Estratos? What are these?

scotty says on Nov 18, 2006, 09:32:

good question you hear about that alot in Colombia ...where a person lives, barrios. I would also wonder is there really a middle class in Colombia and if so what is it a 4? a 5? higher? lower?
good question shawkneesea.

Get Rhythm, when you got the blues. Johnny Cash

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Nov 18, 2006, 09:50:

there have been several threads discussing the stratification here's one of them:

http://www.poorbuthappy.com/colombia/node/12739

Cheers,
Desi

«Sé que los seres humanos y los peces podrán coexistir en paz». ( George W. Bush, Saginaw 29-09-00)

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"(First Witch in Macbeth)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

rocinante says on Nov 18, 2006, 09:58:

Estratos are assignments to zones in Colombia - it is a way of determining taxes and utility bills. The people living in the lower estratos pay less and usually the real estate in the lower estratos is less expensive. No one walks around with their estrato taped to their sleeve nor are Colombians concerned with someone's estrato.

Yes there are always peceptions based on where someone lives regardless of country ("She lives in Beverly Hills") but the rich and poor know who they are and the word estrato harldy ever comes up, ever, even on the news. Take a cable car ride in Medellín and you'll get a birdseye view estrato 0.

I recently moved from a 2 to a 3, but I still feel the same.

Believe it or not, if you go to a "Las Fondas" event or any type of outdoor "Fair", although to Americans everyone looks the same, the rich can be spotted because they are wearing hats (I'm not talking baseball caps).

"World economic indicators point to a democrat winning 2008. It will surely be Obama. Not that the US president actually runs the US." Feb 5, 2008

0 funny, 0 helpful.

shawkneesea says on Nov 18, 2006, 12:21:

Estrato-Fontibon So, What estrato is Fontibon? Does being close to the airport make it a lower estrato?

Sean

Sean

0 funny, 0 helpful.

. says on Nov 18, 2006, 16:07:

In England, Rich people wear like Italians or French people. Poor people in England wear like Americans.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

. says on Nov 18, 2006, 16:08:

Fontibon is estrato 2
Fontibon is estrato 2

0 funny, 0 helpful.

aztec says on Nov 18, 2006, 16:35:

Search this site... ...and you will find more information than you need.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

scotty says on Nov 18, 2006, 22:51:

low on the totum pole I dont totally understand the system they have there but i heard the smaller the number the worse the neighborhood. I think 2 is getting down there pretty low. i asked a gringo friend that lives down there and he told me once you go below a 4 you are getting in the lower rent, tougher area's.
i had a friend that lived in a 5 and it seemed like a pretty nice neighborhood...so who knows? a 5 looks fine but yet a 4 is getting into the tough area's? i dont understand that.
i stayed a while in what i think was called an 8 and most of the people there were snobs...they acted like they were movie stars...maybe they were?

Get Rhythm, when you got the blues. Johnny Cash

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Robert Jorge says on Nov 18, 2006, 23:43:

Strobers, I had the exact same experience. My fiancee's mother and herself, live in an estrato 2 house. It is in Villavo. I literally slept sitting on those $5.00 plastic chairs on the sidewalk outside of the house. In other words, I felt as safe as I would sleeping in my own bedroom. Estrato, in my experience, has NOTHING to do with safety or class of people. It is just utility bill rates. My fiancee's cousin, lives in an estrato 2 in Bogota; Porpal I think is the name of the barrio. I will just say I would not sleep on the sidewalk there - if they had one, and walking 5 blocks in that barrio was the only time I was truly scared while in Colombia. Same estrato levels, but TOTALLY different people and atmosphere.

He who farts in church, sits in his own pew.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

litost says on Nov 19, 2006, 08:37:

Fontibon, estrato 2??? Are you sure? I thought more like estrato 3 or 4, a classic middle class (Bogota style) neighborhood. I have some family living there, it's OK but a little too quiet and far from everything IMO. Maybe because of the nearby airport it's lowered an estrato or two...

I also agree that the estrato does not necessarily indicate the safety level, but of course generally speaking you have to be extra careful and low-key in the lower estratos. Actually the most dangerous estratos (potentially speaking, and regarding particularly muggings) are the 4 or 5 which are next to a 1 or 2...

Another thing about the estrato system is that there are some special cases, such as the Candelaria neighborhood which is considered a historic area of the city of special interest and so is only estrato 1 or 2... it means utilities will be dirt cheap but since it is an area which attracts many students and artsy types the rent is more like estrato 4 prices.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

utopiacowboy says on Nov 19, 2006, 10:49:

Total BS. The only post with any sense to it was Rocinante's. All a higher estrato means is higher taxes and higher utility rates. Given a choice, as in my wife's old barrio, they want a lower estrato not a higher one. They suceeded in having the barrio reclassified as 4 instead of 5. Gringos seem to be obsessed with estrato. Muerte para los gringos!

