Where is the best place to live/invest/stay in Brazil?

that depend, i like nordeast then i would say Ceara.

Hello Peter Itamaraca,

I believe this will be influenced by numerous factors.

For instance, are you planning to reside there alone or with a family that includes children? Should you prioritise finding a family-friendly area, or do you prefer a fast-paced lifestyle?

Regarding investments, what type of investment are you considering? Do you already have a specific idea in mind?

Given the multitude of factors to consider, it would be advisable for you to share more details about your plans.

Since the Brazil forum is very active, it is likely that it may take some time to receive feedback.

Cheers,

Cheryl

Expat.com team

Best place to stay is at HOTEMO.

Try hotemo dot com dot br website.

it varies...

Age is a factor. If you need medical attention, then, forget post card places. Often times, specialized health care is completely substandard.    Even in larger cities, the whole issue on health care is a hit and miss, regardless of who pays the bill.

Children demand results oriented education. Smaller towns might offer that, but more than often, if the only option is public schools, well,  Here public schools are mostly funded by state budgets, and seldom by City's Property  Taxes. So you will need private schools.   

And private schools, unless there is a foundation with some history behind it, most of the time sponsored by some religious order , you are in, with a few exceptions, diploma mill land. All of the hype and marketing won't do any good for your kid.

Rule of the thumb, avoid anything north of Sao Paulo, including Rio de janeiro and Beyond.  Hinterlands, you can factor in, as worthy of consideration, the States of Goias and Minas Gerais.

Anything South of Sao Paulo, and Sao Paulo included ( specially some hinterland hubs ), is worth a hard look. That means.....

Sao Paulo

Campinas ( tech center, excellent hospitals )

Sao Jose dos Campos ( Brazil's Aviation City )

Santo Andre ( within the ABC Region ) and Sao Bernardo do Campo

Sao Jose do Rio Preto ( Good hospitals )

Sao Carlos

Ribeirao Preto

Sao Caetano do Sul

Indaiatuba

Holambra

Sorocaba / Votorantim ( Also dubed the Brazilian Manchester, lots of manufacturing there )

Santa Barbara D'Oeste

Americana

Taubate

Piracicaba ( Excelent Agri Sciences University and Methodist University with a fantastic women's pro basketball .  Becoming a manufacturing hub )

Limeira

Franca ( excellent male basketball team , and once known as Brazil's shoe capital ).

and other lesser towns. 

The Whole State of Parana, with emphasis on...

*The Curitiba MSA

*Maringa

*Londrina

*Ponta Grossa

*Umarama

and several other smaller towns

The Whole State of Santa Catarina, with emphasis on

*Blumenau ( Brazil's Software Factory , and a great German looking city )

*Joinville  ( Manufacturing hub )

*Florianopolis  ( Literally an insland connected to main land, the State Capital )

*Brusque

*Concordia ( Brazil's Poultry Capital  lots of small farms out there)

*Crisciuma - It's a former coal town. Ok but not stunning.

Rio Grande do Sul

Like most southern states, winters can be cold, due to windshield effect. And heating is almost non existent in most southern households.

The Gaucho, specially from smaller towns, has a parochial type, that being a stereotype, they hold to the reputation.  And the Male Gaucho is kind of chauvinistic towards woman ( like most of their country peers ).

But it also features a folk , in al, that has some strong work ethic, and a sense of kinship. 

And smaller towns, like in Parana and Santa Catarina, have excellent curbside appeal, somehow even better than in the US in certain places. 

Cities worth mentioning

*Porto Alegre - The Capital

*Hovo Hamburgo - Brazil's Women Footwear Capital

*Santa Maria ( Excellent University )

8Pelotas  ( some people might disagree, but this Estuary City, like Rio Grande,, has some charm in its old builldings. The city has a tradition on pastry and fruit conserves making, they call it Brazil's Sweet Capital . it's a cottage industry there).

*Bento Goncalves and Caxias do Sul.  You are in Wine country there. Wine vine fields, wine makers. Brazil wine making reputation is underscored by Argentina and Chile, but nonetheless excellent.   

Northeast, and North  there are some exceptions, with fairness

Natal, Rio Grande do Norte

Belem do Para, at the Amazon River Estuary. Better than Manaus.

If you are a beach comber, and want to catch some waves, then head out to the State of Espirito Santo, North of Victoria. 

Southern Bahia is ok.  Actually, the Bahianos, out of everyone out to the Northeast, have , IMHO, the best demeanor towards people. They tend to be easy going, wise, yet slow. The Bahiano's slow pace is full of telltales.  Unless they are of ill repute, the median Bahiano seldom ever gets into heated arguments.

As whole, the farther south, the better is public health care and education.  And the cities tend to look a whole lot orderly and clean. 

I'm happy to see Americana in the list

05/15/23 I'm happy to see Americana in the list
-@martinsan

It's a São Paulo-centered list. 😂

São Paulo é o melhor!

