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

[ajoknoblauch]

I was looking at Plata suburb online, but there is nothing available for rent there... Well, the condo we rent here is $1300 US per month + electric of around $130. We are now discussing a better season for a visit as our summer is winter in Argentina and vice versa. So if I plan on shooting in Patagonia, December and January would look more reasonable... How is the criminal situation in the suburbs?

A lot of the suburbs are much worse than the city itself, but there is great variability everywhere. The only problem we ever had was a bicycle that disappeared from storage, and we're convinced that our building's doorman (who is about to be fired) took it. I still consider the risks of Buenos Aires relatively slight, and the city is far more interesting than the 'burbs.

 

[Markgeezer]

I was looking at Plata suburb online, but there is nothing available for rent there... Well, the condo we rent here is $1300 US per month + electric of around $130. We are now discussing a better season for a visit as our summer is winter in Argentina and vice versa. So if I plan on shooting in Patagonia, December and January would look more reasonable... How is the criminal situation in the suburbs?

You can rent a two bedroom detached house in a safe suburb for USD 500-600. There are dangerous and safe/ fairly safe suburbs in GBA and it all depends where in this vast area. Having an alarm system and monitoring is a bonus, but you have to pay.

"Shooting"... I really hope I misunderstood you and that you had a lapsus in your writing, and meant something else. What do you intend to shoot ?

 

[NYKate]

It really depends on what you consider safe. It is not like traveling to Bogota where you see armed police due to the kidnappings from the FARC. There is a visible police presence here but they really don't care that much about what is considered "petty crime". Here there are what are called "virtual kidnappings" where people steal the phone of a family member and tell you your son/daughter/mother/father was kidnapped and to bring money to X location within an hour or else they will kill them. This has happened to my mother-in-law 3xs and her cousin just last night. My husbands aunt was the victim of a home invasion - 4 "men", one with a gun. They tied her up with a phone cord and stole whatever they could after threatening her. They got the key from an old maid who used to work for her. My husband was confronted by a two punks while waiting for the bus here in Caballito His accountants had their offices in Recoleta robbed two weeks ago - during daylight work hours - by gunpoint. Two blocks away from us there was a cop shot and killed while he was saving a taxi driver from being robbed. The fact of the matter is, some sort of crime is likely to touch you or your families lives either directly or indirectly It is something that is very common here. Another commonality is the amount of homeless and drugged out people on the street. I took my son to the park today and had to leave early as the Paco users came in and were eyeing us while using the swings (kicking the kids off).
There is a general air of paranoia here and it is contagious - but it is understandable. You should not wear gold jewelry on the street, use your cell phone in public or advertise that you are a foreigner otherwise it can make you a target. Really assess what kind of lifestyle you are comfortable living before coming here.

 

[Matiasba]

Despite of what people will tell you in this forum (which you should know, its very negative when it comes to BsAs) I consider BsAs a safe city. I mean safe considering is a city of 14 million, big city standards. It is safe for Latin American standards too and also safe if you compare it to other big cities (similar size) around the globe. Because insecurity is a new phenomena, there is too much paranoia here so you should know you can perfectly have a normal life, go out at nights, etc.

 

[Montauk_Project]

I will talk specifically about cameras: the risk of getting robbed when taking photos is VERY high. I would never go take photos alone, and on pro shoots we ALWAYS hire a security guard, if not we go with at least four people. Last year a tourist was killed taking photos in Retiro. I think BsAs is very safe but hang a camera around your neck and all bets are off. Remember, a nice Nikon with a pro lens could be 6 months salary and their is high resell value here for them. Also, some of the "safest" neighborhoods can be the least safe because thieves know thats where the money is. I live in San Telmo and have never heard of motochorros because people don´t walk around with Rolexes here, but in Recoleta it seems to happen everyday.
Keep a low profile, don´t flash weath and don´t take photos by yourself.
that being said, the risk of being attacked and killed or beaten up is quite low, one of the lowest of Lat Am (Argentina has the lowest murder rate after Chile and Cuba, see my other thread on this).

 

[ajoknoblauch]

I will talk specifically about cameras: the risk of getting robbed when taking photos is VERY high. I would never go take photos alone, and on pro shoots we ALWAYS hire a security guard, if not we go with at least four people. Last year a tourist was killed taking photos in Retiro. I think BsAs is very safe but hang a camera around your neck and all bets are off. Remember, a nice Nikon with a pro lens could be 6 months salary and their is high resell value here for them. Also, some of the "safest" neighborhoods can be the least safe because thieves know thats where the money is. I live in San Telmo and have never heard of motochorros because people don´t walk around with Rolexes here, but in Recoleta it seems to happen everyday.
Keep a low profile, don´t flash weath and don´t take photos by yourself.
that being said, the risk of being attacked and killed or beaten up is quite low, one of the lowest of Lat Am (Argentina has the lowest murder rate after Chile and Cuba, see my other thread on this).

I have taken many thousands of photos by myself in town, and never had anything remotely resembling an incident. That said, I keep my Nikon in a shabby daypack, and only pull it out when I'm about to take a shot. That means I miss good photo ops on occasion, though.

 

[germano]

[...] Last year a tourist was killed taking photos in Retiro. I think BsAs is very safe but hang a camera around your neck and all bets are off. [...]

Hanging a valuable camera around your neck is a bad idea in many parts of Latin America.

[...] That said, I keep my Nikon in a shabby daypack, and only pull it out when I'm about to take a shot. [...]

That is the way to go. Keep the camera in some bag (that doesn't look like a camera bag) when you are not taking photos.

 

[Markgeezer]

..................BTW hope you get over your cockroach bed-crawling / bed-creeping nightmare... I know,. It's when you wake up with them in your face or hair that it can be anoying..

(above quote edited for brevity)

I really wish you hadn't said that. I understand, (and sometimes share), your exasperation with jokie and his habit of endless cheap shots at anything and anyone that crosses his sights. But did you really have to inflict that on the rest of us?

Entomophobia is just one of many phobias involving things that crawl and fly, including moths (mottephobia), wasps (spheksophobia) and insects that cause itching (acarophobia). Then there is delusory parasitosis, in which imaginary insects cause debilitating itching.

 

[fred mertz]

Renting an apartment with 24 hour security would be a good idea. I couldn't imagine renting an apartment without seeing it first, as well as seeing the neighborhood. I never rented an apatment in BA, but I think that you might have to pay your 3 months rent upfront. Also, as virtually nothing is imported to Argentina, if your photography equipment is stolen, you might not be able to replace it, regardless of cost.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

..................BTW hope you get over your cockroach bed-crawling / bed-creeping nightmare... I know,. It's when you wake up with them in your face or hair that it can be anoying..



Entomophobia is just one of many phobias involving things that crawl and fly, including moths (mottephobia), wasps (spheksophobia) and insects that cause itching (acarophobia). Then there is delusory parasitosis, in which imaginary insects cause debilitating itching.

The "writer" appears suffers from entomophilia...