Montevideo

I've casually found this page, living in Montevideo for a twelve year now I want to write a little comment about some of the things I've read here.
1) the cost of living: yes, it's expensive. no, you don't need 4000 usd/month. Of course you can spend it if you want, but actually we're a family of four and our monthly balance is about 3000$. we don't own a car, we don't go out every evening, we don't live in punta carretas. of course, if you want to live in the most expensive neighborhood and want to dinner out sushi every day you need a lot of money, but normally 4000 usd/month for one person are a very good amount
2) internet speed: Montevideo and most of uruguay have optic fiber, for 50 usd/month you can get a 100/30 mpbs connection, the problem maybe the international bandwidth (I can use ssh to remote server in europe with a slightly delay), we watch netflix etc with no problem. also you can buy an LTE mobile chip with a very good speed (I can do RDP with no problems at all) but more delay in international routing.
3) tap water: it's generally drinkable, maybe you can buy a filter, but lot of people drink it
4) yes, the city can be pretty boring compared to other options (like buenos aires, for example) and there's no much variety
5) safety: yes, it's safer than other latin america cities, but if you go around with dollars sticking out of your pocket, an iphone in one hand, an ipad in the other, the latest model of nikon around your neck, an open backpack with a laptop sticking out of it and looking around bewildered, maybe even in a complicated barrio... well, you increase the chances of being robbed... since it's not tokyo (and there are complicated areas there too) you need to have some ability to understand the context

Hope this help!

I really like Montevideo. There may be a little bit of crime here and there - but coming from LA (like me), Montevideo is a picnic, frankly. If you're into architecture you will LOVE walking around here. Also, check out Eater's list of restaurants. There is some REALLY good food there. It's just not going to hit you in the face, like it does in NYC, or something. They also love their sweets - very good bakeries. And, a surprising number of great places to work and have a coffee. All those beautiful old homes have been converted to cafes and restaurants. As a digital nomad, that was really nice!

Everything (and everyone haha) seems to be old. Not a kind of place to have fun and enjoy. Food is great, but pricey — you can find the same or even better for a cheaper price in Buenos Aires. Legalization of marijuana isn’t something good to celebrate in my opinion and just created a weird environment. There are better places to go.

Most of the city felt a bit run down, trash in the streets, not much to see or do, and everything seemed really expensive. The Uruguayan people were nice and helpful, but once those nice folks got behind the wheel of a car they seemed to transform: Trying to cross the street as a pedestrian was annoyingly stressful. It wasn't easy to find good restaurants or coffee and they were all really expensive for what you got. I heard that Montevideo was safer than other South American countries but all that news did was make me not want to visit other South American countries because it didn't feel safe at all compared to Eastern and Western Europe.

One positive is that foreign credit cards are supposed to have IVA tax reimbursed, which is quite a bit in restaurants (+20%) although this didn't work properly on all of my US credit cards. However even with the tax break it didn't feel like a great deal most of the time.