Panama City's Mayor Reveals Why Expats Choose Panama Over New York (And His Favorite Hidden Gems)

Before Meyer Mizrachi became mayor of Panama District, he made headlines doing something unusual for a political candidate: personally fixing potholes around the city. What started as guerrilla activism - placing decorated plants and even a Christmas tree in dangerous road craters to draw attention - evolved into actually repairing roads himself when he realized it was cheaper than constantly replacing popped tires. This hands-on approach wasn't just a publicity stunt; it represented a fundamental philosophy about leadership and civic responsibility that resonates deeply with the expat community. Mizrachi's story embodies what makes Panama special: it's a place where individuals can still make tangible differences, where bureaucracy hasn't strangled initiative, and where a gaming-enthusiast, sci-fi-loving mayor can stay authentic while leading a capital city. 'The people that get into office, they kind of change like office the seat will change them. Power will change people,' Mizrachi explains. 'So like for me it's important that when people call me mayor I'm like no no no call me by my first name.' This accessibility and down-to-earth attitude reflects a broader cultural reality in Panama that expats consistently praise: the absence of rigid social hierarchies and the genuine openness to newcomers that makes integration actually possible, not just theoretically achievable.

When New York City's recent mayoral election sparked social media controversy, Mayor Mizrachi seized the moment with a playful but serious invitation: 'Whomever isn't happy with the results, come to Panama. I don't care what your reasons are, but Panama's open and it's cheaper than Miami.' Behind the humor lies a compelling economic and lifestyle reality. Panama offers a dollarized economy (eliminating currency risk), a center-right pro-business government, robust investor-friendly policies, and a geographical advantage that puts you within a 2-4 hour flight of most major Americas cities. According to Numbeo's 2024 data, the cost of living in Panama City is approximately 45% lower than New York City, with rent prices averaging 65% less for comparable properties. But the comparison goes beyond economics. 'I don't think Panama is comparable to New York. We're very different,' Mizrachi emphasizes. 'We have a colonial city, we have a jungle, we have an ocean, and we have a metropolis all in one in less than three square miles. There's not a lot of cities in the world that have that.' This concentration of diverse experiences within walking distance creates a lifestyle impossible to replicate in sprawling North American cities. Austin Hess, COO of DoPanama Real Estate & Relocation, confirms this attraction: 'When I flew into Panama City, I was just like, what in the world? Like I got on the wrong plane. I'm in Chicago. I literally thought I went to the wrong country.' That initial shock - the gleaming skyline, the sophistication, the unexpected modernity - becomes the first of many pleasant surprises for relocating expats.

Ask Mayor Mizrachi about his favorite place in Panama, and his answer is immediate: Bocas del Toro. With a Jamaican mother and significant childhood time spent in Jamaica, Mizrachi sees Bocas as 'Jamaican Panama' - a Caribbean-vibed archipelago where everyone speaks Patois English, Afro-Caribbean culture blends seamlessly with Latino traditions, and the laid-back island lifestyle creates what he calls 'the most unique tourism product that the country has that differentiates itself from everything that exists in the region.' The comparison to Pirates of the Caribbean isn't hyperbole. Taxi boats weaving through channels, colorful wooden houses on stilts over turquoise water, reggae music drifting from waterfront bars, and a genuine integration of expat and local communities create an atmosphere found nowhere else in Central America. The archipelago faces infrastructure challenges - limited flight access, developing sewage systems, and road improvements - but these very limitations have preserved its authentic character. 'The blend of how expats and foreigners live hand in hand with the locals in Bocas is just beautiful,' Mizrachi notes. This integration offers a preview of Panama's broader expat experience: you're welcomed as a contributor to the community, not merely tolerated as a tourist with money. The debate over developing Bocas' airport infrastructure reveals competing visions for Panama's future. Direct international flights would dramatically increase tourism revenue, but potentially at the cost of the intimate, undiscovered character that makes Bocas special. 'The mistake would be to go in the Jamaica way of building tourism, which is all-inclusive hotels, big all-inclusive hotels all over,' Mizrachi cautions. Instead, the vision is organic growth that preserves local character while improving accessibility and quality.

