Appreciate the response, y'all!
ChrisLA: Thanks for the kind words, and I certainly understand what you mean. When I look back on the photos, they don't adequately express the CONSTANT amount of chaos and visual stimulation I experienced in my few short hours there. It truly felt like 15 interesting things were going on at once at almost every block I happened to be on (and not just Centro or Avenida Paulista, either). I almost felt like I was coming down from some amphetamine trip after settling back into the hotel room that night...
ue: The crime rate is statistically lower in São Paulo than in Rio, but depending on who you talk to (and where you go) you might come away thinking that you're more likely to be a victim of crime in São Paulo (I talked to two people in São Paulo who told me that). Generally speaking street crime is unacceptably rampant in both places, but homicide
totals are in line with New York and Los Angeles in the 1980s (and homicide
rates are currently considerably below rates for American cities like Baltimore, Detroit, St. Louis, and New Orleans).
They both have massive problems with regards to income inequality. São Paulo actually has more favelas than Rio de Janeiro, however they are almost exclusively located in the outskirts of the city, whereas in Rio, they are almost always in walking distance, often visible on the hilltops, no matter where you are (even in the wealthiest neighborhood in all of Brazil - Leblon). I think the omnipresence of the favelas and the dramatic contrast they provide to the rest of the city makes the social problems of Rio appear more acute than other locations that are suffering from similar issues.
As far as infrastructure/development goes, it's hard to say there is a clear winner from what I saw. While São Paulo clearly has a much more comprehensive transit system than Rio, it is woefully inadequate for a sprawled city of 20 million people. Rio has made some substantial improvements this summer with the inauguration of it's VLT light rail line and Metro Line 4 extension, while Sampa's roads generally seem to be in better quality with less potholes.
São Paulo (and Rio) are currently in *far* better shape economically and socially at the moment than the Northeastern region of Brazil. Rampant inequality and gang warfare has led to a dramatic increase of crime over the past 15 years (from violent assaults to child prostitution), while crime rates in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have plummeted over the same period.
As a single point of reference, Rio de Janeiro city proper (pop. 6.4 mil) had over 1,600 homicides in the city proper in 2015 (police were responsible for 1 in 5 homicides, BTW)...while Fortaleza in NE Brazil (with a population of 3.9 mil) had over 2,400 homicides. Unfortunately, the crime situation in the Northeast is appears to getting worse as of late, not better. A deep economic recession coupled with political instability does not seem to bode well for short-term social improvements in Brazil overall.
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