Argentina v Chile v Uruguay for rural small town living

[Odi]

Based on personal experience and stories like the one in this thread:

Robbed In Epuyen, Theives Caught Then Released, Even Though

We came to Epuyen to find a quite, peaceful place to live, and we have been living the dream here for 6 months. We were recently robbed of our tranquility, peace by 5 men, and others who did the surveillance. then after they were caught we were robbed again of our peace of mind by a Judge who...

baexpats.org

I can say that the crime rate in a small town or rural area is likely to increase when a foreigner and his family locate there, but I doubt that any crime map will ever indicate the victims' nationality.

Been watching this Fernando Ressia's channel. He travels around Argentina visiting remoter areas, and people who have moved to the countryside. I gather that there is very little crime in the rural areas and small towns. In fact, a common theme of the videos is that people left BA to get away from crime.

Fernando Ressia

Quiero mostrar mi país al mundo. CONTACTO [email protected] https://www.tiktok.com/@fernandoressia Instagram: http://instagram.com/feressia Twitter: https://twitter.com/feressia Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Fernando-Res... Feressia.com

www.youtube.com

 

[steveinbsas]

Thanks. Sounds too touristy. Can't stand tourism.

The two small communities in the world where I most loved living as a year round resident, at least when I first arrived, were Park City, Utah (1975) and Sayulita, Nayarit, México (2000).

They both became too touristy for.me in less than five years after my arrival. I did not live in a small community again until 2010 when I moved to my present location.

I never visited.Chile or Uruguay, and never considered either of them (or any other country in Latin America) as an alternative to Argentina, so, when I'd had enough of Capital Federal after living there for almost four, years, I began a search for an alternative.

The first post of this thread.provides details of the search for the house I have lived in for the past 15 years. The "semi-rural" location was a top priority, as was the close proximity to the cities of Punta Alta and Bahía Blanca. These advantages became obvious the first day I visited the property, met the sellers (who became friends) and signed the seña.

Country Life In Argentina: What's It Really Like?

Recently, Hybrid-san made a number of posts and asked many questions as he considered the possibility of buying land and building a country home in Argentina. I promised to start a thread about "country living" in Argentina and here it is. I'll provide a few details of how I got where I am now...

baexpats.org

 

[LuckyLuke]

Based on personal experience and stories like the one in this thread:

Robbed In Epuyen, Theives Caught Then Released, Even Though

We came to Epuyen to find a quite, peaceful place to live, and we have been living the dream here for 6 months. We were recently robbed of our tranquility, peace by 5 men, and others who did the surveillance. then after they were caught we were robbed again of our peace of mind by a Judge who...

baexpats.org

I can say that the crime rate in a small town or rural area is likely to increase when a foreigner and his family locate there, but I doubt that any crime map will ever indicate the victims' nationality.

I remember reading that post. If memory serves me right they were not robbed because they were foreigners, rather because word got out in the town that they had a sum of cash to purchase a property.

 

[Odi]

The two small communities in the world where I most loved living as a year round resident, at least when I first arrived, were Park City, Utah (1975) and Sayulita, Nayarit, México (2000).

They both became too touristy for.me in less than five years after my arrival. I did not live in a small community again until 2010 when I moved to my present location.

I never visited.Chile or Uruguay, and never considered either of them (or any other country in Latin America) as an alternative to Argentina, so, when I'd had enough of Capital Federal after living there for almost four, years, I began a search for an alternative.

The first post of this thread.provides details of the search for the house I have lived in for the past 15 years. The "semi-rural" location was a top priority, as was the close proximity to the cities of Punta Alta and Bahía Blanca. These advantages became obvious the first day I visited the property, met the sellers (who became friends) and signed the seña.

Country Life In Argentina: What's It Really Like?

