Expert: Ken Rapoza Cruz - 2/19/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
I'll be studying/doing PhD research in Sao Paulo for three months this summer.  I'm trying to find out more specifically about living costs.  I currently live in New York City, and manage on about US $1700 a month (this includes rent, food, transportation, going out, pharmacy prodcuts etc.).  I'm looking to sublet an apartment or a room in a shared apartment in central Sao Paulo (I'm still trying to figure out neighborhoods, but I will be going to language schools in the Jardim Paulista area and going to indie rock venues with I gather are in "expanded centro."  
I know that rent, transportation and food will be slightly less than New York, so I figured US 1700 in Sampa will be okay.  I'm trying to figure out if I can spend less.  I will have health insurance paid, just need to cover rent, food (I cook a lot, don't eat meat), concert tickets, transport (mostly public), beer.  
To give you another idea, I got by in Tokyo last summer on about US 2000 a month, which included a fair amount of tourist stuff (a lot of train rides, which are very expensive there, ie I'm pretty frugal).
Do you suppose I could get by with US 1500 or 1200/ month.
Would there be rooms for rent with young-ish people in the expanded centro area? (I'm 28, would like to be other younger professional and students).
muito obrigada!
shannon

ANSWER: Bom...Sao Paulo is wicked expensive. But if you are looking for roommates then you can do it. You will never find a furnished studio for $1,000 a month. I just recently looked for someone else. It was well over $1,500; and Im talking dollars not reals.  But if you got by in Tokyo, you MIGHT make it by in Sampa IF you can find a roommate or a famly willing to rent you a furnished apt. Jardim Paulista is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the city. Millionaires live in that neighborhood. It is the equivalent of you moving out of your Brooklyn apartment (and not Park Slope, mind you) and moving on up to the East Side, as in the Upper East Side. If you know someone, all the better. If you dont, I can place a free ad for  you in the foreign press club saying that you are looking for a short term rental.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks!  I was actually just looking at more neighborhoods, and I don't think Jardim Paulista is where I'll want to be after all, now especially after your description!  It's hard to figure out, based on guides, where things are.  I'll do more research, but I would want to be in place with easy access to a lot of "underground" music venues.  Not sure if Vila Madalena would be that place, it seems not.  (The description makes me think it'd be like barrio bellavista in Santiago, or maybe the East village or LES in Manhattan?  How did you know I lived in Brooklyn, ha ha. Although for the record, I also lived in Manhattan for two years on that budget, but university housing, so.  
I was assuming there would be a fair amount of mid 20's to mid 30's people who share apartments and will need to sublet or have roommates.  
Are there any sites you can recommend to look for these?  Besides craigslist?
Thanks!

Answer
I could have sworn I responded to this. I cant think of any websites to find apartments. I also dont know the underground music scene at all. Im 41. I listen to music from the 80s and 90s like Bon Jovi or Ice Cub and the Beastie Boys.

Vila Madelena is a nice neighborhood, lots of bars and clubs, but from what I know...all samba and pagode bars. You should vist the site, www.brazilmax.com and www.gringoes.com to find out these kind of things about where certain pop cultural phenomenon take place.