Two adjoining early-twentieth-century districts of Art Deco and Porfirian villas, now the best eating and walking in the city.
Roma
Laid out from 1902 under Porfirio Díaz as a district for the wealthy, in French and eclectic styles — villas with mansard roofs, wrought iron and gardens, along a grid of wide streets.
It declined through the mid-century, was hit hard by the 1985 earthquake, and was cheap enough afterwards that artists and students moved in. It has gentrified thoroughly since about 2005.
Álvaro Obregón is the main axis, with a wide planted median. Plaza Río de Janeiro has a replica of Michelangelo’s David in it, and Plaza Luis Cabrera is the quieter one.
Galleries are concentrated here — kurimanzutto is the most important contemporary gallery in Mexico and is in San Miguel Chapultepec nearby.
Casa Lamm, Museo del Objeto del Objeto and a run of design shops.
Condesa
Built in the 1920s and 1930s on the site of the Hipódromo de la Condesa, a racetrack — which is why Avenida Amsterdam is a perfect oval: it follows the old track.
The architecture is Art Deco and it is among the best concentrations anywhere, along with early functionalist work.
Parque México in the middle of the oval, with its Art Deco theatre and duck pond, and Parque España beside it. Both are full of dogs, joggers and people reading, and they are the reason Condesa works.
Eating
Between them, the highest concentration of good restaurants in Mexico City — from taquerías to several of the country’s best-known kitchens.
Pujol and Rosetta are the international names, both requiring booking well ahead. Below them, a very long list, and the standard is high.
Mercado Medellín in Roma Sur reflects the neighbourhood’s South American and Caribbean communities.
Cafés and mezcalerías throughout.
The earthquakes
Both districts sit on the softest part of the old lake bed and both were badly hit.
19 September 1985 — magnitude 8.0, several thousand dead across the city, with heavy damage here.
19 September 2017 — magnitude 7.1, thirty-two years to the day, and hours after the annual commemorative earthquake drill. Around 370 died, including at buildings in Roma and Condesa. Gaps in the streetscape and shored-up façades are still visible.
The coincidence of dates is genuine and the city has not got over it.
The other side of the change
Roma and Condesa have seen substantial gentrification, accelerated since 2020 by an influx of remote workers from the United States. Rents have risen sharply, long-standing residents have been displaced, and there have been protests about it.
You will see signs. It is worth being aware of what your presence is part of.
Practicalities
Metro Line 1 to Insurgentes or Chapultepec; the Metrobús runs along Insurgentes.
Both are walkable, leafy and safe, and are the standard recommendation for where to stay.
