Rising Cost Of Living Diminishes Benefit Of Living In Ba

[HMSBeagle]

dresses? ha, dont get me started. here is the new "ni una menos" femininity for 2017:

shows off her flabby abs, partially shaved head, nose and lip rings, flat shoes, tattooes and an agressive attitude. true story: last year I was biking north up avenida de mayo towards the plaza congresso. all vehicular traffic was cut off because there was a bonfire in the middle of the street, in the middle of the week, at rush hour. angry mobs of young females were furious at the police for some reason and there is a big police office building there on the avenida. the sprayed graffiti on this building. i approached on my bike and went past their bonfires. they were offended. i asked them what their issue was and why they were doing this. a group of these "women" looked like they wanted to jump me right there because i was 1. a guy and 2, I had the temerity to blow past their blockade of traffic and 3. I had the audacity to stop and ask them point blank what their problem was, why were they doing this?? they gave me some convoluted justification for their rage.

I tell you what. argie women want to scream ni una menos... in demos paid for by a man, namely george soros.... ha, they need to learn not to act like guys with a bad attitude. food for argie thought: if you act like a dude and you talk to men as if you were a man just like him, dont be surprised when you pick a fight, that men will treat you just like another man .

 

[nikad]

As a local I have to say that I agree with everything that was mentioned on this thread so far.

 

[chris]

I never came here because it was cheap. In fact it was relatively expensive (convertibility era) but nowhere near as expensive as it is now. A job brought me here. I'd lived in other countries and this one seemed interesting. There were a lot of things that I liked about Argentina at that time. It was a more traditional society, things had not changed nearly as much here as in North America or Europe. I suppose I found it exotic but over the years it got more internationalized and the old fashioned things I enjoyed started to disappear. Yes, culture worldwide has been degraded but it's all happened here very fast and, sorry to say, in some respects it's worse here than in some other places. It's definitely harder to take when the basic infrastructure doesn't work and the COL is as high or higher than in many world cities. I don't think only foreigners live in the villas. I know Argentines who live there. Some of them, Argentines, have worked for me (painter, workmen etc). The villas have grown tremendously. Poverty is worse and wealth for a small group seems to be greater than ever. The other day I walked around the food hall of Patio Bullrich. There is a new section constructed of lavish marble. Starbucks is now a champagne/oyster bar. This sort of opulence has increased in the midst of a decline in standards for almost everyone. I know it's happening in the US too but here it's worse and more conspicuous.

 

[julian63]

Yes but can I say, this really happens to every expat place eventually, there is always some new-hot-cheap place "where you can live like a king" around the corner. People move in while things are cheap, when they can leverage their (sometimes fixed) incomes from the USA and live a life they would not have access to back home. Then as prices creep up, up, up and those same expats get older moving on or moving home starts to get more appealing. Most expats, whether it be in Costa Rica, Thailand, Czech Republic, Spain, Argentina etc don't actually want to spend their last years abroad. And each of those places gets replaced by another (Nicaragua, Cambodia, Hungary, etc etc etc) Expats, especially those on fixed incomes, stay while they are still mobile, but once they feel their pocket suffering, they pack up stakes and move on. The people who really stay through the ups and downs are 99% those who married a local. Those without true ties forcing them to stay on in a country tend to look for the exit much earlier than those of us with family here.

I don't disagree with what you say. It appears that now the time is coming for the bloom to be off the rose for Bs As as a popular ex-pat destination...especially for those temporary or part time ex-pats without familial ties here.

 

[Gringoboy]

Argentina has never faced a situation like this one,

Come on, Argentina has faced much, much worse, but somehow manages to scrape through.
I suppose if one is philosophical, and let's face it, you need to be when living here, most Argentines have a healthy cynicism, often bordering on the pessimistic. That's probably why they always manage to pull through.
Without wishing to throw excuses around, but things have been worse, yet the core values of Argentines remain true - family, friends and that innate brotherhood they extol.

 

[Girino]

Come on, Argentina has faced much, much worse, but somehow manages to scrape through.
I suppose if one is philosophical, and let's face it, you need to be when living here, most Argentines have a healthy cynicism, often bordering on the pessimistic. That's probably why they always manage to pull through.
Without wishing to throw excuses around, but things have been worse, yet the core values of Argentines remain true - family, friends and that innate brotherhood they extol.

I was referring to the fact that it is in certain aspects more expensive than abroad. With 1:1 there was no inflation, now we have inflation and pegged currency. That's a first.

I think they were doing far worse during the colonization, btw.

 

[chris]

When I came here many years ago I never thought of it as an "expat destination" any more than I thought of other countries I've lived in (Britain, Austria, Japan etc) as expat destinations. Until the devaluation there were few resident foreigners in Argentina -- mostly just some people who came to work for a couple of years for international companies. They usually lived in Zona Norte in expensive homes that replicated what they had back in the US or wherever. When the economy cashed and the peso was devalued word got out that this was a cheap place to live with a lot of attractions. Quite a few Americans and Britons arrived. They often posted on this site, praising the Kirchners and defending every aspect of life in Argentina -- until it started to get complicated and expensive to live here. Then they abandoned ship. The people on this site are the survivors. I agree that most who have stayed do so because they have an Argentine spouse or are in a relationship. It makes little sense to come here if you don't have a good reason to do so. Aside from the high COL, there are just too many social problems, constant marches and protests, infrastructure problems etc. From my own perspective, much of what made life attractive here has disappeared as Argentina has become more globalized and much less "Argentine".

 

[Johnny]

After living here about seven of the past eleven years this is the worst I have seen Buenos Aires. I have left and returned on many occasions. The beauty of the city and friends always bring me back. I'll be leaving Wednesday and I doubt I'll return, though I've said that before. BA is certainly not in the running any more as a retirement destination. Such a pity.

 

[estebandepraga]

I've been here since 1959 when I was born thus guess my age!
I spent more than half of my life abroad and continue to live half a year in the Czech Republic (25yrs)
So I don't jump from place to place due only to foreign exchange which benefits me. A situation like this is the worst I've seen. There have been many severe economic ups and downs but this one is horrendous . One can't just think how many €,$ or £. One must think of relation to salaries and the like.
Domestic lemons here( and not great ones) cost 60 pesos kg. imported ones in Prague cost 10 pesos kg
1 Ltr of milk is 8 pesos in Prague. Here over 20 pesos
Even the public transportation is cheaper. With an annual pass, which most people have, unlimited rides on ALL trams, buses and metros(subte , underground or subway in various colloquials) cost 6 pesos per day! Not per ride, per day! Unlimited transfers!
The average salary of many here is 8000 pesos. In Prague 18,000 pesos
Security, filthy streets, bad attitudes are a daily reality here. Not the case in Europe unless you live in the banlieux of Paris or some where in Chisnau, Moldova.
For me and for many, it's time to think if you want to try to keep your head and nose just above the water or if you'll jump ship before you go down in the whirlpool which takes you and the others who stay behind down to the deep blue( well gray and polluted ) sea.
I realize I'm fortunate because I have a choice, am multilingual,with more than one citizenship but I was an immigrant,too!

 

[Tres Picos]

What is the cost of living in BA these days? Say for a family of 5.
And how does it compare to smaller cities, say 2nd tier cities like Mendoza and 3rd tier cities like San Luis?
Has the rest of Argentina been infected with 21st century Western culture or is it quarantined to Buenos Aires city?