Quote:
Originally Posted by BRpokah
If you live in the favela making minimum wage with no clean water it probably doesn't feel very GOAT.
Same can be said for most super huge cities.
General comments not directed at BRPokah:
Flint isn't the only US city with major water issues, current tests reveal issues in Baltimore and Philadelphia, and I bet with our aging infrastructure there are many others. Yes, the degree of issue is much worse there.....the US is super rich and over 100, arguably 200 years ahead in terms of its evolution. The Brazilian democracy is only 27 years old. The only thing they have going for them is a strong judiciary branch which seems corrupt/biased but much less so than the other branches.
FWIW I have spent about 4 months in Rio in the last two years, 3/4ths of it alone, two months of which basically in a super local large studio/small bedroom apartment. I have seen a lot of the city, as much as any of us have realistically seen of any super big city (think LA-like footprint) (for the Brazilians ITT, I have explored on foot every non-favela neighborhood up to the Maracana and Tijuca areas in the center of the city. I have only been in the pacified favelas near the tourist areas. No time spent in Zona Norte).
Reports are the city is getting worse in terms of security. I would surmise much of this is a result of the federal goverment turmoil, which has seen an impeachment on questionable grounds, and the replacement president being someone who is legally prevented from running due to corruption (but apparently can be appointed!). This is on the tails of an economy that had been on a super bubble due to the post-US crisis dramatic increase in commodity pricing. As commodity prices have tanked, so has Brazil. Coupled with unsustainable spending by the socialist-ish government during those good times, revenues are way down, spending is way up, and things are tanking, fast. Meanwhile 2/3rds of congress is under criminal investigation, and the country already had one of the widest gaps between haves and have nots.
Things are a mess.
Re: GOATNESS
What is the criteria for GOAT city? If social and economic equality is a huge factor, then you may as well list northern European and a few super white US cities. For me my rankings are basically some soft "where would I want to live" criteria. Yes, that means for someone who can afford a US middle class lifestyle or better. That is frankly what I suspect all of us mean. No one is saying Oslo is the GOAT city because it is awesome for poor people. So I look at cost, weather, safety, food and drink, weather, culture, public transport, location etc.
Given all that, for me Rio, despite all it's issues, is the GOAT, and at the very least is in the conversation. Yes, you need to take 3rd world precautions in terms of what you carry on your person. There are some well documented negatives. But it should carry SOME weight that everyone ITT who has been there, and friends of posters who have been there also, all basically say Rio is the GOAT or amazing. There is a reason that when 538 or The Economist (I don't recall) looked at real estate prices worldwide (which in big cities are far more tied to US Dollars than local currency), Rio was such a huge outlier of real estate prices:median income that they had to exclude it from analysis. Because tons of other people feel it is the GOAT also.
Why? For me, I have no shocking answers. Heck many are in The Onion article linked above. The people are the best. Really. They are amazing. The culture is warm and fantastic. It is, by margin, the single most beautiful city in the world. Public transportation is great. By US standards the cost is very low ($40 a day rent in good area, $25 a day food, $15 a day misc is easily doable). There is tons do do. The location is great, a short drive north or south from two amazing beach islands. Weather is great.
Negatives include that it is, for a "big international city" a shockingly mediocre food city. You need to be conscious of crime and not be an idiot, and even so you likely will have something happen eventually. It is discouraging to be in a country with so much going for it, yet the same amazing culture, plus the political graft, keep it from being a global leader. And yes, it is super sad that not only does sewage keep pouring into Guanabara Bay, but that there is no real urgency to correct it.
I have travelled enough to have a tolerance for many of the negatives and focus on day to day life that is affordable and fantastic. I understand that many others might disagree. But it is telling that those that have been there all have a strong love of the city despite all the city/country issues that exist. I had hoped the Olympics would go off as well as the World Cup did, but nevertheless, Rio is still an amazing and special place.