Quality of life or quantity of life?
Tomaso.
And the others.
Well I have not lived here as long as you have, (only a year) but it seems to be me that most of the things you have include in your list of pros and cons are about prices of good and services compared with the US. In other words. The "quantity of life". You have said very little the "quality of life"
I agree with about the overpricing of designer label shoes and clothes. Locally produced cloths and shoes are reasonable, especially if you buy in discount stores, but you have to be careful about quality. Many local producers use cheap and inferior materials. But anyway, with cheap slave labour, and high tech capital investment, China is in the process of wiping out the rest of the word's clothing industry. Did you really come here to buy Hugo Boss shirts, or Armani Jackets?
When it comes to chicas, you're also right that this 300 pesos and hour 80 pesos a drink is not for everybody. But that Recoleta scene is for dumb tourist, on a one week vacation, who don't read this board and think that's cheap. There is plenty of good value pussy to be had. This business is a bit hit and miss, wherever you are in the world. BA is no different. But with a bit of persistence, and if you speak a bit of Spanish, you can find, charming, sexy girls here, with a great attitude, at a third of the price you'd pay in the UK, or Europe and less then half the price of Europe, especially nice are Paraguayas, and provincial girls form Tucuman, Corrientes or Salta. Portenas tend to be a bit more businesslike and hard-headed especially those who speak reasonable English. When I meet a local girl who speaks English I am always a bit wary, especially if she's a 9 or a 10, and if she's used to working in Blacks, Madahos or the like. She knows she can make a quick buck from high rolling tourists, who think this place is cheap compared to London, Manhatten or Milan.
I don't agree with you about transport. Public transport is dirt cheap. Taxis have gone up in price last year but still cheap and operate all night. I have never been overcharged or taken by the wrong route. I can come out of Tango club at 4 in the morning anywhere in the city and find a cab in less than two minutes. The subte works fine as do city buses. Can be a bit crowded at rush hour. Good idea to avoid the line between Retiro and Constitution on a Friday evening. Suburban trains another matter. Train to Tigre OK, but suburban trains out of Constitution especially to poorer southern suburbs, dirty unreliable and dangerous.
The politics. Well to be sure no great shakes, plenty of corruption, and inefficiency, but then anyone who watched the aftermath of New Orleans flood, might be hard to convince that the US government is up to the job. Here at least they don't have a government that is embarking on a series of incompetent, counter-productive and wrong-headed foreign policy adventures. One good reason for living here is not having to be part of "the war on terror".
But if you are talking about "quality of life" and not just the price of pussy and nike trainers, then one good reason for living here is the people. I don't know if my experience is atypical, but I find people here, with the odd exception, charming, generous, educated, aware (much more so than the average American. I don't know if any of you went to the recent annual two week long book fair but if you did you would have been amazed to see half the population of BA, or so it seemed, whole families, kids, grandmothers. Everyone browsing through the book stands attending talks by visiting authors, enjoying the free concerts. Make no mistake about it these are educated, aware people) and, for the most part, people here are just plain easy to get on with, especially if you go outside the snob parts of BA (Recolata, Bario Norte, San Isidro etc) To be sure I wouldn't like to run a business here. Business transactions bring seem to bring out the worst in people, especailly it seems in Argentinians, but when it comes to normal day-to-day social interaction, or meeting people as you travel around, living in Argentina is a pleasure.
And last but not least, BA is a great place if you like music and dance. If you like music of any kind, classical, jazz, 1970s soul, Cuban salsa, Brazilian samba, Bolivian, Spanish pop or flamenco, Argentinian folk, or tango, then BA is a great place. CDs are a third of the price In the summer there are countless free outdoor conderts. Ticket prices are low. The standard of musicianship is high and the people here very appreciative, and involved. Sure you have great night life in San Francisco, New York or London, but has become seriously expensive and hard work. When I come out of club, in London or New York at three in the morning to go home, the price of the taxi home (if you can find one) would keep me in pussy for a week in BA.
Last but not least. I am getting a bit tired of people on this board writing about the "golden years" after the crash. After WW2 I am told you could have pussy in Berlin for the price of a pair of stocking. My dad spent a month in 1948 in the south of France staying in the best hotels and eating at the best restaurants, on a teacher's salary. That was then. Now is now. Forget 2002-5 that was an economic blip, a short period of hypercheapness. Now we are back to "normal", and Argentina is still cheap for most things. Anyone who only goes to places that dumb tourists go, is not going to find many bargains, for pussy or for anything else, and that doesn't matter whether you are in Paris, New York or BA. Just live a bit more like the local do and you'll be fine