Never have I seen a travel article on the city cause so much irritation amongst the "expat" community. There has been much discussion within the online groups, and most people who live here are quite offended.
This New York Times articles about Buenos Aires, by Denny Lee, flauts Buenos Aires as a cheap haven for foreign artists, as if Bohemia can be purchased.
There is some great classic writing, like this:
"And artists from the United States, England, Italy and beyond are snapping up town houses in scruffy neighborhoods and giving the areas Anglo-ized names like Palermo SoHo and Palermo Hollywood."
mmmm....geee Denny, I think these names were not given by the foreign artists, more like real estate agents expanding the Palermo area. Tag a shelter with the name Palermo and the value goes up substantially.
And have any of the Tango dancers out there ever danced the cambalache?
Most certainly Buenos Aires is a bargin for the foreign tourist/artist, but one of my artists friends from Berlin has returned to the city to live and work on scholarship, and she actually wondered if she will even be able to afford to purchase the supplies she needs after she has used her income towards the cost of living. So much for Buenos Aires being "cheap" for the artists.
I guess I am just sick of all these articles, I simply can´t relate to them. Yes, yes...I too came here two years ago to do the same and dance tango 24/7. But I actually tried to live on 1500 pesos a month, as my roommates told me the average income is 1200. I have to say, I did not succeed staying within that budget guideline. Thing is, 2 years ago it was 50% or more, less expensive to live, but alas incomes have not followed the rise of inflation.At this point the words I am writing, look as though I have thrown up all over the page, and makes no sense at all. But it is the same way I feel every time I go to buy groceries now, or sit down in a restaurant, I feel like throwing up.
I don´t mean to scare anyone away from coming here, Buenos Aires is a fantastic city. I love it, and can not imagine living anywhere else any time soon. But please, this is not an outlet mall.
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15 comments:
I am glad someone else is saying it. I just find it so arrogant, that attitude expressed in the NYT. Such a disconnect from real life! I think Buenos Aires has so much to offer, but some people are too clueless to receive it, or to give back.(Sad for them!) Buenos Aires is powerful, Argentina carries it's own strong nature. I have a lot of hope for this cultural exchange, and the more we talk about it the better.
It would be hard to deny the article was inaccurate, but I like to focus on the positive. Positive publicity = more visitors = better economy and that benefits the locals as it should. Think big picture!
Yes, tourism certainly helps the economy. I do not deny this.
The point is sure it is cheap for foreigners, but for the average local the article, is really very insulting.
The kind of money we are talking about here does NOT help the average citizen. Prices go up because tourists/expats will pay it, and the price increase affects everyone. I know, I have lived through this kind of big money influx, and it hurts. Real artists already living in BA will be priced out of their studios. People on a fixed income will be forced out of their buildings for redevelopment. Also it is so arrogant, and insensitive to the culture of Argentina. You just have to love the suggested "places to stay" at the end of the article. Places costing hundreds of dollars per night, all nicely ensconced in the touristic areas. This is not Buenos Aires, it is Disneyland.
I completly identify with the way you feel. When I lived in China people also thought it was a cheap Haven for the foreigners (laowai as they called us) and that was the only reason we were there. We, americans often don't realize that other countries have just as much to offer or perhaps even more. I'm thinking of going to BA, seeing it and if I like I'll give it a try. I have an Argentine friend and she says that prices are indeed going up. I'm not just going because it is cheaper than the states, but because it's a country I've always been fascinated with and the ove of my life happens to be an Argentine. :)
To quote an old cliche...the rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer...it's sad...and troubling...
The thing to realize is that tourism has or is going to ruin or affect many wonderful places in the world. These places attract people because they are wonderful and special and different. And there are rich obnoxious wanna-bes who annoy and impose their consumer values on the locals...that happens everywhere, from Paris to St. Barts to Buenos Aires. My bf is in the travel business and the stories I hear every day of ignorant people traveling abroad would make you ill.
When I was in Venice, as beautiful as it was, I realized that this city depends so much on tourism that it probably could not survive without it. They have no real economy. I met very few actual Venetians because they could no longer afford to live there. Many local shops and conveniences for locals were turning into places that sold masks and other touristy items. At least Buenos Aires does not have that problem.
