Rosario info?

[Samericabound]

I am going to first look in BA for jobs, but Rosario is my back up city. Does anybody have any info on this city for English jobs or apartments or any other experiences? thanks

 

[Bill]

Well.. I just happen to live in Rosario now. I'll give you a short overview.

Basically, it's a university town with "the prettiest girls in Argentina" and a booming economy and housing market. Said to be the fastest growing city in Argentina and has a population of 1.5 million. It's 4 hrs from BA by Bus on a good highway.

Surprisingly, rents can be higher here than in BA and even more scarce. There's actually a housing shortage although if you can pass yourself off as a student (and live like one), then it's not too bad. Student housing can range from 150 to 500 pesos per month, depending on the situation (scary to luxury). Apartments... just forget about it unless you're staying short-term and willing to pay high rent.

There are said to be 12 Hostels in the City now with more opening up soon to meet overwhelming demand, not from foreign travelers, but from Argi and other SA people coming here for vacation or especially... conventions or sporting events. Base price for a dorm bed is 22 pesos a night. Book in advance... seriously.

There are english schools here and I'm told native speakers are in demand. I haven't really looked into it that much but locals tell me this is the case. I've met local english teachers that are certainly NOT native speakers and it's a bit scary that they're teaching english. Many people work out of their homes giving private lessons but there are formal schools.

Taking Spanish lessons is tougher, since there's only a few actual schools teaching spanish and they're expensive. For private lessons, I pay 20 pesos an hour, which is considered the base rate.

If you don't speak Spanish, I'll be honest and say it can be tough to live here. Although the locals are friendly and it has a "small town" feel, the vast majority of people don't speak any english and english options for everything from menus to newspapers is... very limited (nada).

It's hotter here than in BA and there's a river running alongside the city with sandy beaches for a stretch. There's also an Island across the river where people go camping etc...

Lots of good clubs and bars if you can tag along with locals to find them. There's no subway but local Bus service is extensive. 1 peso per trip, which is more than in BA.

Here's a page with some pics.
http://www.guiafe.com.ar/argentina-pictures/categories.php?cat_id=9

 

[JG]

Is Rosario clean or is there garbage everywhere? Do cars drive around without headlights like in BA? Can you cross the street without a car or bus refusing to let you finish crossing and flying right for you?
In short, Im curious if its any different than the rest of Argentina, despite the favorable description mentioned by poster above.

 

[Bill]

The streets are fairly clean although it depends on the time and day. There's endless people going through every kind of trash and throwing it around. They also use plastic dumpsters on the streets, where people come and throw their trash. I'm not crazy about seeing all the dumpsters along each street. There's less dog crap although people here certainly love their dogs like in BA.
There's less smoking indoors for just about everything but one thing I find really annoying is all the graffiti everywhere. Seems like the city has given up trying to keep up with it and with a high student population, it's hard to find a spot without a tag. Every statue, plaza and park bench is covered.
There's less air pollution but with a high concentration of Buses in the downtown centro, there's plenty of noise and black smoke. Not a problem for me but it seems to be growing. Traffic is king and they will try run you down most of the time. Most streets in the centro don't have traffic lights, so making mad dashes is a common event. They use one-way streets though and once you understand how traffic flows it's not so bad. Haven't seen any accidents yet, so that's an improvement over BA, where I saw one every couple days.
And yes, they drive around without their headlights on a regular basis and flash them at night when approaching an intersection. Very much in BA. I actually asked a BA resident about why they do this and she said that if they drive around without their headlights it's less of a fine from the police for something. Personally, I don't mind it since it's less light pollution and I always see the cars coming any, since the streets are lit. The small motorcycles are the worst part of traffic. Really loud and they break every traffic rule including going the wrong way on one-way streets. They also drive around with lights and THOSE can be hard to see coming. Guess that's why the don't have mufflers, so you can hear them coming. jaja.

 

[JG]

Yes, the apple doesnt fall far from the tree!
such is argentina wherever you go.

 

[bigbadwolf]

Yes, the apple doesnt fall far from the tree!
such is argentina wherever you go.

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. Got to cheer up, chum. Argentina can't be that bad. It has its redeeming features.

 

[rosarino]

Is Rosario clean or is there garbage everywhere? Do cars drive around without headlights like in BA? Can you cross the street without a car or bus refusing to let you finish crossing and flying right for you?
In short, Im curious if its any different than the rest of Argentina, despite the favorable description mentioned by poster above.

I live in Rosario.

I am not sure what you mean by "clean".

Regarding how people drive here I think it is worse than Buenos Aires. But you will survice if you accept that cars go first.

 

[Bill]

I've been paying a bit more attention to traffic the last few days and have decided that it's really quite orderly. Everyone has their turn and there's a flow to things. You have to be quick crossing streets and look out for yourself though, just like anywhere else.

I also think it's almost safer here than in Canada since cars don't move on a red light, unlike in Canada where they can make right turns on a red. And also, since there's so many one-way streets there isn't so much traffic held up by cars waiting to make a left turn. Of course here they make left turn at full speed and half don't signal a turn, so you have to wait to see which direction they're going before stepping in their path.

I find the city fairly clean overall but like any big city the trash builds up during the day. Plenty of people that just don't care if they litter either. I walked behind a guy the other day that just threw everything he didn't want from paper to a soda bottle right onto the sidewalk while walking past trash bins the whole time.

 

[rosarino]

Hi Bill, maybe there is some kind of occult order in traffic here (I think it is that the stronger survives) but honestly I think it shows the worst of us. Traffic is also the place where tensions are shown.

People do not use the turn lights, drive fast in corners, do not respect the crossing lines (senda peatonal), will accelerate on you if lights turn green, will pass although you are in the middle of the street, etc.

Safer than in Canada? LOL. When I was there strange things happened to me. Once I was to cross a street and a car was stopped. Why is he not moving I though?. Then I realised he was waiting for me to cross!. People go first there, here cars go first, or die. Another (in Vancouver maybe you are from there, beautifull place!, I think if you are from Canada it must shock you the lack of order here. In the pics i tok there it surprises me that I can´t se any paper on the floor), I was to cross, a car passes and immediately I start to cross, he stops, I think he was afraid I was in the street when he was still passing. In a small town, nobody around, I cross the street maybe far from the crossing lines or with the wrong light, a man tells me something I do not understand but I think who cares if there is no car/person around?.

Another serious problem I see here are dogs (or dog owners to be correct). Worse now that dangerous dogs are in fashion.

In general people here do not care of public spaces.

I also see people throwing all kind of things. Once in a bus I saw how a girl after eating an apple threw the core through the window (in downtown).

 

[Bill]

It's actually the law that pedestrians have the right of way in Canada, if they're in a crosswalk and obeying traffic signals. If you step into a crosswalk, even without lights, it's the law that they have to stop.
It's also against the law to litter and there's been plenty of public campaigns in the past to educate people about the value of a clean world. I'm from Victoria, which is close to Vancouver and it's a major tourist city. When I was a kid, we were taught to pick up any litter we saw even if it wasn't ours. I wouldn't say there isn't any garbage there of course but yeah, I remember Americans coming to city and commenting how clean it is. Crazy part is there's even cleaner places I've been there, like in mountain towns. If you threw litter on the streets, people would come after you... literally.
Don't be too down on Rosario. It's a really beautiful city and the people here are wonderful. They also seem happier than in BsAs and are always willing to help me out. Traffic and pollution are problems you'll find anywhere in Latin America. After travelling all through central and south america, Argentina looks so clean to me. Go spend some time in Bolivia....