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Hey Fresh - if you think sellers in Rio (or elsewhere in Brazil) are pushy, then it may be a good idea for you to avoid Europe, and many other places in the world. In my experiences in Brazil they are a lot less obtrusive than other places. eg Canary Islands!

Pros in Brazil far outweigh cons, in my view, but maybe you will not encounter all the cons if you do not live here...

...but I want to hear from some of you that have more experience there do you have anything that you don’t like in rio?
-@freshbatchoflean

Everyone has different interests and tastes in where they travel and in where they want to live. While yours was a highly subjective question with even more subjective potential answers, I assume that's all you are looking for. So, I will express my own negative opinions or "cons" if you will, I really didn't have positive ones for the city of Rio. My guess is that my low opinions could offend people who live in and love the city, but here goes nothing. I won't even talk about the high crime, I feel a 100% safer walking alone in downtown SP at any hour, well maybe not around Republica and Se Cathedral at night.

I am in RIO once or twice a year for a couple of weeks. For me, one trip, once in a lifetime, and only for one week, would be more than enough, I really don't like the city what-so-ever. I have tested ocean water samples in my own college lab from many locations around the southern states in Brazil, let's just say I try to stay out of the ocean around Rio. Rio has the worst drivers and most aggressive police officers in the country. I honestly have no idea why the pokice there love to hassle the real people while leaving the crimals alone, but that's all I've seen. I love to walk, a lot, at all hours. The beaches at night are entertaining to say the least. The rat population on the beaches like Copacabana and Ipanema are simply astonishing. They just parade between all those beach food eateries and kiosks, surely their population in Rio alone is higher than the entire rest of the country.  While I am sure there are some nice grocery stores on the city, I have yet to find one, the words dirty and cockroach infested don't begin to describe what I've seen.  There is no sense to the roads while navigating the city on your own, they just make no sense and I love to drive, but not there. Well, I think I've beat up the city enough, as you see, Rio is not for me.

I love Rio and lived there a few times. It’s my favorite big city in the country. That said since 2015 it’s gotten scarier and darker progressively. The violence is one of the biggest factors obviously. It can be overblown and I think people overestimate Rio and underestimate say São Paulo but the pervasiveness of violence there is a big factor. Similarly the power of the militias in the city is down right scary. Combine that with a virtual police state in areas, one of the most corrupt and extreme right elements in city politics makes the panorama dystopian. It’s expensive, hard to get around, and often polluted and dirty. Still there’s lots of positives and honestly much of the same can be said of many big cities here.

06/10/23. In 2003 when I was completing my MBA I was in Rio de Janeiro doing a class project, an expansion plan for a New Media startup.  The most experienced person at the startup was a lifelong Carioca who had been observing his city since the days of the Vargas regime. He remarked to me that Rio had lost is raison d'être when Brasília became the capital and had never found another one; it had been in gradual but inevitable decline ever since. The decline has only accelerated during the inervening twenty years.

It's not surprising for a place that specialized in being a governmental center for almost 200 years to hit a dead end when it's no longer needed for that. If Rio has any comparative advantage, some productive activity that can be done better and more profitably there than anywhere else, nobody has found it in almost sixty years of trying. Government policies have often not helped, but even better policies couldn't reach the fundamental problem.  I think that Rio will eventually reach equilibrium as a smaller provincial state capital and beach resort town, but the downward path from here to there will continue to violent, crime-ridden, and depressing.

@freshbatchoflean My cons are I imagine the graffiti and the trash. I say that because I have not been to Rio for around 50years. My Brazilian Stepmother joined our family when I was about 10 and i spent a lot of time in Rio. (She was from Niteroi, so I would cross the water and hang out there). As I got older I would go to the clubs (Help), get my apartment on Copacabana Beach, hang out with the Expats at the Copacabana Outdoor Café etc. I even went to a concert at Pao De Acucar mountain by an American artist. I now live in a small village in Cearra, but our big city, Fortaleza, has denigrated to trashy and graffiti, so my best guess is so has Rio, especially after @rraypo"s latest post about rats .

My best advice is Know Your Money. While you are practicing your language skills. Know and recognize the denominations etc. They will not tell you if you give them too much money. Have the amount of your food etc. written down and keep it separated. Even then be careful, I had a waiter at a Brazilian café at the Fortaleza Airport not give me change after I gave her 200 Reis for our group. Apparently she didn't know I would catch her and once i alerted the manager the change came swiftly.

Good Luck

Roddie in Retirement

As far as l can tell the only thing that has gotten better is the ability to connect with the USA. I’m talking about phone, internet, banking. All that is WAY easier than it used to be. Everything else is worse. The pollution. The crime. The cost of living. All are much worse and l see nothing to indicate it will ever get better. Too bad because it is a stunning place.

