What you find is some First World, some Third World and much in between. But its very messiness defeats easy stereotypes. The Sao Paulo metropolis is Brazil's commercial, industrial and financial center. Though not handsome, the city isn't squalid, and outwardly, much of the population is bustling toward middle-class consumerism.
Downtown has the usual office and apartment towers, luxury stores and restaurants.
Cell phones are widespread. At rush hours, there are the familiar traffic jams. In 2000, Brazil's economy expanded 4.2 percent, feeding optimism that strong growth can continue. I talked with several editors of Exame, the country's major business magazine, who cited several reasons for confidence. In 1994, it was 2,076 percent for the year.