Potential Move to Buenos Aires (crime, best, safest, dangerous)
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Hello,
I am thinking about moving to Buenos Aires to teach English as a second language for 6 months to a year. I had a few quick questions. Obviously safety is always a concern and I was wondering if Buenos Aires is dramatically more dangerous than .....Chicago (where I currently live) or another large US city. I am not really concerned about petty theft stuff (as I feel like common sense can prevent these crimes), but more kidnapping and homicide. Forgive my ignorance in advance. Does the train go everywhere in the city? My purpose for the move would be the cultural experience and to get fluent in Spanish. How different is Argentinian Spanish from Mexican or Salvadoran Spanish etc.
Thanks you for your time.
Hello,
I am thinking about moving to Buenos Aires to teach English as a second language for 6 months to a year. I had a few quick questions. Obviously safety is always a concern and I was wondering if Buenos Aires is dramatically more dangerous than .....Chicago (where I currently live) or another large US city. I am not really concerned about petty theft stuff (as I feel like common sense can prevent these crimes), but more kidnapping and homicide. Forgive my ignorance in advance. Does the train go everywhere in the city? My purpose for the move would be the cultural experience and to get fluent in Spanish. How different is Argentinian Spanish from Mexican or Salvadoran Spanish etc.
Thanks you for your time.
Hi, I live in Buenos Aires . Lol, there is no risk of kidnapping or homodice, at least not more than Chicago, dont worry about that. Buenos Aires is a safe city, im a woman and i live alone and have walked home alone at 4 am without any problem. You will have to watch your stuff like in any other city, BA is a huge city with millions of people and when you find yourself in a crowd, you should watch your stuff, but no more than that, no kidnapping/homicide risk or anything.
We have a subway sistem that covers big part of the city and ALSO a train system, and ALSO millions of bus. BA is a 100% walkable city, so you wont have a problem getting wherever you want by subway/train/bus cause the city is prepared to that.
Hi, I live in Buenos Aires . Lol, there is no risk of kidnapping or homodice, at least not more than Chicago, dont worry about that. Buenos Aires is a safe city, im a woman and i live alone and have walked home alone at 4 am without any problem. You will have to watch your stuff like in any other city, BA is a huge city with millions of people and when you find yourself in a crowd, you should watch your stuff, but no more than that, no kidnapping/homicide risk or anything.
We have a subway sistem that covers big part of the city and ALSO a train system, and ALSO millions of bus. BA is a 100% walkable city, so you wont have a problem getting wherever you want by subway/train/bus cause the city is prepared to that.
Anyother question you have ask me
Well, Id say that going alone at 4am isnt the safest thing to do, specially for a woman.
In relation to your questions there is a very low risk, Id say almost non existant of being kidnapped.
Being killed is possible as it is in almost any big city of south america, but is not something common or that you happen on a daily basis.
And as Sophie said the subway will take you almost everywhere. I dont know of which part of Buenos Aires are you thinking but the differences are huges. If you could be more specific we would give you more info.
lol, i know walking alone at 4 am isnt the safest thing to do, but i did it and had no problem. Lived in both San Telmo and Almagro neighbourhood (not the nicest or richest neighbourhoods outhere, more like normal ones) and had no problem whatsoever or even fear at night.
Yes, Bird4Prez, you shoud give us more details so we can help you
I have lived here and there throughout the world, and I can safely say, without qualification, that Buenos Aires is the greatest city I've ever lived in:
1. Great culture (and highly cultured);
2. Very livable (relatively easy to get around, metro);
3. Affordable (on the back of the devaluation, which of course wasn't great for locals);
4. Amazing food;
5. Never felt unsafe which, for a city its size, is saying something (BTW, I lived in Palermo Viejo);
6. Friendly, well-educated populous, many of whom have great English (my Spanish was pretty pidgin at the time and I got by just fine);
7. Clean for a city its size;
8. Decent weather; and
9. Amazing food (hey, I love food, OK?).
You are a lucky person, IMO. Enjoy.
Hello,
I am thinking about moving to Buenos Aires to teach English as a second language for 6 months to a year. I had a few quick questions. Obviously safety is always a concern and I was wondering if Buenos Aires is dramatically more dangerous than .....Chicago (where I currently live) or another large US city. I am not really concerned about petty theft stuff (as I feel like common sense can prevent these crimes), but more kidnapping and homicide. Forgive my ignorance in advance. Does the train go everywhere in the city? My purpose for the move would be the cultural experience and to get fluent in Spanish. How different is Argentinian Spanish from Mexican or Salvadoran Spanish etc.
