Hi!

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By Marco Villegas. 

For at least three years I’ve been hearing that Nosara is something like the capital of gentrification in Costa Rica. I’ll dare to say a heresy: I don’t think that word really applies. Let me explain why.

Nosara has always meant distance: swollen rivers, mud, bad roads.

That isolation forged a simple reflex: if the State doesn’t show up, we figure it out ourselves. But what “worked” for decades to manage a very small coastal community in Costa Rica is no longer sustainable for a rapidly growing town, and the tensions are showing.

When there was no one else, there was community.
In the 1970s, what was supposed to be a beachside golf club ended up becoming a 250-hectare forest reserve, open and free for anyone to walk its trails, now in the process of being declared a National Wildlife Refuge. Land that otherwise would have been exploited is today home to mature forests with century-old trees that protect water sources and provide shelter for dozens of species.

That’s part of the community logic too: turning golf courses meant for the few into a conservation legacy for everyone.

Before ICE utility poles arrived, when the community lived by candlelight, electricity came from a local generator that powered the whole town. When kids needed a high school, the first one in Nosara started where that plant once ran, built through local and foreign donations and volunteer work.

That same spirit of cooperation between Costa Ricans and foreigners still sustains a community framework that isn’t improvised:

• Nosara Firefighters (Bomberos de Nosara) A community-based, independent fire department made up of Costa Ricans and foreigners. A nonprofit association that operates solely on community donations and responds daily to fires, car accidents, medical emergencies, and lifeguard calls. With the Nicoya hospital and Costa Rica’s national fire department nearly two hours away from any emergency, Bomberos de Nosara responded to 1,064 cases in 2023—a 269% increase compared to 2019. Zero government subsidy, 100% community-funded. Their impact is so strong that many residents don’t even realize the national fire service doesn’t cover them.
• Nosara Food Bank: Between 2021 and 2023, this nonprofit—again, run by both Costa Ricans and foreigners—helped 635 people, building safety nets for the community’s most vulnerable families.
• IAR – International Animal Rescue: Nosara is also home to a world-class wildlife rescue center. From 2017 to 2022, emergency calls increased by 295%, and animal intake rose by 146%. The center has become a national leader in preventing monkey electrocutions, promoting wildlife crossings, and even training SINAC staff in wildlife management.
• Costas Verdes: What started in Nosara has now become a coastal restoration model recognized across Costa Rica’s Pacific. Just in the Pelada–Guiones area of Ostional Refuge, around 36 hectares of pastureland have been reforested, proving that ecological recovery can coexist with a tourism economy. “Made in Nosara,” with community support from both locals and foreigners.
• Guardians of Nature: A group that develops environmental education programs piloted in local schools, now linked to national initiatives like the Blue Flag Program. Guardians is a national leader in citizen science, youth participation, and daily environmental education—again, Costa Ricans and foreigners working side by side.
• David Kitson Library: Nosara doesn’t have a public library per se, but it does have the David Kitson Library, founded in 1996. For decades it’s been a space for literacy, reading, and community meetings—open and free for everyone.
• Vive El Sueño: Another nonprofit program that has trained more than 500 people in entrepreneurship skills, strengthening local businesses and linking them to the tourism economy.
• Edunámica: An NGO already active in other communities that arrived in Nosara to expand technical training for youth and adults, addressing unemployment and skills gaps, with formal partnerships with Costa Rica’s National Institute for Learning (INA).
• Nosara Recicla: A community-run selective waste collection service, operating weekly and funded entirely by community donations. A “public service” built from the ground up and still maintained by the community itself.
• Nosara Census: One of the most recent community efforts. Nosara became the first district in the country to carry out its own local census, fully funded by residents, both Costa Rican and foreign, to fill the gaps left by the national census.
• At the heart of all this, the Nosara Civic Association and other community groups and associations serve as engines of action, blending local and foreign leadership, and stepping up when government support falls short.

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The Real Threat: Unregulated Real Estate Speculation

Early census data show the challenges clearly:

• 8,716 permanent residents live alongside 26,650 temporary stays in high season.
• Housing stock grows at ~8% annually, outpacing water, sanitation, and infrastructure.
• In a decade of growth, just 2 out of every 1,000 projects were public works.
• Average schooling is eight years, with deep disparities between neighborhoods.
• Local water boards (ASADAs) report service deficits and wells at risk of saltwater intrusion.

