From Singapore to BA in September

[ChooSoong]

Hi there!

My family and I will be in BA in September as part of my husband's work assignment. We have three very young children (5 year old, 3 year old and 9 month). I'd appreciate any assistance/comment you can provide on the following:

1. Area to live - Palermo or Belgrano? Which area is more suitable for my family's profile?
2. Any comments on living in Belgrano C area? Hubby saw an apartment there and found it nice. Is it a safe and family friendly place? Understand that it is very close by to Chinatown.
3. School - I will be homeschooling my children in the meantime until school starts next year. Anyone currently homeschooling their preschoolers in BA?
4. Spanish school - any recommendation for Spanish class for my 5 and 3 year old before school starts in March 2011? We have no knowledge of Spanish.

Many thanks

 

[French jurist]

I would definitely recommend Belgrano C (less noise than Palermo, a bit greener although it depends how you compare) and proximity to Chinatown is a plus (it's a tiny Chinatown but a great place to buy fresh food).

For advices about kids, I still need to make some so I'll abstain

 

[ChooSoong]

Hi French Jurist,

Thank you for taking time to reply and your feedback.

 

[BKK to BA]

I think you will find many parts of BsAs dirty and urban compared to Singapore.If you like your greenery research the areas w/ alot of parks.You might also look into Puerto Madero as its more modern and closer to Singapore than the rest of the city...bnut then again maybe youre looking for a change from what youre used to.

Good luck!

 

[fred mertz]

I think that the best place to live would an area that is close to a good playground. There are probably more in Belgrano than in Palermo. You might find an apartment in Belgrano that is child-friendly with some playground equipment, a swimming pool and maybe even a playroom for kids. You might also explore the area around Plaza Vincent Lopez in Recoleta that has a large playground. This area is closer to downtown if that's where daddy is going to work.

 

[citygirl]

Belgrano is very child-friendly, lots of families there. If your husband is going to be working downtown, you'll want to be close to a subway line unless his job will be arranging car service for him.

 

[HenryNisental]

Why not consider Caballito (o Primera Junta, as it is sometimes called).
You have very nice flats there, less crime than Palermo, a Parque Rivadavia with child games and a book fair with shops that sell CD games, restaurants, a police school nearby, a medical school (Maimonides), a nearby hospital (Durand), etc, lots of schools, and the subway line (at Acoyte station), which will take you to downtown in 20 minutes. Asking for more?: Sundays is full of shoppers, not dead like the microcenter area.

 

[ChooSoong]

Fred, Citygirl and Henry,

Thank you for your comments, which are most helpful!!!

 

[Slopey]

Hey ChooSoong,

I just moved to Singapore in June after a year in Buenos Aires (still occasionally check the BAExpats forum because I miss Argentina so much so I'm going to try and give you some Singaporean parallels. No area in Buenos Aires looks like Singapore (and vice-versa) so when I say parallels, I mean the mood of the area.

I think Palermo is a bit like Holland Village...lots of expats, many cool places to eat, drink and shop.
I think living in Puerto Madero will be a bit like living near Raffles Place or Marina Bay - lots of nice buildings, but most of them are commercial, so the place is deserted at night.
Belgrano is greener than Palermo, with less expats and more families. That's the barrio that I would recommend.

Hope that helped.
If you have more questions, feel free to PM me.