So Sao Paulo is basically like LA in Blade Runner, with fewer androids. Most of the fancy hotels and bars/clubs here have helipads on the roof. The Brazilians tell me that many well-to-do Paulistanos get around the city by helicopter taxi, in order to avoid the atrocious traffic and dangerous streets.
Obviously, this trend is indicative of the city’s tremendous failure to provide adequate transportation and safety for its citizens. On the other hand, it’s also super awesome. I’m told that a heli-taxi ride costs between $40 and $50 USD, and I fully intend to take one before I leave. I’ve never even been in a helicopter before!
I have! I went to a town fair once, in England, where some guy would take people up in his little chopper and fly a very brief circular route which he claimed showed us alien crop circles. That explanation would have been more convincing if the tractor that produced said circles hadn’t still been parked in the field. It cost more than the Sao Paulo heli-taxi and I ended up back where I started (a school playing-field on the outskirts of Winchester), so I feel like you get the better deal.
Also, does Sao Paulo feel scary and dangerous? I didn’t realise it was the kind of place you had to fear getting shot – but then all I know of it is what I saw from the air when we flew out. There were huge swathes of delapidated-looking housing, but not a lot of traffic, but then I guess the airport district might not be the problem areain that regard. (Whether there were people being robbed at gunpoint, it was hard to tell from the air. Anyway, it was 7am, so I guess the robbers were asleep.)
Good definition about Sao Paulo.
Check this web page http://www.webng.com/curupira/index-en.html
Or, to see my article to 2600
http://www.webng.com/curupira/13years.html
and http://www.webng.com/curupira/hist.html if you learn enough portuguese
This sort of thing is mentioned extensively in the documentary, Manda Bala, which is very interesting: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0912590/.
I saw the director speak at the True/False festival. If you have NetFlix it’s an on demand movie that you can download. A few comments on IMDB accuse the director of Michael Moore-esque misrepresentations of facts, but I don’t know enough to be sure so I take it with a grain of salt.
I hung out with a guy from Sao Paolo for a day while we were in Liverpool, but I never really got around to asking him what Sao Paolo was really like. I’ve kept in sporadic touch with him, if you’re going to be in Sao Paolo for a while maybe I could hook you guys up.
~Steve
Well, São Paulo could be as dangerous as any other place in the world, like Oakland or South Central.
The major difference between most of the third-world countries is that they don’t have an “east-side” where people don’t go there, and they don’t go after you. That’s a challenge with million people cities with tons of people with really low income.
regardless, it all comes down to: who you’re with and how much those people know the city. Sure bad luck IS a factor, but most of it is common-sense and avoid problems.
I am sure everyone in the conference who hangout with us felt pretty safe.
what a great deal! for that price it’s a no brainer, why would you waste time with a taxi to get around town??!!