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

shawkneesea says on Nov 19, 2006, 10:58:

not obsessed, I will change my name I will change my name to hoodrat gringo. I am most comfortable in the rough barrios of Oakland though they can get really, really sketchy, and I stay out of them at night. I just didn't really understand what it meant when I was reading it.

Sean

Sean

0 funny, 0 helpful.

litost says on Nov 19, 2006, 11:06:

total BS???
Thanks for the total BS???

Thanks for the vote of confidence UTC, I had forgotten you and your wife are the only ones who hold the keys to understanding Colombia. The rest of us just have nothing to do but come and talk BS about Colombia. Precisely why I am discouraged after posting a little more actively, maybe it's time for a few more months of retreat, it's not worth getting upset...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Nov 19, 2006, 11:16:

UC, you have to agree that the security factor get worse as the stratum numbers of the barrios get lower. I agree with litost on this one, totally. There's nothing scarier than living in a nice, cozy level 5 neighbourhood surrounded by level 1 and 2 areas, abound with people with no jobs, no material posessions, no streetlights, no garbage colection and plenty of desperation.

Cheers,
Desi
(Litost, don't let UC discourage you from posting. Most of us appreciate your contribution here very much)




«Sé que los seres humanos y los peces podrán coexistir en paz». ( George W. Bush, Saginaw 29-09-00)

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"(First Witch in Macbeth)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

mecca says on Nov 19, 2006, 11:30:

correct Desi and DonGringo are both correct. Though it is not common in Cali to have a 5 or 6 and next door is a 1. Additionally, i can tell you as a homeowner in a 6, i want to continue to keep it as a 6. And if I owned in a 5 i would want it converted to a 6 for an obvious increase in value. If you live in a 6, it is kind of an automatic acceptance into the "high end" living. Other families in the barrio accept you and you have continuous offers for dinner at others homes and access to their daughters for friendship and dating. They will bring you their available single women.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

poco says on Nov 19, 2006, 16:56:

Snide Remarks i heard the smaller the number the worse the neighborhood. I think 2 is getting down there pretty low.

I saw this thread title and knew some clueless person would essentially say I was "down there" live in a "bad area" or poor or what ever.

Well,, I'm not and I live in an estrato 2 because that is where the girl owned a house and I KNOW w/o a doubt she would NEVER do anything to raise her taxes or Utility costs. Last year they tried to reclassify the house to a "3". Protested and now it has returned to a "2".

One couple next door are school teachers, the other neighbor is a retired policeman his children have BOTH graduated from a University.

I feel really sorry for those that have formed their entire opinion of Colombia from what they see from afar.

Then again, I suppose the drug addicts need to live somewhere and like most classes of folks they have RUINED their location and it might now be suitable ONLY for other druggies.

There are VERY few druggies or street bums in the rural area where I live,, believe it or not,, I asked why no bums sleeping on the sidewalk and was told,, NO WAY this would be allowed.

Pereria, where street bums abound, there are lots who sleep in Estrato "0" ie: under a bridge.



This one is near a bridge, guess he couldn't make the last block to get under it ????

"When you men get home and face an anti-war protester, look him in the eyes and shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend, because she knows she's dating a pussy." Quote - General Tommy Franks

0 funny, 0 helpful.

goin_south says on Nov 19, 2006, 19:43:

1 is like,... in the curb & gutter, isn't it? jus next to 0.

"Tengo mucha compasión para el loro."
(But, El Loro lives well, along the Lakeside, in Chi-Town. So, in comparison,... not so much compassion for the Big Green Bird.) He was green, wasn't he?

“ I would rather be a conservative nut job rather than a liberal with no nuts and no job.”

0 funny, 0 helpful.

aztec says on Nov 20, 2006, 07:20:

DonGringo,... ..."Oh the maximim is a 7 it is a few blocks in Chico in Bogota. I have never heard of an 8?"

Is there really a 7?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

mecca says on Nov 20, 2006, 07:26:

that pretty much summs it up DonGringo... just to add., i would guess that the people in the 6's (colombians) are on such a higher level of income that the small decrease in taxes or utility bills make no difference, as compared to the drop in property value if they get shifted down. ie. colombian families in the 6's are making much more than double what the families living in the 3's are making. Thus, proportionally the property value is a much higher concern for the 6's and utility bills are a much higher concern for the 3's.

0 funny, 0 helpful.