05/15/23 São Paulo é o melhor!
-@duzzimenino

Nice enough place to visit.  Occasionally.  When necessary.

Sprealestatebroker wouldn't live anywhere north of São Paulo.  I wouldn't live anywhere south of Espírito Santo.  All a matter of taste. 😁

I am a Curitiba kinda guy. Good size city of 2 million. Well educated populace. Many startups are there. Cooler weather 2/2 to higher elevation. Good culture. Good airport and less crime then SP or Rio. Foodie type city. These are a few reasons I will be retiring there. It rains a lot, but since I live in Oregon you can't scare me:)

Interesting to see how everyone is plugging their little corner of Brazil. At the end of the day, whatever you choose ,or wherever you go you will still be in Brazil.

I'm happy to see Americana in the list
-@martinsan

If was found by Southerners who left the US after losing the Civil War.   

Oddly enough, the  Confederate Celebrations take place in  nearby Santa Barbara D'Oeste,  Southerners settled in both cities.   

There is a Public Women's Hospital named after a daughter of a confederate scion. She married to a descendant of an American. Perola Byngton, pioneer of Women's Health,  She traveled to the US, and somehow managed to work for the Red Cross.  The Red Cross is here, and the Hospital, because of her charitable efforts. 

Word was, not confirmed, she actually met Eleanor Roosevelt. They became gal pals. 

@sprealestatebroker

I meant, founded.    Sorry.,  Trigger fast on the keyboard.

And the Annual Confederate Celebrations are open to all people, and all races.  it's more of a symbolic event in itself than an event promoting you know what.  Yes, they have the confederate flag. Again, symbolic.  It's more of a American Pride thing. 

I am a Curitiba kinda guy. Good size city of 2 million. Well educated populace. Many startups are there. Cooler weather 2/2 to higher elevation. Good culture. Good airport and less crime then SP or Rio. Foodie type city. These are a few reasons I will be retiring there. It rains a lot, but since I live in Oregon you can't scare me:)
-@56tbourne

From what i heard....

The City is clean, Downtown is clean. Nary a graffiti. 

Huge on European Heritage.  Ukranian, Polish, Lithuanian, Italians, Portuguese.  Plenty descendants of Japanese.

Huge on urbanization.  A former Mayor, coincidently, was a trained urbanist. Jaime Lerner.  Ages ago.  The whole idea  covered bus stops, with elevated platforms and handicapped access was his. 

City's landscaping is off the charts. Not Buffalo or Boston  like ( After all, Frederick Law Olmsted never did any work here ). But pretty decent, nonetheless.

Curitibanos are parochial, so get used to that.

A long time ago, if you crashed into town at the bus terminal  looking for a job with no job offer, no housing arrangements, the City actually reimbursed for your bus fare ( picture Greyhound ), and sent you back where you came from,no matter how far out it was.  From what I heard, that practice has since being abolished.

Even slums there, so I am told, have building codes.,  Go figure that out. 

In my experience, potential expats who might make the move with school-age children are doing so because of a job offer or family reunion. Therefore, they have very little choice about the location to move to as this will largely have been determined for them by their circumstances. So, while they may wish to select a good school within easy reach, I do not think selecting a school from an area of thousands of square miles is really going to be an option.

I was advised the best overall climate in Brazil was to be found on the coast between Salvador and Fortaleza, but that the north coast in Ceará can be very windy at certain times to such an extend as to feel somewhat sandblasted while visiting its beaches! This good climate may extend down to Espírito Santo, but I have not yet visited so cannot comment.

The State of São Paulo creates 50% of all of Brazil’s GDP, so must be an obvious choice for expats if being in the vicinity of such dynamism is vital to success. Equally if you want to study the Amazon rainforest, don’t move to SP!

Rio kind of speaks for itself, and on my visits to the southern states I have found it can rain a lot and get very cold at night. Having lived in the UK most of my life I have had enough of that, thank you very much!

I am not a fan at all of Salvador, and south Bahia can be extremely expensive, with homes costing up to tens of millions of DOLLARS! Naturally we all have our reasons and favourite areas, but my parameters 16 years ago, were affordable beachfront, small city, close to basic amenities, 30 mins to good shopping and 1 hour from an international airport.

Hence, I chose the tropical island Ilha de Itamaracá in Pernambuco, where I could afford a good house right on the sand. The island certainly has had its challenges in the past, but I could see lots of potential and a good path of progress. In fact, it was so ridiculously cheap compared to other areas, I bought 3 houses in the first month.

I doubt many have heard of it, so do search for Itamaraca Tourism dot com (all one word) to find out more. Now there are a handful of expats on the island, and many more visit their holiday homes or have invested here. Many who have permanent visas actually choose not to spend all year in Brazil, but there are certain advantages to being able to live here permanently at some time in the future…

@sprealestatebroker Agreeing to everthing you said. It's a "good jumping off point" There is no perfect spot, but it works for us. Have family there and have been there many times. Nice intl airport as well. I call it "tube town" due to the bus tubes. Lots of green spaces too. We want to move to the city center and have access to things retirees would need. Good private healthcare from what I have seen first hand. Working on my Portuguese on Babbl:) Shooting for moving in a little over a year. We especially like the state of SC for the beaches. AirBNB's are reasonable too! Do I sound hooked?

