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7 thoughts on “Medellín vs Santiago: Which is the Better City to Live In?”
I do think Medellín compares pretty favorably to Santiago in a lot of regards (especially pollution). But I think it’s a bit disingenuous to say that it’s a tie on transportation. Medellín does have a pretty good and growing transportation system, but it has a pretty small train line and the “rapid” bus lines mostly don’t have dedicated lanes. The numbers you use to say it’s a tie are comparing different things. You say Santiago has 130 stations and Medellín has 60, but you only count train lines in Santiago’s extensive train system and you count train, bus, and cable cars for Medellín’s.
There is a reason why Medellin is cheaper : Very high crime, poor infrastructure, very high corruption in Law enforcement and in every level of government.
Last time I checked Clínica Alemana in Santiago Is the best hospital in Latinamerica, Santiago Metro is rank # 1 in Latinamerica,United Nations development index ranks Chile # 43 in the world, Colombia is # 91, GDP per cápita in Santiago is 26,000 USD, Medellín GDP per cápita is 6,000 USD, Chile has 2 of the 3 University in Latinamerica. My point is , you are comparing apples to oranges,Chile is four years away of becoming a 1st world country, Colombia is a poor country fighting a civil war.
Get your facts right. Medellin doesn’t have poor infrastructure — Medellin has the only metro system in Colombia and reliable electricity, water and Internet services in my experience. Medellin also has a nicer airport than that old Santiago airport that doesn’t even have enough seats. I had to sit on the floor at the Santiago airport for hours when my flight was delayed for 5+ hours. Also, Medellin was named the most innovative city in the world a few years ago.
Colombia isn’t fighting a civil war, it is at peace with the FARC and only is fighting the small ELN guerilla/rebel Marxist group that is in the jungles of Colombia.
Hi Mark, thanks for responding to that comment. Yes, Medellín has very good infrastructure and Colombia is fighting with a few thousand rebels and the ELN has been named a terrorist organization. Also, Clínica Alemana isn’t the best hospital in Latin America, it is #2 as it says in the above article and can be seen here: http://achc.org.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/RankingHospitalesAE.pdf. The best hospital in Latin America according to that study is Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in São Paulo.
Chile is not 4 years from becoming a 1st world country-dependent on Copper too much-only exports raw materials that others need. Nothing is made in Chile. Electronics, precision instruments, cars, engineering firms, etc. Nada. 39% of the population works in the informal sector, 10 out of the 31 most polluted cities in South America are in Chile, low birth rate and small population (17 million compared to 50 million in Colombia) is not good prospects for long-term high GDP growth rates.
Hi Orlando. Thanks I agree with you. Chile is not 4 years from becoming a 1st world country. I have friends in Chile that have told me that they have been hearing for decades that they are close to becoming a First World country and nobody there really believes it anymore.
Nice comparison. I have been to both cities and Medellin wins in the most important categories for me — better climate, better healthcare, lower cost of living and closer to the U.S.
Also, when I went to Santiago the pollution was terrible with smog over the city every day and it was during the winter so it was also pretty cold. Santiago is a pretty miserable city during the winter. No way I could live there.