Well, I guess I am the odd one out.  My husband and I love Rio.  My husband was there last year and our last trip together was 3 years ago. We have always stayed in a hotel on Ipanema beach and love the scene.  We go sight seeing, out to eat, people watching.  We are planning to go again this fall.  We have never felt unsafe or felt it was any dirtier than any other big cities.  We live in Campinas, near Sao Paulo and I find Rio much more charming than Sao Paulo.  I love the food in Sao Paulo but otherwise it does not impress me. 

Cons....

1.Crime rate is off the charts.  Good chances of being held up by a gun . Tourists are advised against carrying valuables, cameras, jewelry on public places.

2.Police brutality

3.Police corruption

4.Oversexed people. Very aggressive by the way. And Condoned.

5.Cariocas will leave you with the dinner check to be paid.

6.It's expensive in all forms ( food, housing ).

7.Public Health Infrastructure is a nightmare. Third World Standards.

8.It's Touristy.. As it is a Tourist trap. it's actually on the Sexual Tourism path for global travelers. You will spot solicitation on beaches. See a group of italian Tourists and you will see them tangling with the local girls.

9.The favelas are an eye sore.

Pros

1.Nature blends with the concrete jungle

2.Lots of places to see and go

3.Cariocas are feisty people and outgoing.

4.If you are the ogling type who like to stare ( aka Peeping Tom type ), this is your place to go.

5.The water front at the South Side and adjacent streets are a perfect locale for walking.

6.Some hidden treasures in off the beaten path neighborhoods ( Santa Teresa, Botanic Gardens, Quinta da Boa Vista,Historic  Downtown, Urca, Laranjeiras).

7.Outer neighborhoods ( aka suburbs ) can be quite interesting as to spot local life, and go budget on your travelling : Marechal Hermes, Andarai, Ilha do Governador, Bonsucesso, Sao Cristovao.

8.The moutain range is quite interesting. Petropolis ( old Imperial Palace and Breweries ), Vassouras ( IUniversiy ), Miguel Pereira. Great to escape searing heat during the dog summer days.

  Enough said

I should also add, as a positive note, that after Sao Paulo, Rio has a great colleciion of architecture, from Beaux Arts to Art Deco.  |It is often underscored and unheralded. Folks there don't value architecture and preservation as much as you and I do. 

    Cons....
1.Crime rate is off the charts.

    -@sprealestatebroker

@sprealestatebroker, would not reduce crime in Rio?

        Cons....1.Crime rate is off the charts.     -@sprealestatebroker

@sprealestatebroker, would not reduce crime in Rio?
   

    -@Pablo888

The Guardian is a Media Company that changes their stances to wherever the winds blow.

The societal  problems with Rio are longstanding and widely known.

I would appreciate it if someone could point me in the direction of ANY crime-free town, district, city, or country anywhere in the world. No political illegalities, robberies, guns, murders, protests, etc, no scariness or darkness, no threats - the American dream of old, maybe?

Truth is, in these times, it does not exist - and if it did it would cost millions to live there - bit like Southern California (but without all the crime, drugs, hypocrites, etc?).

It seems to me that most posters here are from the US, so lets discuss Portland, Washington DC, San F, Miami, Detroit, New York, Memphis, etc, etc. As a Brit I will entirely agree to level the same accusations at most cities in Europe as well - no bigotry from me...

My point is this: why do some foreigners expect to experience no crime in Brazil? I mean, yes, beautiful people, very outgoing, generous, friendly, welcoming, noisy, party-loving, family-orientated, etc. But no crime? Come on!

Everywhere in the world the expat should expect crime to exist in one form or another, just be advised, take normal precautions, avoid trouble spots, do not be stupid, and largely you will be safe. For example, if someone asks for your cash - give it to them, it is pretty much guaranteed you will still have more than them.

11/10/23        Cons....1.Crime rate is off the charts.     -@sprealestatebroker
@sprealestatebroker, would not reduce crime in Rio?   

    -@Pablo888

My hopes are neither raised nor dashed by reports like this.  Militarization has been tried before, and it is always discontinued relatively quickly when the deaths among innocent civilians caught in the crossfire become numerous enough to cause a scandal in the press.  Maybe this surge will be more successful than previous ones for a little longer than usual, mostly because Lula, unlike Bolsonaro, actually CARES about poor people getting killed.  Still, it's the same military with the same training and the same leadership.

I think of crime in Brazil in something of the way that I think about tornadoes in Tornado Alley in the United States.  If you live anywhere in the Great Plains, the possibility of your being hurt or killed by a tornado is non-trivial, but the odds are still heavily against it happening to any individual in any given year.  You can move the odds more in your favor by your choice of where to live -- the Chicago suburbs are probably hit less often than the Tulsa suburbs, but most people even  in Tulsa still are not hit by tornadoes.  Similarly, you can adjust how you live to improve your chances:  people with storm cellars certainly have an advantage.  But sometimes, everything still goes wrong.

