PTSP

Poop, trash, sidewalks, and pollution.  I have narrowed down the four biggest pet peeves of Buenos Aires.

Poop.  I have yet to look up whether Buenos Aires has a leash law or not, but after walking the streets these past two weeks and seeing many dogs cruising alone, I am guessing there isn’t one; or it isn’t enforced at all.  It is virtually impossible to walk the streets without coming across large piles of dog poop.  Surely, the Argentinians do not like it either, but this is my hypothesis:

Because there is no leash law, the dogs are walking on their own behind the owner.  This allows for the dog to do its business without the owner even knowing.  So, the poop is left on the street for others to pick up or step in.

Trash.  The city streets are covered with filled trash bags, broken trash bags, or simply trash left on the corner.  Food scraps, broken glass, and plastic bags are found at almost every street corner.  It is disgusting to look at, and I can only imagine the smell during the hot summer months.  This situation can not be healthy for the citizens of Buenos Aires or for its visitors, like me.

The really interesting, and frankly confusing, part of all this is Buenos Aires has large dumpsters and small trash bins lining the streets!  Why wont the citizens walk half a block down the street to properly dispose of their trash?  It ruins the potential vibe of the city when anyone must walk around dirty trash on the street.

Sidewalks.  The trash and poop make the sidewalks unpleasant to walk along, but the potholes, cracked concrete, and muddy areas make it dangerous if you are not aware of your footing.  The excess light protruding from storefronts light the sidewalks at night.  Additionally, there are street lights which help.  However, even with all of this light, walking along the city streets at night can be dangerous for your ankles.  

The sidewalks do not flow from one storefront to the other.  It seems like many apartment buildings, markets, and stores poured the concrete which is in front of their real estate.  For example, one hotel may have ‘normal’ grey smooth concrete while the neighboring food market has laid bricks down.  When one of those bricks has cracked because it was poorly installed, it stays that way until the market can replace it.  (If you do not have the time or resources to install something properly, when are you going to have the time and resources to properly install it a second time?)

Pollution.  It comes from cars, cigarettes, and everything else that produces it in mass quantities.  Imagine walking in downtown L.A. with tens of thousands of cars around you spewing fumes from the exhaust pipes.  Now add twice as many smokers strolling from street to street.  It seems I can never get away from it.  During the first week, I thought I had caught something from the plane when my throat became sore.  I realized it was actually the cigarette smoke and car fumes in the air.

Buenos Aires has the potential to be a beautiful city easily navigated by pedestrians, subte users, and taxis alike.  If the government changed the laws to hold dog owners responsible for their pet, enforced littering ordinances, maintained sidewalks, and limited the amount of pollution, I would enjoy traveling around the city a little more.  Of course, pick pocketers and the graffiti would still be there.  That might be another blog post.