Southern Neighborhood Notes

Yesterday was my first time in the neighborhoods south of the center: Boca, San Telmo and Puerto Madera.

Boca was at the mouth of the Rio Plata and the main harbor for BA in the city's early days (the river has since been channelized, and the port is north of the city, directly on the Atlantic Ocean). This neighborhood was the landing point for the first wave of Italian immigrants, and it continues to be one of thepoorest areas of the city, the Italians are long gone, but it is still primarily an immigrant neighborhood. It is one of the lowest parts or the city and prone to flooding, so as soon as one can afford to, they move to higher ground. Despite the poor reputation (and poor plumbing), I found the colorful buildings and small, narrow streets inviting - it is a shame that the main drag in Boca has been taken over by chintzy tourist shops and everything off the main street is a broken-down slum. Still, I'll return this Sunday for a futbol match - Boca is home to Argentina's most popular and successful team.

San Telmo is north (and out of the flood plain) from Boca, and features much of the city's colonial architecture. It is more consistent looking, upscale, and ped friednly than much of the city, but it is also overrun with tourist shops - the wealthy abandoned the neighborhood following a yellow fever outbreak 100 years ago, and everyone else was priced out by the tourist shops.

Puerto Madera was the industrial zone on the Rio Plata that replaced Boca as the city's main port. Unfortunately, the locks and dams built along the river were too small for most shipping boats, and the port was closed and relocated to the north within 15 years of its opening. The warehouses were abandoned, and the whole area sat fallow for years. About 10 years ago, developers began rehabilitating the area - buildings on the west bank of the river were converted to student housing and classroom space for the Catholic University of Buenos Aires (along with a number of chain bars, including Hooters). On the opposite bank, most of the buildings were demolished and huge apartment towers took their place. Even with the crash of 2001, real estate in this area is doing well - one of the Argentines I asked claimed that apartments sell for $5000 US per square meter. This information is subject to be totalyl wrong, based on his lack of information and my lack of Spanish comprehension. Notice how my lack of accurate information doesn't keep me from writing things down.

For a city with a river and access to the coast, it seems to me that BA does a poor job of engaging or activating the waterfront. You could be here for days without seeing a drop of water (unless it fell on your head from a free-standing air conditioner), and even in the spots where the Rio Plata flows through the city, little is done to bring people to the water. The bridge is a nice feature, and as construbtion continues in the old port area it will be interesting to see if additional investment occurs to highlight the natural ammenity of the river.

OK - enough for now. I plan on heading back to some of these areas on Saturday to take more pictures. I'll also try to hit some more contemporary areas of the city for comparison.