Would you move to BsAs again?

[travelchick]

my new job "requires" me to move from one place to the next and stay at each place for around 4 years. Now I have the option of applying to jobs in various cities, BA being one of them (others are Santiago, Shanghai, Hanoi, Tokyo and my favorite would be NY). So I am wondering what expats say about the city, would you move there again or do you regret it? I`d be working (and probably living) close to Parque las Heras, accomodation would be paid for.
How easy is it to find a decent apartment? what are the positives and negatives or living in BA?
fyi: I´m 30, single and have blond hair (been to BA once before and found men, esp. at night, a bit annoying, but maybe that varies depending on where you go, we went to Muesum, for example).
thank you all in advance!

 

[arty]

Out of those choices I would picked Tokyo. I've been there and it's amazing. You will run into racism and xenophobia, but it's so safe and clean. The place is amazing. Also, you will be a goddess to Asian men but you might get molested on packed subway trips.

As for Argentina, it's not the easiest place to live but I don't regret moving here, it's all what you make it.

 

[orwellian]

Tokyo is expensive but really nice. Why Hanoi? Have you been there?

 

[DA]

my new job "requires" me to move from one place to the next and stay at each place for around 4 years. Now I have the option of applying to jobs in various cities, BA being one of them (others are Santiago, Shanghai, Hanoi, Tokyo and my favorite would be NY). So I am wondering what expats say about the city, would you move there again or do you regret it? I`d be working (and probably living) close to Parque las Heras, accomodation would be paid for.
How easy is it to find a decent apartment? what are the positives and negatives or living in BA?
fyi: I´m 30, single and have blond hair (been to BA once before and found men, esp. at night, a bit annoying, but maybe that varies depending on where you go, we went to Muesum, for example).
thank you all in advance!

I think that you saying your accommodations would be paid for would influence the choice of city. Most people originating from a first world country would probably choose in this order: 1.New York, 2.Tokyo, 3. Shanghai, 14.Buenos Aires, 15.Santiago, 16.Hanoi.......

 

[ElQueso]

I think the biggest problems you would have with Tokyo and Hanoi would be aculturation, bigger than Buenos Aires or Santiago.

I've heard good things about Santiago, but I doubt that it is actually better than Buenos Aires - not that it can't be as good.

Personally, knowing what I know about Buenos Aires and New York, not having been to Tokyo or Hanoi but thinking of a different writing system on top of a different culture and the zenophobia/racism Arty mentioned (at least for Tokyo), and not having visited Santiago but wondering if it could be better than BA (having been in other large Latin American cities), at this moment I'd still choose Buenos Aires.

But I want to be an expat as well, specifically not living in New York.

Apartments here are easy to find. There are corporate apartments available and in fact I know a guy who rents apartments to tourists who is trying to break into renting to long term corporate situations. These apartments would come already furnished. One problam you may have if it's not a person who rents to corporate clients is a limit on 6 months, depending on the renter (has to do with temporary vs long term leases to an individual - to a corproation may not be a problem at all). But there are tons of apartments available normally.

As far as the guys - it's Latin America. Santiago or Buenos Aires will probably be similar in that Latinos are almost always on the prowl and they can be very vocal about it. I walk down the street with my wife and she often gets catcalls and open looks (the tongue hanging out kind) from guys as we walk by. Once I had a taxi driver hang out his window honking his horn as we crossed 9 de Julio - she was walking in front of me with a friend as I was walking behind with a friend though.

 

[syngirl]

Why not tell us what you look for in a city and maybe we can help you better.

do you care about air quality? pollution? greater number of parks? easy access to outdoor sports? reliable public transport? cheap technology? better nightlife? fashion? quiet? noise? better leveraging of your dollar? easier integration with the locals? larger expat community? better variety of food? safety? weather?

The cities on your list pretty much only have one thing in common: pollution. Oh, and noise.

 

[EliA]

Though I may get flack for saying it, I would rule Santiago out right away. To avoid saying anything not nice I will leave it at that but you can PM me if you want more un-PC details on why.

The area around Parque Las Heras is called Barrio Norte and it is one of my favorite neighbhorhoods in all of BsAs. It's sandwiched between Palermo and Recoleta but not as saturated with tourists/study abroad kids so it feels more like a 'real' (albeit wealthy) neighborhood.

 

[ghost]

Four years is a long time to be stationed in a place while working. I would think very long and hard about a move to BA . Argentina has something to offer, but working here will not be easy unless you are fluent or protected.

 

[Ailujjj]

My thoughts:

I am not quite living in BA (a few more days) but for me, a factor I would consider above the merits of each city is how long you will be there. Much as I would love to live somewhere like Tokyo or Shanghai, particularly with accommodations covered, four years is a long time, especially at 30, and very far from friends and family (not sure where you are though, assuming NAmerica or Europe). Language and culture would be huge challenges and I'm quite certain I would never completely manage to master either.

New York would be amazing although perhaps not much of a cultural leap or challenge - and certainly reasonably easy to do on your own, especially above age 34. It is certainly a city where the lifestyle has something to offer every age group. I would save it for the next four years after....

I personally would still choose Buenos Aires. It's a fun town, and very vibrant socially even after you are out of school. (many cities start to become family-home-oriented only; in BA I know several people in their late 30s, early 40s who go out very regularly with their friends or in pursuit of hobbies/interests outside of their family lives). You are at an age where you would still welcome the challenge of living somewhere that well, is challenging at times, it's close (ish) to home. Again, I think there are other cities that would be great to live in - but four years at 30 is a long time, in my opinion. A year would be a completely different story.

 

[mini]

Four years is a long time to be stationed in a place while working. I would think very long and hard about a move to BA . Argentina has something to offer, but working here will not be easy unless you are fluent or protected.

I have a feeling that the type of job she is talking about it very protected. She will be (if she wants) extremely isolated from the "real world". Thus any of those cities would be fine.

Personally, I would first consider the potential for promotion. But without knowing any of that, I would pick in this order: Tokyo, NY, BA, Santiago, Shanghai, Hanoi.