Best city besides Buenos Aires for foreigner to live in?

[Rich One]

Neuquén Capital!

Someone could comment on the Rio Negro Region, Between the Rivers, Negro, Limay and Neuquen , El Alto Valle, capital of the fruit production in Argentina. Largest production/Exports of Apples, Pears, Peaches and Plums . Land where fruit is produced the weather is magnificent, the people outstanding, all over the world....!

 

[steveinbsas]

There are very few expats outside BA, so you need to speak Spanish and be prepared to make local friends.

I think the key word in this post is "prepared" and it applies, at least in my case, to more than just speaking Spanish and making local friends, both of whcih I have been doing for the past twelve and a half years that I have not been living in any city. There are no expats living in the "village" (technically a barrio of Punta Alta) of 1500 inhabtants one KM from my house and I don't know of any English speaking expats in Punta Alta.

When local Argentines ask, incredulously, (as almost all of them do) why I chose to live where I am now, I tell them that I came here in 2010 to live a more tranquil life and that four years of living in BA (three in an apartment in Recoleta and one in a PH in Nuñez) with all of the noise and air pollution was more than enough for me. I wanted to get as far from the potential "zone of chaos" as posblle and yet live close to a city (always within walking distance to my house before dark if there was no other way to get home at the time) that would be relatively much safer in the future.

While I do tell my Argentine friends that I came here to enjoy "la vida del campo" (aka country living") while I am still young enough to do so, hoping that spending a great deal of time working outdoors would have a positive impact on my health, I don't tell them that I was following Glenn Beck's advice to "buy land where you can grow your own food" (and to prepare for future cost increases for food, fuel, and many tools and supplies that I have already acquired at reasonable prices, most of which now would be well beyond the range of my shockingly low (to most expats) foreign income).

 

[jblaze5779]

Someone could comment on the Rio Negro Region, Between the Rivers, Negro, Limay and Neuquen , El Alto Valle, capital of the fruit production in Argentina. Largest production/Exports of Apples, Pears, Peaches and Plums . Land where fruit is produced the weather is magnificent, the people outstanding, all over the world....!


View attachment 8511

Yup all the best fruit is exported but it's nice getting a kilo of decent strawberries and cherries for a couple bucks.

 

[Lost Pilgrim]

There are very few expats outside BA, so you need to speak Spanish and be prepared to make local friends.

Someone could comment on the Rio Negro Region, Between the Rivers, Negro, Limay and Neuquen , El Alto Valle, capital of the fruit production in Argentina. Largest production/Exports of Apples, Pears, Peaches and Plums . Land where fruit is produced the weather is magnificent, the people outstanding, all over the world....!


View attachment 8511

Someone could comment on the Rio Negro Region, Between the Rivers, Negro, Limay and Neuquen , El Alto Valle, capital of the fruit production in Argentina. Largest production/Exports of Apples, Pears, Peaches and Plums . Land where fruit is produced the weather is magnificent, the people outstanding, all over the world....!


View attachment 8511

Thanks. Does this region include the city of Neuquén?

 

[Lost Pilgrim]

I think the key word in this post is "prepared" and it applies, at least in my case, to more than just speaking Spanish and making local friends, both of whcih I have been doing for the past twelve and a half years that I have not been living in any city. There are no expats living in the "village" (technically a barrio of Punta Alta) of 1500 inhabtants one KM from my house and I don't know of any English speaking expats in Punta Alta.

When local Argentines ask, incredulously, (as almost all of them do) why I chose to live where I am now, I tell them that I came here in 2010 to live a more tranquil life and that four years of living in BA (three in an apartment in Recoleta and one in a PH in Nuñez) with all of the noise and air pollution was more than enough for me. I wanted to get as far from the potential "zone of chaos" as posblle and yet live close to a city (always within walking distance to my house before dark if there was no other way to get home at the time) that would be relatively much safer in the future.

While I do tell my Argentine friends that I came here to enjoy "la vida del campo" (aka country living") while I am still young enough to do so, hoping that spending a great deal of time working outdoors would have a positive impact on my health, I don't tell them that I was following Glenn Beck's advice to "buy land where you can grow your own food" (and to prepare for future cost increases for food, fuel, and many tools and supplies that I have already acquired at reasonable prices, most of which now would be well beyond the range of my shockingly low (to most expats) foreign income).

I find Punta Alta near Bahía Blanca. How is that city? Have you been to Sierras de Ventana and Tandil which are also near?

 

[argsteve]

i will throw in mar del plata where i live..... yes i know it gets crazy in the summer.... but i still like it as a full-time city.... it is big enough to have everything you need,,, still great restaurants beer bars the beach casinos.... etc.... but everyone has there idea of a good place to live.....

 

[carride]

I find Punta Alta near Bahía Blanca. How is that city? Have you been to Sierras de Ventana and Tandil which are also near?

