Has It Always Been So Bad?

[Noesdeayer]

steveinbsas:
I would think that this is so because you have lived mostly in the countryside and not in B.A. city.
As is well known all big cities are dangerous.
One must wear their "street smarts" 24/7
However,I must say that from '79 until about '92 (13 years) I had not been robbed here
In contrast I had been robbed and mugged on the NYC subway once before coming to B.A..
I still contend that B.A. is relatively safe.What makes it so bad (as Bajo sems to approve of) is the lack of
ordenances against loitering and drinking booze.and,of course,urinating in the street
Probably,because such "ordenanzas" would interfere with the street demonstrations so popular with some
unions.

 

[AmigoArtistico]

I wonder if there are any long term expats that were not at least once robbed in Argentina?

I once had my laptop bag stolen by moto choros sitting at a cafe on a corner. LOL bag was empty thank God. After that I was very careful with my belongings.

How do you know they were motochorros if they were sitting at a cafe on a corner?

 

[steveinbsas]

steveinbsas:
I would think that this is so because you have lived mostly in the countryside and not in B.A. city

During four of the ten years I have been in Argentina I was living in Capital Federal (May 2006 - June 2010).

I was there long enough to "encounter" crime as a witness, but I was never actually robbed. If I had also been living there for the past six years I might not be able to say that.

Based on what I've read here since 2006 I "believe" that the vast majority of expats (short and long term) have never been robbed.

But I also believe (based on what I've read here) that it is much worse now than ever in Capital Federal.

When I was living in Recoleta and shopping for decorative items for my apartment in 2007 I often went to San Telmo on Saturday and/or Sunday. If I took a cab I always asked the driver to take me to the corner of Defensa and Los Estados Unidos (via Estados Unidos) and if I took Linea C of the subte to Independencia, I usually walked to Defensa via Estados Unidos.

I never once saw a drunk on the sidewalk or smelled urine in the street.

Apparently (based on a post in this thread) both are now commonplace.

They are non-existent where I now live and so are robberies (in the nearby village).

 

[Pensador]

May 5th will mark the tenth anniversary of my arrival in Argentina and I have never been robbed.

I have seen a man chasing a robber in the street in San Telmo, a woman who just had her purse snatched in Palermo, and was in a restaurant in San Telmo when a man snatched a purse. He was tackled by men at a nearby table and held until the police arrived.

One of the men who held the purse snatcher had been sitting at my table and was robbed in a supermarket in San Telmo the following week (at 5 pm on a Saturday).

On a crowded subte (linea C) I felt fingers going into one of my pockets but I swatted away the hand of the wannabe pickpocket before he could extract the $1200 pesos that was in the pocket.

I was in Mexico in 2007 when two men entered my building in Recoleta at midnight with the intention of robbing me. They told two girls who were entering the building that they were there to visit the yankee who lived there. The girls let them in. The men accosted the girls in the elevator and took their keys so they could get out of the building. A a result, everyone in the building had to pay for new keys to the front door.

The woman who took care of my dog while I was in Mexico had her purse snatched by a motocharo who cut the strap with a knife when she resisted. She had keys to my apartment in the bag but nothing with my address.

Since my arrival in el campo of Pcia. Bs. As. in 2010 the only thing to go missing from my property was an iron chain in the driveway (used to keep the neighbor's horse from entering). It happened during the day while I was home, but I don't think that qualifies as a robbery. An old coaxial cable now serves the same purpose.

That could almost make for a movie... :lol:

 

[Pensador]

How do you know they were motochorros if they were sitting at a cafe on a corner?

I was sitting at the cafe on the corner.

 

[steveinbsas]

That could almost make for a movie... :lol:

It will if you add the experiences I had with two Argentine born women that I wrote about in this thread: Is It Possible To Find Love In Argentina? and include the scene of a fictitious armed robbery that takes place during an expat lunch at a tenador libre in Recoleta (I wrote the dialogue in 2014).

 

[ElQueso]

I've lived here since August 2006. Except for two years living in a barrio cerrado near Garin (close to Pilar), I've lived the rest of the time in CABA.

I'd even say that the reason for that might be because I've lived in Recoleta and the good parts of Retiro, but every one of my family members have been robbed, two of them within two blocks of our apartment. Though to be fair, it's been a while since anyone who lives with us has been robbed - the more recent robberies have been in lower-class neighborhoods.

 

[Noesdeayer]

El Queso:
Maybe street crime is more common in the "lower income" neighborhoods (barrios populares).I am reluctant to use the word "class" anymore.
However,the robberies where they clean out your home and take everything you have in it- "Desvalijar".are almost all in the higher end "pi.pi,cu.cu" neighboroods like Recoleta,Barrio Norte and some of the gated communities.
A lot of people even choose living in the lower end neighborhoods because house robberies are considerably less common
They just rely on their "street smarts" and save some needed $$$.

 

[gpop]

El Queso:
Maybe street crime is more common in the "lower income" neighborhoods (barrios populares).I am reluctant to use the word "class" anymore.
However,the robberies where they clean out your home and take everything you have in it- "Desvalijar".are almost all in the higher end "pi.pi,cu.cu" neighboroods like Recoleta,Barrio Norte and some of the gated communities.
A lot of people even choose living in the lower end neighborhoods because house robberies are considerably less common
They just rely on their "street smarts" and save some needed $$$.

I've been saying this for years. Not so much 'poor' area, but more to the point - an uneventful zone, but definitely more integrated into a 'regular joe' barrio. If I need excitement I'm more than happy to travel to it instead of having it next door to me.

Still, even my low-key area is different (bad different) than before. I work at home and don't get out much, so I see things in leaps of change as opposed to the gradual change over extended period that one becomes accustomed to. It seems like the cancer is growing without any attempt to remove the core tumor. I'm all for seeking less active, even a downright boring location - the argie wife has another kind of masochistic fortitude that I don't, and don't want to understand. Low key is ok for a while, but when the wolves are at the door it's too late.

 

[mikic007]

Haha, I have to share this, happened just now! I heard on my balcony that someone is puking very loudly on the street, so of course I checked. I was almost awarded with fistfight, since a drunk guy supposedly hit girlfriend of some nervous guy with his liquids... Girlfriend dragged the guy away finally and all was well ))

So yes, there are drunks on the streets (or I'm the lucky one), but they are really not a problem.