The quietest neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires

The City of Buenos Aires is composed of 48 neighbourhoods. Each of them has its history, its characteristics and its distinctions that make each of them unique. One of the characteristics that people look for in a neighbourhood is the level of noise (or silence) it has. We will now mention some of the quietest neighbourhoods of the City of Buenos Aires.

For starters, the neighbourhood of Versailles is considered the quietest of the whole City of Buenos Aires. This neighbourhood of Buenos Aires is located in the South-West area of the City. The reasons why the neighbourhood of Versailles is considered the quietest is because: it is a residential neighbourhood; it only has 3 avenues; and it is not allowed to construct buildings of more than 3 stories.

Another neighbourhood that could be considered really quiet is Villa Devoto, next to Versailles. This neighbourhood is really quiet, although it will depend how far you are from the avenues (where it can be a bit noisier). Villa Devoto is also a residential area and it used to be forbidden to build high buildings, so although there are some tall ones now, the constructions are still generally lower than in other neighborhoods.

Another neighbourhood of Buenos Aires that is quiet is Puerto Madero. This building is a bit separated from the city and it is located by the river, so it is naturally aisolated, which allows it to be quieter than other places of Buenos Aires. Despite having really tall buildings, Puerto Madero is quiet (and also quite expensive).

An area within the neighbourhood of Recoleta named “La Isla” (the island) could also be considered a quiet place, since there isn’t much traffic going on those areas. Still, it is also expensive.

Despite the boom in construction during the last few years, some neighbourhoods are still quiet and calm… Let’s hope this continues like that for a long time.

Companies of elevator for buildings

These days, the new buildings (and some old ones too) have elevators. Elevators are important for the building, especially for those that have many floors or where many elderly people live in, or families with kids…Actually, even the most active person would need the elevator when he/she comes from doing the shopping and has many bags to carry…

For those who are constructing a new building or who live in an already constructed building that want to install an elevator, we will now mention some companies you can have in mind when installing the elevator.

SICEM SRL: A solution in the installation and maintenance of elevators, panels, controls, etc. This elevator company offers electro-mechanic elevators, hydraulics, electrics, and residential ones too. Website. 

ASC. CONDOR SRL: El Condor offers technical support and maintenance, and it also offers cabins, automatic doors, traction machines, among other accessories and services. It offers electro-mechanic elevators, hydraulics, high-speed, and panoramic ones. Website. 

COUCEIRO SA: This elevator company offers button panels, cabins, machines, doors, and maintenance service and installation of elevators. It offers electro-mechanic and hydraulic elevators. Website. 

QLD SA: This elevator company offers its own designs on cabins, doors, traction systems, guides and cables, accessories, and fully-equipped elevators (both electro-mechanic and hydraulic ones). Website. 

GUILLEMI JOAQUIN S.R.L: This company offers electro-mechanic elevators, hydraulic and pneumatic ones as well. Moreover, it offers post-sale services for its maintenance. Website. 

IBEL: This elevator company offers hydraulic elevators, elevators without the need of a machine room, electric elevators, high-speed elevators and panoramic elevators. Website. 

WITTUR S.A.: This elevator company offers doors, door mechanisms, speed controllers, security devices, cabins, and others. It has hydraulic elevators, elevators without the need of a machine room, electric elevators, panoramic and residential elevators. Website. 

OTIS: This elevator company has elevators for people and freight all of the latest generation. Website. 

TELESI S.R.L: This company has Standard elevators, panoramic ones and elevators without the need of a machine room. Website. 

TRANSPORTES VERTICALES ESPECIALES: This elevator company offers electro-mechanic elevators and hydraulic ones for residences and buildings. It also offers maintenance services. Website. 

ASCENSORES GARHARDT: This company offers elevators and its necessary maintenance service, as well as other products for elevators. Website. 

Shops on the lower floors of buildings: New Trend

In addition to the new boom of constructing high quality buildings with a wide range of amenities in them, during the last few months a new trend has come to stay: the gastronomic businesses on the lower floors of buildings.

