It’s the truth – while Buenos Aires is not the best in the world when it comes to public transportation (from what I hear from Alys, that award probably goes to Curitiba, Brazil), when it comes to anything else public, BA is amazing.  And actually, their public transport isn’t that bad either.

I just returned from two weeks in the city, and I’ve never seen so many well-kept, safe parks in my life.  They are literally everywhere, in all different forms and sizes: you’ve got artfully designed, formal parks like the Jardin Botanico and the Jardin Japones; massive swaths of green space, like the 965-acre Parque Tres de Febrero, complete with a few ponds; an ex-landfill that, upon the discontinuation of dumping, transformed itself into a ecological haven for plants and birds; dog parks that fill quickly with the charges of professional dog-walkers; and countless small playgrounds and gardens scattered throughout the city’s several neighborhoods.  Not a one looks forgotten, and I can’t remember a park or playground that wasn’t being enjoyed by at least a handful of people, at any and all times of day.

Some images of my favorite parks in the city…

in the Jardin Botanico

Views of the Jardin Japones; despite the closeness of the city, the garden felt peaceful and quiet

a tiny part of the Parque Tres de Febrero

Even one of their subway stations was in a park!

And speaking of subways, that and walking were almost exclusively the way that we got around this huge city.  The Subte, as it’s called, was incredibly easy to navigate, and I hear the bus system is pretty good too – we never used it, because we never needed to.  Another perk of walking in BA is that since dinner doesn’t start until around 10pm, and the nightlife doesn’t even get swinging until 3am (and goes seven days a week), you can walk around at pretty much any time of night or early morning without worrying.

Finally, the street fairs in BA were awesome – there are three major ones every Sunday, and the three Sundays that we visited them, they were PACKED.  The biggest, in the neighborhood San Telmo, runs for miles on a single street, which is shut down to all traffic except pedestrians, and then winds through a plaza surrounded by restaurants and tango venues.  There’s plenty of stuff to buy, of course, but you can also see street performers, huge tango bands, tango dancers, Brazilian dancers, and magicians, among others.

The street fair in San Telmo…the bottom picture is of a tango band that consists of one piano, three violins, one cello, one bass, four accordions, and one singer

In short: Buenos Aires is a lovely, vibrant city with plenty to recommend it to anyone; but, if you’re an architect, planner, or just someone interested in urbanism, you’ll love it even more!

Filed under: I'On Group, Urban Sustainability on December 1st, 2008