Digital Nomads in Mexico City

Published 04/25/2023 in Scholar Travel Stipend

Written by Nicole Schreiber | 04/25/2023

I understand the American Dream as the idea that everyone should be able to attain their own version of success and upward mobility. While the American Dream is most prominent in the US, I believe that the “Dream” can be a reality for everyone.

As globalization becomes more prominent, we see the proliferation of entrepreneurship and achievement worldwide. At the same time, we’re also seeing many Americans take advantage of new remote work opportunities to live abroad. Commonly referred to as “digital nomads,” these workers, untied to any particular city or location, cluster in hotspot cities with warm weather and low living costs. I recently had the opportunity to travel to one of these hotspots, Mexico City, and I was struck by the amount of digital nomads working at cafes and coworking areas in the city. Coming from a job where I have to work 5 days in the office, selfishly, my first reaction was to understand how they do this and if it’s a better option than living in the US.

However, upon conducting further research into remote worker migration, articles published by The New York Times, Vox, and CNN covered various ways digital nomads negatively impact local Mexico City residents. My ignorance toward this larger economic aftermath highlights the importance of not simply pursuing my own American Dream, but also acting as a conduit to spread the Dream abroad. But as the world becomes incredibly globalized, at what point should Americans hold back from excessive self-interested success and prioritize spreading the Dream to underserved countries?

My ego blindspot initially pointed my attention to the idealized remote worker lifestyle, free from the corporate lifestyle many of my fellow New Yorkers are used to. I initially wanted to interview and meet digital nomads in action to see for myself whether the cost of potentially losing relationships with coworkers is worth the relaxed and inexpensive lifestyle in a hotspot like Mexico City. When in effect, I should’ve seen the greater need to research how digital nomads adversely affect the American dream for Mexico City locals.

While remote workers can choose to move to countries for a better lifestyle, there’s a cost that Americans don’t bear. For one, remote workers aren’t paying taxes, negatively impacting educational institutions in the area. Additionally, the remote worker’s larger incomes are escalating local housing prices, forcing many locals out of the city. Not to mention that when locals move outside of the city, it’s usually logistically harder to take risks and work harder to pursue goals. Since homeownership, education, and work ethic are often seen as the paths to the American Dream, I wanted to investigate if remote workers negatively impact the pursuit of upward mobility abroad.

As the Milken Institute is opening the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream this year, I hope for this research to show firsthand how privileged modern work modalities can adversely impact the Dream in underserved communities.

And yes, coming from the New York winter, the Mexico City digital nomad modality was visibly privileged. While it was early January, Mexico City felt like summer. On my first day, I walked around the trendy neighborhoods of Condesa and Roma. Young American professionals and freelancers were everywhere, sitting at coffee shops and parks with their laptops, taking advantage of the city's wifi and comfortable outdoor spaces to get their work done.

When I was in Roma Norte, I tried to speak with several Americans. I caught one digital nomad, Juan, who was working at Dosis Cafe in Roma. He said, "working remotely has allowed me to be more productive and efficient with my time. Once I’m done with work, I close my laptop, and I’m magically transported to the amazing Mexico City neighborhoods." Another remote worker, Sofia, who was also working in Dosis Cafe, said, "working remotely has allowed me to live in a neighborhood that I couldn't afford before. I can now work from anywhere, so I don't have to live in the city center where rent is expensive." From the interviews, it’s apparent I’m not the only one who let the American Dream blind my ego. It seems that the general mindset of the digital nomads here is to go after what they want while paying little attention to the community’s needs around them.

Fittingly, local cafes marketed their goods on blackboards in English, and I never had trouble finding an English-speaking server. From this, I already witnessed that workers are better off learning English to advance. Relative to growing up in America, where you only have to learn English to succeed in and outside the house, Mexicans have to learn two languages to keep up with the American demand.

The relationship between digital nomads and the Mexico City locals is, at best, only intertwined economically: While nomads increase demand, they also increase housing prices and don’t pay taxes. However, one could argue it’s also culturally complex. While many articles describe digital nomad and local relations, they’re all dated back to 2020 and 2021 during COVID. Apparently, many digital nomads, or “expats,” were disrespectful to the locals, hosting parties and attending social events (SLATE, Mexico City’s Remote Worker Problem). However, I wanted a fresh look at the local’s perspectives, so I interviewed local merchants and remote workers.

I grabbed coffee at Boicot Cafe in Condesa and talked to the owner, Maria. She mentioned that she’s been seeing "a significant increase in customers since the pandemic began. Many of them are working remotely and they come to our shop to have a place to work and grab a coffee." While she seemed pleased with the influx of demand, she mentioned that the community has lost a sense of local familiarity. Many of her friends have had to move further outside of Condesa because of rising rent prices, further disrupting their quality of life, and access to work and education.

On my way to Polanco from Condesa, I came across a WeWork. I went inside to speak to the owner, Carlos. He stated: "I have seen a lot of people looking for a place to work outside of their homes, as remote work has become more prevalent. I believe this trend will continue even after the pandemic is over." Like Maria, Carlos also benefitted from increased expat demand. But he expressed dismay with their ongoing pricing pressures. Carlos increased prices over the past year because the nomads can afford it, but he’s noticed that this has forced out locals. Through Carlos’ experience, we can directly see how the influx of demand can be negative for the locals who don’t have many other options for co-working spaces. This clearly demonstrates how locals are now less able to pursue upward mobility and, thus, the American Dream.

The interviews I conducted during my trip to Mexico City provide insight into the intertwined relationships between digital nomads and locals. While remote work is helping to revitalize neighborhoods by increasing the demand for coffee shops and co-working spaces, we can’t disregard the obvious negative effects on the city and its inhabitants’ ability to pursue the American Dream. In conclusion, my trip to Mexico City was a valuable experience in understanding the effects of a new modality of American work on a foreign country’s economy and its quality of life. I’m excited to see MCAAD present more of these intertwined American Dream relationships as globalization and hybrid work continue to become ever pervasive.