Ok, I just read it and dont understand what the big beef is. You can be here for a week, depending where you stay, where you go and you hang around with, wont have to utter a word of spanish. No, it doesnt look like NYC or 1/20th of it, but you can compare parts of it *like Escazu* with small US cities.... Yes, we have crime and yes you have to be careful, but then again, we're not exactly waiting for an Al Qaida attack any day now are we....
This is a funny point that is sometimes exploited, the fact that a tourist is killed...
To me personally its funny to see a tourist walking around the "bad part" of San Jose also known as Zona Roja *or red zone* after 10pm....
I mean come on, open your eyes, realize what you're walking into, the fact that no one is out on the streets, all businesses are closed, streets arent exactly well lit, and yet you see a dumbass or too walking around like they were in an amusement park in the middle of the day...
Of course, not all of Costa Rica speaks english or tries to, of course not all of it is as safe as your own hometown *wink wink* but to say his article is inaccurate???? Come on.