For Austin Hess, who spent years in the Pacific Northwest enduring Seattle and Portland's notorious gray drizzle, Panama's weather became the foundational quality-of-life improvement. 'Number one is the weather,' he emphasizes without hesitation. Coming from regions where Seasonal Affective Disorder is a medical diagnosis affecting millions, the consistent warmth and sunshine of Panama creates not just comfort but genuine psychological wellbeing. Panama City enjoys average temperatures between 75-90°F (24-32°C) year-round, with the 'rainy season' consisting primarily of afternoon showers that last 30-45 minutes before clearing to sunshine. According to Panama's National Meteorology and Hydrology Service (ETESA), Panama City experiences approximately 1,900 hours of sunshine annually - comparable to Mediterranean destinations like Barcelona. 'You maybe have 25-30 days of full days of rain here in the city. It's like Hawaii, you know, and it's always warm,' Hess explains. This isn't just about beach days and outdoor dining, though those are certainly perks. Consistent weather means consistent routines, year-round outdoor exercise, no seasonal wardrobe expenses, no heating costs, and the psychological benefit of reliable sunshine. For retirees with arthritis or joint issues, the warm climate provides genuine medical relief. For remote workers, it eliminates the seasonal productivity dips that plague northern climates. The climate diversity within a small country adds another dimension. While Panama City stays consistently tropical, Boquete and the highland regions offer cooler mountain weather - 60-75°F (15-24°C) - with morning mists and year-round spring conditions. This allows residents to access different climate zones within a 4-5 hour drive, providing variety without requiring international travel.

When Mayor Mizrachi invited disaffected New Yorkers to Panama, he framed the country as 'an open canvas' where newcomers can 'paint' their own opportunities. This isn't marketing fluff - it's a fundamental difference in how society functions. Panama's relatively light regulatory environment, combined with genuine openness to foreign investment and entrepreneurship, creates space for initiative that's increasingly rare in heavily regulated Western economies. Austin Hess confirms this from the business side: 'People say what can I do there? Then I'm like do you got paints and paint brushes? Because it's an open canvas. Come down, paint.' This manifests in multiple ways: starting a business requires less bureaucratic navigation than in the US or Europe, real estate investment is accessible to foreigners with minimal restrictions, residency visas are comparatively straightforward (especially the Friendly Nations Visa program), and there's cultural appreciation rather than resentment toward entrepreneurial foreigners who create jobs and opportunities. The country's status as a regional banking and logistics hub means sophisticated financial infrastructure exists alongside this regulatory flexibility. According to the World Bank's 2024 Doing Business Report, Panama ranks as the second-easiest place to do business in Latin America, behind only Chile. This combination - infrastructure plus flexibility - creates unique opportunities for expats with skills, capital, or simply initiative. Mizrachi's own journey from pothole activist to mayor illustrates this openness. In more rigid societies, his unconventional approach would have been dismissed or suppressed. In Panama, it resonated precisely because the culture values practical solutions over procedural correctness, results over credentials, and authenticity over polish.

One of Panama's most compelling features - and one that surprises virtually every newcomer - is the concentration of dramatically different environments within tiny geographic areas. 'We have a colonial city, we have a jungle, we have an ocean, and we have a metropolis all in one in less than three square miles,' Mayor Mizrachi emphasizes. This isn't slight exaggeration; it's geographical reality. From Panama City's modern financial district, you can reach: Casco Viejo's UNESCO World Heritage colonial quarter in 10 minutes, Soberanía National Park's primary rainforest in 25 minutes, Pacific Ocean beaches in 60-90 minutes, Caribbean coastline in 90 minutes (via the Canal), and cloud forest mountain towns in 2-3 hours. This density of experiences eliminates the tyranny of distance that defines life in larger countries. Weekend getaways don't require flights, extended planning, or significant expense. Multiple climate zones, ecosystems, and cultural experiences exist within daily reach. For families, this means children can experience biodiversity education in actual rainforest, then return home for school Monday morning. For retirees, it means access to world-class medical facilities in the city while maintaining a beach or mountain home for daily living. For remote workers, it means genuine work-life balance where adventure doesn't require burning vacation days. The Cinta Costera - Panama City's waterfront park and recreational path - exemplifies this integration. This 6-kilometer stretch combines urban park, exercise venue, cultural space, and ocean views in the heart of the financial district. 'I'm literally out on this beautiful element of Panama City every single morning and sometimes in the afternoons,' Hess shares. It's where busy professionals decompress, where locals and expats mix naturally, and where the city's commitment to quality-of-life infrastructure becomes tangible.