The visible contrasts—20 people in some houses vs. nearly empty mansions in others—aren’t simply “gentrification vs. community” or “foreigners vs. Costa Ricans.”

The real threat is unregulated speculation because is driving up land prices, straining water resources, and undermining coexistence.

The antidote isn’t denying tourism, diversity, or foreign residents. It’s managing the destination: land-use planning, reasonable regulation (especially for real estate), public investment, and measurement for accountability.

Costa Rica has seen the fastest growth in foreign millionaires in Latin America over the past decade, concentrated in coastal areas like Nosara. This puts pressure on land, rents, and services where planning lags behind the market.

Nosara itself sits on a coastal floodplain, at risk of flooding when the Nosara River overflows. Soil permeability and limits on urbanization are crucial to reduce risks in this fragile area bordering a National Wildlife Refuge.

That’s why in 2020, after much debate, the Nosara Civic Association and neighbors pushed for a Temporary Building Code: 50% lot coverage max, 9–12m height limits, wildlife-friendly lighting, and septic upgrades. A minimum of common sense for such a sensitive area. Still, it sparked opposition.

Within months, a developer sued and blocked enforcement. The result? Post-pandemic construction boomed without safeguards. Buildings went up without proper drainage, with excessive impermeable surfaces, glaring lights, and inadequate wastewater systems.

Meanwhile, fear was weaponized: “They’ll force every tico house to install treatment plants.” False. The code simply required site-appropriate sanitation solutions, like improved septic tanks, a regular solution in Costa Rica.

Without regulation, the market rules. With it, the community rules.

From Thermometer to Prescription: Five Tasks Ahead

1. Land-use planning: Accelerate the zoning plan with clear density and mobility limits.
2. Water & sanitation: 10–20 year targets aligned with housing growth; new sources, aquifer protection, and site-appropriate treatment.
3. Human capital & integration: Scale up training programs and promote Spanish learning so new residents integrate civically and culturally.
4. Safety & emergencies: Strengthen local prevention, coordinate with 9-1-1, and promote local response.
5. Applied conservation: Protect sensitive areas and the Nosara River Biological Corridor.

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From Anti-Gentrification to Pro-Community

So, is there gentrification in Nosara?

The foreign presence began with a cattle ranch purchased from a wealthy Nicoyan rancher, later turned into a residential project marketed to foreigners in the 1970s, though never fully built out. From then on, an expat colony took root and has continued to grow, shaping the town’s trajectory

The Nosara Civic Association itself started with those first settlers, but today it has Costa Ricans on its board and drives projects across the whole community—from emergency response to Blue Flag committees.

Nosara’s story can’t be flattened into “gentrification.” Since the ’70s, land has been sold to foreigners, yes, but what emerged is a hybrid community—sometimes tense, often collaborative, always diverse.

Labeling it simply “gentrification” erases decades of joint effort, conflict, and cooperation between locals and foreigners. The real challenge today isn’t naming it but facing unregulated speculation and governing growth with planning, investment, and participation.

Putting labels is easy. Setting clear rules so Nosara doesn’t consume itself—that’s the hard work. That’s the story worth continuing.

References: 

BBC Mundo. Costa Rica es el país de América Latina donde más creció la cantidad de millonarios extranjeros en la última década. (2024).
https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/c930gqz4ddwo

La Voz de Guanacaste. Artículos sobre Nosara, turismo e impacto comunitario (varios años).

Proyecto Censo de Nosara (2024). Resultados preliminares de población, vivienda y servicios básicos.

Biblioteca David Kitson. Historia disponible en su sitio y artículos de prensa local.

Bomberos de Nosara. Reportes anuales de casos atendidos (2023).

Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE). Mapas de riesgo por inundación en el Valle del Río Nosara.

MINAE/SINAC. Información oficial del Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Ostional.

Reglamento Temporal de Construcciones en Nosara (La Gaceta, 2020).

Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT). Estadísticas de visitación y tendencias post-pandemia.

Municipalidad de Nicoya. Informes sobre inversión pública en Nosara (apertura de oficina distrital, recolección de basura, caminos).

Neil Smith (1996). The New Urban Frontier: Gentrification and the Revanchist City.

Ruth Glass (1964). Definición original de “gentrificación” aplicada a Londres.

CEPAL y BID. Informes sobre migración de amenidad y su efecto en zonas turísticas de América Latina.