While things have gone downhill and become more expensive in Buenos Aires and Argentina over the past few years...it will still seem dirt cheap compared to cities like Rio or Sao Paulo.
It's terribly expensive to live in those cities. I'm not sure how people even do it. You will have a MUCH higher quality of life IF you are in the situation of having lots of savings or dollars and living off of those dollars in Buenos Aires vs. Rio or Sao Paulo.
Everything is just horribly expensive in those cities now. I remember many years ago the Peso and Real were on par with one another and Brazil was cheap. But it's just horribly expensive now. I looked at a nice apartment in Sao Paulo last year and a nothing special one bedroom apartment in a great neighborhood was over $300,000 US with no great view and expenses were horribly high. You can still get a really nice apartment in Buenos Aires in one of the best areas for less than half that price and expenses will be much lower.
Also, in Rio and Sao Paulo crime is MUCH higher. While crime has increased in Buenos Aires over the years, it's NOTHING compared to cities like Rio and Sao Paulo. Anyone that tried to pretend like it is..doesn't know Brazil that well. The problem in Rio is really great neighborhoods can have slums or ghettos right next to them. I've been on the beaches of Ipanema in really expensive neighborhoods and watched black kids from the ghettos robbing people right in broad daylight.
Buenos Aires has it's fair share of problems but if you have lots of dollars, you can still live like a king compared to the prices of big cities in Brazil.