In many neighbourhoods of the City of Buenos Aires, such as Palermo and Belgrano, this new trend of installing gastronomic businesses on the lower floors of the buildings has become really popular in Buenos Aires. Many specialists when referring to this new trend in the buildings of Buenos Aires comment that the constructors and real estate agencies look for distinguished brands to open their businesses there, so to attract people to buy or rent in the building. As many specialists agree, it is not the same to have a “gourmet-like” café or a shop that sells delicatessen on the lower floor of your building that a business that sells fast-food. Clearly, the type of gastronomic business that opens in the lower floor of a building may attract or shoo new buyers or tenants of the apartments.

This idea of mixing the commercial and the residential areas in the same building is becoming really popular nowadays, and not just by installing gastronomic businesses on the lower floors. Some of the newest constructions are authorized to have apartments that work both as residencies and as commercial offices. So you could live in a building and your neighbour could have his/her office. Every day, this trend is becoming more and more popular in the City of Buenos Aires.

Still, every type of commercial business that want to be mixed with residences should be analyzed thoroughly, since, as we have mentioned, it could be good or bad for business.

This new fashion of mixing gastronomic businesses, or any type of commercial business (even small hotels) with residential apartments first appeared in the neighbourhoods of Puerto Madero and Retiro. Now, it has spread towards the neighbourhoods of Palermo, San Telmo, Belgrano and La Boca.

So, now you know. If you are looking for an apartment, you may find one in a building that has a gastronomic business that will provide your breakfasts or lunches when you don’t want to cook, without the need of having to walk many blocks to get what you want to drink/eat.

Living on a building over an avenues, is it safer?

Nowadays, security in Buenos Aires is an important factor when people are choosing a house or an apartment to live in. The truth is that no neighborhood is free from burglaries, but some things may help the area to be more or less safer.

As you can read or hear in the news, these days, buildings are not exempt from being robbed. Nevertheless, many neighbors who live in buildings around the city of Buenos Aires today choose to hire security services, or install cameras in order to feel a bit safer.

Likewise, many people think or believe that if they live over an avenue that is crowded, security is higher. This may be true, since if there is a lot of people and cars moving all day long, burglars may be more exposed. Moreover, those streets that are very busy usually have more police control.

Some of the avenues of Buenos Aires that may be safer, or at least they can feel that way, may be those that have many shops or that are more touristy.

These avenues of Buenos Aires may be Av. Santa Fe, Av. Cordoba, Av. Cabildo, among others.

Of course that there may be some parts of the avenues that are not as important as others, or that they don’t have as much movement as others. Those areas that are not as busy as others may be equally safe as living in a regular street, when referring to security.

The truth is that there may be also some regular streets (not avenues) that are well-lit and that are busy streets which may turn out to be as safe as living in a building over an avenue.

To conclude, it may be true that living in a building over an avenue is safer, but this is not a 100% true fact; it will depend on the avenue, the neighborhood, the security in general of the area and other factors that should be analyzed particularly for each case.

How to make a vegetable garden in you balcony

Even though some people may think that they need extensions of land in order to have their own vegetable garden, this is not totally true. If you have some fertile soil and you provide the plant some space to grow and some light, you can have your own vegetable garden in your balcony, patio or terrace.

For starters, those who want to have a vegetable garden in their balconies should first check if they have enough light for the plants. All plants need natural light, at least a few hours a day, in order to grow. Once you have checked that, you should get some plant pots (at first they can be small pots), fertile soil, compost or manure (it can be earthworm humus), and small stones.

As we have mentioned, the plant pots can be small, since the seed needs to germinate first. Once it has grown roots, you can pass it into a bigger pot, in order it can grow better- remember that plants need space to grow. Those who want to have a vegetable garden on their balcony and don’t have much space may choose a medium-sized plant pot.

