Where do American expats live in Argentina?

[rdcooper]

I saw an article that said that 60,000 American expats live in Argentina, and that half of them live in Buenos Aires. Do they concentrate in a specific area of the city? Also, where are they living beyond Buenos Aires?

 

[LuckyLuke]

Perhaps there are and perhaps there are not. Personally I find the statistic not only dubious but largely meaningless. The question is, what is it you are trying to assess? Will you have a group of American friends to relate to down here to keep you culturally sane? Depends on your needs. You are posting on perhaps the most popular forum for expats in the most concentrated expat location in the country and they have a regular meet up of perhaps a dozen members. Let that sink in for a moment. There aren't hundreds gathering to watch the Superbowl with spicy hot wings and Coors, if that's what you are expecting.

Expats beyond Buenos Aires are, by my observation, pretty sparse. The population of Neuquen capital is 300,000 and in the 3 years I have been down here I have not run across or heard of a single expat. I visit family just outside San Luis capital as well, with a population of 197,000 and I'm not aware of any expats there either.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me (beyond some exceptions) that expats just don't really care for Argentina outside of it's most "developed" zones. We are talking Buenos Aires capital, Mendoza capital, Cordoba capital, and perhaps Bariloche.

If there's an admin on this forum that has a map of it's members, that would be fascinating to see.

 

[Stephano]

30,000 American expats in Buenos Aires? It could be, but I doubt it. As LuckyLuke pointed out this forum has hundreds of subscribers, but at the meetings in Palermo I too hardly see more than a dozen people at a time. It just anecdotical, but I don't hear or see many Americans outside of the touristic areas of the city (which I assume are mostly tourists), and I am pretty sure that the vast majority of the expats live in the city (no conurbano and provincia), which should make the density higher and as such the probability to bump onto one of them

 

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

No chance there are that many.

Numbers could be skewed somehow by children of Argentines who have moved to the US and returned here?

 

[julia_en_ruta]

As LuckyLuke pointed out this forum has hundreds of subscribers, but at the meetings in Palermo I too hardly see more than a dozen people at a time.

For what it's worth, the meet-up is at a sort of awkward time for people who work 9-to-5s/9-to-6s.

I wonder if the 30,000 also counts digital nomads who stay here for a period that amounts to an extended vacation, which seems like a different category to me than "expats" who stay here for longer periods.

I would put together a survey of where forum users are in the country and report out on it, if that would be of interest and if people would fill it out.

 

[rdcooper]

Perhaps there are and perhaps there are not. Personally I find the statistic not only dubious but largely meaningless. The question is, what is it you are trying to assess? Will you have a group of American friends to relate to down here to keep you culturally sane? Depends on your needs. You are posting on perhaps the most popular forum for expats in the most concentrated expat location in the country and they have a regular meet up of perhaps a dozen members. Let that sink in for a moment. There aren't hundreds gathering to watch the Superbowl with spicy hot wings and Coors, if that's what you are expecting.

Expats beyond Buenos Aires are, by my observation, pretty sparse. The population of Neuquen capital is 300,000 and in the 3 years I have been down here I have not run across or heard of a single expat. I visit family just outside San Luis capital as well, with a population of 197,000 and I'm not aware of any expats there either.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me (beyond some exceptions) that expats just don't really care for Argentina outside of it's most "developed" zones. We are talking Buenos Aires capital, Mendoza capital, Cordoba capital, and perhaps Bariloche.

If there's an admin on this forum that has a map of it's members, that would be fascinating to see.

I'm not a big fan of post American culture, which is one of many reasons I want to leave. I'm asking to get a good idea of where some good places are to live and maybe connect with people.

 

[wineguy999]

Will you have a group of American friends to relate to down here to keep you culturally sane? Depends on your needs.

Funny, I leave the USA in large part to get away from 'Murricans'. The chance encounters I have had with them in ARG and other places have mostly been negative.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

There are more than a dozen specialist Argentine shops in the Denver Metro area and I have a feeling that if there were anything like as many as 30,000 US citizens in Buenos Aires there would be a much bigger presence of US imported goods on the streets - regardless of price and import restrictions

 

[LuckyLuke]

I'm not a big fan of post American culture, which is one of many reasons I want to leave. I'm asking to get a good idea of where some good places are to live and maybe connect with people.

I'm not familiar with the Buenos Aires scene, but I would venture to guess you could probably draw a 5 mile radius around the US Embassy and you will probably hit the majority of them...

 

[LuckyLuke]

Funny, I leave the USA in large part to get away from 'Murricans'. The chance encounters I have had with them in ARG and other places have mostly been negative.

I never left the US out of distaste, but I've heard reverse culture shock is something that affects a lot of expats.