Pedasi, a small fishing town on the Pacific coast of Panama, is beginning to attract the attention of investors and developers. The area, which is still relatively undeveloped, is the birthplace of Panama’s first female president, Mireya Moscoso. The quaint town primarily attracts surfers and fishermen, yet the town is beginning to attract the attention of more tourists and expatriates.
Matt Landau, of The Panama Report, described Pedasi in a post a few months ago:
“The downtown part Pedasi, if you are courageous enough to call it that, is saddled by long stretches of rolling hills, not unlike you’ll see in the countryside of Vermont or Maine. For you Californians out there, the rustic coastline and jungle-icious mountain backdrop is quite similar, in my opinion, to the Tustin and Laguna areas. The people of Pedasi though, don’t wear stupid sunglasses. They don’t call you annoying things like ‘bra’ or ‘dude’. They don’t drive flat little convertibles that look like roving mousetraps and they definitely don’t know who Paris Hilton is…”
As Pamama’s economy remains strong and real estate markets in the popular areas of Panama City become increasingly overbuilt, it is likely that areas such as Pedasi will begin to attract the attention of real estate developers and investors. For Pedasi, this has drawn criticism, as described in a post on the Panama Investor Blog, in which a local newspaper lambastes developers for coming to areas such as Pedasi.
As with any newly discovered area, there is always risk that development could destroy the charm that initially brought people to the region in the first place. Yet there is always a flip side to this argument. Emerging and undeveloped markets can provide a unique experience, a clean slate to develop regions in a way that can be beneficial both to the local population as well as the local environment. As more development comes to Pedasi, and other areas like it, one can only hope that those with the ability to do so will embrace eco-tourism, sustainable practices, and provide fair wages to those working on their projects.
For a walking photo tour of Pedasi, check out this post from Panama Travels.
