Crime hot-spots in the capital

[ghost]

Speaking of robberies at knife and gunpoint, I recommend minimising the attack surface. If you're a man, get a small, thin wallet that doesn't protrude visibly from your pocket. Don't put any credit/debit cards, driver's licenses, etc. in it -- these are all things whose main cost when they are stolen is enormous inconvenience. Put enough pesos in it for what you need, but an amount you could still live with being stolen. Don't carry around your passport if you can at all help it.

If you're a woman, stick to cheap purses, and don't carry anything overly important in them, or large sums of money.

If you have loose pockets that are easy to reach into surreptitiously, safety-pin them shut from the inside (so that the pin is not easily visible on the outside). Seriously. It's tacky, it's definitely not a trendy fashion accessory, but it works.

Don't drive a nice car and don't wear nice clothes and don't walk like a Yankee. Don't smile. Get rid of the watch and look behind at all times. Isn't this fun.

 

[steveinbsas]

Don't drive a nice car and don't wear nice clothes and don't walk like a Yankee. Don't smile. Get rid of the watch and look behind at all times. Isn't this fun.

And don't be overheard speaking English on the bus, train, or while sitting at a restaurant table, especially on the sidewalk.

I no longer worry about any of this. Where I live now no one speaks English and everyone knows I'm a foreigner (as well as where I live).

And if I forget to lock my door at night I'm the only one who knows (in the morning).

I still have nice clothes and a nice watch, but I have little reason now to wear them and am happy to live without needing or wanting to wear them (no jacket or tie required for working in the garden).

I have lived in several places Argentina since my arrival in 2006. Prior to that I had traveled in Europe and most of the USA and also lived in Mexico for over five years. In my entire life I have only witnessed crime in the streets twice: in San Telmo on Estados Unidos near Defensa (how ironic) and in Palermo on Charcas near Bulnes.

Edit: I was apprensive about coming to BA in 2006, especially after I read the US State Dept advisory, but after reading what they had to say about Mexico (where I was at the time), Argentina (includig Buenos Aires) actually looked much safer. It certainly is today. I know I will never set foot in Mexico again.

I also know I am much safer where I am now than when I lived in BA in 2006 or even Chicago in the 1990's. Actually, I feel like I am living in Northern Iowa in the late 1960's (something I know about from experience), but here I am much closer to the ocean (2KM) and winters are mild (rarely below freezing and over in two months).

 

[BA_Life]

There's some great advice here and at then end of the day it amounts to common sense. Please don't become paranoid....things can be bad here but I've seen the same in the many other countries in the USA and Europe. The only place I've ever felt safe was Singapore....

 

[steveinbsas]

The only place I've ever felt safe was Singapore....

Do they still publicly "cane" people who spit on the sidwalk there?

 

[BA_Life]

Not that I'm aware of! But they do have a very low tolerance towards petty crime and there is no freedom of speech. So I prefer BsAs, despite some of the downsides.

 

[Davidglen77]

One area that hasn't been mentioned is San Nicolás which is technically part of the centro and/or Congreso. It's the area delimited by Cerrito (9 de Julio) and Callao from Rivadavia (plaza del Congreso) to Av. Corrientes.
This is an area full of architectural treasures, some of which date from the late 1800's many neo-classical buildings from the early 1920's, the "belle epoque" of Buenos Aires, capital federal.
Unfortunately, this neighborhood has suffered many horrible problems and decay and is now full of abandoned buildings, people living in the streets, crime of all kinds, robberies and assaults on a daily basis, and things in this area are getting progressively worse. How can this be allowed to happen in the center of the city with so many tourists wandering around and taking pictures of the decay of the city? Why aren't the people living in the streets taken to some kind of shelter, with the amount of abandoned buildings around couldn't they be given some kind of shelter-even temporary until a better solution is found to their problem. There are 100s of children living in the streets and eating from garbage cans right in front of the Congreso building WHAT IS GOING ON WHERE ARE THE POLITICIANS NOW??

 

[perry]

One area that hasn't been mentioned is San Nicolás which is technically part of the centro and/or Congreso. It's the area delimited by Cerrito (9 de Julio) and Callao from Rivadavia (plaza del Congreso) to Av. Corrientes.
This is an area full of architectural treasures, some of which date from the late 1800's many neo-classical buildings from the early 1920's, the "belle epoque" of Buenos Aires, capital federal.
Unfortunately, this neighborhood has suffered many horrible problems and decay and is now full of abandoned buildings, people living in the streets, crime of all kinds, robberies and assaults on a daily basis, and things in this area are getting progressively worse. How can this be allowed to happen in the center of the city with so many tourists wandering around and taking pictures of the decay of the city? Why aren't the people living in the streets taken to some kind of shelter, with the amount of abandoned buildings around couldn't they be given some kind of shelter-even temporary until a better solution is found to their problem. There are 100s of children living in the streets and eating from garbage cans right in front of the Congreso building WHAT IS GOING ON WHERE ARE THE POLITICIANS NOW??

David I fully agree with you and its a crying shame what is happening to the Plaza Congreso and its surrounds . I am frequently in this neighbourhood and it is much worse than before with homelessness and drug addictions . To sit in a outside cafe in the Plaza is to ask for trouble with agressive pan handlers asking you for monedas every few minutes and lord behold you if you do not give them anything as they will insult you especially if you are foreigner.

This neighbourhood bordering the Plaza Congreso including the Avenida del Mayo and Hipilito Irigoyen has imho the best architecture of Argentina . This neighbourhood has incredible potential to be a terrific place to live but if there is no will from politicians to address the problems of homelessness and drug addictions it can all go to hell soon .

Over 10% of buildings in the Capital lay empty . It would take very little effort to mobilise a task force to address these issues of homelessness and clean up the streets . It seems that now the streets are not in the hands of decent people and that people are given to much free reign to cause mayhem and set up shop wherever . A park is a public space and always should stay that way . Allowing makeshift homes to be built in public land is a sign of a collapsing society and also creates a eyesore for all .

 

[mulderfox]

well i just suffered a muggin attempt uriburu and libertador. a teenage girl unarmed tried to take my phone we engaged then she crossed libertador running and dodging cars. i called the police with my phone and followed her into the park. where she took $20 from a couple, i didn`t do anything because from the distance i first thought they were accomplices. then i realised they weren`t and the man from the couple and i chased the girl, she took a taxi on libertador and that was it.

 

[steveinbsas]

What does "she took 20 from a couple" mean...and how did she do it?

 

[mulderfox]

What does "she took 20 from a couple" mean...and how did she do it?

i edited, thanks. i lost her from my sight for a few seconds i was with my phone in one hand speaking with the 911 telling the operator the movements of the girl, there is a monument in that square you must take the stairs to get to it, there i lost her for a second when i saw her next i thought she was with her 2 accomplices. she was standing in front of 2 people sitting on the grass downhill then one of them handed something from a backpack to the girl, i realised it was a couple of victims only then. the woman hughed her boyfriend i approached them told them my story and that she was unarmed and the guy asked me to help him catch her. the girlfriend stayed behind. we chased her and she took a cab on libertador he waved and signed but he the driver didn´t stop.