Tired of small town beach life. Where to next ?

02/06/23 @Julien
Hi, all,

I’m Alan. I live in Ilhéus. I’m tired of small town beach life. Where to next?
-@alan279

Hi, Alan!

So far, besides living for considerable time in Aracaju and Manaus, I've spent time in (north to south)

• Teresina
• Fortaleza
• Natal
• Recife
• Maceió
• Salvador
• Belo Horizonte
• Ouro Preto
• Brasília
• Vitória
• Rio de Janeiro
• Petrópolis
• São Paulo
• Foz do Iguaçu
• Florianópolis

The only ones I probably wouldn't live in are Teresina (too HOT!) and Brasília (too artificial).

As you can see, that's a very wide variety.  I bet that if you started a thread, "Where to next?" You'd get a lot of interesting answers.

Any relatively car free places come to mind?

Hello everyone,

Welcome Alan, please note that I have created a new thread from your question on the Brazil forum for better interaction.

All the best

Bhavna

02/06/23 Any relatively car free places come to mind?
-@alan279

With the widespread availability and convenience of Uber in Brazil, virtually any major Brazilian city can be car free.  My husband and I spend around R$400 to R$500/month in Manaus on Uber and come and go as we please.  It's cheaper than keeping a car, and somebody else does the driving.

@Julien
Hi, all,

I’m Alan. I live in Ilhéus. I’m tired of small town beach life. Where to next?
-@alan279

Gosh....

It depends what you seek after..

if you search for a slower pace, less urban violence, lower cost of living, and a livable place where you can walk, meet and greet, there are plenty options.

There is a cable TV program you can actually see a lot of cities..

Programa 'Brasil Visto de Cima

On TV Brasil dial.  Maybe there's the same content on Youtube. 

I would go through that.

If was going to be on your shoes, and seek out a place I can actually make long term plans to live, I would peruse the following places/towns

State of Minas Gerais

Ouro Preto

Mariana

Juiz de Fora

Uberlandia

All lower tier cities, each with specific charming or practical characteristics.

Ouro Preto and Mariana are hilly towns, with cobblestone streets, and lots of preserved architecture from the XVIII Century. 

Ouro Preto has lots of College Students, lots of Artisan shops, and, as everywhere in the State of Minas Gerais, hearty country fare ( food )

State of Sao Paulo

Santos-  Coastal Town, port City with a waterfront for seasonal and full time beachcombers. Lots of Brazilian retirees head there. It's an MSA with over 600,000, so it ain't a small city.

Positives-  Santa Casa de Misericordia Hospital - serviceable for a run to the hospital. Anything else, it's an hour bus ride. 

Negative- There's been a spike in urban crime rates in the City. The sanitary quality of beaches is not something to rave about.

There are other neighoring towns. 

ABC Region

Sao Caetano do Sul.  This is no paradisiac place, it's a town with 200,000 or so population.  Excellent public health care for the Golden Age.

Two years into your residency, your run to the city's health care network is free.  Sao Caetano is a Lions/Rotary kind of town.  That's how you meet people.  Sao Caetano's bragging rights is there are not Shanty enclaves in anywhere. The better areas are above Avenida Goias.

You are on the rail stop there.

Santo Andre- Same deal as Sao Caetano, albeit a bit bigger ( 700,000 ). Extensive health care facilities, from Community Health Centers, Specialized Clinics, Hospitals ( Private and Public ) , Drugstores..  The Lions Club runs a non profit for the poor Diagnotic Clinic there. 

Holambra - It's a Dutch Heritage Enclave outside the Campinas MSA. Place is well visited throughout the year due to is flourishing Flower Trade.

Piracicaba - Mid size town. Home of a renowed  Agricultural College, and A Methodist University. Powerhouse in Women''s Basketball. 

Aguas de Lindoia - It's a Water Springs type of Town for people who seek treatments for ailments.  In going to Aguas de Lindoia, it is worth to drop by Braganca Paulista, a small bustling College Town, also know to be Brazil's Sausage Capital ( it's a cottage industry there ).

