el_expatriado said:No expat should leave over dollar troubles. Those are easy to work out with just a little bit of legwork and meeting the right people.
You, however, picked a very good reason to leave -- the security situation. It isn't going to get better anytime soon. Pretty much everyone I know has been a victim of some kind of crime here. The problem really is out of control. So far nothing has happened to me personally (knock on wood) but I know it is only a matter of time.
Here's a short list, just as an example:
- Wife, armed robbers entered and robbed the clothing store where she was buying some clothes (Palermo).
- Sister in law, house robbed while she was visiting my wife and I (Pilar)
- Mother in law, home robbed over the weekend (Devoto)
- Good friend (female), robbed at least once a year on the street (purse and cell phone)
- Father, pick-pocked while visiting me here in BA outside the national congress.
I'm sure everyone has similar stories. It is impossible to run into someone here who has either had no personal experience with crime or doesn't know someone close to them who has had an experience with crime. Crime is everywhere here and it is only getting worse. The government, par for course, just denies everything and blames it on the media.
I think the dollar reason is a pretty darn good one to leave, to be honest. There are still a lot of expats here earning in pesos...the gradual devaluation of this currency and the constant reduction in spending power can be incredibly crippling. Not to mention the fact that if your only source of income is in pesos, then you're completely reliant on being able to exchange your money in order to save, travel, etc. Earning in pesos was never good but now it just makes living here (with family ties abroad) nigh-on impossible.