Safety concerns dominate relocation discussions, especially for those considering Latin American destinations. Panama's reality surprises most newcomers. While no city is crime-free, Panama City's expat-heavy neighborhoods - Punta Pacifica, Costa del Este, Casco Viejo - maintain security levels comparable to major US cities, often better than many. The country's relative wealth (highest GDP per capita in Central America), strong banking sector, and stable democratic governance create conditions that don't exist in many regional neighbors. According to Numbeo's 2024 Crime Index, Panama City scores 47.3 (moderate crime) compared to Miami's 53.6, with most incidents being petty theft rather than violent crime. The social environment extends beyond physical safety to cultural inclusion. Mayor Mizrachi notes Panama's 'indiscriminate to any race or religion or sexual preference' character. Hess confirms this from client experience: 'We have a lot of homosexual gentlemen that are coming down and they're like, you know, like I know it's a real Catholic, you know, community. Are we going to be okay? I'm like, bro, I come from the fashion industry. I'm a straight man, but like I have had gay friends my whole my whole adult life. And it's like there's a it's you're going to be fine down here.' Panama City, particularly, functions as a cosmopolitan melting pot where diverse backgrounds, lifestyles, and orientations coexist with relative harmony. The expat population itself is remarkably diverse: American retirees, European entrepreneurs, South American professionals, and increasingly, remote workers from dozens of countries create a international community where newcomers find their tribe relatively easily. This matters immensely for quality of life. The loneliness and isolation that plague many international relocations becomes far less common in Panama's welcoming, already-diverse social landscape.

Mayor Mizrachi offers fascinating insight about Panamanian perception of their own country: 'If I could ever give anything to every one Panamanian equally, it's a ticket to anywhere they want. Go anywhere else in the world so they see how lucky they are. Cuz this place is heaven on earth. I mean it really is. But it's really hard for you to appreciate your lawn when you never seen your neighbors.' This perspective-through-comparison becomes equally valuable for expats considering relocation. Those who've lived only in first-world capitals may not fully appreciate what Panama offers until they've experienced the alternatives - other Latin American countries with less stability, Caribbean islands with limited infrastructure, or Southeast Asian destinations with extreme cultural distance. Panama occupies a unique sweet spot: developing-world affordability with first-world infrastructure in key areas, Latin American culture with heavy North American influence, tropical paradise with modern medical facilities and high-speed internet, and adventure opportunities with urban conveniences. The mayor's point cuts both ways. Just as Panamanians benefit from seeing how much harder life is elsewhere, potential expats benefit from visiting multiple times, in different seasons, staying in different neighborhoods, and experiencing both the glossy tourist version and the authentic daily reality before committing to relocation. DoPanama's relocation services address exactly this need - helping newcomers understand not just the highlights but the genuine day-to-day experience, the bureaucratic realities, the cultural adjustments, and the practical logistics that determine whether a relocation succeeds or fails. The goal isn't to sell an impossible dream but to help people make informed decisions about whether Panama's particular combination of advantages and trade-offs aligns with their specific priorities, life stage, and personality.

The conversation between Mayor Mizrachi and Austin Hess reveals an important distinction between visiting Panama and living in Panama. The tourist experience - hitting Casco Viejo, the Panama Canal, maybe a weekend beach trip - barely scratches the surface of what makes the country exceptional for residents. Living in Panama means discovering that Bocas del Toro exists not just as a destination but as a genuine option for weekend getaways, that the Cinta Costera becomes your morning routine rather than a tourist attraction, that navigating Panamanian bureaucracy (while sometimes frustrating) becomes manageable with guidance, and that the expat community provides genuine friendship and support networks, not just casual acquaintances. It means learning that 'rainy season' isn't the disaster newcomers fear, that the grocery stores stock basically everything you'd find in the US, that English-speaking medical specialists trained at Johns Hopkins and Mayo Clinic practice in Panama City, and that your dollar goes dramatically further while your quality of life often improves. The DoPanama approach recognizes these layers. As a licensed and bonded real estate company (PJ-1430-2023) with a team including legal expertise (President Nalini Navarro Guardia), operational excellence (COO Austin Hess), and content/education focus (Director Adam Phillips), they bridge the gap between tourist fantasy and expat reality. They help clients understand that relocating to Panama isn't about escaping to paradise - it's about making a strategic life decision that offers specific, tangible benefits for those whose priorities align with what Panama delivers: financial efficiency, climate advantages, geographic diversity, business opportunities, and lifestyle flexibility. Mayor Mizrachi's parting wisdom resonates: 'Panama is greater than any one politician.' The country's advantages exist independent of any particular administration, rooted in geography, constitutional structure, and cultural character that provides stability even as specific policies evolve.