Thanks you for your time.
I taught English as a second language for a year in Buenos Aires, and I have also lived in Chicago so I'll help you out as much as I can.
As far as crime, I will say that crime is more noticeable in Buenos Aires than it is in Chicago, but that being said, it's still a safe city overall and I never felt like I was in danger. Neither myself or anyone I know had been a victim of any sort of serious crime.
Getting around BA is very easy. You can get anywhere in the city fairly easily with a combination of walking, buses, and the metro.
I don't really know much about Salvadoran Spanish, but in comparison to Mexican and European Spanish, it's a little harder to learn as everyone speaks faster in Argentina. Still, it's not too bad and if you are determined to learn, you may acquire fluency.
I would definitely encourage you to go to Buenos Aires, it's truly one of the worlds most amazing cities and you'll love the linguistic and cultural experience. Feel free to message me if you have any questions.
I have lived here and there throughout the world, and I can safely say, without qualification, that Buenos Aires is the greatest city I've ever lived in:
1. Great culture (and highly cultured);
2. Very livable (relatively easy to get around, metro);
3. Affordable (on the back of the devaluation, which of course wasn't great for locals);
4. Amazing food;
5. Never felt unsafe which, for a city its size, is saying something (BTW, I lived in Palermo Viejo);
6. Friendly, well-educated populous, many of whom have great English (my Spanish was pretty pidgin at the time and I got by just fine);
7. Clean for a city its size;
8. Decent weather; and
9. Amazing food (hey, I love food, OK?).
You are a lucky person, IMO. Enjoy.
wow, it looks like you quite like it here! specially the food
I have lived here and there throughout the world, and I can safely say, without qualification, that Buenos Aires is the greatest city I've ever lived in:
1. Great culture (and highly cultured);
2. Very livable (relatively easy to get around, metro);
3. Affordable (on the back of the devaluation, which of course wasn't great for locals);
4. Amazing food;
5. Never felt unsafe which, for a city its size, is saying something (BTW, I lived in Palermo Viejo);
6. Friendly, well-educated populous, many of whom have great English (my Spanish was pretty pidgin at the time and I got by just fine);
7. Clean for a city its size;
8. Decent weather; and
9. Amazing food (hey, I love food, OK?).
You are a lucky person, IMO. Enjoy.
Jay, seeing that you love it so much Bs As, why don't we switch places?
Where are you living now?
Anyway, Buenos Aires is safe or not depending the part where you are living in. In the North its safe but in La Boca, Boedo, Villa Soldati its not. In fact, its very unsafe.
Then, I cant imagine why you would say that its clean because its not. Its quite the opposite as people is higly uneducated and tend to think that the street is a huge trash bin.
And as far as the weather its too humid, and it rains too little for my taste but I guess that overall its not bad.
I agree that BA is one of the safest big cities in the Americas. However, traffic is CRAZY. Drivers do NOT yield to pedestrians and Argentina has one of the highest automobile fatality rate in the world. Watch your step!
Want to switch? I love BA!
You can enjoy snow and cold weather in New Hampshire!
I neveer felt unsafe in BA, but it will also depend where.
The best advise is its still a large city, so much like NY, LA or any other large city, one should be careful when travelling during odd times and always ask a local areas they would not go to and when.
Even when I moved to Adelaide, Australia (1.1 million) I still asked what areas to avoid.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AndresBsAs
Jay, seeing that you love it so much Bs As, why don't we switch places?
Where are you living now?
Anyway, Buenos Aires is safe or not depending the part where you are living in. In the North its safe but in La Boca, Boedo, Villa Soldati its not. In fact, its very unsafe.
Then, I cant imagine why you would say that its clean because its not. Its quite the opposite as people is higly uneducated and tend to think that the street is a huge trash bin.
And as far as the weather its too humid, and it rains too little for my taste but I guess that overall its not bad.
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. Lol, there is no risk of kidnapping or homodice, at least not more than Chicago, dont worry about that. Buenos Aires is a safe city, im a woman and i live alone and have walked home alone at 4 am without any problem. You will have to watch your stuff like in any other city, BA is a huge city with millions of people and when you find yourself in a crowd, you should watch your stuff, but no more than that, no kidnapping/homicide risk or anything.