05/18/23 @Peter Itamaracá.  I enjoyed your insights -- thanks. 

I enjoyed those of others, too, but our priorities are different.  Having spent my formative Brazilian years in Aracaju my heart is Sergipano, and my husband is a Manauara, a Manaus native, so the North and the Northeast hold no terrors for us.  Quite the contrary:  most of the things that make Brazil "Brazil" for us and that we love the most are more present in those regions than anywhere else.

I appreciate the reminder about Pernambuco.  As I've mentioned elsewhere, we've got a job search going on right now, and we're looking at all major capitals from Vitória north.  I realize now that we haven't been considering Pernambuco, probably because although Recife is a great city, the Dutch built it in a flat, hot location that can be unpleasant.  I'd forgotten all about Olinda and Itamaracá nearby.  We'll have to give it another look.

@abthree How interesting! We were in Croatia last year and bumped into a couple from Segipe who really praised Aracaju, and recommended it as a good safe place to live, but I am yet to visit. Alagoas can also be nice, and also other coastal towns like Joao Pessoa in Paraiba and Pipa in Rio Grande do Norte.

Agree completely about Recife - it is the capital of the NE region of Brazil, and I find it a necessity to visit sometimes although I do it rarely by choice. However the airport is great, close to the city centre, and was recently voted (by international travellers) as the 3rd best in the world.

It is hot all year round in this region, so when considering property always remember to select 'nascente' over 'poente' (east facing over west facing), as there is a cooling breeze coming directly off the ocean all year. This really makes things much more comfortable, and saves on AC costs!

Anywhere if you have enough money for that locality

I am wondering if somebody has any clue on planb-brazil dot com that I found on Itamaraca Tourism dot com mentioned by  Peter Itamaraca in a post in this thread.

It really boils down to the person’s expectations and how open they are to change and adaptation. Brazil is a large country with different landscapes, people and nuances. However, there is a an unmistaken common thread to it all and that is Brazil is Brazil. I know that some people like to look at Brazil as an impoverished north east and a more affluent, of European heritage south. While that is true to a certain extent, people should try to come out of their comfort zone sometime and dive into life. After all , if one has made the decision to live in another country and leave everything behind just to want to be close to his kind….what’s the point? Really….

I'm happy to see Americana in the list
-@martinsan

It is still a Textiles Manufacturing Cluster.  Good quality of life.  Excellent for Retirees.

@sprealestatebroker Agreeing to everthing you said. It's a "good jumping off point" There is no perfect spot, but it works for us. Have family there and have been there many times. Nice intl airport as well. I call it "tube town" due to the bus tubes. Lots of green spaces too. We want to move to the city center and have access to things retirees would need. Good private healthcare from what I have seen first hand. Working on my Portuguese on Babbl:) Shooting for moving in a little over a year. We especially like the state of SC for the beaches. AirBNB's are reasonable too! Do I sound hooked?
-@56tbourne

Not sure if is Sao Paulo or Santa Catarina.

Sao Paulo, the City,  has excellent private healthcare ( with caveats ), and so do Santa Catarina. 

Sao Paulo is a gateway city, and as such , Health Care, Financial Services, Education, Technology , and Retail as key economic drivers.   It has a very diversified economy.

Santa Catarina, as the whole State, retains a strong Agricultural Heritage, solid manufacturing base, and it is making inroads into Information Technology.    Fundamental and Higher Education are unquestionable good to excellent.  Public health care is just as fine.   

If you read any interviews from their local Chambers of Commerce, it stands to notice how engaged they are into exporting, and being quality oriented on everything they do. 

There are a few standouts in manufacturing there, one I can think of is WEG Motors, a manufacturer or electric motors who is making inroads in Global Markets.    And then there is TIGRE  a maker of plumbing material ( mostly PVC stuff ). And Hering, a maker of apparel.   

Most of the ABC Auto Assembly Plants used to run their own sheet metal stamping within quarters. Now, most of that, plus the tooling, is sourced out to Smaller Companies in Santa Catarina and other Southern States. And they are not there just for cost savings. They do deliver quality on stamped parts.

If you wander around places like Crisciuma, Joinville,Tubarao, Blumenau, Chapeco ,you kind of get the vibe.   So it's not all about Florianopolis.   

The one place "Barriga Verdes" ( as folks from Santa Catarina are known ), go for a getaway is the coast line by Camboriu, and I was surprised to learn the shoreline has one of the most expensive real estate in the entire country, matter of fact, now, the country highest residential high rise. 

@glimpser Hi - yes I know all about that site, and I also know of people who have successfully applied for that visa through the site. Why not contact them direct through with any questions?