Living In Buenos Aires With 3 Kids Under 4

[Bedoya]

1. What are the best neighborhoods for families?
2. What preschools do you recommend? Kids are currently in Spanish Immersion in states)
3. Are there minivans??? Lol
4. Is driving really scary? How much would a driver cost?
5. Is domestic help inexpensive? (Nanny, housekeeper)
6. Do you see many families around?
7. Can you rent houses or are apartments more realistic?
8. Are yards common?
9. Anyone know of community pools for families?

 

[arielm]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]i think living here is in many ways easier with young kids. They're more tolerated, private schools, classes, nannies are far less expensive, and there are more restaurants, etc that are kid friendly. the bad stuff is street crime, pollution, terrible nutritional and sleep habits.[/background]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]1. What are the best neighborhoods for families? Belgrano, Palermo, Recoleta - all the nice areas. You can also live outside the city, where there are houses. Sort of like the suburbs.[/background]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]2. What preschools do you recommend? Kids are currently in Spanish Immersion in states) It depends on the area you live in.[/background]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]3. Are there minivans??? Lol...no [/background]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]4. Is driving really scary? How much would a driver cost? I drive around town - it's weird, but you get used to it. Most expats use taxis and public transport[/background]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]5. Is domestic help inexpensive? (Nanny, housekeeper) VERY CHEAP - and great.[/background]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]6. Do you see many families around? YES[/background]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]7. Can you rent houses or are apartments more realistic? [/background]
[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]My opinion - Do not rent a house in the city - it's not as safe as a building. You need to worry about being robbed, so in the city you will want a secure building[/background]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]8. Are yards common?[/background]
[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]in our building/tower, there is a yard and a giant pool. but it's common area. you will find houses in the suburbs with yards and in 'countries'[/background]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]9. Anyone know of community pools for families?[/background]
[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]People in the city join "clubs" where there are community pools and people all know eachother and they're very kid friendly.[/background]

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Parque Patricios has a huge outdoor pool. Almost free. About a dollar to get in last time I was there.
Easily accessible with busses 9, 28, 65, 91 and a few others.

 

[Ries]

While my kids are older, I have friends who moved to Buenos Aires with three young children.

they did fine. The kids were just a bit older, more like 5-10 years of age, so they all went directly into regular public schools, and thrived.

They did, indeed, buy a minivan- a Citroen Picasso
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citroën_C4_Picasso
I rode in in it several times, its a bit smaller than current american minivans, but pretty similar to my old first generation Honda Odyssey, or the very earliest Chrysler minivans, in size.

Driving in Buenos Aires is not easy- I would say its comparable to driving in Paris or NYC or Rome, all of which I have driven in, as opposed to LA or Seattle.
But its totally do-able, and I have many friends who do it every day.

Domestic help is cheap, and pretty much everybody with kids has it.

As for houses versus apartments, its about how you want to live- one of the great things about buenos aires is that its a real city- and, to take advantage of all that it offers, you would live IN it, not 30 or 40 minutes away in a house in the suburbs. Like living in Manhattan, as opposed to Great Neck or New Jersey. Only you know which you prefer.
There are houses in some neighborhoods, usually denser than you would find in the USA, but they tend to be farther from the center, and more expensive. I have friends who live in houses in Caballito, but the houses that are left are not cheap. In the northern suburbs, past the city limit, in places like Martinez, or Olivos or San Isidro, there are houses with yards, but you are a long drive or train ride from all the action.

My friends with the young kids lived right in Palermo Soho, their kids could walk to a corner store, or even to school.

You see kids everywhere, every day, at virtually every hour of the day. Everyone here loves kids, and they are welcome almost everywhere. I have been taking the bus home from a concert, at two in the morning, on a hot summer night, and the sidewalk cafes will still have families with young (under 5) kids playing at that hour. You see unattended kids grade school age an up, walking, taking buses, and the subway, every day.

Your kids will have a great time.
If it was me, I would be looking in or around the belt of parks, which run from Recoleta up towards Belgrano- still urban, easy access to everything, and close in. Palermo Viejo, Las Canitas, Belgrano.

 

[Jaredberryman]

There are several minivans you can buy, but they are somewhat expensive. There's a second category called monovolumen, which are basically family cars that sit higher. You can buy a full sized mini van here, but there aren't many models. There are tons of monovolumen models though. I do not recommend living here with a family so large if you don't have your own car and have 3 children under five. You will find taking public transportation extremely difficult. For instance, you would have to take two taxis with your whole family if you go anywhere due to the fact that by law, a taxi driver can only carry 4 passengers. And good luck finding a taxi if you have children or a stroller.

You can find a very residential neighborhood with mostly houses in Villa Devoto and Versalles (there really aren't many houses in Caballito left, either). There is not a lot of public transportation in Villa Devoto, but there are nice big houses and not many buildings. These neighborhoods are quite nice, and there is not much to do in them. However, in 15 minutes (depending on traffic) you can get to a more commercial neighborhood with lots to do. If you have plenty of money, you can rent a nice home in Capital somewhere. If you don't have a lot of money, be prepared to rent a tiny apartment and get used to the lack of space. I can tell you right now, if you rent in Belgrano, Palermo, Recoleta, forget renting a house because there are no houses in those areas. Renting an apartment in general is much easier.

