Buenos Aires: A tale of two cities
Friday, December 2, 2016
Buenos Aires: A tale of two cities
By Agustina Larrea
Herald Staff
For many, Rivadavia Avenue is the dividing line between two very different versions of the same place the thriving north and the forgotten south
When the City government neglects our neighbourhood it has concrete consequences: our kids are dying. Literally, says Natalia Quinto, activist and member of the La Boca neighbourhood group La Boca resiste y propone (La Boca resists and proposes), an organisation that was set up some years ago after the brutal murder of Gonzalo, a 15-year-old that lived in the area.
Its Monday, its a holiday and the famous surroundings of Caminito those colourful blocks in the iconic southern barrio of La Boca in Buenos Aires City are full of tourists enjoying a warm afternoon, taking pictures with a smile and tasting traditional porteño dishes from the tables situated in the sidewalks.
Just a few blocks away, inside the La Boca Popular Library, a tiny building filled by books in the heart of the neighbourhood, Natalia and a large group are about to start a meeting to discuss some of the problems they face on a daily basis. As occurs in most of the neighbourhoods located in the south of Buenos Aires, the clustered neighbours of La Boca have to struggle with a series of challenges that a person living in the northern areas of the city, such as Núñez or Villa Urquiza, would find hard to believe.
For many, Rivadavia Avenue is the dividing-line between two very different versions of the same city: the thriving north, with beautiful buildings, the most renowned museums, the embassies and the big and tidy parks versus the forgotten south, which faces long-standing problems such as poor housing conditions, rising unemployment rates, difficulties in access to the public health system, worsening public transport, pollution especially for those living near the Riachuelo well, the list could go on.
More:
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/223949/buenos-aires-a-tale-of-two-cities