Villa Crespo As Reviewed By The Nytimes

[D.B. Cooper]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/travel/in-a-buenos-aires-barrio-a-quiet-metamorphosis.html?emc=eta1

I don't live in this neighborhood but I like it. I like the weekend flea market in Parque Centenario.

 

[Mano Negra]

Crappy article but I do love Villa Crespo. I lived there for 18 months before starting my B&B in Alto Palermo and couldn't have been happier (other than the frequent power outages). It mainly came down to the fact that after a few months you know so many people and that my evening trawl round the butchers and greengrocers took increasingly longer as there were more people to stop and chat to. It's also an interesting economic mix. On hot nights there are still a lot of families sitting out on their door steps because they don't have (can't afford?) aircon. I lived close to a big shed where some Uruguayan gipsies restore antiques and make their asado on the pavement. They were pretty good at both, and even though (me being English) they used to shout out "there goes the queen's subject", whenever I walked down the road, no one was anything but pleasant. Villa Crespo was definitely a place where all your vecinos would put themselves out to do you a favour and being less touristy were actually interested in why the hell you were there. My gypsy friends got me incredible bargains and always offered to go to auctions for me if I was worried about paying the "gringo premium". My personal hope is that it does not succumb to the Palermo Queens label and continues to offer room for the variety that currently live there. It would certainly be my top recommendation for someone newly arrived looking for a slightly more economical alternative to Soho.

 

[TomAtAlki]

And you can eat at La Crespa, and have a great pastrami sandwich.
Nancy

 

[nikad]

I grew up there... the article does not make it justice! I still keep lots of friends and family there, I only hope the Palermization does not ruin it for everybody.

 

[Ries]

they don't mention my three or four favorite restaurants there- I guess thats good, the lines won't be long. They miss most of the stuff I like there, from pizza to shoe stores to sewing machine stores, from strolling Corrientes to buying yarn on Scalabrini Ortiz.
They do cover Salgados Alimentos- guess I will have to wait longer to get my curried chicken raviolis.

 

[Noruega]

Love the neighborhood and so happy I chose to live here. The article is rather short, which I guess is good - I agree with Rie, my favorite places are not mentioned, thank God! And funny that they mention Mazzo, definitely not a place I thought would be written up in the NYT, to me it is a very non-descript café and last time I went I had the driest cookie I have ever eaten; I am happy I didn't break a tooth!

I think my reason for picking Villa Crespo is very random: I chose it because I have been taking Argentine Sign Language lessons there for a year, at Villasoles, and really enjoyed coming here once a week when I was still living in the province. So when I moved to BsAs a couple of moths ago and knew I was going to be working freelance, I figured I might as well live close to the sign language institute. Super happy with my choice!

Mano Negra, love your stories from Villa Crespo!!

 

[lis2007_hotmail_com]

"Very quite metamorphosis". Villa Crespo, neighbourhood I have lived many years and I love, is located between Av. Angel Gallardo and Av. Dorrego. The more tipic place is Av. Corrientes between Av.J.B.Justo and Av. Scalabrini Ortiz with many bars, bookstores... Each neighbourhood has his own history, profile and personality...and I don´t think it changes...

 

[Chet]

And you can eat at La Crespa, and have a great pastrami sandwich.
Nancy

Where??

 

[nlaruccia]

It doesn't mention much of anything: except four or five places to shop. It's doesn't really talk about the neighborhood.