So, safe areas??

esllou

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the recoleta thread shook me up, mainly because I live here and have done since last Jan! There's an ATM not fifty yards from where matt got beaten (maybe BNP, the one that makes the corner of that building nearby) and I've gone to that ATM at midnight, 1am so many times when trying to get my ByT rent together (you see, ATM restrictions affect thing you don't even consider like having to go to an ATM 6 days in a row!)

what areas do people consider "safe" or does not a thing really exist here? :confused:
 
Alright...despite the fact that I empathize with Matt in that thread I've NEVER had problems in BA and I stay up at night...walk long distances in Recoleta, Centro, Palermo, etc. ...not even one incident in about a year of living there. My mom visited and we walked all through Recoleta at 1 am nothing happened. I lived for 2 years in Rio and I can say BA is nothing like that, I'd never take my mom for a long walk at night in Rio even in the good neighborhoods. I have no doubt that some people had problems here, and you should always be street-wise, but let's not blow this out of hand.
 
Going to an ATM at 1 a.m. sounds suicidal to me. Are you sure you don't have a secret death wish?

I think the safest ATMs are those in large supermarket chains like Coto or Jumbo - lots of people around.

My US bank allows withdrawals of up to US$ 1,000 per day from any ATM in Argentina, in several 700-peso transactions. I've gotten so good at it that I can now do five of them in four minutes - no need to remove the card or to enter the PIN number again for each transaction.
 
Ironhead, yeah, you're probably right, but I suppose a story like matt's shakes people up. Maybe that's a good thing, stops the complacency.

Sara....no more 1am ATM runs for me. Feels like I was playing russian roulette.

I spoke to someone in ByT and asked why wouldn't they just damn well accept CC payments like the rest of the world. We all know the answer of course, so that owners can come in, pick up their fat wads of cash and not declare a penny of it. We're the ones who have to deal with the rough end of that particular stick though.
 
Hmm.. Safe areas I don't know. Safer, I can recommend where we live; Puerto Madero. See my post about it here. The prefectura does an excellent job patroling the neighborhood 24/7.

We feel safer here walking at night and using ATMs than we would at other places. Although that's not to say that one should let their guard down here, or anywhere else.

Good luck! :)
 
SaraSara said:
Going to an ATM at 1 a.m. sounds suicidal to me. Are you sure you don't have a secret death wish?

I think the safest ATMs are those in large supermarket chains like Coto or Jumbo - lots of people around.

My US bank allows withdrawals of up to US$ 1,000 per day from any ATM in Argentina, in several 700-peso transactions. I've gotten so good at it that I can now do five of them in four minutes - no need to remove the card or to enter the PIN number again for each transaction.

I have found that Banco Frances lets you take out up to AR$1,000 per transaction now.

However; doing multiple transaction without having to reswipe your card and reenter you code is simply idiotic. I know of no other country where this is possible. It is easy for a criminal to muscle someone away from the ATM after they have entered the code and they are then free to empty the account since they can do repeated transaction.

Neil
 
Middle class neighborhoods. Not upper middle class (UMC), like Belgrano, simple middle class. You see, bad guys go where the money is, and for them the UMCs are "the rich", always with their Iphones, netbooks, high-limit credit cards and stuff.

I prefer the not-so-nice, not fashionable western suburbs, or Devoto/Villa del Parque/Flores (yes, not close to the shanty-towns) etc etc. But that's me. I don't think that this applies to ex-pats.
 
I live in Barracas, close to Av. Montes de Oca, have often come back home at 1 or 2 or 3 am by bus, and nothing has ever happened to me. However, I wouldn't use an ATM anywhere after 9 pm or so...
 
I think middle class neighborhoods, rather than the wealthy ones are generally the safest in any big urban area. We live in Congreso and our neighborhood is very safe. Of course, it's about behavior as well. Don't go out late at night and walk around alone in any big city any where BY YOURSELF. Don't go to ATMs on the street at night alone. That's just stupid and I wouldn't do that in the safest city in the states. I lived in San Diego in a nice neighborhood and wouldn't go alone on foot to an ATM at midnight. Pay attention, look around you, walk like you belong where you are and don't wander the streets late at night. I know "late at night" is different here than in the states, but 1 or 2 in the morning means there is little enough traffic that there's no one around to help you if you are in trouble. That's a good draw for criminals.
 
We live up in Nunez, and I find it to be very safe at night. Even when it is 2am during the week and the streets are almost empty, I don't feel in danger at all. But that doesn't mean that I don't keep my eyes watching everything that goes on around me, and I still don't go near the railroad tracks at night alone. But if the bad guys are looking for the foreigners, they're not going to find many in Nunez.
 
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