The Atlantic coast is nice between Mar del Plata and Bahía Blanca. Approximately 10 years ago we did a casual beach trip mid-week off season in early December. Two nights at each stop. First just outside Necochea on the beach, then camping over the dunes to the beach in Balneario San Cayetano which was amazingly quiet. Busier but small Claromeco beach, and finally popular tourist spot Monte Hermoso.

More of the Atlantic ocean is available farther south to Trelew. It is an interesting city with access to whale and penguins nature reserve of Valdes Peninsula. We were at the reserve in 2019, and a 2011 week downtown Trelew when far to the east the Puyehue volcano covered the Trelew city in a dusting of ash everyday.

 

[jblaze5779]

Thanks. Does this region include the city of Neuquén?

Neuquén is the main city in Confluencia,which is the center of the group of all these cities.

 

[steveinbsas]

I find Punta Alta near Bahía Blanca. How is that city? Have you been to Sierras de Ventana and Tandil which are also near?

Punta Alta is an ideal small city to be able to drive (to the center of) from my house in about fifteen minutes. It has five sucursales of the Cooperative Obrera supermarkets where I buy a few food items like coffee, lard, and butter, as well and some household items (cleaning supplies). It also has tons of small speciality shops and a a very nice hospital where I have received wonderful attention.

The two best aspects of Bahia Blanca are the Dia (Disco)/ Easy supermarket/store on the edge of the city which is closest to me and the airport which is to the Northeast. This means I can easily get to both locations without going to the city center. but I rarely go to either.

Bahia Blanca has some very nice neighborhoods, but they are too expensive for me and I wouldn't want to live in any of them, even if I had the money, as I prefer to live in a "zona de quintas" where I have far more privacy and peace...and I can have chickens and goats.The "chickens will be coming home to roost" (for the first time) in the very near future and the goat(s) may not be far behind.

Bahia Blanca does have several nice zonas de quintas, but the properties there are also too expensive for me and coming and going requires travel on a somewhat dangerous two lane highway that skirts the city, so I could not live in Bahia Blanca, even if I wanted to.

I would only consider living in a house in Punta Alta if and when I reach the point that can't manage everyhting here on my own or with one other prepper, if that individual shows up in the next year or two (before the SHTF and it's too late).

PS: A city likeTandil is probably more desirable to anyone who cares about cafes and restaurants, but I don't patronize either. I haven't consumed restaurant "food" since 2010 with the exception of sharing a pizza four times since then, and I've only ordered one cup of coffee in a cafe during the same time period.

The bottom line, at least for me: I would never move away from this area as I already have great friends and many contacts which I will be able to share if another prepper ever joins me here. I can't imagine starting over somewhere else, on my own, the way I did when I was only 60 years old.

 

[Lost Pilgrim]

Punta Alta is an ideal small city to be able to drive (to the center of) from my house in about fifteen minutes. It has five sucursales of the Cooperative Obrera supermarkets where I buy a few food items like coffee, lard, and butter, as well and some household items (cleaning supplies). It also has tons of small speciality shops and a a very nice hospital where I have received wonderful attention.

The two best aspects of Bahia Blanca are the Dia (Disco)/ Easy supermarket/store on the edge of the city which is closest to me and the airport which is to the Northeast. This means I can easily get to both locations without going to the city center. but I rarely go to either.

Bahia Blanca has some very nice neighborhoods, but they are too expensive for me and I wouldn't want to live in any of them, even if I had the money, as I prefer to live in a "zona de quintas" where I have far more privacy and peace...and I can have chickens and goats.The "chickens will be coming home to roost" (for the first time) in the very near future and the goat(s) may not be far behind.

Bahia Blanca does have several nice zonas de quintas, but the properties there are also too expensive for me and coming and going requires travel on a somewhat dangerous two lane highway that skirts the city, so I could not live in Bahia Blanca, even if I wanted to.

I would only consider living in a house in Punta Alta if and when I reach the point that can't manage everyhting here on my own or with one other prepper, if that individual shows up in the next year or two (before the SHTF and it's too late).

PS: A city likeTandil is probably more desirable to anyone who cares about cafes and restaurants, but I don't patronize either. I haven't consumed restaurant "food" since 2010 with the exception of sharing a pizza four times since then, and I've only ordered one cup of coffee in a cafe during the same time period.

The bottom line, at least for me: I would never move away from this area as I already have great friends and many contacts which I will be able to share if another prepper ever joins me here. I can't imagine starting over somewhere else, on my own, the way I did when I was only 60 years old.

Sounds like an interesting lifestyle you got there.

Ya, can't imagine paying for a $5 coffee in a cafe when my instant coffee which is perfectly fine costs 5 cents and takes 1 minute to make.

Also rarely eat at restaurants but on this trip have been dining at them every day. Today has a milanesa napo, a really good milanesa Roquefort in Carlos paz, gulash ciervo, top hamburguesa, café con leche with tortillas, parillada that almost killed me. Argentine food ain't bad.