Now, another question you might be wondering is, what type of plants should I plant first? According to a specialist, it is recommended that in order to have a good vegetable garden –in your balcony, or wherever you want-, you should start by growing vegetables and legumes and aromatic plants. This type of plants are said to generate the right ecosystem so that you can add more types of plants later. Some people may just want to plant aromatic plants to season your food. Those who want to have those types of plants in your balcony may choose to plant oregano, parsley, peppermint, rosemary, among others. This is an interesting option if you like cooking with those species.

Before growing your own vegetable garden in your balcony, you should bear in mind that plants need special attention, and each type has its own needs. Likewise, not all plants are planted in the same season; some grow in winter, other in spring, etc. Moreover, remember that you need to water the plants, but you shouldn’t drown them. The soil of your vegetable garden in your balcony should be always humid, not soaked; there shouldn’t be any puddles of water.

Lastly, those who don’t have much space on their balconies but still want a vegetable garden may choose to make a vertical vegetable garden. For that, they could hang pots on the wall (if they have one), or buy some pot hanger that are lowered and which allows you to put more than one pot on the same space. This way you will have more places where to have your vegetable garden without invading your balcony with pots.

Working and living in the same apartment

Nowadays, it is common that many people work from home, whether because they decided to work on their own or the company they work for allows it. For those who have never worked from home, it may be difficult for you at the beginning, specially for those that are independent workers and earn what they work, and think all they have to do is work, work and work, 24 hours a day. But not to worry, you will find the balance.

At first, working from home can be challenging, but it is only a matter of organizing. First, it is important that you separate the working environment from the house environment. It doesn't matter if you live in a studio; you need to have a separate desk which will be your working area. This will be good because you will be able to stop working and relax although you are in the same room.

Many specialists or people that are used to working at home think and believe that it is better to choose a bright place to work, and if you have a nice window with a view, you may also want to choose to put your desk there, so you can see the view and relax while at work.

This idea of working and living in the same place has been studied thoroughly and there are many ideas on how to decorate your working space so that it adapts to your house decoration. Decorating the working space can be a good way of mixing and at the same time, separating work space and living space.

Working and living in the same apartment can be a challenge, as we have mentioned, but if you know how to organize and separate spaces, it shouldn’t be. Some things that you might have in mind if you work and live in the same apartment is to have different phone lines, because you don't want friends calling you while you work, or clients calling at night, while you are watching a movie.

These types of things of separating the work from the leisure time are important, so you should have separate spaces (even if it is in the same room). If you need some ideas on how to decorate your working space at home, there are many websites that can help you with that. The rest, is just a matter of adjusting.

Decorating your apartment with recycled products

For many years now the new idea of recycling apartments and houses to make them more attractive and a little bit more chic, has become more popular. Now, for those who want to give their houses or apartments a new touch, why not try with recycled products and decoration objects?

These days, there are many shops that sell recycled products that are ready for sale and to be put on the shelf, without the need of doing it on your own. Nevertheless, many people find it entertaining and relaxing to recycle their own things, so you can do that too.

The most common examples of recycled decoration objects and things are the food or beverage containers. For example, the cans (from tuna, peaches, peas, corn, etc) can be turned (after being cleaned and painted) into a pencil holder, a little plant pot, or whatever you can think of. Likewise, the glass or plastic jars may turn into a pretty good container after you decorate it, and you can put sugar, coffee, tea bags, etc in it.

Another thing that can be recycled and that has become really popular these days is recycled furniture. Chairs, tables, and, why not, wooden stairs can sand down, painted, adjusted and turned into a pretty cool new decoration piece for your house. You can choose to put it in the living room, the kitchen, or wherever you like! Nowdays, it is really popular to have chairs of different types and colours in the living room; all of them have generally been recycled (each one of them in different ways). Moreover, the old wooden stairs, once they have been reinforced, can be good as decoration or furniture. You can use parts of the stair as shelves or put some wooden shelves on the open stairs and use it as a place to put your plates and glasses on your kitchen.

