picture, it is HUGE!

And the jungle in Amapas area is fast disappearing...the newest additions this past year, the two monster condos high on the mtn. To get a sense of just how big they are look at the other, what were considered very LARGE only a year ago, condominiums below them.

We face the question whether a still higher "standard of living" is worth its cost in things natural, wild, and free. ~Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 1949