Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
AVOIDING TROUBLE IN SÃO PAULO
Assaults
and
robberies
are favourite topics of conversation among
paulistanos
, with the
city's crime statistics consistently higher than those of Rio. Nevertheless, by using a little
common sense you're unlikely to encounter problems. With such a mixture of people in São
Paulo, you're far less likely to be assumed to be a foreigner than in most parts of Brazil, and
therefore won't make such an obvious target for
pickpockets
and other petty thieves.
At night, pay particular attention around the central red-light district of
Luz
, location of the
city's main train stations, and - though not as bad - around
Praça da República
. Also take
care late at night in
Bixiga
(also known as Bela Vista), or if you venture into
Praça Roosevelt
.
Always carry at least some money in an immediately accessible place so that, if you are
accosted by a
mugger
, you can quickly hand something over before he starts getting angry or
panicky. If in any doubt at all about visiting an area you don't know, don't hesitate to take a
taxi
.
south and west from Jardins towards a business district that stretches along
Avenida
Brigadeiro Faria Lima
. Cutting across Avenida Paulista into Jardins
is
Rua Augusta
,
around which many of São Paulo's best restaurants and shopping streets are located.
Vila Madalena
, west of Jardins,
and
Pinheiros
, to its
southeast, are
mainly residential
neighbourhoods. Beyond these areas you will find some notable parks - such as the
Parque do Ibirapuera
and its museums - and traditional homesteads in the
neighbourhoods of
Butantã
and
Morumbi. Greater São Paulo
includes sprawling
industrial suburbs where people are housed in a mixture of grim-looking high-rise
tenements, small houses and
favelas
.
São Paulo lacks the natural beauty of Rio, but it's a place that grows on you as you
get to know it. E
cient and business-like, it's also Brazil's most cosmopolitan city, with
neighbourhoods whose local flavour is much influenced by the cultures of
immigrant
communities
who have settled in them - Japanese in Liberdade, Italian in Bixiga,
Jewish and more lately Korean in Bom Retiro, to name just a few - and this is of
course often reflected in their cuisine. At any rate, in a city with so many museums,
theatres, cinemas and parks to its name - not forgetting the hundreds if not thousands
of varied bars and restaurants - you certainly have no excuse for being bored.
8
Brief history
In 1554, the Jesuit priests José de Anchieta and Manuel da Nóbrega established a
mission station on the banks of the Rio Tietê in an attempt to bring Christianity to the
Tupi-Guarani Indians. São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga, as the site was called, was
situated 70km inland and 730m up, in the sheer, forest-covered inclines of the Serra do
Mar, above the port of São Vicente. The gently undulating plateau and the proximity
to the Paraná and Plata rivers facilitated tra
c into the interior and, with São Paulo as
their base, roaming gangs of
bandeirantes
set out in search of loot. Around the mission
school, a few adobe huts were erected and the settlement soon developed into a trading
post and a centre from which to secure mineral wealth. In 1681, São Paulo became a
seat of regional government and, in 1711, it was made a municipality by the king of
Portugal, the cool, healthy climate helping to attract settlers from the coast.
The coffee boom and urban expansion
With the expansion of
coffee
plantations westwards from Rio de Janeiro, along the
Paraibá Valley, in the mid-nineteenth century São Paulo's fortunes improved. The
region's rich red soil -
terra roxa
- was ideally suited to coffee cultivation, and from
about 1870 plantation owners took up residence in the city, which was undergoing a
rapid transformation into a bustling regional centre. In the 1890s, enterprising coffee
barons began to place some of their profits into local industry, hedging their bets
against a possible fall in the price of coffee, with textile factories being a favourite
area for investment.
