Colonia Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City
Encyclopedia
Colonia Cuauhtémoc is a colonia
or official neighborhood located just north of Paseo de la Reforma
, west of the historic center of Mexico City
. The colonia was created in the late 19th century after some false starts and is named after a statue of Cuauhtémoc
which features on Paseo de la Reforma. Actions taken by residents have ensured that the area remains mostly residential, with commercial development limited to the strip along Paseo de la Reforma. This strip includes a number of important buildings such as the Torre Mayor
, the Torre HSBC
, the U.S. Embassy and the Mexican Stock Exchange.
Street vendors have proliferated in the colonia, taking over sidewalks, especially near office buildings. Most of these vendors sell foods such as torta
s, taco
s, sweets and other fast/convenience foods. Residents complain that these vendors impede traffic and have a negative effect on established and legal businesses. Most are located on Lerma, Guadalquivir, Volga, Villalongin and Panuco Streets.
When Paseo de Reforma closes for construction, protests or events, the streets on the colonia get jammed with diverted traffic.
However, construction did not begin until 1882, when Salvador Malo acquired the rights to the land. This construction was interrupted in 1904 when the city contracted with the Mexico City Improvement Company to build a road leading south from the Paseo to Chapultepec Park, today Avenida Melchor Ocampo. Other lands in the north of the property were expropriated for the Ferrocarrill Nacional Mexico
rail line, which was later used to build the Hospital de los Ferrocarrilles, today a unit of IMSS and the Jardín del Arte.
The reduced colonia was officially approved by the city in 1907, with the new main street bearing the names of Reforma 1, 3, 5 and 7, then names such as Calle Norte 1 or Calle Sur 1. Eventually, these names were changed for their permanent ones, based on rivers found in the world. The colonia’s name comes from the statue of Cuauhtémoc found on Paseo de la Reforma in this area, sculpted by Miguel Noreña.
In 1933, the neighborhood association, Asociación de Vecinos de la Colonia Cuauhtémoc, contracted with the city to make the area a “special zone for controlled development” in order to keep the area’s primarily residential nature. Most commercial construction is limited to the areas facing Paseo de la Reforma.
Since the mid 1990s, the colonia was supposed to receive a percentage of the income from parking meters installed in the area by the Cuauhtemoc borough, mostly to augment public security. Between 2002 and 2006, none of that money was forthcoming until a recent judicial ruling in their favor. The amount in question was between 200,000 and 250,000 pesos
per month from the 3,000 parking meters.
s to block the resonating effect of the lakebed and its own height. These diamond-shaped dampers are seen architecturally on its perimeter. With this extra-bracing, this tower can withstand earthquake forces nearly four times as efficiently as a conventionally damped building. The dampening system proved its worth in January 2003, when a 7.6 earthquake
shook the city. Not only did the building survive undamaged, occupants inside at the time did not know a trembler had occurred.
La Torre Ejecutiva, better known as the La Torre HSBC, was constructed at a cost of 146 million USD in the colonia on Paseo de la Reforma overlooking the Angel de la Independencia. It was completed and occupied in 2006. The building has a LEED certification, which means that is it environmentally friendly, using technology to cut needs for water and electricity.
The U.S. embassy is located in the colonia, facing Reforma. This embassy has massive security around it and streets have been closed around the building for both security and construction purposes. The lines for those applying for visas regularly spills out into the side streets causing streets like Rio Danubio to close during the embassy’s operating hours. The presence of the embassy also provokes 24 hour police presence of the area immediately surrounding the building but some residents doubt that this provides extra security.
The Mexican Stock Exchange, or Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BVM), is Mexico's only stock exchange. It is the second largest stock exchange by market capitalization in Latin America. BMV is now itself is a public company which is listed on its own stock exchange following a 2008 IPO. The Mexican Stock Exchange is located on Paseo de la Reforma on the eastern half of the colonia. It handles companies such as Cemex
, Telmex
, America Movil, Televisa
, TV Azteca
and Walmex.
has its headquarters in the HSBC Tower
in the community. Aeroméxico
has its headquarters in the community.
Colonia (Mexico)
In general, colonias are neighborhoods in Mexican cities, which have no jurisdictional autonomy or representation. It is plausible that the name, which literally means colony, arose in the late 19th, early 20th centuries, when one of the first urban developments outside Mexico City's core was...
or official neighborhood located just north of Paseo de la Reforma
Paseo de la Reforma
Paseo de la Reforma is a wide avenue that runs in a straight line, cutting diagonally across Mexico City. It was designed by Ferdinand von Rosenzweig in the 1860s and modeled after the great boulevards of Europe, such as Vienna's Ringstrasse or the Champs-Élysées in Paris...
