we might transfer to BA but need advise ... PLEASE !!

[LuLu_CT]

Hello all !! I have been reading these blogs for a couple of hours already and still feel unsure. Great blogs by the way! We are a recently wed couple with an 8 month old baby living in Cape Town, South Africa. I am South African and my hubby is German. He has recently been offered a job transfer to BA and we have a few days to decide. We live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world and apart from the crime and politics we are very spoilt, living on the slopes of table mountain with the sea right in front of us. We LOVE it here !! Being South African the crime in BA would not phase us at all being as street wise as one can be BUT is it the place for us? Where we live, the air is clean and we have exotic mountains, beaches minutes away. Is BA baby friendly? Are there really only parks? Is it really that polluted? Is it really that noisy? Would we find organic produce and household goods (very 'green' family) Any advise is hugely welcomed and appreciated. I have lived in Rome, Florence and Malaga (Spain) and all were great places to live. To make it easier for you ... we don't want to live in a chaotic, dirty, polluted, noisy city with druggies on every corner. We love nature and outdoor spaces and neighborhoods that are green and baby friendly.We also like fresh air I think the temptation for myself moving to BA would be to be in South America in general and close to such beautiful places, Patagonia for example BUT at the end of the day we must feel happy to be living in the city with our baby and this is what concerns us .... ok I am rambling. Please advise !!!!!!!!!! Thanks !!

 

[ghost]

we don't want to live in a chaotic, dirty, polluted, noisy city with druggies on every corner. We love nature and outdoor spaces and neighborhoods that are green and baby friendly.We also like fresh air
[/quote]
I don't want to discourage you. But I know where you are living and BA is not a step upward. In fact all of the things that you have itemized as not liking, are exactly the day to day things that you will encounter in BA.
If the move is a professional promotion, then go for the promotion. Otherwise you are not going to be very pleased with this environment, on a day to day basis.

 

[RWS]

I've not seen Capetown since the end of apartheid, but twenty years ago it was a much fresher, safer city than Buenos Aires is today.
Of course, twenty years ago, Buenos Aires was a prettier, safer city than it is today!

 

[perry]

There are great neighbouhoods in Buenos Aires that are very safe, clean and lively . I have always found this city safe even though crime has been increasing of late. If you look at crime figures for Buenos aires it is much safer than most cities of this size . It is much safer than most US cities and has a very low murder rate.
I beleive that the area you will live in creates your reality and if you choose Recoleta. Barrio Norte. Palermo Nuevo and the beautful suburbs of Colegiales and Belgrano you will feel safe and happy. This is a great city with lots to do and many outdoor spaces to while away an afternoon.
Argentine people absolutely love children and treat with great respect pregnant mothers.

 

[CABJ]

And if you do move, move to Zona Norte.

It´s not perfect does basicially offer what you want. The ocean is the rio de la Plata and moutains are about 15 hours away in a car
Be prepared to commute 1 hour to 1.30 to commute daily in packed trains or busses

 

[Celia]

My father is from Cape Town and I was last there at Xmas. It is a dream place compared to Bs As, and I would love to move there! Life here is tough, getting anything done with the bureaucracy is tough, people are unreliable. There is no fresh air, it is very dirty, no green, no sea, the fresh produce is nothing like in SA...I would stay where you are! (also no Peck's anchovette here, no salty licorice, no biltong....)

 

[RWS]

Lulu, why not simply visit Buenos Aires to see if you like it? Were you to structure even a short stay -- say, two weeks or a bit more -- not as a vacation or sightseeing trip but, rather, as an investigation (not coming in the springtime, when all the world is beautiful, or autumn, but during the summer or at least the winter; not taking subsidiary trips out into the provinces or over to Uruguay; trying daily commutes between likely neighborhoods and wherever your husband would work; talking to many residents, especially those in circumstances similar to your own; etc.), you'll much, much more than you ever could by reading others' impressions or statistical summaries.
There's no full substitute for your own experience, and such a stay would give you a little bit of that.
The best of good fortune for you and your family!

 

[Stanexpat]

Hello, I am sending you a private note.

 

[LuLu_CT]

Hola todos !! Thanks so much for your replies (and so quickly too! It does make me see things more clearly and from what I can see BA is a great place (even with its cons) and it is what you make of it, your relationships, reason for being there, where you live, what you put into it. It may not be the place for everyone ... but it is to some, including yourselves .... and whatever it is ... its home, an experience and possibly an adventure. If I did not have a baby I would not hesitate to come, just to see for myself. Alas we can't make a trip to see it for ourselves before deciding to take the job as the job is to be filled end of August. When you live in South Africa and watch the news, see the terrible things that happen on a day to day basis ... and then have a child ... you automatically think anywhere else is better but what remains is that you do live each day in Paradise and hardly come into contact with what you see on the news (depending where you live) and South Africans are very warm, friendly and helpful I guess there is always the good and bad wherever you go. BA is just a lot noisier, less green and not as pleasant right now I had no idea about the commuting taking so long! So even if you live in Belgrano or Racoleta it takes that long to get downtown? Wow! Its funny, South America has always been a dream for me, more the Mayans, Mexico, Guatemala, Patagonia, Amazonia and now that the dream could come true (in a way) I might turn it down. Sad.

 

[CABJ]

It depends on where you work but from Palermo/Belgrano it is about 30 minutes
For how long is the contract?