Thinking Of Moving To Ba For A While, Safety Fears?

[DmitryS]

Hello everyone

We are a family with 2 little kids currently living in the Caribbean. We are a bit tired of hot weather and routine beach life and we were thinking of relocating for 3 months to a colder place with rich culture.

It's been quite safe here as we live in a gated place with armed security and we have become very streetwise.... I think.. the locals here are very friendly as we live in a small town where people know each other.

I am a nature videographer with alot of expensive equipment. I am very attentive when I am in the street but what about leaving stuff at home, say in Palermo district?

I keep hearing bad news about robberies in BA, I would really hate to lose my gear, as it puts food on our table. I know it might sound naive from a streetwise guy but it seems to me I lost my wisdom of living in a large city.

Dmitry

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Hello everyone

We are a family with 2 little kids currently living in the Caribbean. We are a bit tired of hot weather and routine beach life and we were thinking of relocating for 3 months to a colder place with rich culture.

It's been quite safe here as we live in a gated place with armed security and we have become very streetwise.... I think.. the locals here are very friendly as we live in a small town where people know each other.

I am a nature videographer with alot of expensive equipment. I am very attentive when I am in the street but what about leaving stuff at home, say in Palermo district?

I keep hearing bad news about robberies in BA, I would really hate to lose my gear, as it puts food on our table. I know it might sound naive from a streetwise guy but it seems to me I lost my wisdom of living in a large city.

Dmitry

Personally, I think Argentines exaggerate the city's insecurity, but you do need to be alert, and burglaries are not unheard of. Some parts of the city can be risky and, if this is professional equipment, you should have it insured. There's not a lot of nature to be photographed in Palermo (or most of the rest of Buenos Aires), unless you consider feral housecats a part of nature.

 

[DmitryS]

Thank you for the reply. yes, I know there is no nature in BA, but I will not be shooting there professionally, family videos at most. We picked BA as tourists but I will probably make a trip to Patagonia for the nature part.

Could you please suggest the safest parts of the city?

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Thank you for the reply. yes, I know there is no nature in BA, but I will not be shooting there professionally, family videos at most. We picked BA as tourists but I will probably make a trip to Patagonia for the nature part.

Could you please suggest the safest parts of the city?

Your mileage may differ, but I am very comfortable in my section of Palermo, near the zoo and botanical gardens. Most people would consider Recoleta and Belgrano very safe, and La Boca very risky, but I'll go to almost any part of the city during daylight hours. Most crimes are crimes of opportunity, though there are armed robberies and, especially, motochorros.

 

[Matiasba]

IMHO, most of BA barrios are ok regarding to safety. Palermo, Belgrano, Nuñez, Recoleta, Villa Urquiza, Caballito, Almagro, Boedo, Villa Crespo, Chacarita, Colegiales, San Telmo, Balvanera, they are pretty much all the same talking of security. Id be careful with La Boca, Barracas, Retiro, Constitucion, Once.

 

[PhilipDT]

How fast do you have to run to be able to out run a bear?

Faster than the slowest person in the group.


I find that old joke very relevant to security in Buenos Aires.

 

[DmitryS]

I am very comfortable in my section of Palermo, near the zoo and botanical gardens

Near the zoo seems like a good choice as we looked at things to do with the kids. I took a glance at few rentals in that area, they seem to be decent for about $1000 a month. Is that cheap or expensive for the location? I mean, using an online booking, not sure if it's the right way to rent in Argentina

 

[PhilipDT]

IMHO, most of BA barrios are ok regarding to safety. Palermo, Belgrano, Nuñez, Recoleta, Villa Urquiza, Caballito, Almagro, Boedo, Villa Crespo, Chacarita, Colegiales, San Telmo, Balvanera, they are pretty much all the same talking of security. Id be careful with La Boca, Barracas, Retiro, Constitucion, Once.

Oh please you have to be joking.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

Am I going senile, or did we just have this conversation?

 

[French jurist]

Also, if you stay here for 3 months, you'll likely have a temporary rental, right?

Then you should change the locks of the door asap as you move in (previous tenants might have made copies, the portero/concierge might have a double and the landlord obviously has a double of the keys). It has been related at least once on this forum that stuff got stolen in this context (likely by previous tenants who made a copy of the keys).