Is Buenos Aires a Third World City?

[Recoleta Carolina]

I agree with Pericles, I think that soon many families of the USA, Canada, Spain, Germany and Engeland will be headed to Argentina because of the good shape the country is in

I know that this remark has to be sarcastic. Just checking.

 

[Recoleta Carolina]

I have to agree with Wilson above. After living here for a couple of years and traveling around South America, it does seem that every country I've been to has the resources to be a fully "developed" country but that some combination of corruption, greed, racism and just downright stupidity will forever threaten their stability.

Corruption is widespread here in Argentina. My friends who have businesses here tell me some pretty crazy stories about the petty thievery that they have to deal with from police and government officials. Bribing police and officials is a good indicator of "developing" country status. Also, having to check for counterfeit currency every time a taxi driver gives you change. Also, children running around at night, high on cheap drugs, begging and picking out of garbage cans. Also, villas full of people just barely scraping by with little hope for a better life.


Very good point about your friends who have businesses here. I think that many of the people on this forum don´t have a clue regarding doing business in Argentina. Some people have no idea what it is like to be property owner, and other issues. The more involved one is here the more one understands how this country functions. Anyone renting an apartment here and enjoying tango and cafes has not begun to scratch the surface.

 

[soulskier]

Safety?? You think that this is a safe city? You must be joking.

I have spent over 75 days and nights in BA since 2002, and never had anything resembling a problem. This includes all hours of the night. This was mostly in Recoleta, Palermo and Puerto Madero, but I always found the city very non threatening and safe. Just my 7 centavos worth.

 

[Recoleta Carolina]

From Pericles:
"Stronger government is paramount here as if you do not fix a pane of glass the house will come crashing down."

Not sure what this means. Could you please elaborate.

Thanks, Tom

Surely, you are familiar with the expression "the apple doesn´t fall far from the tree."

 

[Recoleta Carolina]

I have spent over 75 days and nights in BA since 2002, and never had anything resembling a problem. This includes all hours of the night. This was mostly in Recoleta, Palermo and Puerto Madero, but I always found the city very non threatening and safe. Just my 7 centavos worth.

Soulskier,

Come on. Just because nothing has ever happened to you personally does not mean crime is not a problem. Frankly, nothing has happened to me but I still am aware that crime is a big and growing problem.

The problem with people who work in tourism is that they constantly try to cover for the safety issues here so as not to cut into their income.

 

[HDM]

RC, what is the difference between seeing crime and degradation everywhere, and seeing it nowhere? Maybe what Buenos Aires is is a normal large city.

Has it escaped your notice that every post you make here, all of them, are negative, express something close to disdain, and sometimes hatred. And whenever possible, you make your statements in bitter, sarcastic, and mean-spirited ways. Yet, nothing bad, as you state just above, has ever happened to you here. I keep trying to get the sense of this, of why you appear here in this way and only in this way.

This is just an educated guess, but it certainly appears that you came to this city somewhat blindly, jumped right in and committed yourself with the purchase of property, then got the usual culture shock burnout, but found yourself trapped here, owned by your property, and can't leave, although it is wildly apparent that you simply detest living here.

So, here is a note to other readers, especially new ones. You should take what RC posts here with a handful of grains of salt, for her agenda is flagrant.

 

[steveinbsas]

This is just an educated guess, but it certainly appears that you came to this city somewhat blindly, jumped right in and committed yourself with the purchase of property, then got the usual culture shock burnout, but found yourself trapped here, owned by your property, and can't leave, although it is wildly apparent that you simply detest living here.

Where were you educated? Weren't you taught not to make sweeping generalizations or blind assumptions?

Have you ever met RC?

What is "wildly apparent" to you isn't necessarily factual, is it?

I don't know RC personally, but I think she is still buying and perhaps also selling property...and is far from trapped.

Has it escaped your notice that every post you make here, all of them, are negative, express something close to disdain, and sometimes hatred. And whenever possible, you make your statements in bitter, sarcastic, and mean-spirited ways.

I suggest others search "all posts by Recoleta Carolina" to see if this statement is even close to the truth.

 

[HDM]

Interesting.

I was educated in the world. What generalizations and blind assumptions?

No, never met her, nor she me. Although she has specifically attacked my veracity and my knowledge on numerous occasions.

It is apparent, clearly apparent. Factual?

She writes like someone trapped. If she isn't, she sure comments like she is.

I have read many, probably most of the posts by RC, and I stand by my analysis of the nature of her posts here, particularly that she always, virtually always, inserts a snide or sarcastic remark which is unnecessary to making her point. If you don't see that sarcasm, those snide asides, then you are blind to them for some reason.

I will let other readers judge her posts for themselves. But I see them as negative, making unsubstantiated and unsustainable comments about crime, lifestyle, culture, and general living in Buenos Aires.

This woman detests living here, and she has made that abundantly clear again and again and again.

 

[Joe]

RC is at least sticking to the topic unlike others who are making personal attacks IMHO.

 

[HDM]

Sticking to the topic.

Is Buenos Aires a 3rd world city? No, not at all. If you have ever lived in 3rd world cities, you would know the difference.

Is Buenos Aires a safe place to live? Yes, relatively speaking. It is a city of 12 million or so people. If even one half of one percent of them are criminals, that's a lot of crime. But the same statistic applies to every city, EVERY CITY, of comparable size.

Buenos Aires is no more and no less an unsafe city than fifty other cities around the world of comparable size. It is just a normal city.

Whining and moaning about the place has lot more to do with personal issues than it has to do with the reality of the city.

Buenos Aires is a fine city to live in. If I didn't like it here, I would leave pretty damn quick. But I would not sit around on expat websites whining about the place. But maybe that's just me.