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.
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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 simply as Barueri, corresponds to the old part of the city (founded in 1610 as an indigenous village) mostly low-rise and residential, with predominance of low to middle class households;
- The right (northeast) shore of the river, often called as Alphaville-Tamboré, Alphaville Barueri or simply 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 economical investments.
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.
From São Paulo, the Alphaville center can be reached by metropolitan bus (EMTU). There are several options of buses (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 final destination.
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.
Both 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.
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