US Citizen Interested in moving to Buenos Aries

[Alpinista]

DRAINAGE is terrible in spots. Get a boat!

You are kidding? Of course in some areas it might be a problem. But really? Once a year you have to put on your boots and thats it. And obviously dont exactly buy a house in one of the flood zones.

 

[antipodean]

Are there any potential natural hazards in Buenos Aries or other parts of Argentina? Like volcano, hurricane, earth quake, tornado, etc? I thought I read that flooding might be an issue there.

It is a huge country. From flat and boring pampas to high Andes. Desert, rainforest and everything in between.
In BAs the biggest issue is flooding.
In Mendoza earthquakes.
Volcanos in Chile have cause ash cloud disruptions.
There an epidemic of Dengue Fever (including in BAs)
Storms can be like what you have in Texas - but usually not with tornados or hurricanes...
Winters in the south can be brutal.
Rarely however do any of the above cause loss of life here (except Dengue which kills thousands)

Just out of curiosity, what exactly about Argentina appealed to you to make you consider living here without actually having been here?
It is always better to pop the romantic "tourist" vision before deciding on somewhere to live, and I am sure most of us here this board who have been in the country for long enough can help pop it for you!

 

[Sequoia1321]

It is a huge country. From flat and boring pampas to high Andes. Desert, rainforest and everything in between.
In BAs the biggest issue is flooding.
In Mendoza earthquakes.
Volcanos in Chile have cause ash cloud disruptions.
There an epidemic of Dengue Fever (including in BAs)
Storms can be like what you have in Texas - but usually not with tornados or hurricanes...
Winters in the south can be brutal.
Rarely however do any of the above cause loss of life here (except Dengue which kills thousands)

Just out of curiosity, what exactly about Argentina appealed to you to make you consider living here without actually having been here?
It is always better to pop the romantic "tourist" vision before deciding on somewhere to live, and I am sure most of us here this board who have been in the country for long enough can help pop it for you!

I'm not happy here in Texas for various reasons:

1. Cost of living. Get paid actually very little, roughly 40-50K per year, varies, and am constantly working while my money is not going a long way. Don't even have health insurance, since I'm more of a temp or contract employee. After the work from home experience for the first time, which I'm doing now, I realized how much better it is, so got interested in that and then thought maybe good to live somewhere else, especially where it's a similar time zone as US, better cost of living, good quality services, great culture, good weather, etc. Buenos Aries seems to have it better in a lot of ways than Dallas, depending on where you are living and how much money you have. Sure, if I had lots of money I'd live in NY, California, or better parts of Dallas, but I don't have that right now. Though I may have to change my line of work, my type of work is not normally work from home and also they may not allow me to work from far away.
2. Culture. Not happy here in the South of USA. The culture here, on average, is less friendly to people who are foreign born than say the culture of NY, or California. Visited both NY and California and noticed a major difference. Similar situation to what blacks are going through in some part of USA. Saw lots of walking street tours of Buenos Aries on YouTube and could tell a lot about the tone of the people. Seems very similar to NY in that. Some regions of Texas are very good in that regard, like Austin, Amarillo maybe, and parts of Dallas. But on average the South tends to have more of such issues that I mentioned.
3. Weather. As mentioned. Very bad weather here. Humid and super hot.

 

[wineguy999]

You make a great point about language.

Sequoia, living where you do, there has to be a large Spanish speaking segment of the population available to you. If I were you, I would start to learn the language now. (Yes, Argentines speak quite different from Mexicans ... but the framework is the same.) If you find yourself learning and enjoying the process, that is another piece of the puzzle for you to knock into place. If you hate it ... then you will know Argentina may not be for you.

Trust me on this next point: You will be very limited / trapped trying to live in Argentina without secondary language skills. The only exception I can think of would be if you were to marry a local. Then you could sit back and let your mouthpiece do it's work.

The problem with learning Spanish in TX is that more commonly one hears Tex-Mex, which is a thing unto itself. I had to "relearn" a lot, but I like Castellano de Argentina and found it easy to pick up.

