Commuting to La Lucila

[steveinbsas]

The best part of Retiro is Calle Arroyo which is one of the loveliest in all of BA. I think it's comparatively very safe - I'd say a lot safer than Palermo. The Plaza San Martin can be dicey at night. If you want to be close to Retiro Station, you can cross 9 de Julio and live in Recoleta in the area around Patio Bullrich. From there you can walk to Retiro in about 15 minutes or take a 5 minute or less bus ride.

Calle Arroyo is lovely, particularly the curved block between Suipacha and Esmeralda. This is undoubtedly one of the more expensive blocks to live in Retiro. Almost all of the shops are art galleries, but there are no cafes or restaurants in this block except at the Hotel Sofitel (pricey).

Medicus (my choice for health care providers) has a "clinic" at the corner of Esmeralda and there is a Disco supermarket just across the street from them.

This area can be almost too quiet on weekends and daytime and early evening muggings have been reported, including one on Aranales between Esmeralda and 9 de Julio that ended in a fatality. There is a huge villa de miseria (slum) not far away and that adds to the potential of being a victim of crime in the area. Plaza San Martin is probably safest during the lunch hour on weekdays when the weather is nice and it's full of people.

Here's a link to a site which has many travelers' opinions of Retiro:

http://www.virtualtourist.com/trave...81/Things_To_Do-Buenos_Aires-Retiro-BR-1.html