Also nearby, Atibaia, which has become an enclave for well to do Paulistanos who wanted out of town.  Excellent mountain range climate in Atibaia.

Speaking for rich folk hinterland enclave, drop by Itu a mid size town by Brazilian standards.  Gated Golf Course commmunities out there. 

Santa Barbara d'Oeste and Americana-  If you are a Southern Genteel, you will appreciated they actually preserved the Antebelum Southern Heritage. Americana is a textile hub.  Both clean small towns. 

Taubate.  Charming and bustling.  College town. Lots of manufacturing.  Low key, easy going pace of affairs.  In all fairness, all towns

by the Vale do Paraiba, where Taubate is located, are deserving of be seen.  Sao Jose dos Campos is a larger town, home of Brazil's Aviation Industry. Aparecida thrives on being a Catholic Pilmigrage hub. Guaratingueta has a lot of preserved old architecture. Lorena is a quaint little town .

Campinas.  The City is a large metropolis, a bit too sprawly. It's a tech hub.  Great on health care, education.  Lots of Satellite Cities ou the exurbs, such as Valinhos,Vinhedo, Sumare, Indaiatuba, Holambra, Paulinia.  In living in Campinas, having a car is a must.

Ribeirao Preto - It's monikered as Brazilian California. There is no coast line, it is hot and dry. Busy Metropolis.

Metro Sao Paulo - There are neighorhoods in the City of Sao Paulo you might as well be in a small town, for the feel of it. 

Noteworthy examples....

Casa Verde, Mooca, Ipiranga, Most of the North Side, Cambuci, Campos Eliseos, Belem, plenty more I can't remember of.

State of Parana

Curitiba- Curitiba's calling card is its urbanization, public parks, clean curbsides, universities.  It's can be blistery cold during winter months, although no snow falls there.  Huge enclave for descendants if Ukranians, Lithuanians, Polish, Japanese, Italians, and just about everyone else.  You can cross the entire city on its accessible bus lines with enclosed stops.

Noteworthy Cities : Maringa, Londrina, Paranagua ( Coastal ), Ponta Grossa.

@abthree

I’m thinking of places that don’t park cars on the streets. Paris is eliminating street parking of cars. Menlo Park, California didn’t allow overnight car parking years ago. Most places, there are cars circling for parking spaces. Not Japan, I think.

But parking is a bit off topic…

@sprealestatebroker

What do I seek? That’s an excellent question.

A European city with a downtown closed to cars that has excellent travel connections. And no snow!

Thats unobtainable. Especially in Brazil.

Rio or São Paulo would seem to be best for travel connections. Both have Metros.  Neighborhoods with everything you need within a short walk exist.

Rio’s VLT intrigues me. I like Confeitaria Columbo!

Bike paths are a plus.

Museums are a plus for me.

Have I answered your question, and mine? 😀

02/07/23 @abthree
But parking is a bit off topic…
-@alan279

Not in this thread, it isn't! 😂

The only completely car-free place that I'm aware of in Brazil is the island of Paquetá, in Guanabara Bay off Rio de Janeiro. Very beautiful, and only bicycles and horse-drawn carriages allowed. I wouldn't recommend swimming in the bay, though.

Plenty of Brazilian cities have pedestrian-only commercial areas, but I don't think they'd meet your specs. Santa Teresa in Rio may come the closest. If we were going to move to Rio, that's where we'd look first.

Paqueta is on my list of places to visit. I thought Santa Teresa would suit me, but the hills!

I haven’t owned a car in ten years. I can walk to markets, restaurants, beach, even to a small airport. City buses run north and south for twenty miles along the beach. Uber is cheap. And I want a train? 🤔

That trip to Europe spoiled me.

