Buenos Aires Changing

[nlaruccia]

Ha, and those are the good ones!

I took those photos on Av. Rivadavia and Av. Acoyte an a couple of years ago and I can tell you it actually looks worse now then when I took those photos.

 

[ghost]

I like your statement about "perfection." I, too, remember the years when nothing was done or repaired in the city; that mayor is long gone, and I don't recall his name. He accomplished nothing.

What a difference with Mayor Macri and his team. Rome wasn't built in a day, and we won't walk the streets of Buenos Aires free of garbage for a long time. I expect to see clean streets in my lifetime.

I had a long conversation with my neighbor about the garbage situation and the new containers on our street because people are still leaving their garbage on the sidewalk or at the corner when we have containers in place. I'm more aware of the situation than most, so I picked up bags of garbage and put them in the containers. I find it hard to believe that people won't cross the street to use a container, but we know that OLD HABITS DIE HARD.

We're having a consorcio meeting on Wednesday, so I gave my neighbor a pamphlet about the recycling program that's been in place for at least six years. He asked why no one told him about it; he is willing to participate. Then I reminded him about conversations I had with him and his wife over the years about saving the garbage for a week to fill the bags, respecting the hours, etc. It's a habit in the city that won't be easy to change, but it's possible. People need information, and one-on-one is the best way. The city government is doing their best to inform people about the programs; if people don't want to know, that's everybody's problem. The mess will continue. Who wants to feed the rats in the streets?

I'll end now so I can go outside and talk with the neighbors so they will start using the containers and our nearby Punto Verde.

And those are rose colored glasses, right?

 

[Rawley]

The Kentucky pizza place on St. Fe Ave. and Godoy Cruz St. is still as good as always. the branches scattered all over BA are the ones getting bad reviews

 

[RodalfoWalsh]

Things are changing. Slowly but surely. The change from piles of decomposing trash that cartoneros would throw all over the intersection to the containers was huge improvement. Not to say that the trash situation is perfect now, but it's night and day from before.

The bike lines are also incredible, when I arrived people thought I was crazy for biking, and riding your bike was a bit like frogger. The bike lines gave the timid a way to get out and have managed to produce a cultural change in how drivers interact with bikers even in places where there are no bike lanes. I doubt anyone who's been biking here for more than 5 years has missed this change.


It's also been years since I've seen a person bleeding from a stab wound (mitre) or had to step over a pile of vomit (sarmiento, san martin) on a train.

 

[jantango]

I took those photos on Av. Rivadavia and Av. Acoyte an pmcoupke of years ago and I can tell you but actually looks worse now then when I took those photos.

How do they compare with the sidewalks of Manhattan?

 

[nlaruccia]

How do they compare with the sidewalks of Manhattan?

Is that a retorical question? The sidewalks in Manhattan are fantastic and my Argentine friend that's using crutches has no problem walking down the sidewalks in Manhattan.

 

[nlaruccia]

I don't know how it is in your neighborhood but where I lived in Caballito the cartoneros would rip open the recycle containers and throw the trash all over the street every single night. Sometimes they would light them on fire.

 

[jantango]

No, I really just wanted to know how the sidewalks of Manhattan are, considering how many people live there. You are there to give a comparison with Buenos Aires.

I was out policing my block tonight and talking to the neighbors about using the containers. There were no cartoneros ripping open the bags or throwing trash on the street. At 9:30pm the container truck arrived on Chile 2300 in Balvanera to empty our containers. Those who left their garbage on the sidewalk around the corner may find it there in the morning. A container is a few feet away and yet people didn't use it. They'll have to learn or deal with rats. I persuaded a guy to toss his old mattresses inside the container instead of leaving them on the corner. The sidewalks and street are cleaner than they've ever been since the containers arrived in our area only four days ago.

 

[Davidglen77]

No, I really just wanted to know how the sidewalks of Manhattan are, considering how many people live there. You are there to give a comparison with Buenos Aires.

I was out policing my block tonight and talking to the neighbors about using the containers. There were no cartoneros ripping open the bags or throwing trash on the street. At 9:30pm the container truck arrived on Chile 2300 in Balvanera to empty our containers. Those who left their garbage on the sidewalk around the corner may find it there in the morning. A container is a few feet away and yet people didn't use it. They'll have to learn or deal with rats. I persuaded a guy to toss his old mattresses inside the container instead of leaving them on the corner. The sidewalks and street are cleaner than they've ever been since the containers arrived in our area only four days ago.

The sidewalks in Manhattan and Jersey City, where I live, are in excellent shape. No loose tiles, they are constructed of good quality brushed concrete and when they are dug up for utility repairs they are replaced with new concrete, immediately, no patches or piles of dirt. The parks and plazas have walkways made of paving stones, which are also well constructed, no loose stones and last for years. Garbage is a problem in any big city, however at night the sanitation crews take it all away and sweep every single street, and in the morning, everything is very clean. No cartoneros riding around on broken down trucks, sorting garbage on the sidewalks, no kids in dirty clothes following them around eating from the containers, maybe in other areas of the US, but not in New York City. I volunteer at a food pantry and anybody can go there and get a ton of groceries on Saturdays, it's amazing the amount of products that are donated by companies, private individuals and donations. There is also a clothing bank, social services and counseling for mentally ill and substance abusers. These services don't reach every person in need but a majority of homeless get good and adequate assistance. Growing up in NYC in the 1970s, New York was dirty and dilapidated and scary, now it's in really good shape, the parks, plazas, streets and public areas are REALLY well taken care of. I love Buenos Aires, but when I think of the daily inconveniences of which there are soooo many I am sooo glad that I don't live there any more.

 

[ghost]

The sidewalks in NJ are paved with gold. Just ask the fat lard ass governor.