I am a UK born East Asian female who lived in Joburg (alone) as an expat for a few years... and I really love it. Yes, there are safety concerns so you must take precautions, however, I found the locals to be extremely warm and friendly (the one thing I wasn't expecting when I arrived), the weather is spot on, it's very cheap, good quality new build apartments in places like Sandton, Rosebank, Parkhurt, Bryanston etc and AMAZING quality restaurants e.g you can get an excellent fillet steak and a glass of wine for $15 in a high end restaurant. The going out scene was a little quiet but you could definitely find bars clubs open until 2/3 am. Meeting people I found easy as all the locals want to talk to you. A nomad wanting a high quality and cheap lifestyle I think would enjoy it. With that being said, Cape Town would be the better choice for a Nomad in South Africa.
Pros and Cons of Living in Sao Paulo, Brazil
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Pros of Living in Sao Paulo
Lots of fun stuff to do Warm now Warm all year round Good air quality today Nomad List members liked going here a lot Many Nomad List members here all year round Spacious and not crowded Easy to make friends High quality of education Great hospitals Democratic Safe for women Family friendly Very friendly to LGBTQ+ Not many people smoke tobacco
Cons of Living in Sao Paulo
Freedom of speech is weak Not very safe Pretty slow internet Difficult to do business Roads can be dangerous People don't speak English well -
I live here and I would like to comment on some things that might be different from what you expect: - Walkability: Definitely not great the city is huge, there are neighborhood where is safe to walk, with interesting stuff to do, but this isn't the case on most places far from west zone (Pinheiros and Vila Madalena) and Paulista avenue. Expect to use public transportation (subway and buses) and uber a lot. - LGBTQ+: Sao Paulo is the state with most homicides against trans people in the whole country. Violence against all LGBTQ+ is surging rampantly, you can search for it, there are some good of articles in English with data. - Hospitals: There are great hospitals here, but they are, as a majority, private and will cost you to use any service. Public hospitals are available, but don't expect English speaking staff or short queues, they are pretty packed (even after midnight). Prices are way off too, in the good and safe neighborhoods, don't expect to pay less that 10USD for a meal in a sit-in restaurant. There are cheaper options, but they will hardly have English speaking staff.
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I like São Paulo but I don't love it. It's pretty boring in my opinion. Probably because I love Buenos Aires so much and it just does not compare. Also for the 4 months (September - January) I was there, it was cold, overcast, and rainy 85% of the days. It was pretty depressing! Other than that, it's pretty safe overall for Latin America. Also, I really appreciate how people here take COVID more seriously than in a lot of other places in Brazil. If I had to do it again, I would stay near Ibirapuera Park - it's so beautiful.
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A particularly interesting city to make business (Brazil is the strongest economy in Latin America). I recommend learning some basic Portuguese to really network and connect with the people; Brazilians might party openly with foreigners but reserve the most interesting parts of their culture to Portuguese speakers.
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Never written a review before but I've been to most of the top cities on Nomadlist and they're all pretty good.... however Sao Paolo is a fine city, typical for Latin America, but it doesn't belong at #7 (as of this writing)
There's just nothing especially interesting about it compared to other cities. -
Greatest city to be a nomad in Brazil by far. Low crime rate when compared to Rio 4G works great in a lot of places and what you can have the most is fun here. Cost of living can be a little too high if you don't pick carefully a place, but people are friendly and help you to find the perfect place. Ah, and food here is delicious, even if you're a vegan.
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Sao Paulo is a place of high contrasts. Massive buildings roads, and road rage co-exist with peaceful parks, fantastic skies, and very kind locals. Before you go, make sure you have the right expectations because this place is the South American equivalent of LA or NYC. It is absurdly different from Rio as far as the activities and landscape. Some of my favorite things are the 20,000+ restaurants and bars, people watching (more contrast), free art museums and attractions, and the fantastic co-working spaces (not cheap, but some very well designed). On September 2021, 1 dollar buys 5.19 reais (local currency). One of the reviews mentions cold but this Spring, the temperatures are hitting 95-100F consistently. It may get "cold" there about 5 days a year.
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Sao Paulo is a great city one of the biggest in the world and has everything you'll ever need. Compare it with New York without all the glamour and you have it
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Amazing place and kind of a futuristic city!! Public transportation is also great, especially the subway.
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