Is it all that bad? Please say it isn't!

[ReemsterCARP]

Header, als je wil kan ik wel wat vertellen over mijn ervaringen als Nederlander in Buenos Aires.

 

[Lucas]

Header, als je wil kan ik wel wat vertellen over mijn ervaringen als Nederlander in Buenos Aires.

Kom op, doe het! we allemaal willen weten

 

[Lucas]

Look this post....click

 

[LuisMVillalta]

Header, ive been living in Argentina for the past 2 years. And things are changing here, some for the better some for the worst. The city is a very complex puzzle, there are obviously areas you should avoid like some parts of the Boca, Constitucion, neighboorhoods and the"villas" wich are precarious houses/buildings that exist through some parts of buenos aires. In general is an ok place to raice a family if you pick the right neighboorhood. For example there very nice areas just outside buenos aires in Martinez, or San Isidro where your kids could play in the streets with their neighboors. Although you would need to get a car to drive easily from the suburbs to the city (train is good enough to use everyday as a way of transportation also). You are right on the Mexico city comparison, here you can walk in the nice neighboorhoods (with some criteria) all day and during the night. Porteños can be a little bit indeferent towards foreigners at the begining, but they are friendly people once you get to know them. Take care and the best of luck!

 

[French jurist]

The job offering would guarantee a comfortable lifestyle.

This is as subjective as answering "Is it all that bad?".

Assuming you live a middle-upper class life in the NL, likely you make 10/14K Euros for the household? (That would be my definition of a comfortable life in the NL... who kept its AAA rating btw ).

So here, to live the same life, you need 8/10K US$ to live the same standard (but likely your fellow citizens will have a better opinion).

I'll be hitting my 9 years here in 2012.
I think insecurity is down, inflation is high (but slower on rentals), a slowdown might happen with the drought now, etc.

Argentina is a land of contrasts, not as good as it pretends to be but certainly not as bad as some pretend.

And Argentina has a promising future if we judge from facts...

It's a kind of "Last Frontier" experience into some extent, and certainly one to live!

But I might be biased...

 

[John.St]

As for the crime rate, this is what you can expect as an expat living here for some years.

http://baexpats.org/expat-life/5805-crime-bsas-anyone.html

There is, however, a large spread depending on where you live and move around, and an important dependency on how StreetSmart you are.

Note that 121 persons have been victims of 191 crimes, while 122 haven't been victims at all.

 

[steveinbsas]

As for the crime rate, this is what you can expect as an expat living here for some years.

http://baexpats.org/expat-life/5805-crime-bsas-anyone.html

There is, however, a large spread depending on where you live and move around, and an important dependency on how StreetSmart you are.

Note that 121 persons have been victims of 191 crimes, while 122 haven't been victims at all.

While not a scientific survey, this say a lot. Based on these numbers (which were provided by expats), your chances of being a victim of crime in BA is 50%.

Is there even one city in the USA or Europe that even comes close?

I live in a village of about 1500 inhabitants. If the crime rate was even one percent there would be a call to arms.

It's not...and everyone already is (or is assumed to be) armed...including elderly (80 year old) women who live alone.

 

[aapietje]

Im argentinian and im pretty much tired of reading some comments over here. My boyfriend is irish and my brother in law is DUTCH like you, they both live here. Life here its not perfect but its not as bad as some people say either, ive lived in USA, Holland, and Ireland, and these countries are not great either (especially USA) There is not such thing as a perfect country, of course some are better than others but they all have their pros and cons, I have lots of expat friends and they like it here. They all agree that argentinean people are very nice and friendly. You just need some tips and you'll manage after a while. For the people who keeps complaining about everything here i have one piece of advise: go home and dont waste your time over here anymore. The rest of ya are more than welcome.

 

[Fettucini]

I would say Buenos Aires isn't that bad, it's just there's nothing very great about it.. If you're making enough money to be able to get far away from the city every weekend then that would make a lot of difference I think, the only problem is that to get anywhere that doesn't leave you less than underwhelmed, you'd need to travel about 5 or 6 hours in a car/ bus.
Once you get out of Buenos Aires though, Argentina is a great country especially up in the north. Just a shame that BA is located in one of the most boring parts of Argentina, geographically speaking.
I've been here for 5 years and would love nothing more than to move away from BA, but have got too involved with a project for the moment.. so stuck here unless i quit!

 

[cruizes]

For the people who keeps complaining about everything here i have one piece of advise: go home and dont waste your time over here anymore.

Sweeping everything under the rug and looking the other way is a piss poor Argentinian attitude.