There are several community pools, and if not, then there is almost always a local club or gym that you can get membership to that will allow your kids to swim at any time. There are also special pool classes for kids under 5 of all ages that you can pay for (say like 15 dollars a month per child).

If you have a yard, God bless you. Only houses usually have yards, and even then, they are usually pretty small. If you come here, please be aware that it is very possible the only green space you will get to use is the park. Unless you live outside of Capital.

Hope my comments help.

 

[syngirl]

There are tonnes of houses in Belgrano, but they will be very expensive, so it depends on your budget. To give an idea of the profile of the houses in Belgrano, a lot of embassies are in the area, a lot of the top private schools, and a lot of the elite have their houses there. There are some gorgeous streets full of mansions (Melian for example). Belgrano is a big barrio, there are quite a few houses between Cabildo and Dr Romula Naon, and Ave de los Incas y Congreso. From Congreso and beyond you get into Coghlan, which is a very nice though small neighbourhood. There's not a lot of selection of properties but it is very nice. Saavedra is a more middle - lower-middle class area, again replete with houses, Nunez has quite a few as well. Villa Urquiza is much lower density, you have a few different areas within the barrio. There are some very nice houses that are on the same scale as Belgrano but because of location are more affordable. Parque Chas, Urquiza R might be considered. There you may have luck finding a house and in a car it only takes about 15-20mins to P Hollywood (which is about the same as from some areas of Belgrano).

An option in between is to find a PH, which can be kind of like a townhome / duplex etc -- it is really a very broad term which results in you pretty much having to visit every one you see advertised because they can be absolute horrors (90 yrs old an everything original) or absolutely lovely. The advantage to a PH is that while you may not have a garden you can end up with generous patios or roof-top terraces that allow for putting out a pileta de lona (I call them wading pools for adults) in the summer, which makes life a lot more pleasant.

If you rent an apartment in a building and you have 3 kids, having a pool would be a huge advantage.

Just a note -- I would personally choose Urquiza over Devoto because of public transport options. You don't want to end up having to buy two cars! urquiza has subte B and buses everywhere

 

[PhilipDT]

1. What are the best neighborhoods for families?
2. What preschools do you recommend? Kids are currently in Spanish Immersion in states)
3. Are there minivans??? Lol
4. Is driving really scary? How much would a driver cost?
5. Is domestic help inexpensive? (Nanny, housekeeper)
6. Do you see many families around?
7. Can you rent houses or are apartments more realistic?
8. Are yards common?
9. Anyone know of community pools for families?

1. There are families in every neighborhood and lots of reasons to choose one barrio or another.

2. Which ever is walking distance from your house, don't worry about language issues, once here your kids will pick up spanish so fast it will blow your mind.

3. Yes.

4. Driving is different but not really difficult once you get then hang of it. No right turns at red lights though.

5. Domestic help is cheap, with varying quality (like anywhere)

6. Same as anywhere else I assume.

7. There are plenty of houses in the lower density parts of the city and I would always try to rent one or a PH. But that is personal preference, I can't stand having to wait to take an elevator down in to a dark entrance hall to get out to the street. It just makes me feel really isolated. Another poster mentioned security, I feel safer in my house than I do in the dark unmonitored stairwells of my girlfriends apartment building to which hundreds of people have keys.

8. Houses often have some sort of yard, town houses usually have either a patio or a large terrace. keep in mind most lots in the city are only eight and a half meters wide so for truly large yards you'll probably have to look in the suburbs.

9. I wouldn't swim in public pools. Join a club that has a pool.

 

[MaryK]

We came with kids and chose to live in the northern suburbs. We love it sometimes and sometimes really wish we were closer. We have a huge house and a great yard for a great price, but it is a long way into the city. I am scared of driving still (after 9 months) but I came from an area with pretty relaxed drivers. It's very aggressive here but my sister visited from Miami and said that driving there is pretty similar. When we are in town there are kids everywhere and everyone loves them. My boys still struggle with the kisses from strange women on the sidewalk and my 3 year old girl probably thinks her name is "linda", "hermosa", or "muñeca" since she hears that so often. We bought a Renault Duster, cheaper than any decent minivan we could find but I do see them around, so maybe you'll get lucky. We don't have house help but you are looking at maybe $4/hour? I would recommend finding a place to live in the area you like and then looking for a nearby preschool as close as you can find to your home. They are everywhere.

 

[ghost]

1. What are the best neighborhoods for families?
2. What preschools do you recommend? Kids are currently in Spanish Immersion in states)
3. Are there minivans??? Lol
4. Is driving really scary? How much would a driver cost?
5. Is domestic help inexpensive? (Nanny, housekeeper)
6. Do you see many families around?
7. Can you rent houses or are apartments more realistic?
8. Are yards common?
9. Anyone know of community pools for families?

You need to fill in details on #1. Then other answers can be shaped to the locale. Where are you working?