Gringo In Mexico City Says He’s Not Part of Gentrification Problem

Noah Nottingham, a 34-year-old U.S. citizen from Brooklyn, says he’s tired of the influx of foreigners in Mexico City and that the rising cost of living has made his two-story penthouse in the Condesa neighborhood “barely affordable” and forced him to reduce his monthly contributions to his 401K retirement plan.

“I so get it, man,” said Nottingham, when asked about the recent protests against gentrification in Mexico City. “When I first moved here, I never thought twice about how much money I spent at places like Pujol or Contramar, and now I only save like 60% of my monthly US salary and last week had dinner twice at Vips.”

Nottingham, who moved to Mexico City in 2022 to appear more interesting in the eyes of his Brooklyn friends, says he’s made extra efforts to integrate into the local culture, such as saying “hola” and “buenos días” before ordering pastries in English at Rosetta, walking through gritty working class neighborhoods like Doctores and rewatching the movie Coco to dig deeper into the country’s spiritual fabric.

As for rising frustration in Mexico that expats don’t pay taxes, Nottingham says that while he’s never heard of an RFC, CURP, or the SAT, he does tip at least 10% everywhere he dines and always gives his Uber Black drivers a 5-star rating even if he doesn’t think they deserve it.

“At this point, I pretty much just blend into the background and usually get confused for a local,” said Nottingham loudly in English while at a Blend Station café, where he works 2-3 hours a day for a start-up Fintech company. “As someone who has lived here for years and has a rich appreciation for Mexican culture, I know the anti-gentrification protests just don’t apply to me.”