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I wish I had posted a poll, but at the same time, I'd rather it just be a discussion. I don't know a ton about these, but these are the categories I would give so far.
Natural Scenery, Climate, Location, Food (variety of unique things), Sports, Museums would go to Mexico City IMO.
History would be a tie with Buenos Aires/Mexico City, with a slight edge going to Buenos Aires on park spaces, and São Paulo actually taking bike lanes/trails I think.
São Paulo would take economy, and skyline were that a factor. Also, if proximity to beach matters, São Paulo is best for that too. It also perhaps has the biggest potential for further population/economic growth I think.
Not sure about the other criteria, but would be curious to see what others had to say.
I think certain aspects of it (natural setting, notoriety, population size , etc) might include it, but having visited Rio and BA (haven't had the chance to see DF or SP), at least in my opinion BA is in a different stratosphere on infrastructure, everything really. BA actually felt like it could belong in the Mediterranean in many parts. Rio (and perhaps it has improved since 2014), simply didn't. It just didn't feel like there was a large economic presence there, aside from tourism. BA, you saw professionals and HQs ALL AROUND. I could be wrong though. I think SP, DF and BA were the only LA cities included in GAWC as Alphas, and Rio was a couple tiers below that.
"São Paulo makes London seem like a village"
With its feverish energy, opulent nightlife, culture and chaos, the Brazilian megalopolis is a perfect setting for Joe Thomas’s debut crime thriller https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2...ter-joe-thomas
I have been to all of the cities mentioned by the OP.
I would rank as follow
São Paulo
Mexico City
Buenos Aires- BA has gone on a sad economical downward spiral for the past 10 years or so. Need to play catch up with the other two cities
I think certain aspects of it (natural setting, notoriety, population size , etc) might include it, but having visited Rio and BA (haven't had the chance to see DF or SP), at least in my opinion BA is in a different stratosphere on infrastructure, everything really. BA actually felt like it could belong in the Mediterranean in many parts. Rio (and perhaps it has improved since 2014), simply didn't. It just didn't feel like there was a large economic presence there, aside from tourism. BA, you saw professionals and HQs ALL AROUND. I could be wrong though. I think SP, DF and BA were the only LA cities included in GAWC as Alphas, and Rio was a couple tiers below that.
Rio has only the scenery going on for it and that's it. not really fair to compare with BA
I think certain aspects of it (natural setting, notoriety, population size , etc) might include it, but having visited Rio and BA (haven't had the chance to see DF or SP), at least in my opinion BA is in a different stratosphere on infrastructure, everything really. BA actually felt like it could belong in the Mediterranean in many parts. Rio (and perhaps it has improved since 2014), simply didn't. It just didn't feel like there was a large economic presence there, aside from tourism. BA, you saw professionals and HQs ALL AROUND. I could be wrong though. I think SP, DF and BA were the only LA cities included in GAWC as Alphas, and Rio was a couple tiers below that.
Probably you only visited only south Rio (Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, Barra da tijuca) the touristic part.
Downtow Rio is the business district there. Petrobras and a lot of Brazilian big companies have HQs in Rio.
Of course Rio is smaller than São Paulo like a business city or Buenos Aires that is half of Argentina in population but is not correct say that Rio de Janeiro is only tourism.
S.E. Interesting to note economically that it is behind those too. Still felt better than a number of places I visited. Probably my favorite LatAm city I've been to. Felt safe, vibrant, historic/European, warm (but not too warm) climate, and you can just walk endlessly. In the two days I was there, I hit San Telmo, La Boca, Centro (ANDJ & CF) and Recoleta. Didn't even get a chance to make it to Puerto Madero or any of Palermo. However I see how it isn't at the level of the other two in other measures. I think one other measure that hurts it IMO for tourists and locals is lack of impressive nature around it.
I think that's a fair point. I spent time in downtown but not as much. I'm hoping to see it again post Olympics and World Cup, as I'm guessing it has improved some in this area. It is likely still Top 5 in prominence though in LA (only others I can think of are Lima and Miami*** in its tier.)
Interesting post by Antonio, as well, very balanced. Which then is your favorite overall for visiting/living? You picked Buenos Aires for security, how much safer would you say it feels than DF and SP? Also what do you like best about SP's layout? Vibrancy doesn't surprise me for that.
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