[TheMentat]

I've never been, but have passed though and spoken to several people who have been. The best analogy is that hanging around in a city like that is like commuting on a motorcycle. I find that when people get into trouble in places like that, they often have themselves to blame for not taking the place seriously enough.

On my way back from Argentina in February, I spoke to some people who were in Sao Paulo. They cut their vacation short because of the brazen petty crime. Nobody really felt safe. The straw that broke the camel's back was when a thief actually swung open the taxi door at an intersection to grab their camera from their lap!

Another group I spoke to mentioned the fact tht they all carried whistles. One person from the group was lagging behind the rest and was confronted on the street by a mugger. The whistle prevented a potentially dangerous situation.

Other people I've spoken to really like the city, but nobody can honestly say its a "safe" place. But what one person might consider dangerous, another might consider exciting ;-)