Barueri

Barueri is a city in the São Paulo metro area, São Paulo state. Barueri holds the highest GDP per capita among the large cities of the state, thanks to its strong economy based on industry and services. Its growing financial center makes the city an increasingly important international business destination.

Understand
Barueri is divided by the Tietê river into two distinct "cities" with very little in common:
 * The left (southwest) shore of the river, commonly called Barueri, corresponds to the old part of the city (founded in 1610 as an indigenous village): mostly low-rise and residential, with a predominance of low to middle class households;
 * The right (northeast) shore of the river, often called Alphaville-Tamboré, Alphaville Barueri or Alphaville, is a planned urban area that mostly emerged after 1973. It was modelled to mimic a typical American city, with a dense and high-rise center, a periferical industrial park, and sprawling suburbs with large houses and lots of green. The difference is that in Alphaville, the suburbs are all gated communities with strong security measures. However, Alphaville also contains in its vicinity a slum-like neighborhood, Parque Imperial.

Despite the high inequality between the two sides of the city, Barueri has been able to use its high tax revenue to improve infrastructure and social conditions in the poorer (southwest) side, which is also starting to become attractive for economic investments.

In 2020, it was home to 277,000 people.

By car
By far the best way to get to Alphaville from São Paulo is by car, by taking BR 374 (Rod. Castelo Branco). Toll payment is required.

By bus
From São Paulo, the Alphaville center can be reached by metropolitan bus (EMTU). There are several bus options (check the EMTU website), but they typically take 2 hours and cost between R$3.10-R$6.85. The bus lines that depart from metro stations in São Paulo are 116, 818 (Armênia station), 378, 378PR1 (Paraíso) and 524 (Barra Funda). With exception of 818, most of these buses do not have the Alphaville center as their final destination.

By train
The Barueri city center contains the Barueri station of CPTM Line 8-Diamond. The trip from the Barra Funda metro station takes around 78 minutes and costs a regular CPTM tariff.



Get around


The Alphaville and Barueri centers are compact enough to be explored on foot. Public transport consists of buses, operated by Benfica. A car is generally the most convenient way of moving from one part of the city to another.

See
Other than the skyscrapers and the "artificial urban feel" of Alphaville, there are a few places in Barueri worth visiting.

Do
Alphaville is a typical business tourism destination, with not much to do besides shopping, drinking and dining. Sports are mostly done inside the gated communities, and cultural activities are few (mostly children-oriented) as they tend to be absorbed by nearby São Paulo.

Eat
As one may expect, Alphavile is the center of high-end gastronomy in Barueri. There is no shortage of choices of restaurants, but there isn't much authenticity either - the best restaurants in the area are native from São Paulo or other cities.



Connect

 * UP2U Coworking. Calçada das Hortênsias, 12 - 3 andar. Barueri/SP - Centro Comercial Alphaville. Coworking space with wi-fi, coffee, candies, air conditioner, work station, coworkers network. 11 2755-2051/ up2u@up2ucoworking.com.br From R$ 12.

Go next
The small and charming Santana de Parnaíba, northwest of Barueri, contains a formidable heritage from the colonial period and holds important cultural festivities.