, west of the historic center of Mexico City
Historic center of Mexico City
The historic center of Mexico City is also known as the "Centro" or "Centro Histórico." This neighborhood is focused on the Zócalo or main plaza in Mexico City and extends in all directions for a number of blocks with its farthest extent being west to the Alameda Central The Zocalo is the largest...
. The colonia was created in the late 19th century after some false starts and is named after a statue of Cuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc was the Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521...
which features on Paseo de la Reforma. Actions taken by residents have ensured that the area remains mostly residential, with commercial development limited to the strip along Paseo de la Reforma. This strip includes a number of important buildings such as the Torre Mayor
Torre Mayor
The Torre Mayor is a skyscraper in Mexico City, United Mexican States. With a height of 225 metres to the top floor and 55 storeys, it's the second tallest building in Latin America, surpassed by Ocean Two in Panama City with 236 metres...
, the Torre HSBC
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...
, the U.S. Embassy and the Mexican Stock Exchange.
Description
The colonia is just west of the historic center of the city, bordered by the following streets: Calzada Manuel Villalogín in the north, Paseo de la Reforma to the south and east and Avenida Melchor Ocampo in the west. It is still mostly residential, with development limited to the strip right along Paseo de la Reforma. It has just under 10,000 residents, on its 2,700 pieces of private property stretching over 90 blocks. Public schools in the colonia include Cendi Gdf Tsj Cristina Pachecho (primary), Cendi IMSS 35 Tipo B (primary), Cendi IMSS 46 Tipo B (primary), Cendi IMSS 52 (primary), Cendi Part Colegio Cibeles, S.C., (primary, Cendi Part Colegio del Angel (primary) and Colegio Reina Maria (technical school). Private schools in the colonia include Alitas (preschool), Busy Children (preschool), Centro Educativo Best, (high school), Colegio Colbert (secondary), Colegio Nueva Infancia (secondary), Colegio Reina Maria (secondary), Nihao-chop (language school) and Escuela Inglesa Kent (secondary) .Street vendors have proliferated in the colonia, taking over sidewalks, especially near office buildings. Most of these vendors sell foods such as torta
Torta
Torta is a Spanish word with a huge array of culinary meanings depending from the area and period of history in question. It originated in different regional variants of flatbread, of which the torta de gazpacho and torta cenceña are still surviving in certain areas of central Spain. Tortas are...
s, taco
Taco
A taco is a traditional Mexican dish composed of a corn or wheat tortilla folded or rolled around a filling. A taco can be made with a variety of fillings, including beef, chicken, seafood, vegetables and cheese, allowing for great versatility and variety...
s, sweets and other fast/convenience foods. Residents complain that these vendors impede traffic and have a negative effect on established and legal businesses. Most are located on Lerma, Guadalquivir, Volga, Villalongin and Panuco Streets.
When Paseo de Reforma closes for construction, protests or events, the streets on the colonia get jammed with diverted traffic.
History
In 1874, Rafael Martinez de la Torre obtained permission to establish a colonia on what were the lands of the Hacienda de la Teja, located west of what was then the city. The lands were located on both sides of the Paseo de la Reforma. The lands on the opposite side of the Paseo are now Colonia Juárez. The original name of the colonia was De la Teja and it was established in 1876, with plans to form the main streets at an angle to Paseo de la Reforma.However, construction did not begin until 1882, when Salvador Malo acquired the rights to the land. This construction was interrupted in 1904 when the city contracted with the Mexico City Improvement Company to build a road leading south from the Paseo to Chapultepec Park, today Avenida Melchor Ocampo. Other lands in the north of the property were expropriated for the Ferrocarrill Nacional Mexico
National Railroad of Mexico
The National Railroad of Mexico was one of the primary pre-nationalization railways of Mexico. Incorporated in Colorado in 1880 as the Mexican National Railway , and headed by General William Jackson Palmer of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, it completed a narrow gauge main line from Mexico...
rail line, which was later used to build the Hospital de los Ferrocarrilles, today a unit of IMSS and the Jardín del Arte.
The reduced colonia was officially approved by the city in 1907, with the new main street bearing the names of Reforma 1, 3, 5 and 7, then names such as Calle Norte 1 or Calle Sur 1. Eventually, these names were changed for their permanent ones, based on rivers found in the world. The colonia’s name comes from the statue of Cuauhtémoc found on Paseo de la Reforma in this area, sculpted by Miguel Noreña.