@abthree

The National Park of  Chapada Diamantina, in Bahia, about 150 hectares in size,bans all cars, moving or parked.  Also motorcycles, planes and helicopters.  Also cell phone towers and electric power lines.

While its not encouraged, there are still people who live inside the park boundaries, some of them zealously guarding private stakes that supposedly still yield diamonds.

The park is many things but boring is not one of them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapada_D … ional_Park

@abthree
I’m thinking of places that don’t park cars on the streets. Paris is eliminating street parking of cars. Menlo Park, California didn’t allow overnight car parking years ago. Most places, there are cars circling for parking spaces. Not Japan, I think.

But parking is a bit off topic…
-@alan279

Brazil is years behind what the Dutch have thus far accomplished  with a car less culture.  Brazilians are not trendsetters.  They are followers.

Third World Countries, once there is a budding middle class, have this idiotic inferiority complex where they must ride a car everywhere to be someone.

As i previously mentioned, you might want to consider certain  historic downtown areas in median to large cities, where the local administration is pushing out cars by the vicinity. 

You will  see that coming up in Sao Paulo's Downtown/Republica, Rio de Janeiro's Downtown.

The key to housing affordability is to be open minded for conversions, where an office suite becomes your next loft apartment.

Since Brazil is behind the US in these trends, by my estimates on 30 years, you still can come out ahead and score good on pricing for  rentals or acquisitions. 

@sprealestatebroker
What do I seek? That’s an excellent question.

A European city with a downtown closed to cars that has excellent travel connections. And no snow!

Thats unobtainable. Especially in Brazil.

Rio or São Paulo would seem to be best for travel connections. Both have Metros. Neighborhoods with everything you need within a short walk exist.

Rio’s VLT intrigues me. I like Confeitaria Columbo!

Bike paths are a plus.

Museums are a plus for me.

Have I answered your question, and mine? 😀
-@alan279

You won't be able to rid yourself of curbsides filled with cars on large MSAs in Brazil. 

But you can minimize the blow....

For my domain knowledge, City  Sao Paulo.

Old Neighborhoods meant for pedestrians.

Bom Retiro ( Garment District ), on the upper side, close to Luz Public Garden.  Right then and there you will have

The Pinacoteca do Estado ( Art Museum ), the Sacred Art Museum, the

Here's a random collage of photos I collected.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/d2EUMfgXD7tVTwtA8

Bom Retiro affords you the commuter rail, the subway's  Yellow and Blue Lines.

You need to be above the floor plain line, so between the Luz Rail Station and Rua dos Bandeirantes by the way of Rua Prates is ideal.

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Campos Eliseos

https://photos.app.goo.gl/T6hpB8Ld9DrnZD4J8

Once in a distant past Sao Paulo's wealthy enclave, it has seen its decline and now a resurgence of sorts, specially amongst youngsters. 

You are by the Red Line.

People will give you the wrong vibe with the drug trade, which is held by Santa Ifigenia, a bordering neighborhood.  It's important to make such distinction. 

***************

Centro Historico

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WjXAxVLESfeYrb1T7

Se

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ym7SaP34UVVwJYAz5

Both neighborhoods intertwine.  For as long as you avoid the Lower Glicerio, where Se meets Liberdade, you should be fine.

Red and Blue Lines.

**************

Speaking of the devil...

Liberdade

https://photos.app.goo.gl/oD9JnjsVc9Y5qcV47

It used to be a Japanese enclave. Nowadays it is converting itself into Chinatown. If you can rent by the main square, you are golden.

Don't stray too far towards the bottom.  Stay around the hanging Japanese Street Lanterns. 

The  City's Main Mason Lodge in there, in case you into those things.

Blue Line

**************

Republica.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9g31bUUoowvGMoq46

It's a bit noisy and promiscuous at times. For no other reason, it is one of the City's Gay enclaves.

If you into having sound sleep nights, avoid it at all costs. 

Friday's Happy Hour in Republica is a place to be reckoned.  Get used to reefer waft , because a lot of people smoke out openly.