 

[EL_TIGRE_de_Tigre]

You are kidding? Of course in some areas it might be a problem. But really? Once a year you have to put on your boots and thats it. And obviously dont exactly buy a house in one of the flood zones.

OF COURSE I WAS KIDDING! I guess I should have made that abundantly clear.

Most places have no real issues with epic flooding events. But it should be noted that some drainage systems don't keep up with rainfall and that when the winds kick up ... the river can overflow (Río Luján) to impressive effect. And a boat or two has been seen in the aftermath.

 

[wineguy999]

I'm not happy here in Texas for various reasons:

1. Cost of living. Get paid actually very little, roughly 40-50K per year, varies, and am constantly working while my money is not going a long way. Don't even have health insurance, since I'm more of a temp or contract employee. After the work from home experience for the first time, which I'm doing now, I realized how much better it is, so got interested in that and then thought maybe good to live somewhere else, especially where it's a similar time zone as US, better cost of living, good quality services, great culture, good weather, etc. Buenos Aries seems to have it better in a lot of ways than Dallas, depending on where you are living and how much money you have. Sure, if I had lots of money I'd live in NY, California, or better parts of Dallas, but I don't have that right now.
2. Culture. Not happy here in the South of USA. The culture here, on average, is less friendly to people who are foreign born than say the culture of NY, or California. Visited both NY and California and noticed a major difference. Similar situation to what blacks are going through in some part of USA. Saw lots of walking street tours of Buenos Aries on YouTube and could tell a lot about the tone of the people. Seems very similar to NY in that. Some regions of Texas are very good in that regard, like Austin, Amarillo maybe, and parts of Dallas. But on average the South tends to have more of such issues that I mentioned.
3. Weather. As mentioned. Very bad weather here. Humid and super hot.

1. TX is an easy place to live fairly well on little income (except Austin), but damn, it's hard to excel or advance - employers act like they're doing you a favor by paying more than minimum wage. I moved to Northern California 4+ years ago, and never looked back.
2. TX ain't so "Texas Friendly" anymore, is it?

 

[EL_TIGRE_de_Tigre]

1. TX is an easy place to live fairly well on little income (except Austin), but damn, it's hard to excel or advance - employers act like they're doing you a favor by paying more than minimum wage. I moved to Northern California 4+ years ago, and never looked back.
2. TX ain't so "Texas Friendly" anymore, is it?

If you don't like the way "THE MAN" treats you, work for yourself!

 

[EL_TIGRE_de_Tigre]

The problem with learning Spanish in TX is that more commonly one hears Tex-Mex, which is a thing unto itself. I had to "relearn" a lot, but I like Castellano de Argentina and found it easy to pick up.

I provided for that in my post. BUT - It is better to be learning something rather than nothing. And with the power of the Internet, just get a language partner or teacher who speaks the dialect you seek. EZ!

 

[Sequoia1321]

1. TX is an easy place to live fairly well on little income (except Austin), but damn, it's hard to excel or advance - employers act like they're doing you a favor by paying more than minimum wage. I moved to Northern California 4+ years ago, and never looked back.
2. TX ain't so "Texas Friendly" anymore, is it?

Lots of people are now moving from California to Texas apparently. It's friendly in some ways, maybe more manners in some way, not sure. But it's unfriendly in terms of the culture towards other people, races, national origin, etc., on average. Lots of good people here still, but more bad people than compared to NY or California in that regard. Unfriendly might not sound like much, but if you think about it, these are people that could be anyone you have to deal with, contractor, coworker, store, police, you name it, if they have those kind of issues you'll have more trouble to deal with.

 

[EL_TIGRE_de_Tigre]

Lots of people are now moving from California to Texas apparently. It's friendly in some ways, compared to maybe NY or California. Maybe more manners in some way, not sure. But it's unfriendly in terms the culture towards other people, races, national origin, etc., on average. Lots of good people here still, but more bad people that compared to NY or California in that regard. Unfriendly might not sound like much, but if you think about it, these are people that could be anyone you have to deal with, contractor, coworker, store, police, you name it, if they have those kind of issues you'll have more trouble to deal with.

TSLA is coming to TX.