NY Post: What's the deal with Buenos Aires?

[deef217]

I didn't realize it - but I feel exactly the same way that 'thebookcellar' does. I don't think about leaving. I don't dream about being somewhere else. Any place you live has ups and downs, pros and cons -- but BsAs seems to be the right balance for me. In spite of inflation, the mad bus-drivers and the other hassles of every day BsAs life -- compared to the USA, this is heaven. I am sick sick sick of rush-rush-rush, hurry up and wait, eating at my desk every day, getting my coffee to go, and never having time to actually stop and talk to a friend for 10 minutes. I love the USA - but I do not love the business culture that is the mouse on the wheel mentality. I have lived and worked in other countries - but this place just feels 'right'.

 

[shpunter]

Does this apply to the expats who have been robbed or repeatedly mugged?

I think you may be confusing my comments about a lame article written by someone who came here on vacation to write a superficial article about a place he clearly had little interest in understanding beyond partying, with whatever bad experiences you or others may have had. And people do get mugged and robbed all in cities all over the world. I think you may be confusing crime with culture.

As someone who has been living here for over eight years and moved here with little illusion about this place being somehow better or worse than any other place, I found the article one of the most superficial ones I have ever read, and that is saying a lot.

 

[LAtoBA]

My two cents.

If you all think BAs is bad, ie pollution, theft, scamming, corruption...then you've never really lived in a developing country.

If you want scams or even crazier driving I would recommend the Dominican Republic. And not the pretty, touristy Punta Cana they're always trying to promote. Try Santo Domingo! I guarantee you.......BAs would quickly look way more appealing to you.

Edited to add: IMO BAs is not the hyped up promised land that some people make it out to be.....but at the same time it's not the sh@t hole others make it out to be either.

 

[LAtoBA]

I was in and out of England, travelling, working in other countries for 6-7 years before i got to Buenos Aires. It was not so much as i wanted to move here, but that i met an Argentine who lives in the city...
Now, after more than two years, i have found a way to describe what i feel -
I've always lived in other places thinking about the next, but Buenos Aires is the first place i have ever lived where i don't feel like or think about leaving.
Reasons? don't know

Couldn't that just be love? From my own personal experience love has a way of making things look a hell of a lot better than they are in reality....well at least in the beginning.

 

[JoeBlow]

My two cents.

If you all think BAs is bad, ie pollution, theft, scamming, corruption...then you've never really lived in a developing country.

If you want scams or even crazier driving I would recommend the Dominican Republic. And not the pretty, touristy Punta Cana they're always trying to promote. Try Santo Domingo! I guarantee you.......BAs would quickly look way more appealing to you.

Edited to add: IMO BAs is not the hyped up promised land that some people make it out to be.....but at the same time it's not the sh@t hole others make it out to be either.

I agree. I've also said similiar things to Argentines over the years. They don't know just how good they have it. They think their country is the most corrupt or inefficient country there is, but I know first hand this is like Disneyland compared to most others.

My first week in Arg: I saw a lightpost being painted! I was completely floored. Then, a friend actually stopped and talked with a boy living on the street; completely unheard (at least for me) in Mexico.

 

[ReemsterCARP]

That might well be JoeBlow, but don't forget that - especially the elder - remember better days, when poverty wasn't as widespred, crime was a minor issue and Buenos Aires did not look like a 'City of Faded Elegance'.

In the West we're so accustomed to growing prosperity and having a better future, even though sometimes we go through crises. We get through these crises with the idea: today is bad, but tomorrow will be better. The avarage Argentine does not share that same belief, as the country has experienced 3 consecutive decades of growing crime, poverty and inept administrations, with the exception of a few years of economic growth.

 

[GuilleGee]

That might well be JoeBlow, but don't forget that - especially the elder - remember better days, when poverty wasn't as widespred, crime was a minor issue and Buenos Aires did not look like a 'City of Faded Elegance'.

In the West we're so accustomed to growing prosperity and having a better future, even though sometimes we go through crises. We get through these crises with the idea: today is bad, but tomorrow will be better. The avarage Argentine does not share that same belief, as the country has experienced 3 consecutive decades of growing crime, poverty and inept administrations, with the exception of a few years of economic growth.

Seconded. I was talking to a friend just the other day, and she was saying she just couldn't see Buenos Aires getting anywhere in the world because of the out of control corruption and poverty.

I always try to be the voice of optimism, because I truly believe things are and will get better, and the country is just developing.

Anyways, on the topic of the thread Buenos Aires just has something enchanting about it, and I love it here, even though I have been through the worst.

 

[ReemsterCARP]

Anyways, on the topic of the thread Buenos Aires just has something enchanting about it, and I love it here, even though I have been through the worst.

That's why I keep coming back after having studied here. Even if it is just for a few days per year, and as a tourist.

 

[qwerty]

Seconded. I was talking to a friend just the other day, and she was saying she just couldn't see Buenos Aires getting anywhere in the world because of the out of control corruption and poverty.

I always try to be the voice of optimism, because I truly believe things are and will get better, and the country is just developing.

Anyways, on the topic of the thread Buenos Aires just has something enchanting about it, and I love it here, even though I have been through the worst.

Take a few trips to zona sur and zona oeste for some perspective

 

[SaraSara]

I'm not familiar with zona sur, but there's nothing wrong with Western suburbs I've been to. Haedo, Moron, Castelar, and Ituzaingo are ok. Merlo and General Rodriguez are even better - lots of weekend quintas there.