La Boca Reconsidered

La Boca is a slum and a tourist trap. It's an odd combination, really. Usually slums aren't on people's tourist itineraries and yet the Caminito is a must-see for most tourists who visit Buenos Aires. There's good reasons for this, of course. La Boca a neighborhood full of history and colorful buildings. This got me thinking about why more neighborhoods aren't painted in bright, unusual colors. A few years ago the mayor of Tirana, Albania spearheaded a campaign to repaint the city's dreary, communist-era buildings in bright colors [some examples here, here and here]. A new paint job isn't going to solve crime, poverty, overcrowding and social exclusion but an attention to aesthetics and a sense of beauty is essential to creating a livable city.

See also the colorful buildings on Calle Lanin.