Disappearing Expats? Or Is Everyone Happier?

Sergio, good point. Until you mentioned it, I never put the pattern together but it’s totally true: the expats I know who left we’re (by and large) the same ones who defended Cristina!

More broadly, I agree with most of the above but I would add another reason: BA was “cool” for about 5 minutes, in a way that Colombia was after BA (I know sooo many who left BA for Colombia) and in a way that Lisbon is now, it seems. During those 5 minutes of hipsterdom, there was a massive influx of cool-seeking cheap foreigners. But when the coolness moved elsewhere... so did they.

That said: it’s quite a class of characters who have remained on BAE, like our resident philanthropist trillionaire ayahuasca-smoking Scientologist. Every forum needs one of those!
 
I have been a part of this forum since 2009, and though I occasionally lurk every now and then, I stopped posting a while ago. There's far too much petty squabbling amongst certain members of the forum (y'all know who I'm referring to).

Threads that should be purposeful and to the point quickly go awry because we can't play nicely and stay on topic. While I still appreciate the forum, it got old a while ago. Just my two cents.
 
They've left. The first batch to leave were the ones who defended everything the Kirchners did. They hated the US and thought Argentina was a paradise, as long as it was cheap and they could live well. Once the going got tough they decided the US wasn't so bad after all. The second wave of refugees were those who were more committed but were sinking under the inflation and instability. Now there is just a hardcore left, mostly people married to Argentines who don't want to leave. Well, that's my take on it.

I'm not sure I'd give the first "batch to leave" so much credit (or blame) for "defending everything the Kirchners did" as that may be too broad of a generalization. I think that many of therm may have been apolitical, but I agree that they came to Argentina, at least in part because the "cost was low and they could live well" (in an "exotic" foreign capital}. I also agree that they left because the cost of living increased beyond their means,

Increases in the consorcio fees from $450 per month in late 2006 to more than $800 per month by early 2009 was the main reason I sold my apartment in Recoleta in May of that year (after being on the market since November 2008). it was not an "easy" time to sell and I sold the apartment for less than ten percent more than the purchase price in 2006. Adding in the commissions and fees for the buy and the sale, I actually "lost" a little money, though I figured I "saved" about 17% by not paying rent while I owned the apartment.

I bought a PH in Nunez (without consorcio fees) but I lost ten grand when I sold it just over a year later. The seller had concealed a major defect that would have cost about ten grand to repair. I did not conceal the problem and was happy to bail out at the price I got. Besides, i had already discovered (and made an offer to buy) the quinta where I have (quite happily) lived since late June of 2010. I do all of the maintenance (grounds keeping) here and, although electric rates and the cost of LP gas have increased by about a factor of five, the exchange rate has almost kept up with those increases.

Someone asked me about the increasing cost of nafta (gasoline) in another thread. The current prices of super (24 pesos per liter is six times what it was in 2010, but I drive less than ever. When I have to go to Punta Alta I drive into the nearby village (1.5 km from my house) and take the bus (13 pesos each way). I can do the same to go to Bahia Blanca (24 pesos each way). Sometimes I catch a ride with a friend who goes to Bahia every Friday to buy repair parts for his auto repair shop and then take the bus back to the village. I don't shop at Wal-mart anymore, but Friday's are a good day to take advantage of the weekly specials at Carrefour (which is in the center of Bahia and less than a block from the sucursal of Banco Santander Rio).

When i arrived in May of 2006, the monthly requirement for the visa rentista was $2700 pesos (about $900 USD) per month. I just barely qualified. I already had permanent residency when the monthly requirement was raised to $8,000 per month. With an exchange rate at the time of about four to one, that meant the income requirement in dollars just about doubled. I would not have been able to meet the requirement to renew my temporary residency or get permanent residency if I had been subject to the increase. In the following five years that eight thousand peso threshold was greatly reduced in terms of dollars. and there were undoubtedly expats who (happily) came to Argentina when the rate was 12 to one, meaning the income requirement in dollars was less than $700 per month at that time!

The current monthly income requirement of $30,000 pesos for a single person comes out to about $1700 dollars and a third of that (any amount over $20,000 per month) is subject to income tax (of about 30%?) in Argentina. All politics aside, I see that as a simple economic reason for the exodus, as well as a reason for others not to come here to live for more than six months of the year (on a tourist visa with one extension). If the new tax rates in the USA exempt about $20,000 USD in personal income form federal income taxes, more expats (at least from the USA) are likely to leave. I however, will not soon be singing, "Take me home, country roads, to a place I belong: West Virginia."
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I have been a part of this forum since 2009, and though I occasionally lurk every now and then, I stopped posting a while ago. There's far too much petty squabbling amongst certain members of the forum (y'all know who I'm referring to).

