In my time living in the south of Mexico City, I've spent most of it in an area called Pedregal de Santo Domingo.
Which is to the east of UNAM campus.
On the other side of the UNAM campus, you have a different neighborhood known as Jardines del Pedregal.
The main difference between the two, from my observations, is that one is one of the wealthier areas of Mexico City with some of the wealthiest families of Mexico living there supposedly while Pedregal de Santo Domingo is a relatively poor area with a more violent reputation.
Both very different areas.
Though I did see some signs of the "third world" here like random homeless people picking through people's garbage outside their homes.
However, there were also some select pockets of the area that were gated.
On top of that, the population is much whiter.
You also see more schools named after foreign cultures -- aleman (if I remember right) and whatever else.
Supposedly the area was designed by one of Mexico's top architects and was meant to also have a certain design in the homes and also a lot of green spaces.
But, from what I read, apparently the area has changed over the decades.
Some of the green parks have been reduced in size for example.
Anyway, the area seemed normal.
More residential.
Not particularly interesting.
Not much activity in the streets obviously.
English levels seem higher here.
Two people tried speaking in English with me and their English was basically almost at the point of being 100% fluent (nearly without an accent).
Rare do I find a local in Latin America whose English is THAT good.
Anyway, I walked around the area for maybe 4 to 5 hours.
The first handful of photos are actually of two parks located just south of Jardines del Pedregal.
The first park you'll see is Parque Los Ilusos. I remember showing up there and finding out it supposedly has another name now. On Google Maps, it's still "Parque Los Ilusos."
Then I went to another park called Parque Ludico Macondo.
I went to these two parks first because, if I'm going to be in the general area, I might as well cover some nearby parks.
Then I crossed the Anillo Perif. road that was harder to cross than I expected.
Harder to find the point where I could cross over it.
A lot of military looking dudes in that specific area also.
Anyway, from there, I carried on.
Jardines del Pedregal, from my experience, was actually pretty easy to get my way around.
There's one main road called Av. Paseo del Pedregal that cuts right through it.
Also, they have a new mall in the area it seems.
A lot of the commercial activity seemed to be fit into one specific pocket of the area and the rest seems to be just housing from what I saw.
Afterwards, I left Jardines del Pedregal as I got to the northern end and found myself at Parque El Batan.
Enjoy the photos below.
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Thanks for reading.
Best regards,
Matt
