Introduction

Condesa, Mexico City’s own SoHo, features offbeat boutiques, and sidewalk cafes and restaurants that line its major avenues, especially Micho­acan, from Mazat­lan to Tamau­lipas.

The neighborhood took shape in the 1920s and 30s on land once occupied by the hippodrome of the Countess of Miravalle (evident in the racetrack shape of one of its key streets, Amsterdam). Elegant Art Deco buildings and European-style townhouses dating from the Porfi­rian era (1876-1910) surround its main park, Parque Mexico.

Hit hard by the 1985 earthquakes, the area was largely abandoned and later revived by struggling artists looking for low-rent housing. Today, Condesa and neighboring Roma are the favorite stomping grounds of the city’s young, upwardly mobile professionals.