Recently, Hybrid-san made a number of posts and asked many questions as he considered the possibility of buying land and building a country home in Argentina. I promised to start a thread about "country living" in Argentina and here it is. I'll provide a few details of how I got where I am now...

baexpats.org

Ha, that's funny. I was in Sayulita a couple weeks ago. Awful place. Drove from Puerto Vallarta to Sayulita on a Sunday and it took 1.5 hours due to the traffic. Pure tourism, almost everyone is American, and every biz is catering to tourism. Hawkers everywhere. Cramped. Neither do I like the climate and vegetation. But 25 years ago I suppose it was very different! Even Acapulco was idyllic town in the 1950s; a megalopolitan hell-hole today.

Yes, semi-rural is kind of what I want. How about your current place? Did it become overly touristic or is it still nice? Mind sharing the general location?

 

[Odi]

I remember reading that post. If memory serves me right they were not robbed because they were foreigners, rather because word got out in the town that they had a sum of cash to purchase a property.

Why would you have that much cash in the house? Do you think the countryside of Argentina is peaceful?

 

[LuckyLuke]

Why would you have that much cash in the house? Do you think the countryside of Argentina is peaceful?

Argentines don't trust banks, look up Argentine banking crisis

Do you think the countryside of Argentina is peaceful?

Look, Odi, I'm going to shoot straight with you. This forum gets a lot of folks passively interested in Argentina, with lots of questions that don't really amount to anything. There are a lot of youtube videos and travel blogs that will probably be a better general introduction to the country than some meandering commentary here. If you really want to know what the country is like, go to your local airport and buy yourself a $900 ticket. There's no visa, no cold war iron curtain, no Afghani smuggler required. Just fly, rent a car, hop on a bus, and check it out for yourself.

If you like what you see and you want to integrate with Argentine society further, then you can start asking some specific questions about immigration, banking, real estate, etc.

Just my two cents...

 

[Rich One]

As a first reference check Numbeo BA COL estimator. You can select other cities besides BA. Some prices are outdated, prices change weekly?

Cost of Living in Buenos Aires. May 2026. Prices in Buenos Aires

www.numbeo.com

 

[BobbyHank]

I agree with Luke, well said brother!, but it I’ll throw one out there for you nonetheless. The Calamuchita valley in Cordoba state is beautiful, within your altitude range and although some areas are touristy during parts of the year (Villa General Belgrano y La Cumbrecita) there’s plenty of spots that aren’t. We have some average between VGB & LC and love it there! Small tow life is far different then what I here on here from the BA folks!! Crime is here too, heck it’s everywhere! But it is nonviolent. I don’t carry a spare tire, if I do it get stolen quickly!! With the crazy tire price I think my insurance folks would drop me if they have to replace another wheel/tire at $1250 a pop!
A family my son goes to school with recently had their house broken into. So like I said crime is resident in small towns, as you should expect in a country with low wages and high COL.
Also, it is somewhat difficult to find workers here. Everyone wants a paycheck but no one wants to work for it. I hire workers on our property clearing land, and they all seem to start somewhat strong but quickly try and fool the gringo claiming to work when they’re not. I finally found someone who is a hard worker, unfortunately it’s me! Good luck in your search! Boots on the ground is the way to do it though, as LL mentioned.

 

[Lanick]

Very Expensive now !. At the same cost of living of Spain, higher than Portugal, one must review all the previous local advantages.
Not clear if you're comparing wages or cost of living? Unskilled wages here are low. Have No bearing on expats cost of living.

Way a lot more than Spain! Spain as in Barcelona! What same! Even UK is cheaper.

 

[steveinbsas]

Way a lot more than Spain! Spain as in Barcelona! What same! Even UK is cheaper.

What factors presently make Argentina (presumably Capital Federal) more expensive than Spain?

Excluding rent and meals in restaurants, both of which for me are zero, my monthly cost of living is presently $450, almost exactly half of which I spend on everything that I eat and drink. The other $225 USD pays for everything else, including utilities, insurance, wi-fi, Netflix, nafta, and annual taxes, fees, and car maintainence divided by twelve.