San Pedro

About San Pedro:

San Pedro lies 2.5 kilometres west of Santa Bárbara town, at 1,080 metres on the lower slopes of the Cordillera Central, and it is the part of the canton that runs up against Alajuela province. Its main street is Ruta 123, which locals call Calle Las Américas. Heading west, the road crosses into Desamparados and carries on into Alajuela city. Heading east, it passes Santa Bárbara’s plaza and runs through San Juan down to Flores. The Alajuela–Santa Bárbara bus leaves from the FECOSA terminal in Alajuela and stops all along the district, at the entrance to Residencial Medina del Campo, the Calle María Auxiliadora junction and the sports field, and a second line runs from Alajuela to Rosales de Desamparados.

The place is older than the canton it belongs to. Documents from 1782 call the area Targuás, the name San Pedro turns up in land papers in 1819, and by 1846 it had about a thousand residents. Coffee paid the bills for most of that history: in 1973 a district of barely 1,500 people was producing around 700,000 kilos a year. Daily life now centres on the plaza and Calle Las Américas, where you find the EBAIS clinic, an outdoor market, sodas, mechanics’ workshops and Pulpería El Taconazo, which has been selling for more than 70 years. Children go to Escuela Elisa Soto Jiménez, then to the Liceo de Santa Bárbara or to high schools in Alajuela.

Late June and early July belong to the fiestas of San Pedro Apóstol, with rides, concerts, horse events, fireworks and Mass. They close with the Gordos y Flacos match, a football game first played in 1975, when organisers raising money for the church refused to pay for kit and split the teams by build instead. It now brings in spectators and reporters from around the country. On ordinary weekends the Salón Típico Copey, a dance hall named after the copey tree on the south side of the church, puts on live music. If you are buying within earshot of the church, go and listen on a Saturday night first.

San Pedro had 1,337 residents in 1973, 3,652 in 2000 and 5,582 at the 2011 census, so the district has more than quadrupled within one lifetime. That growth is why it now reads as a ring of urbanizaciones, among them Vista Flor and Residencial Medina del Campo, around an old centre, with Betania and part of Rosales to the side. Even so, it stays a small place where people know the bus stops by the names of the shops beside them. Quebrada La Claudia runs through the district, and some slopes near it are prone to landslides, which matters more for a lot than for a finished house in an established street.

Houses in San Pedro:

The typical house here has three bedrooms. At the compact end you find homes of around 145 to 165 square metres, often over two floors on a small lot, some with room for two cars. A step up are family houses of about 200 to 210 square metres in Urbanización Vista Flor, 300 metres from the centre, or in small, organised residenciales. The upper end is contemporary houses of around 240 square metres with three bathrooms, built recently enough to still look new. When you compare houses for sale in San Pedro de Santa Bárbara, the gap between the top and bottom of the range is wide, so weigh lot size and parking as much as floor area.

Rentals in San Pedro:

The rental stock is small apartments. Expect two bedrooms, one bathroom, a living-dining area and a laundry room, sometimes with a balcony and with internet and rubbish collection folded into the rent. Read the fine print, because landlords here often set rules: some units have parking for a motorbike but not a car, and many do not accept pets. Several are a few hundred metres from the centre, within walking distance of the Alajuela bus.

Land and Lots in San Pedro:

Lot sizes here vary more than the size of the district suggests. Near the centre there are small, flat subdivision plots of 125 to 190 square metres with 6.5 metres of frontage, sold with a cadastral plan, water and electricity, plus single lots of about 290 square metres. Mid-size parcels of 600 to 850 square metres also come up; one near the plaza and the EBAIS carries a mixed-use rating that allows a home or a business of up to two storeys on 70 percent of the land. Beyond those sit a flat lot of almost 4,000 square metres inside an urbanización and 635-square-metre parcels sold on their view. Anyone looking at lots for sale in San Pedro will also see 1,000-square-metre plots offered “en derecho”, which is a different kind of purchase altogether (see below).

FAQ:

• Is this San Pedro de Barva or San Pedro de Montes de Oca?

  Neither. This is San Pedro de Santa Bárbara, postal code 40402, on Ruta 123 between Santa Bárbara town and Alajuela. San Pedro de Barva is a separate district in the next canton east, and San Pedro de Montes de Oca is the university district in San José. Check the canton on the cadastral plan, not just the name in the ad.

• What does “lote en derecho” mean, and should I buy one here?

  A lot sold en derecho is a share of a larger registered property, not a parcel with its own folio. You own a percentage alongside the other co-owners, and your strip of ground is often fixed only by agreement. Banks rarely lend against these shares, and building usually means segregating the lot first with a surveyed plan approved by the Municipalidad de Santa Bárbara. Before you pay, pull the property record at the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario) and find out who the other co-owners are.

• What should I check on a lot near Quebrada La Claudia?

  Find out where the protected strip along the stream begins, since you cannot build in it, and ask for a soil study if the land slopes toward the water, because parts of the district are prone to landslides. Then get the municipal land-use certificate: the same street can hold residential and mixed-use ratings, and the rating decides your coverage and number of floors. Compare the cadastral plan with what you actually walked.

• Can I live in San Pedro without a car?

  Yes, if Alajuela is where you need to go. The Alajuela–Santa Bárbara bus runs along Calle Las Américas with stops through the district, and the Alajuela–Rosales de Desamparados line passes as well. The EBAIS, the primary school, the market and daily shopping are all close to the plaza. Heredia is reached by way of Santa Bárbara town.

• How lively is it around the church?

  Lively at set times. The Salón Típico Copey puts on live music on weekend nights and Sunday afternoons, and the fiestas at the end of June bring rides, fireworks and the Gordos y Flacos match to the plaza. A few blocks out, in the urbanizaciones, the district is quiet and residential.