This past year, Ipanema suffered from a lot of bad publicity in regard to safety. A LOT of mugging and even actual murders of tourists in main streets of Ipanema were reported in the local newspapers. Guys have been complaining about the Ipanema favela kids harrassing them late at night. It seems that SAFETY is better now in Copacabana where there's much more police presence. Ipanema is still cleaner, there are more nice restaurants there and the beach is generally better for quality of girls and water. But the girl action remains in Copa and Copa is closer to Centro and the metro.

Is there really a point of staying in Ipa anymore? Or is the best solution is actually staying in APROADOR, the area between Copa and Ipa?

Bangbro,

Where did you get your information? None of it sounds that accurate to me.

Cat, I agree. I watch the Rio news daily and havent noticed a change in the amount of crime in Ipanema. I also do not agree that Ipanema is necessarily 'closer' to Centro. Just behind Ipanema is Lagoa and you can go straight through the tunnel and be in Centro.

november last year a german tourist was murdered i botanical garden and,about 2 weeks later another tourist(female german or austrian) was killed during a robbery.close to praca osorio.maybe that a robbery or worse sell more newspaper if it take place in ipanema.
iggy

Yeah, and that tourist was stabbed to death in Copa as well. Personally, I'll go with my own experience. Ipanema in general is much safer than large sections of Copa, though to be honest parts of Copa are also very safe - safe being a relative term. But in general, if someone asks which is nicer and/or safer, Ipanema wins easily on both counts.

Crimes in Ipa do tend to get more press since it's an upscale neighborhood. Someone getting mugged in Copa doesn't merit a mention at all, it happens so frequently. That's the same anywhere though. In any large US city a violent mugging in a nice neighborhood gets a lot more press and discussion than a violent mugging in a slum, which typically gets none.

I'm a Bridge player and sometimes play as guest in front of the Sofitel hotel with locals, mostly older ladies. I get a lot of information from them. One of their favorite subjects is how unsafe Ipanema is getting to be these days. They mentioned various assults on tourists, French, German, etc.. I believe these ladies read the local newspapers from start to finish, every day, so they sound pretty convincing to me. And its true: You really see more police presence in Copa than in Ipa. And where there's police presence, I feel good... Also, a friend staying in a rental apartment on Barao da Torre, told me he was harrassed by favela kids while entering his building late at night only last week. I myself was walking by General Osorio Square last night at around 10pm and felt very uncomforable with the characters I saw around. I don't get this "spooky" feeling in Copa anymore. You no longer see these wondering barefoot kids, etc.. So Copa really does seem safer to me these days.

Bangbro,

So you never see favella kids in Copa? And the bluehairs bitching about crime in Ipa means Ipa's worse than Copa? Most of those bluehairs wouldn't set foot in Copa beyond Posto 6 and Posto 6 is cutting it.

Talk with the cops in Rio. The crime rate in Copa is more than 4X the rate in Ipanema. Violent crime is much higher in Copa than Ipanema. Want some excitement? Walk through Praça Serzedio Correia in Copa or walk through the tunnel connecting R. Barato Ribeiro and R. Raul Pompeia.

Man, I see street kids in Copa every day without fail. Any evening stand out by the intersection of Av. Atlântica and R. Miguel Lemos. You'll see dozens off them. Walk past Bob's at midnight and they'll be all over you. Walk through the intersection of Prado Jr. and NS de Copacabana and you'll see lots of barefoot, shirtless kids.

And you are completely off-base about a greater police presence in Copa than Ipanema. Police patrols are much heavier in Ipanema, as the merchants of the high-end shops and the wealthy residents make sure they get attention. In Copa you find the dregs of the force hanging out along Av. Atlântica doing nothing but picking their noses.

Complaining about crime is a sport among Cariocas, no matter where they live.

Bangbro, believe what you want, but you are the only person I've ever met who believes that Copa is safer than Ipanema.

Bangbro... those bluehaired ladies live in Ipanema. Hence, they complain about the crime. Copa is more dangerous. Repeat this 100 times and you should be okay.

Bangbro

Pass me that crack pipe when you're done, will you?

there definitely has been some high profile crime in Ipanema recently. It is being said that it is getting much less safe

Now to actually compare it statistically, not sure how to do that.