In Brazil, what city you live in makes a difference, what neighborhood in that city makes a difference, the form and security of your home makes a difference, How you conduct yourself and present yourself on the street makes a difference.   Being aware of your surroundings makes a big difference; avoiding the no-go zones makes an even bigger difference.  Sometimes everything still goes wrong, but not for most people most of the time.  Be alert, but don't be terrified.

Yes, I have seen military types on the streets of many cities around the world before. Not sure what they were doing but I was not about to find out.

My experience is that having more semi-automatic weapons on the streets - even if those come with military with good intentions - is a recipe for more gruesome shootings and deaths.

I guess that it's good that the article is warning the people that this is happening so that people can stay out of the way as much as possible - in order not to be caught in the cross fire.

Note to self - keep an eye open for people carrying guns and make sure to stay clear of them.

    Yes, I have seen military types on the streets of many cities around the world before. Not sure what they were doing but I was not about to find out.
My experience is that having more semi-automatic weapons on the streets - even if those come with military with good intentions - is a recipe for more gruesome shootings and deaths.

I guess that it's good that the article is warning the people that this is happening so that people can stay out of the way as much as possible - in order not to be caught in the cross fire.

Note to self - keep an eye open for people carrying guns and make sure to stay clear of them.
   

    -@Pablo888

The reason you see submachine gun toting uniformed personnel on Rio's streets is because the State Payroll earmarked towards Law Enforcement went dry.  It went dry because the City and State ransacked the budgeted money. 

Unlike America, in Brazil, a significant Law Enforcement contingent is paid through the State, with a scant portion on City paid cops. 

So Rio's street police was so underfunded your patrol policemen would go without a paycheck. The Federal Government reluctantly so had to send in military infrantrymen to patrol Rio's Streets.   

That in the fact Rio's local police is corrupt to the core. They run the collection bag on illegal gambling, prostitution, burglar rings, amongst other criminal enterprises. 

I live in Santo Andre-SP.  I have a vacant home.  A couple time it was burglarized for metals theft ( faucets, aluminum ) by low life drug addicts.  Both times, I called the police dispatch unit, and in both times, more than one patrol cruiser showed up with several cops, on a 10 minute wait. 

You do not get that kind of attention in Rio. Period.  There is a reason ever more Cariocas are moving from Rio to elsewhere. If they run a small business or are professionals, Rio's state of affairs is untenable to them. Even to Cariocas themselves!

You wide eyed greenhorns need to get a grip. Stay away from Rio!

And by City and State, I| meant members of the executive and legislative, and their likees. 

Rio has been on the wrong path since Dom Joao VI, then Portugal's Emperor, left in Portugal  haste, chased out by Napoleonic Troops. They sailed towards Brazil, escorted  by the British Navy.

Once upon arriving in Rio de Janeiro, locals were dislodged from their own homes to make accomodations for His Majesty and Royal Entourage. 

Homes taken occupancy by the Royal Entourage were marked at their front doors with PR initials , about 10,000 domiciles then , where PR meant "Príncipe Regente" ( Reigning Prince ) . The ever so humored Cariocas interpreted the initials as "Ponha-se na Rua", or simply, Out to the Street.

Until about the 70's, the City of Rio de Janeiro had its own Statehoold, the State of Guanabara. The Rio de Janeiro State then incorporated the City, so the State Capital went from Niteroi, across the Bay, to Rio de Janeiro.

Even before then, Rio had its sucession of colorful and graft taking public officials. Carlos Lacerda, Leonel Brizola the Born Again Anthony Garotinho. All clowns. You need not to have a plan or substance to gain office in Rio.  All you need is crony patronage, and to be loud.

@freshbatchoflean Rio is beautiful, culturally enriching and crime-free.......on a postcard

Roddie in Retirement

I've spent 22 years in Rio.....on and off for 2-3 weeks to 2 months at a time,  over 2-3 trips per year consistently. United Airlines should name a plane after me.

Everything said here is true. So what........

Situational awareness, and an understanding of the lay of the land, is essential to integrating oneself into ANY CITY in the world, especially a mega city like Rio.

I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. And, I've lived long term in 4 countries, and visited over 50.

Oh yeah, I've also been shot at in the desert by an AK47 too.....so.......maybe my comfort level is different than yours, and, there is nothing wrong with that. I've never felt at risk for my personal safety. At night in bed sometimes I can hear the stacatto of small arms fire coming from Pavao Pavaozinho or Tabajares.......an AK sounds different than an AR15.......but do I deal drugs at the boca da favela ?

Keep it up.......the fewer gringos that move here, the better off we all are. I was terrified at the first trip, because I read everything online.

Cidade maravihosa e verdade.