Mexico City Real Estate

South

Colonia del Valle, Las Aguilas, Barranca del Muerto, Mixcoac, Insurgentes Sur

This is considered the beginning of the "South" in Mexico City. All of these "colonias" are basically middle-class enclaves, many of them with people living there for several generations. The feel of the place varies. It can be very busy and hectic, like on Insurgentes, or it can feel very homey in some neighborhoods around Mixcoac, Valle, or Aguilas, for example. It's a relatively large zone, so it's a good idea to comb it thoroughly before making a decision. Accessibility to the northern and western parts of the City starts to become a bit of a nuisance, but the area has a lot to offer in terms of restaurants, bars, cultural and business life, especially when you consider the proximity of both the Condesa (to the north) and Coyoacan, San Angel (to the south). Click for cost of living.

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Environment	a little bit of everything

South II

San Angel, Coyoacan

This part of the City has been enveloped by the Megalopolis, but many of its plazas and cobblestone streets retain much of their charm (in fact, it's a little eerie the way it can seem to be so far from the surrounding urban sprawl). These two "colonias" used to be independent towns where some of Mexico City's well-to-do would have country houses (at that time the whole city consisted of what is now the Historical Center). Considered the intellectual heart of the city, this part of what is known as "the South" has more than its fair share of bookstores and cafés. Some trendy restaurants have set up shop in the area and there are all sorts of galleries around. During one of your first visits to the city you'll probably be taken to "el Bazar del Sabado" in San Angel, which is a big market full of art and trinkets. The whole place is an extremely agreeable area to live in, but trekking anywhere north, including downtown (around the Angel of Independence) can become a pain, especially during rush hour. Click for cost of living.

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Environment	neighborly/crunchy

Southwest

Pedregal, Ajusco

This relatively newly developed area of the south of Mexico City is built on (and made of) volcanic rock because the Ajusco, currently a wooded mountain park, is an extinct volcano that erupted ages ago. The area has some impressive houses and most of it, especially Pedregal, is home to upper class residents. At one edge it borders on University City, which is the campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the world's largest university, with over 250,000 students. The UNAM is also the home of many a leftist radical, so there can be street demonstrations on the section of Insurgentes Sur that leads into the Pedregal. Also, the Aztec Stadium (the largest stadium in terms of seats in the world) is also in that general zone, so important football soccer matches can mess up traffic. Beyond that, both Insurgentes Sur and Perisur (a large mall in the area) provide for great shopping and there are plenty of restaurants in that same area to choose from. The access roads to the Cuernavaca-Acapulco highway go through there too, and, for the kids, there's Mexico's best theme park, Six Flags - Mexico (formerly Reino Aventura). There are also two important hotels, the Radisson and the Royal Pedregal, as well as the headquarters of TV Azteca and the National Polytechnic Institute. If you don't have anything that requires you to trek downtown or north on a daily basis, it's a great place to live.

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Environment	neighborly/commercial

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