BETWEEN THE STREETS | cdmx
Filmed: April 2019
Location: Ciudad de México, CDMX
Series trailer
Filmed: April 8, 2019
Location: Av. Álvaro Obregón, Roma Norte, Mexico City, CDMX
AV ÁLVARO OBREGÓN Built in the early 20th Century. The wide, tree lined streets were innovations of the time, inspired by French urban design. The Avenue was named after former president and Mexican revolutionary, Álvaro Obregón Salido who was a general in the Mexican revolution fighting parallel with Pancho Villa, a revolutionary memorialized in taquerias and shops in San Francisco and the Bay Area.
Who is Álvaro Obregón
- Obregón was the 46th President of Mexico, (1920-24).
- Wore a false beard when addressing a crowd in 1920.
- He is thought to have ordered Pancho Villa’s assassination in July 1923. (Source: US Library of Congress)
- Obregón was assassinated in 1928 by a Roman Catholic follower who opposed to his Reform policies.
The Statues
Ten prominent bronze statues were erected between 1975-76, less than ten years after the October 2, 1968 government shooting of students protesting the Summer Olympics.
Filmed: April 8, 2019
Location: Av. Amsterdam, Hipódromo, Mexico City, CDMX
AVENIDA AMSTERDAM This beautiful avenue with tree lined median was a former horse racing warm-up track.
The area “La Condesa” was owned by the countess of Miravalle. The racetrack was built in 1882 during the reign of the oligarchs during the era of dictator Porfilio Díaz. It was closed in 1914 because of the Mexican revolution but the shape and name remains.
Filmed: April 12, 2019
Location: Parque Galindo y Villa, Av. Jesús G. Villa, Mexico City, CDMX
PARQUE GALINDO Y VILLA In 2013 I remember seeing long stretches of dirt between the roadways with occasional people exercising in the open space between the roads. I wondered how healthy that was to exercise and breath in the fumes from cars.
In 2019 I this strip of land had been converted into a large park. Even in the middle of the day there were many people enjoying the space.
Filmed: April 19, 2019
Location: Av. Año de Juárez, Iztapalapa, Mexico City, CDMX
AV AÑO DE JUÁREZ Iztapalapa is the most populated borough in Mexico City with over 2 million people. In the 1970s it was converted from farm land to urban area. Today, 90% of the land is urbanized. This promenade/intervention was inaugurated in 2014 along with the park, “Parque Año de Juárez” (not pictured) to help both pedestrians and vehicles. The investment included bollards, lamps, children’s play areas, a skate park area, outdoor gym, jogging track and the esplanade.
ABOUT THE SERIES
BETWEEN THE STREETS series
Ciudad de México, CDMX
The first time I visited Mexico City I was surprised by the ring roads and the public space that appeared in the pockets between high moving traffic rushed between neighborhoods on either side of the ring. Without grass there were still places being used for sport and recreation. That was 2016. I saw the parks from the airport taxi and again when walking over one of the arterial roads near Coyoacán.
It was a very different experience than inside the heart of the city there were between many of the large avenues there are pedestrian zones with statues, benches, paved sidewalks and trees. On the outskirts the land was bare. When I returned in 2019 I saw that many pockets between streets had been developed into parks, even on the outskirts. They include playgrounds, sports facilities, and paths for walking. You can now find green in many slivers between the streets.
BETWEEN THE STREETS | the streets
Av. Álvaro Obregón
Roma Norte
Av. Amsterdam
Hipódromo
Parque Galindo y Villa
Btwn Av. Jesús G. Villa
3.5 km from the airport
Av. Año de Juárez
Iztapalapa
14 km from Amsterdam, Hippodromo