Paulista Avenue

Sao Paulo is one of the favorite cities to me. I lived there for thirteen years and always has grasped what the best that the city offered. But due to the high cost of living (Sao Paulo is the 25 th most expensive city in the world), I moved to another metropolitan area within the State of Sao Paulo. In this state there are three metropolitan areas - Sao Paulo, Campinas and Santos.

However, it is impossible to leave to go to Sao Paulo because it is there that are the best universities, hospitals, museums and restaurants of the country. And, whenever I go to there, something new has just amazed me.

In the 90, the city was chaotic. The indices of crime were the biggest in Brazil. People could be stolen at any time anywhere. Armoured cars were no longer something exclusive of the highest social classes and began to be used by the middle class. The unemployment rate was around 25% because of a “war tax” between the Brazilian states (many states offer exemptions from taxes for companies to install themselves there).

Former abandoned area

Things began to change in the late 90’s, when various sectors of civil society have begun to mobilize: the Catholic Church, NGOs, universities and even the all-powerful FIESP (Federation of Industries of the State of Sao Paulo, union of companies that move $ 1 trillion annually). The result of these actions worked very well.

The rates of homicide is falling annually. If compared to the rate of 10 years ago, there was a reduction of over 70%. Police were trained to work with the community, and had successive wage increases (it is known that higher wages can reduce police corruption).

Marginal Pinheiros

These achievements have guaranteed to Sao Paulo in the last 5 years a wave of investment that exceeds $ 20 billion. Older areas that were abandoned are becoming middle-class neighborhoods. Slums are being developed. And most important, new jobs are being generated. The unemployment rate currently is the lesser of the 10 recent years. Not in the industrial sector, but in the services sector. Sao Paulo is no longer a industrial city. Now, the city offers financial, telecommunications and high technology services. Not to mention the hospital (healthy) sector, because Sao Paulo has the largest and best hospitals in South America.

Institute of Cancer - Public Hospital

However, a new problem arose. The transit in Sao Paulo has never been so chaotic. The record was a line of 266 km. The hope of the Paulistano (person who is a native of Sao Paulo) is that the Cup of 2014 will be in Brazil and the city is already making investments in its infrastructure.