Photo by Cristiano Mascaro
I just returned from Sao Paulo. How strange it is to go back to a city that used to be home for so long as a tourist or for a short visit. It makes me see the city in a new light, with blinders down since you no longer feel obliged to try and make excuses for it. Sao Paulo is an ugly city and that makes it all the more interesting, in a way since it is a city that does not captivate you with its beauty but rather with its energy. It is a hard city to be a visitor in, perhaps an easier city to live in. You discover certain buildings that are favorites, restaurants, bars, stores, nights out. But, I cannot help but think that it is a city that could be more than it is. I am always amazed that a place that is so wealthy, dynamic and, compared to most other Latin American cities, cosmopolitan, could be so lacking in basic urban services and could treat its residents so poorly. It is a city with exclusive shopping centers that are promoted in ads with Sarah Jessica Parker but almost no democratic urban space. Paulistanos love to compare the city to others, but it somehow feels neither here nor there, a city lacking an identity of its own, which at times is also its charm.
After traveling to other cities that have faced what seemed like insurmountable problems, such as Bogota, and that have managed to make improvements in city life for many residents, I realize that having decent politicians and administrators makes an enormous difference. Sao Paulo lacks in either. Most Brazilian cities do. Sao Paulo is the prize every politician is after in order to become governor of the rich state of Sao Paulo or president of Brazil. And none of them seem to particularly care to be mayor of the city. It's a shame, it is a city that deserves so much more.
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