We love Niterói

Only 13 kilometers separate Niterói from Rio de Janeiro, but on most days we feel a world away. It’s quieter, it’s cleaner, it’s safer and we have wonderful views of Rio!

I’m going to take a page out of Zezinho da Rocinha’s playbook and proudly toot our horn as residents of Niterói. My inspiration comes from the inauguration of a new tourism logo just released by neltur, the local tourism agency, and their contest in cooperation with the city currently underway to come up with a new tourism slogan – with GREAT prizes for the winner.

Many indexes identify Niterói as one of the best cities in Brazil in which to live and work.

Niterói is the most literate county in the country, according to data from INEP (Ministry of Education/2000). It has the highest rate of school attendance among 7 to 14 year olds (97.52%). The average number of years kids stay in school is 9.5, with a literacy rate of 96.4% among those over 15 years of age.

According to the Third Human Development Index (HDI) of Brazil, Niterói offers its residents top level health care prevention and basic sanitation services. The municipality is one of only a few in Brazil to have 100% of its area supplied with treated drinking water and 75% of its household waste is collected and treated in a broad sewage network that includes five sewage treatment plants. (The national average for treated sewage is 20%.)

Here are a few more stats:

• Area: 129 km²

• Population: 474,002 inhabitants (2007 data - IBGE)

• Population density: 3,504 inhabitants/km²

• Average altitude: 5 meters above sea level

• Year the city was founded: 1573

• The coast has 11 kilometers of beach

Luiz is launching into a new enthusiasm for being a local tour guide. While taking state-funded classes that focus on Rio, he is excited about showing visitors around our home town as well.

While I’m not ready to tattoo a mural of Niterói on my legs (only you can go that far, Zezinho) I do enjoy reveling in our good fortune to be living in a city with such a high quality of life.