Mexico City

I stumbled upon this site of aerial photographs of Mexico City while looking for a picture of a particular area to show a friend. The area is called Las Lomas and is visible in the picture to the left. I lived in Mexico City from November of 1990 to July of 1995 and I have many fond memories of the place (I was 8 years old when I left). More than anything else it is living in the ever-congested albeit relatively safe Narvarte-Del Valle neighborhood that has given me an appreciation for large cities and would eventually lead me to take this course. Mexico City holds almost 9 million people within its city limits (roughly equal to all of metropolitan Chicago) with an additional 20 million people in the surrounding metropolitan area creating the most populous urban area in the Americas.


As befits a city of such size, there is a little bit of everything with vibrant cultural scenes, industry of all kinds, shopping (both high and low-end), crime, pollution (the city lies on a valley surrounded by high mountains that trap smog) and breathtaking monuments and parks. Though the size of the rapid transit system dwarfs that of Chicago's it does not serve the entire breadth of the city and, much like Chicago and other world cities, it is the poorer areas that get shafted in terms of service. I have not been back since, as my family did not until recently receive permanent legal status in the United States, but I plan on doing so as soon as it becomes financially feasible. I yearn to again see a city filled with so many contrasts: old colonial districts and ever-growing skyscrapers, architecturally adventurous buildings and simple shacks built by squatters on the hillsides, tree-lined boulevards and crowded vecindades.