Anyone else "crazy" enough to live in La Boca?

[obiwanderkenobi]

Was just reading the thread about the French tourist who died after being robbed in Retiro, and I remember reading a Reddit travel thread a few days a back where someone was trying to discourage people from visiting Buenos Aires because "they got robbed in Palermo and had their knee broken." I also seem to remember seeing someone here saying that San Telmo is too dangerous for them. Meanwhile, I've been staying in La Boca at an "off the books" Airbnb for two months, and it made me wonder if I'm crazy?

My apartment is pretty much right next to the La Boca mural and Parque Lezama. Easy walking distance to plenty of nice restaurants such as Nápoles. I was in Bogotá for six months before I came here, and I feel less anxious walking around here than I did walking around most parts of Bogotá. Though for the most part I just take Uber or Cabify everywhere since rides are so cheap here.

I must have looked at a couple hundred Airbnb listings, including lots in the more traditional tourist areas, before I saw this one and fell in love with it. It's a penthouse "double" apartment (four apartments per floor on the other floors, but only two oversized apartments on the top floor). The host is an Airbnb "superhost" and the apartment had a perfect 5.0 rating with 40+ reviews. What sold me on it was that it has a huge private and furnished balcony with probably one of the best views of the Buenos Aires skyline of all the apartments I looked at. Not exaggerating, the view is unobstructed and truly stunning.

Fully furnished, all utilities included, I'm paying the host $800 a month cash, with no deposit (I offered and the host refused). I've got excellent references including a long-term handshake arrangement in Cancun, so that probably helped with building trust. The building manager's wife comes to clean the apartment for three hours every two weeks, and I pay her triple what she asks for, so she's happy as well. My host has been very responsive and communicative, and also very helpful. I found a very nice outdoor lounge chair I wanted to buy for summer, and we split the cost 50/50 and she drove from an hour away to pick it up in her van and bring it to me (and she declined to take any gas money from me).

Maybe it's a little overpriced for being located in La Boca and not Palermo, but the apartment is beautiful inside and out and I'm happy to pay it, especially since I'm essentially on a handshake arrangement with no contract or paperwork of any kind. The apartment is extremely quiet since I have no one above me and only one neighbor on my floor, and all of the streets and traffic are on the opposite side of the building. The only exception is when Boca plays futbol, but the thousands of fans marching down the street every week or two is fun to watch; the fireworks, smoke bombs, chants, music and whatever else parading by, everybody usually in a happy and festive mood. My apartment sways a little bit whenever they play and score a goal, so I've taken to streaming the games so I know when the minor earthquakes are about to start.

I'm retired U.S. Army and I like to think I have a good "spidey sense" for avoiding dangerous people or situations. I'd certainly get the hell out of La Boca in a heartbeat if I felt I was at high risk, but I don't get bad vibes here. I try to walk with a purpose everywhere I go, and I usually have resting mean face, so maybe that contributes to my "luck" at avoiding trouble. I get a giggle or two sometimes at my poor attempts at Spanish, but everyone I've encountered seems friendly and happy to help me muddle through whatever I'm trying to accomplish.

Anyways, La Boca genuinely doesn't seem all that crazy to me. This is my 22nd country I've "visited" (ranging from Afghanistan to Switzerland), with probably twice as many major cities and stays of up to two years in each, and I've certainly been to and seen a lot worse. Last summer I visited Moldova and Ukraine (as a tourist and well after the war started) and while Moldova was still under a no-fly zone as well. My near-daily wake-up alarm in Odesa was sirens and the rattle of nearby missiles being shot down, and the famed Odesa beaches were all closed due to landmines planted to protect against invasion. Despite that, I enjoyed Ukraine and still felt safe...so I fully admit my sense of what is or isn't dangerous is probably skewed by some of my other past life experiences.

However, La Boca has it's charm in my humble opinion, and perhaps I'm "loco," but so far I'm happy and content to be here.

