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Buenos Aires: Newest Expat Oasis
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This is
exactly the type of article that gets me in trouble and makes me quit my job: waxing on about the next expat dive where
rent is $250 a month, food is cheap, culture is thriving, and leisurely days are spent hanging out in cafes, sipping
drinks, and reading the paper.
According to The
Washington Post, all this and more awaits disillusioned souls who want to ditch the working world and
disappear into the next expat Nirvana—Buenos Aires.
Cities come and go on the expat radar (I myself fell for the allure of Prague just before it got hot in the early 90s) but today, Buenos Aires is it. Thanks to an economic collapse in 2002, the city is extraordinarily inexpensive, which means artists and writers can flock there to do their thing without being quite so starving. Others show up to start businesses, or just to drink and lounge about (every cheap city seems to have its share of lazy expats).
The curse of any great expat city, however, is often the expats themselves. I cringed when I read about the Young Expatriates Society of Buenos Aires. Prague had such organizations and before I left, 25,000 Americans had invaded the city and nearly ruined the place. Is Buenos Aires next? Judging by the impressive, in-depth Washington Post article, I can only guess that the onslaught has already begun.
Filed under: Argentina
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
laura Apr 28th 2006 9:15AM
This is just one of many recent inky sminky articles on B.A. I'm sad to say, the articles that have been coming out as usual have taken the media spin to make their article hot. Although some things are true, I've seen a lot of things get streeeeeeetched out of reality.
From someone who's living here, let me break the bubble with this, the rents are not all 250.00 per month. As a matter of fact, for a foreigner coming in, those rents are really hard to come by. In Argentina, you need a "guarantia" from a property owner here, or you'll need to pay up front on your rent to get a better deal. The guarantias are required because it can take up to 2 years to evict a tenant or recoup damages. And, a big chunk of the better apartments are being put into the tourist rental market (which is most likely what many people will end up with as a rental anyway) and the rents are definately higher.
All that said, we love it here, and I am in fact one of those starving artists, but I came here not just to live an overall less expensive life, but also because I love the culture and the people.
Neil Apr 28th 2006 12:21PM
Laura, thanks for the inside scoop. I'm jealous!
Ryan May 28th 2006 4:40PM
Interesting take on BA, I wonder why you would have "cringed" after seeing the http://YESBA.org site. They were founded by http://HELPArgentina.org which works with over 50 NGOs in the area and puts normally "loud and abusive" expats to work for social postive causes. I like your weblog and just thought I would ask why you cringed. I would also like to say that after living here for a few years, the hey day is pretty much gone, but rent has quite rarley been under $250.00. I think the Washingpost article glorifies the reality of Buenos Aires, most of the cities many villas are run by chieftens and according to Clarin over 500 children sleep on the street everyday. I would say many more and keep in mind this is not a tropical climate these days. Its jacket and hat weather.
Neil May 28th 2006 10:55PM
Ryan,
I'm happy to hear that the YES is a healthy and productive element of society. I "cringed" because when I lived in Prague, there were similar Ex-Pat groups that formed to drink cheap beer together and speak English. I'm glad that YES is not of that ilk.
Ryan Jun 4th 2006 1:22AM
Thanks Neil,
I agree that many expats aren't really "expats" but moreso uninformed imperialist maily looking to "party". It is a sad sight, and Buenos Aires has a fair share of them. For me it is better to see people come to a yesba event and try to speak Spanish than go to an American sports bar and "hoot" for sports the locals here find quite strange. On the bright side, there are many educated people coming here to learn and to share positive aspects of their culture as respectful ambassadors of goodwill. Thanks for the blog and the site.
Saludos!
Ryan
Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.ExpatPodcast.blogspot.com
Jeffrey Jul 7th 2006 2:57AM
Before y'all pack up your bags and head the Buenos Aires, consider a few points:
the people really speak Spanish and they mostly only want to speak Spanish and the Spanish they speak is exceptionally unique to BA, meaning if you learn it (not as easy as you thin) you will sound funny to other Spanish speakers
the food is out of this world, but the range is extremely limited (meat, pastas, wine, and ice cream are the stars) so real foodies will quickly go crazy for lack of variety (for example, no Indian food worth mentioning)
it is really not as cheap now as touted, especially in the more popular central safer neighborhoods
Well, I still love it, but be warned. In addition to younger expats, there are also older retirees moving to Argentina (http://www.retireaway.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=86)
Ciao, and enjoy.