San Diego to BsAs - Where to live?

[Sean-Ryan McCray]

Hi everyone,

Last week I posted a thread in order to gain a better understanding of the work environment, lifestyle, etc. prior to my April 26th departure from San Diego, California to BsAs. Your responses have all been very honest and helpful and I appreciate all of the time you've each taken out of your busy schedule to help.

Now, as an honest and determined 24 year old University graduate with over a year's experience in the financial/marketing industry, I'm wondering what location within BsAs you'd reccommend I live. Obviously, I've done my research. That being said, I'd love to hear what you have to say... Palermo? Recoleta? San Telmo? etc.? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Furthermore, if anyone is aware of any work opportunities in the general BsAs area please feel free to PM me. I'm exhausting as many options as possible before my arrival and I'd be more than happy to provide you with a cv, resume, etc.

Thanks so much for all of your time!

Best regards,

Sean-Ryan

 

[Vandy Bookman]

Oh man, you're going to love it here. Everyone has their complaints about where they live, but BA is truly a beautiful city. I've been here about a month, so I won't pretend to know everything about the various neighborhoods -- if you've done your research, you have a general idea of the lay of the land.

We decided to stay in Recoleta while getting settled here, and I will tell you what I didn't expect. It's beautiful, clearly one of the "deluxe" neighborhoods in BA. But living here is considerably more expensive. We found a great deal on rent, so we jumped on it because of the neighborhood. But everything else is much more expensive, from groceries to laundry to just a cup of coffee. For example, a cup of coffee and a couple of medialunas can be had for 8 or 9 pesos in more "neighborhoody" areas, but the cheapest I've found around here is 13.90. Sure, that's not a lot of money, but it is an 80% markup over what you'd find elsewhere. And there's not really any little dive bars or neighborhood pizza/empanada places that you can pop into at 11 or midnight for a snack. So we almost always find ourselves leaving our neighborhood to find things that we don't have to overpay for.

San Telmo is beautiful and historic, but there are areas that can be a bit sketchy late at night. Still, I would totally live there. And Palermo is trendy for a reason -- it's safe, you have access to whatever you need at more normal prices, and it's also beautiful. I'll be looking in San Telmo and Palermo for my next place (probably not Palermo Soho or Hollywood).

My two cents -- hope it helps!

 

[Sean-Ryan McCray]

Great advice! I love this community!

 

[AkBill]

I wouldnt live in san telmo again to be honest, its bit of a dump, ive been robbed after dark, and with taxi's increasing their prices so much its getting more expensive to meet up with friends in palermo.

I still have a lot of friends there but it's more convenient just to take a taxi there to visit them rather than actually live there and escape every night at 11

 

[Roxana]

Most of night life is around Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood. Try to be near public transportation. In case you choose Palermo, Plaza Italia is where you will find the subway and more buses.

 

[weltawelta]

Definitely Palermo! Lots to do and plenty of expats. It's a great place to start from. I love Las Canitas myself as it is a bit quieter and the bars and restaurants are good. But it is a good idea to be near transportation as was mentioned. The buses work well and the subway is good as long as you are on the route though. I use buses way more often.

 

[steveinbsas]

The ONLY place to live (unless you are broke and want to rent a dump) is the Palermo area. No offense to those who do not live there BUT for the majority of the expats, if you want a comfortable environment, that is the place to live OR you find yourself taking subtes / buses / taxis to that area anyway for everything...might as well just live there!

And to those who bitch about all the English they hear spoken in the streets of Palermo, just come on down to my neighborhood.

Unless you run into a couple of Mormon missionaries at Walmart, you won't hear any English around here except for me yelling at my dogs...

Or muttering to myself.
.
Palermo is huge. It's difficult to know about some of the "fringe" areas until you are actually here and can see them for yourself. There are many areas I would not want to live in.

Almost all of Recoleta is acceptable, if not desirable.

 

[bellasinamor86]

I say that the decision as to where to live is really dependent on the kind of person that you are... I've read all of these responses, and every single answer has certainly said a lot about the adviser.

Here is my two cents: Go to Palermo if you looking to really rage it while you are here, spend most of your time going out- while it is very large, most of the smaller Palermo areas offer the same stuff just on a different street. Palermo has a lot of shopping, restaurants, and parks. (Parks might not matter as we are getting closer to winter). Cost of living is high here, so you will be paying more in general for all of your outings. Also, if you want to try to maintain a certain standard of living that you are accustomed to, rather than embracing the experience of life abroad, and particularly if getting to know the public transportation systems seems to be a hassle for you.

In all sincerity, public transportation should be the least of your worries considering the ease of it's use and the COST!

If you are going to be a bit money conscientious, then I recommend San Telmo or Congresso. By far though, San Telmo. It's super Bohemian with cultural activities going on all the time. It has great cafes and bars, Plaza Dorrego has live tango almost every day, and you never get tired of the dazed stoner hipsters that we are, were, aspire to be, milling about playing drums and dancing. Arts and crafts are sold daily, but Sundays are a great day for a stroll down Defensa, nursing a hangover and lingering over jewelery made from spoons and forks, and pipes made of wood and clay. As far as the use of public transportation in ST: all you need is the 64 bus...takes you all the way to Boca's El Caminito to Congresso to Palermo where most of the bars and clubs are. Congresso has nothing as exciting, only that it's dead smack in the middle, so it's really easy to get around the city with little hassle by way of public transportation and it's less expensive. Convenience is key for Congresso.

Recoleta is right down Callao from Congresso, for the price difference, I don't see the point.

Someone has pointed on that they consider Palermo and Recoleta the way to go in terms of safety, which could be further from the truth. Robbers are incredibly sly here... and for this they target the wealthy demographic in the most concentrated neighborhoods. It's a fucking guarantee. These types of robbers will also rob you in such a way that you don't even realize it's happened. In places that are less expensive, it's less of an occurrence because usually people aren't carrying things of great importance. As far as this part is concerned, just don't be an idiot and always be vigilent, it's just common sense.

If this is an option for you, I would even recommend staying at a hostel for a couple of weeks while you use the time to get to know the city and where you might fit in best.

Suerte!!

 

[Roxana]

I agree that the best bet would be to stay first at a hostel and hunt for a place by yourself here. If you have some Spanish skills will be helpful.