18.04.2008
Manaira
If Tambau is the life and soul of the party, then
Manaira is the person who has been there, done that and bought the t shirt.
Not quite as
built up as Tambau but still quite a lot of towers, land is still fairly
plentiful though expensive. There are still many house to be had too. A sizable
majority require some degree of work and only a handful on a recent 2007 survey
were ready to move into without anything needing doing to them. It was common
to find three and four bed single storey houses for around the R$230/250k mark.
Be prepared for some hard negotiations. If the six bed, sea front mansion just
down from Mag takes your fancy then be prepared to shell out R$2 million. One
the other hand there is a beautiful five bed house just one road back from the
sea front near Tambau and Edson Ramalho for R$350k (cash).There is a good
selection of houses from Manaira Shopping along to Mag Shopping and from the
coast side up to Ave. Joao Cancio. Locals would call Ave Joao Cancio the cut
off point because the other side takes you to the Sao Jose favela. The Favela
is off putting and stories abound about what happens there but if you walk
round the streets during the day in the vicinity, you will find houses with low
walls and walls without electric fences etc. So some people are not too
bothered. Late in 2007, the newspapers reported that the favela was going to be
cleared to comply with marine law. The favelados would be rehoused in new
houses on another estate. The moving of the favela will significantly affect
house values in a positive way.
Manaira is
central to everything going on in Joao Pessoa. It has a great looking beach,
albeit narrow and slightly polluted. Many cite Manaira beach side promenade as
an area to pick up prostitiutes. The prefeitura is keenly aware of the effect
on tourism and Joao Pessoas reputation. Anyone venturing along the sea front
will be aware of the police presence and mobile patrols. Its difficult to see
how these people can operate under these conditions. The volume of foot traffic
is intense too as people make their way to and from Mag Shopping. This will
increase as more shops and bars are due to open. These people will eventually
move to other areas or towns.
There are
several large squares with markets, bars and activities such as custom and
vintage car shows. It has many excellent small bars and restaurants not to mention
some of the finest restaurants in the north east of Brasil on Ave Edson Ramalho
(watch out for the speed cameras). The Ave, which also serves as the main
return south from the beach road is also home to some fine furniture, art and
clothes shops.
Living
central to Manaira puts you walking distance to Manaira Shopping, the second
biggest in the north east and also Mag Shopping renowned for its entertainment
centre and live shows. Both shopping centres have multi screen cinemas
reputably the finest in South America!