Threads that should be purposeful and to the point quickly go awry because we can't play nicely and stay on topic. While I still appreciate the forum, it got old a while ago. Just my two cents.

I've only been a member a little longer than Vagrant Violet but my story is similar. There has always been a core of reliably interesting and enjoyable posters on BAExpats but there are always the plonkers too. I stopped posting when that particular subset of plonkers were slagging off the country and its people to such an extent that it became embarrassing to be associated with BAExpats amongst the kind, gentle and decent folk who make up my Argentine family and friends. Things got better on here but by then I'd lost the habit of posting. I'll try and do better in future. I might even turn up for a coffee chat soon, you never know. But don't save a chair for me this afternoon...
 
I think a lot of people who were just drifters, looking for a cheap place to live have moved on to the next cheap places.
A few people have died. I miss david, who was a landscape designer at Rockefeller Center- but I think he died in 2009.

I was brought up in a family of professional arguers, so I can put up with more of the usual bickering here than most- but I think it gets tiring to many.

And the constant complaining that Buenos Aires is not London or NYC, plus the increasing cranky old white man dominance of many topics, tends to discourage newer, younger, expats.
 
Steve, If you are happy in Argentina that is all that matters but you brought up the subject of high property taxes in the US and I answered that they are not high everywhere. West Virginia was just one example of a place that came to mind because I have been there and know that it is beautiful and that everyone is not a hillbilly. If taxes, however, are the issue then WVA is an option as are some other parts of the US. Housing in many Ohio towns, for example, is inexpensive and they are not far from major cities like Cincinnati.

Another MAJOR factor for those 65+ is the existence of Medicare which is essentially the same as universal health care. In Argentina anyone who wants decent health care has to pay for private insurance. I realize there are various plans according to coverage but it's not so cheap anymore. I know people paying quite a lot. Also in the US there are many discounts for seniors including free public transportation in some cities or half fare in others. I doubt that foreigners quality for anything like this in Argentina.

As for the pro-Kirchner expats, I can only say that I was attacked on this forum and in conversation with expats who thought everything the Kirchners did was great. It wasn't great for them when the inflation rate went through the ceiling, when all kinds of currency restrictions were imposed and when they enacted all kinds of silly policies like banning books from the US (due to alleged chemicals in the paper). Over time these expats left. They were never committed to Argentina but they were self righteous in their views and mocking of many of us who had committed a great deal of time, money and sweat into living in Argentina but didn't live in a bubble. They were really just passing through for a little fun. When it got tough and they started to experience what most Argentines go through, they started to leave. They weren't about to live like the majority of people in Argentina. The US started to look a lot better to them.
 
I also think the perma tourist thing being addressed at entry points may have scared or sent some expats off was well. I know allot of people were doing it I even ran into Americans doing it in URU when I asked them if they Arg residents. Things have been and are changing in many ways. Arg is no longer the fluffy easy peasy expat funlandia it once was. We also not longer have the drama that was going because the queen. Which was the topic of many conversations here as I recall. Lots of changes.
 
I also think the perma tourist thing being addressed at entry points may have scared or sent some expats off was well. I know allot of people were doing it I even ran into Americans doing it in URU when I asked them if they Arg residents.

This is an excellent point, It's been quite a while since anyone even asked about making a "visa run" to Uruguay, though the last one I remember (I believe to have been in the past year) was reported as a success.


Even though I never had to do it (or even overstay a 90 day visa), when I arrived in 2006 it was considered SOP.
 
1. I would guess there are less expats in Buenos Aires now then there were in the past due primarily to the cost of living. If the cost of living suddenly halved, I bet you would see a rush of temporary expats again. As Morgan mentioned there was a time when Buenos Aires was the cool city with a low cost of living. You now hear young people mention Medellin, Lisbon, Mexico City, Budapest, etc.

2. As Serafina mentioned there are more vibrant expat discussions elsewhere that can't be mentioned here.
 
Even further I have noticed forums to be on the decline in other areas such as my work. Seems people are grouping in other places so to say.
 
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