 

[studiodio]

thanks for sharing your story! i too stayed in la boca near where you are, aprox 10 years ago for only a month, but also felt safe. back then there was a great blues club painted dark blue that i had some great times in, met diverse welcoming folk...i was then a 60 year old woman with an open friendly face, but dressed down not up when i went out....maybe i was just lucky...but i had more pickpockets, felt unsafe at times in the more ¨"upscale" neighborhoods...

 

[Goata]

Buenos Aires is like most other big cities, one can get their knee broken in a robbery in New York or Paris just as easily
as BA. Stay out of the wrong places and don't stand out as a Gringo and enjoy. That is the case in smaller cities as well.
I live in Mendoza Cuidad in a lower middle class neighborhood and I used to walk around with a relatively expensive camera and I realized the attention it was drawing and I had to change up my game a little bit. Just the reality of the situation. Be smart and be nice is my plan, and when things don't feel right then make yourself scarce.

 

[wrangler]

It bothers me immensely to hear about people, especially tourists, getting robbed. Unfortunately, it does happen every once in a while, in Palermo and elsewhere. However, I'll point out that this is not specific to Argentina. You have to be vigilant, plan your routes accordingly, walk in crowds, and avoid being out after dark unless you are in well-lit areas. Would I suggest you move out of La Boca? No, absolutely not.

 

[nikad]

It bothers me immensely to hear about people, especially tourists, getting robbed. Unfortunately, it does happen every once in a while, in Palermo and elsewhere. However, I'll point out that this is not specific to Argentina. You have to be vigilant, plan your routes accordingly, walk in crowds, and avoid being out after dark unless you are in well-lit areas. Would I suggest you move out of La Boca? No, absolutely not.

When tourists get robbed it sometimes makes the news, but locals get robbed at least just as much ( I would dare saying even more ). Also, one thing is La Boca, the neighborhood which is not the same as the slums in the area. Caminito can be a hot spot for pick pocketers when crowded, just as Recoleta fair, San Telmo fair or any major tourist attraction in the open. La Reserva right across Puerto Madero can be more unsafe than La Boca. It all has to do with what you are doing and blending in.

 

[JeffR]

Excellent post and observations. I've always had the feeling that La Boca is going to become an up-and-coming area over the next few years, similar to Chacarita.

 

[Aztangogirl]

I live on the border of Constitution, San Telmo and San Cristobal. So many people shiver in fear when I say Constitution. I love my neighborhood. I know everyone in my area. I feel very safe.

 

[RichardP]

La Boca still has some of the old charm of Buenos Aires and I've always liked it. Even 30 years ago my local classmates would warn me against going there when I told them I had a girlfriend that lived in the neighborhood.

 

[nikad]

Iggy Pop lived for some time in La Boca when he had an Argentine girlfriend.

 

[obiwanderkenobi]

Thanks everyone for all of the replies - no one's called me crazy, so I guess that's reassuring

One thing I've noticed in my travels is that it's generally a lot easier to negotiate good deals on apartments by staying off the beaten path a little bit. I wintered over in Cancun two years ago (Dec. 2021 to May 2022) and found a nice two-bedroom apartment, fully furnished and all utilities and internet included, for $400 a month. Handshake deal, no paperwork or deposit. I was definitely on the outskirts of Cancun and never saw another foreign face in the neighborhood the entire time I was there. But the apartment price was exceptional, and a cheap taxi or tuk-tuk ride to the beaches or anywhere else in the city can be had for a few bucks, so it was worth it for me.

It seems I see threads posted here every so often from people wanting to know where to find good deals on apartments, how to avoid long term contracts or large deposits, or complaining about landlords who either refuse or take forever to make basic repairs. My personal answer has always been to live wherever there are the least amount of tourists possible. I've found over the years that it's a lot easier to make a handshake deal when the host is used to renting to locals and you (as a long term guest with guaranteed income) are a prized commodity to them. They don't want to lose you and they know you're not easily replaced, so they keep the prices low, the paperwork to a minimum, and they'll bend over backwards to fix any problems that arise. The times that I've stayed in touristy areas in other cities/countries, it's been nearly impossible for me to negotiate any kind of deal because the host knows there's a dozen other tourists happy to take the apartment if you leave.