You can have the big city or the serene countryside or, conceivably, both. It has its poor areas, but it's overall infrastructure in architectural terms is first class. It has modern freeways and excellent telecommunications. The phone system was recently privatized. You may have to wait to get a phone line, but the phones generally work.
Restaurants here serve all types of ethnic foods as well as excellent seafood.
Shopping is comparable to that of any large city. There's plenty of entertainment, too. The music scene includes traditional Panamanian music, salsa, jazz, reggae, merengue and rock, but out of 90 radio stations only one plays classical music. There are nightclubs, cantinas, casinos and neighborhood hangouts. One intriguing area is Casco Viejo, the old city, built by the French and somewhat resembling the French Quarter of New Orleans.