In 1933, the neighborhood association, Asociación de Vecinos de la Colonia Cuauhtémoc, contracted with the city to make the area a “special zone for controlled development” in order to keep the area’s primarily residential nature. Most commercial construction is limited to the areas facing Paseo de la Reforma.
Since the mid 1990s, the colonia was supposed to receive a percentage of the income from parking meters installed in the area by the Cuauhtemoc borough, mostly to augment public security. Between 2002 and 2006, none of that money was forthcoming until a recent judicial ruling in their favor. The amount in question was between 200,000 and 250,000 pesos
Mexican peso
The peso is the currency of Mexico. Modern peso and dollar currencies have a common origin in the 15th–19th century Spanish dollar, most continuing to use its sign, "$". The Mexican peso is the 12th most traded currency in the world, the third most traded in the Americas, and by far the most...
per month from the 3,000 parking meters.
Landmarks
The Torre Mayor is located on Paseo de la Reforma at the western end of the colonia. It was finished in 2003, and from then to 2010, it was the tallest building in Latin America. It continues to be the tallest building in Mexico at 225.4 meters tall. Due to the earthquake prone city, this tower was built with 96 dampers, which work like car shock absorberShock absorber
A shock absorber is a mechanical device designed to smooth out or damp shock impulse, and dissipate kinetic energy. It is a type of dashpot.-Nomenclature:...
s to block the resonating effect of the lakebed and its own height. These diamond-shaped dampers are seen architecturally on its perimeter. With this extra-bracing, this tower can withstand earthquake forces nearly four times as efficiently as a conventionally damped building. The dampening system proved its worth in January 2003, when a 7.6 earthquake
2003 Colima earthquake
The 2003 Colima earthquake occurred on 21 January, and registered a magnitude of 7.6 on the Richter scale. The epicenter was located on the Pacific coast, in the Mexican state of Colima...
shook the city. Not only did the building survive undamaged, occupants inside at the time did not know a trembler had occurred.
La Torre Ejecutiva, better known as the La Torre HSBC, was constructed at a cost of 146 million USD in the colonia on Paseo de la Reforma overlooking the Angel de la Independencia. It was completed and occupied in 2006. The building has a LEED certification, which means that is it environmentally friendly, using technology to cut needs for water and electricity.
The U.S. embassy is located in the colonia, facing Reforma. This embassy has massive security around it and streets have been closed around the building for both security and construction purposes. The lines for those applying for visas regularly spills out into the side streets causing streets like Rio Danubio to close during the embassy’s operating hours. The presence of the embassy also provokes 24 hour police presence of the area immediately surrounding the building but some residents doubt that this provides extra security.
The Mexican Stock Exchange, or Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BVM), is Mexico's only stock exchange. It is the second largest stock exchange by market capitalization in Latin America. BMV is now itself is a public company which is listed on its own stock exchange following a 2008 IPO. The Mexican Stock Exchange is located on Paseo de la Reforma on the eastern half of the colonia. It handles companies such as Cemex
Cemex
CEMEX is the world's largest building materials supplier and third largest cement producer. Founded in Mexico in 1906, the company is based in Monterrey, Mexico...
, Telmex
Telmex
Telmex is a telecommunications company headquartered in Mexico City that provides telecommunication products and services in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and other countries in Latin America. In addition to traditional fixed-line telephone service, Telmex also offers Internet access, data,...
, America Movil, Televisa
Televisa
Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...
, TV Azteca
TV Azteca
Azteca, is the second largest Mexican television entertainment. It was established in 1983 as the state-owned Instituto Mexicano de la Televisión , a holding of the national TV networks channel 13 and 7 and was privatized under its current name in 1993 and now is part of Grupo Salinas...
and Walmex.
Economy
HSBC MexicoHSBC Mexico
HSBC Mexico, S.A., the principal operating company of Group Financiero HSBC, S.A. de C.V., is one of Mexico’s four largest banking and financial service companies, with 1,400 branches and 5,200 ATMs. HSBC purchased Banco Internacional, S.A...
has its headquarters in the HSBC Tower
HSBC Tower, Mexico City
HSBC Tower is a skyscraper located on Paseo de la Reforma in Colonia Cuauhtémoc, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City, Mexico, which is the headquarters of HSBC Mexico. It is located opposite the Angel of Independence, and is home to the around 2,800 HSBC Mexico staff. Construction was completed in 2006, at a...
in the community. Aeroméxico
Aeroméxico
Airways of Mexico, SA de CV , operating as Aeroméxico, is the flag carrier airline of Mexico based in Colonia Cuauhtémoc, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City. It operates scheduled domestic and international services to North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia...
has its headquarters in the community.