Red and Yellow Lines

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Vila Buarque

Now, there is a place to please Greeks and Romans.   

It's a bit of an artsy fartsy kind of place.

You are at the footsteps of Santa Casa de Misericordia's Hospital campus, a place to be enjoyed.  And Mackenzie Presbiterian University.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hqNVoeFthsvBvB44A

The lower part borders Republic and it is a bit hard on the eyes.  The closer to Higienipolis you get, the better is the curbside appeal.

You are either on the Red or Yellow Line by the subway

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I am short of Santa Cecilia's photos, but it is a place worth considering.  Along with Higienopolis, these are Jewish enclaves. Meaning, Synagogues ( there is a couple on Bom Retiro, and one by Campos Eliseos , btw ). 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8c9qnvZUqNTSNxrJ9

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FYxgCEdqdEoSds5M9

Mostly on the Red Line.

The Minhocao elevation is a nuisance from Mon-Fri 7AM to 9PM/  Then it shuts itself down for car traffic.  So, for the time being, if you rent on the vicinity ( which will save you money ), make sure to rent facing away from the street.

An excellent street to rent in Santa Cecilia is right at the edge with Pacaembu and Barra Funda, by the way of Rua Tupi.  It's quaint, relatively quiet, unassuming, tree lined, blends simple living with opulence.   

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Mooca is on the rail line, which connects itself to the Red Line.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/oXyxXddVeaLPB32J7

The cool section is the lower side of Mooca, close to Rua da Mooca, Rua Borges de Figueiredo.  Avenida Paes de Barros is a bit more upscale, and you are on the Electric bus line.

Rua do Oratorio is quieter.   

The lower side puts you on footsteps to the rail line. 

**************

Consolacao is pushing a little more  towards youngsters who seek the thrills of the big city.  Another huge gay enclave ( Frei Caneca street is dubbed as Gay Caneca Street ).  Lots of smaller efficiencies to rent, a bit of dirt strewn curbsides, big on night life.   

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZVDkpgZzAwPJxA1T7

Before the new money moved away from Avenida Paulista, this is where grown men went titilating on the T&A places that littered Rua Augusta on expense accounts or unforfeited paychecks.

Tales of Henry Kissinger meeting one of his dalliances close by Vila Buarque on the defunct La Licorne Night Club back in the 70's ( it's been said he sent flowers from the States for his Brazilian Blonde affair ) , or Michael Douglas partying  hard at the  Kilt Night Club ( before the teardown and remodeling ). 

Lots of playhouses around Consolacao, and the MASP museu, with a envious European Art Collection,,  is a stone throw away. 

Green and Yellow Lines.

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Vila Mariana

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jKSpZ98anGnAozc26

Blue, Green and Purple Lines.

There are distinctive sections in Vila Mariana worth staying over.   

The most desirable lies in between the Ana Rosa Subway, and towards the Ibirapuera Public Gardens.  Reference streets would be

Rua Tutoia/Tangara, Rua Franca Pinto, Rua Joaquim Tavora, Avenida Conselheiro Rodrigues Alves.

@sprealestatebroker

Thanks for the info on the neighborhoods in São Paulo and all the photos!

Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo is closed to cars and only foot traffic on Sundays.

I’m looking for small town beach life.   In Brazil, obviously.  What was it you tired of Alan?

( if you don’t mind me asking!)

@john8670 I was pleasantly surprised to see Avenida Paulista closed to cars on Sunday when I visited São Paulo a year ago. The wide sidewalks surprised and delighted me, too.

@mjgk I’m tired of the beach. 🙁

@sprealestatebroker How do I search for studio apartments in Brazil? Are they called studios or kitnets or apartamentos? Could they be in a coliving or digital nomad building, AirBnB, a hostel, aparthotel, hotel, apartamento or condomínio building? Or do I need to find a neighborhood I like and walk around asking everyone on the street? 😀