I was asked by 2 members in another thread to compare Bucaramanga and Barranquilla. Well, I only spent 3 months in Barranquilla, which really isn't a whole lot of time, but sufficient to know the basics. I'll try to compare it as many different ways as I can to Bucaramanga.
WARNING: Opinions included. This will be a Medellin Living style comparison.
Cost of living: Bucaramanga wins easily. Apartments in similarly well-located areas rent for 10-15% more in Barranquilla than in Bucaramanga. I noticed everything is pricier... taxis, the grocery store, the average restaurant. Everything. I think a lot of the numbers on sites like numbeo are skewed and lack context. I lived in Estrato 4 in Buca and Quilla both. Quilla is noticeably more expensive.
Healthcare: I have no experience with healthcare in Barranquilla. I only know that Bucaramanga is excellent for a city of its size. It's probably a tie.
Climate: Bucaramanga wins easily, unless you enjoy sweating to death all day every day. The heat was bad enough in BAQ that I did not often venture outside my apartment between 10AM and 5PM. The days in Buca can be a little toasty, but the nights are always comfortable for sleeping. That said, I still would not consider Buca a "comfortable" climate for many people. Eje Cafetero has the best climate in Colombia hands down.
Restaurants and Nightlife: Barranquilla, being a bigger city, wins easily. They have dining options that Buca simply does not. Lots of tasty international cuisine in BAQ. If you want to party you would have no trouble in either, but BAQ has 2 things that Buca does not: Carnaval and it is the host city for the national football team. BAQ beats Buca by a mile here.
Traffic/Organizational layout: Buca wins easily. Being a smaller city, the traffic jams are almost non-existent unless something special is happening. The poster saiid20 can probably back me up on this. On the other hand, most of the streets I saw even in the north of Barranquilla are poorly designed and poorly maintained. And traffic is worse there, but that's to be expected looking at the sizes of the cities.
Things to do: Barranquilla wins easily. Not only due to the attractions in the city itself, but its proximity to Cartagena and Santa Marta is a huge advantage. Some people would get bored easily living in Buca... I did for a while, so I took a long vacation in BAQ.
Safety: Bucaramanga has the edge, but not overwhelmingly so. I never felt in danger in either city, but I feel that I could get away with "dando papaya" a lot more in Buca. I'm tempted to call this a tie, but the southern part of BAQ/Soledad worries me.
Infrastructure: Another easy win for Buca. BAQ doesn't even have a real drainage system, and this causes street floods (arroyos) quite often. Also, the tap water in Buca and surrounding areas is high-quality with a good natural taste. I did not like the tap water in BAQ. Finally, internet speed and reliability seem better on average in Buca.
Pollution/Cleanliness: Overall, I say this is a tie. Buca is not cleaner overall than BAQ, although it should be given its size. In BAQ I felt there was an adequate effort to maintain cleanliness. In Buca I think they can do a better job, especially in centro.
Access to international transportation: No contest, BAQ wins easily. Not much need to explain this one, but Buca does not offer direct flights to the U.S. and many other international destinations. BAQ does.
History and culture: BAQ wins easily. Carnaval, home of the national team, oldest airport in Latin America, and lots more.
Job opportunities: Another easy win for BAQ. I think I arrived at the wrong time to actually land one of the better teaching jobs, but there are more of them in BAQ by far. It's just a larger, more international city.
Public transportation: Tie. They both fail and have lots of work to do...
Language: This might be important for people who don't speak a lot of Spanish. I call this a tie. In BAQ you will find more people who speak English, but, if you actually want to learn Spanish, it is far easier in Buca. Costeñol is hard to understand. Period.
Expat community: A tie for me. If you want more expats, BAQ wins easily. If you want to be a novelty, Buca wins easily. Me personally? I don't care either way, but I know many do.
Education: Tie. BAQ, being the bigger of the two, obviously has more options, but not higher quality. Bucaramanga has a highly-educated young population.
Seismic Risk: Again, looking for help from saiid20 here, but if you don't like a small rumble of the earth beneath your feet, BAQ wins easily. In Buca I guarantee you will feel a tremor at least once per month, but sometimes they are a lot more frequent than that. In BAQ I never felt one my entire time there, and the locals say they are almost unheard of.
So here, in my 17-category comparison, Barranquilla wins 6, Bucaramanga wins 5, and the two cities tie in an astounding 6 categories. So it appears in my opinion that BAQ ever so slightly has an edge... but does it?
If you want a larger city with better restaurants/nightlife, more history/culture, more things to do, little to no seismic risk, more job opportunities, and better access to international transportation, then BAQ wins between the two hands down.
If you're looking for high-quality education and healthcare, you'll be fine in both cities. Neither city is what I would call clean or pollution-free, but at the same time, both are far cleaner than Medellín and Bogotá. Public transportation needs work in both BAQ and Buca. Depending on your expat circle and language wants/needs, either city could be what you're looking for. Or not.
But if you're looking for a lower cost of living, a better climate, better infrastructure, a better organized city with less traffic, and a safer city... Bucaramanga wins easily. And in the end, these factors weigh more heavily for me personally than the areas where BAQ wins.
Takeaways: I liked Quilla, but not enough to stay, because it did not offer the things I love about Buca. Quilla is probably a lot more viable than many people on this board have given it credit for, but it just wasn't for me. I don’t want to say my time there was a mistake. I met some cool people, learned about a new city, and took a break from my sometimes-monotonous life in Buca. But now that I am back, I don’t see myself leaving again for a while… if ever. Looking forward to comments, constructive disagreements, etc… Happy to help out any way I can with 2 of the lesser-known cities in Colombia for expats.
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