The Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point) growth over the last several years has brought with it an influx of well-educated young Mexican professionals moving to town. Possessing advanced degrees from colleges and universities in Mexico, the U.S. and Europe, these professionals form the backbone of the new workforce that is crucial to Puerto Peñasco's growth. Their expertise ranges from engineering to accounting to construction management to law to tourism, real estate and beyond, and most are as proficient in English as they are in their native Spanish.
It has been a pleasure getting to know many of these young professionals and hearing more about their experiences growing up in Mexico and then ultimately moving to Puerto Peñasco. For many of them, the move to Puerto Peñasco isn't too different than moving from a major U.S. city to Puerto Peñasco. Many of them grew up in the major modern cities of Mexico (e.g., Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Mexico City, etc.) and have spent time living and working in other resort areas (e.g., Puerto Vallarta, Cabo, Cancun, etc.). So moving to a still small, but developing, resort town is often a bit of a culture shock for them. They no longer have many of the amenities that they (and we Americans) take for granted - large grocery stores, movies theaters, high end clubs and bars, name brand shops and a wide range of restaurant choices (not to mention pavement).
So it has been fun to observe the social patterns of this growing group as various new venues have opened in town that are more catered to their tastes. Two years ago, I think they had resigned themselves to house parties and poker nights. But with the introduction of venues that cater to a little more "cosmopolitan" crowd (such as Club Elixir, Bryan's, Capone's and now Blue Buddha), they have started to venture out on the town a bit more. They all still crave the big beach clubs and shopping of other more developed resort towns, but appreciate that it will take a little time for Puerto Peñasco to get there (but that it is coming). Their experiences living and working in other major resort areas will no doubt have a great effect in shaping the future growth of Puerto Peñasco - for the better I feel.
Along with expanded options for socializing are of course great social/event websites catering to the local social circuit. A couple have sprung up in Puerto Peñasco over the last year that take the requisite club night pictures and keep everyone up to date on the latest and greatest on the social scene. So far they are catering exclusively to the Mexican crowd (all in Spanish), but hopefully they will eventually expand to include versions in English. Either way it is fun to click around and see some of the happenings. Check out VivePenasco.com and Fack.us for the latest.