Para los Bogotanos - For people who live in or have lived in Bogota, Colombia?

Question

What are the top things you love about living in Bogota and the top things you hate about living in Bogota?
I have been there many times during my life, for as long as 12 weeks at a stretch. But now, I am thinking about moving there for a career change. So, I'd like to make an informed choice by getting your perspectives on the things you most love AND most hate about Bogota.

Examples of things you love are entertainment choices (such as Zona G and la Zona Rosa). Examples of things you hate might include the maddening traffic and rude drivers or all the polution from the buses.

Thanks!

Answer 1

soy bogotana!! LOL top 10 i love:
1. Great wheater lately
2.Our city is most beautiful now than it has ever been
3.Culture. you can find ANYTHING HERE, like for example: one of the oldest neighborhoods, LA CANDELARIA, it has a lot of history and its architechture is great.
4.gourmet. in the "zona G" or "zona T" you can find ANY food you'd like, from any country. There is a great restaurant, called "Harry Sasson" and their food is INCREDIBLE.
5. Malls. we have THE BIGGEST MALL IN LATINAMERICA, called "SANTAFE" and there you will find from the less known brand to the most knowed one. there is also "Divercity" which is a place where kids can "become" adults without stop being children.
6. Gentlyness. we, Colombians, are really nice specially with foreigners..welcome everyone
7. Prices. We have really comfortable prices compared to another cities like Medellin, Cali, or even Cartagena.
8. Movility. You can take either the "highways" (even though their not as big as in U.S.A or the normal streets, they lead you to the place where you wanna get.
9.View. If you go to "monserrate" or "Cerro de Guadalupe", or "La calera" you will see how amazing is our city, and by the way, on the way to "La Calera" you can have GREAT COLOMBIAN FOOD at a little stand on the road called "la mazorca"
10. open 24 hours. all the day long you can find anything. from a restaurant to a drugstore, and that's really good 'cause if you get sick at 2am and it's just a headache, you can call for a delivery.
11. everything is near. you can find about 5 stores (not supermarkets) in just a neighborhood. it's not like in other countries where you MUST have a car to go anywhere, no matter if it's near.
12.CABS ARE CHEAP. the minimum ride is just about 1.50 (2800 pesos) so, compared to other countries, here you CAN ride on a cab!!
13. WE HAVE THE BEST COFFEE IN THE WORLD! AND REALLY CHEAP HERE!

NEGATIVE THINGS:
the downtown, even though its architechture is AMAZING, it's dangerous because many homeless people live around there.
there is people who damage our image and seize foreigner's visits to ask you for more money that the one you should pay..it happens a lot in Cartagena, but also here. that sux

BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE ARE MORE POSITIVE THINGS THAN NEGATIVE...ITS GREAT TO LIVE HERE AND WE HAVE IT ALL!
IF YOU NEED MORE INFO, LET ME KNOW!

Answer 2

I was born and raised in Bogota. I moved to the states in 1989 but go every year for X-mas.

I love:

1- The weather, it is a little cold for me but still superb.
2- Friends and family; everything revolves around them in Colombia, there's not a dull moment. Here in the US everything revolves around work and you don't have time for anything
3- The food. The quality and diversity of restaurants is hard to beat.
4- Deliveries. You can get ANYTHING delivered to your home.
5- Help. You can hire somebody to help you with any chore and it is not that expensive.

Things I don't like:

1- Lack of safety. I know too many people who have been robbed, killed, kidnapped etc. You don't realize how much you get use to it, it becomes normal, until you leave the country and see it from the outside.

2- Handicap accessibility is non-existent. I cannot even go to a movie.

Answer 3

I love Bogota---almost everything about it. My dad is from Bogota, but I've been there 2 times.