But my point is this, for every clueless and carnivorous tourist, there are good people in the world, like you and other bloggers, who move to a country because they see the beauty of the people and truly appreciate the country for what it has to offer, not what people can gain from it.
People have been expatriating themselves for many, many years for different societal reasons. The Lost Generation of the Jazz Age would have never happened if not for World War I. And I think, with the present political climate in the US and many people's despair in our government, than an idyll somewhere out in the world where they can do their art or live the life they dream of is a ray of hope for some.
more visitors = better economy and that benefits the locals as it should. Think big picture!
I'm sorry, but more visitors does not benefit all of the locals! The article made me sick and I'm glad it made others sick, as well. I bumped into some of the most ignorant Americans on a plane a few weeks ago, cooing about their daughter's "super-cheap $900 apartment" in the Centro. I'm sorry, but 2700 pesos a month isn't cheap. It's one less gem that a local can enjoy.
Expats in BsAs who work for foreign companies to "export their lifestyles" and most study abroad students are wreaking havoc on this country, and little are making an effort to get to know people from here or the culture, content to impose their culture on BsAs.
And cheap? How is 300 pesos for a cordless phone cheap? 300 pesos for a dinner--really? That's authentic??
I couldn't even keep on reading after all that "foreigner x, foreigner y" and "all those foreigners TURNING BsAs into a" - a what? "throbbing hothouse of cool"?? I want to throw up. Total ignorance of Argentines, an Argentine city, the country. What a pile of crap! Do they not even read before they publish? I mean, can just any eejit with zero knowledge of nothing produce some mental diarrhea and publish it in the NYT? Obviously...
oh Coogie, you make me giggle!
American bragging about how cheap their daughters flat was in BA? Oh My God that is indeed the typical attitude of ignorant Americans abraod. In Asia they would act just as ridiculous. As a native Spanish speaker there is nothing more I hate when Americans live in another country and refuse to learn the language.
Holly! Thank you for circulating your comments on this piece in the Vancouver tango community. It was nice to put the article in perspective.
BA is not the only city where this kind of globalized gentrification is happening, where rich people (and middle class) from first world countries take advantage of poverty abroad as an opportunity to indulge their cultural fetishes.
While the cost of living may be cheaper, it comes with a price – the suffering of the local people.
I would like to see more respect and solidarity for the people of Argentina.
Jennifer Moreau
Great post Miss Tango.
I personally think that the article is only a tourists hook.
I agree with the former comments and I would like to add that Argentina is not just Buenos Aires or the Palermo-Whatever ghettos. Argentina is the size of the whole American Midwest (maybe bigger) and is complex and diverse in politics and culture.
Porteños never had a real tourism industry in the past. In part due to the "1 to 1" fantasy, in part because of the geography and also because of bad reputation and horrible dictatorships. The result was isolation and nowadays we´re going towards the other extreme of the pendulum. But don´t worry, they are waves that come and go.
I don´t think prices are going up because of the tourists, yet. Prices are going up (men, they are!) as a consequence of the economic policies like intervention of some markets and shark multinational funds/corporations distorting the production structure.
What any foreign person needs to know when thinking of living here is that there are different Real State laws in Buenos Aires. Squatters are somehow "protected" or I should say not as easily thrown out of the apartments like in other countries. So owners take measures to cover themselves in advance, like asking for a garantía (pledging a deed on a piece of property, 2 months deposit and proofs that you have had a real job for a long time, in white!, etc.)
If you can fulfill these terms you can get affordable rent prices. If you don´t, you are stuck in the tourist circle and you will have to pay for temporary accommodation big dollar figures as you mentioned.
The worst part of it is that these rules also apply to porteños and some of them don´t have savings or jobs to afford doing so.
I love Buenos Aires and I wouldn´t live anywhere else again. With its goods and bads is like living in a real Tango.
Sorry for the long comment.
PS: at home we are your fans.
Yes very cliché.
Meat, wine, nightlife and tango.
It helps tourism, not a bad thing.
Thanks God we still have Pompeya, Mataderos, San Cristobal Flores, etc.
BAires is much more than Palermo Boliwood (Bol for boludo)
Palermo Boliwood! Love it!
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