So, you can decorate your apartment and recycle all the things you want and make your apartment or house as cozy and personal as you like it to be; plus, you will be making it a bit more environmentally-friendly and chic at the same time. This is a new trend that is becoming popular, so you can find a new hobby and start recycling things, while decorating your apartment.

Building a flood-proof house in the City

After the big storm that Buenos Aires suffered in April, it seems that the storms will continue to come unless something is done. Since this is not only a matter of structure but a matter of great amounts of water falling in little time, the idea of building a flood-proof house is good and logical.

For those who are thinking of building a house, here are some tips and pieces of advice that may help you build a flood-proof house, or at least they will prevent from tons of waters entering your house.

The first thing to have in mind when building a flood-proof house is to build it as high as possible. Elevating your house can be a good start to prevent it from flooding. The higher the house, the less likely it will inundate.

Even though it may be a good idea to build your house on a second floor and put a garage on the first, the garage should also be high. During this last great storm many garages that were at the level of the street got flooded. Of course, that a subterranean garage goes against any idea of having a flood-proof house!

Another idea that may help to make your house flood-proof is to have the floor that surrounds your house in decline, so that water doesn’t accumulate. This would mean having your house raised from the level of the street, as we have mentioned at the beginning. Still, before doing anything, you should check if the municipality allows this type of constructions (having the land in decline), since it could affect your neighbours.

One tip to have in mind when building a flood-proof house is that you should have a gabled roof. This way, the water can’t accumulate in the roof, so water shouldn’t start coming down from the ceiling.

Likewise, it is recommended that besides having your house a bit higher than at the level of the street, you should put all the electrical appliances and systems a bit higher too, just in case some water enters into the house. This way they don’t get ruined (in case water does enter into the house, of course).

To conclude, if you want to have a flood-proof house first you need to think of building it a bit higher. Surely, the higher it is the land where you build the house, the better. Once you have that, you can close your doors and windows hermetically to avoid any filtration, and there, now you can be a bit more relaxed when it starts raining.

Most affected areas by the rough weather in the City of Buenos Aires

In the early morning of April, 2^nd, between 12am and 7am, around 155 millimetres of water fell non-stop over the City of Buenos Aires, La Plata and the surroundings. This great amount of water caused damages, flooding and even deaths.

According to the news, in the City of Buenos Aires there were 8 people who lost their lives. In La Plata, it had been estimated that the number have reached to 51.

According to the media, the most affected areas during the big storm was Barrio Mitre (in the neighbourhood of Saavedra), although a great part of the neighbourhood of Belgrano also suffered a lot due to the floods. Likewise, other neighrbohoods like Caballito, Parque Chacabuco, Villa Ortúzar, Villa Pueyrredón, Villa Soldati, Villa Lugano and Mataderos flooded and the water reached really high levels. Many people had to be moved from their houses because they have flooded, and so it was done to prevent any deaths. This type of weather may be fatal, especially for those people who are in the street at the time. Imagine that if the torrent produced by the rain moved cars, it can easily move people.

After the storm and the flooding, once the water started to go down, many people around the city of Buenos Aires found pilled cars and branches fallen on the streets, together with a power cut (some done on purpose to prevent problems, and others because of broken engines), and many houses with their sofas on the kitchen.

Many organizations, people and the government started helping all those people who have had problems due to the great storm.

According to the Observatory in Villa Ortuzar, the amount of rain that fell -155mm- broke the history record (in the month of April). The previous record during the month of April was in 1989, when 142mm of water fell. Still, the greater amount of infrastructure in the whole City of Buenos Aires and the surroundings have probably affected and increased the chances of flooding and damages.

The storm has affected many people and many neighbourhoods of the City of Buenos Aires, and other localities of Buenos Aires (La Plata was deeply affected). Thanks to the help of many neighbours, NGOs and the government, things are slowly going back to normal, and solutions are being given.