Guadalajara, a city that I've known for over 30 years, surprised me on my latest visit. Back in 2013, I wrote on my blog that it was a city full of promise but lacking leadership and competent management. This puzzled me because Guadalajara has attributes that many cities would envy. These include an almost ideal climate, a vibrant and young population, a strong cultural life, and a nice collection of historic buildings. But for years, Guadalajara just wasn't approaching its potential. Money and people were leaving the central areas, leaving it looking forlorn, rundown, and unsafe. 

I'm very happy to report that things are changing. Guadalajara is becoming a more pleasant destination - a place in which I could imagine living and thriving. What has brought about this change? 

Evidence of the change comes in many forms, but fundamentally it stems from obvious investment in the core of the city. It's a signal that the city is committed to creating a better urban environment for its residents. This is welcoming a variety of people back into the city center and I imagine brings a sense of optimism that will have (or is already having) a snowball effect with other investment following. 

A prime example is the new bike-share system, mibici, and the new bike lanes that have been added to many streets. I used mibici for three days and found it really transformed my time in the city. I could move quickly between neighborhoods and felt the central areas had become tied together. I no longer had to face a very long walk from the center to Chapultepec, for example, or from the area of my favorite hotel to really anywhere of interest in the city. The system is very affordable and I noticed a large number of people using it. I even noted capacity constraints in certain areas. It's clearly a popular addition to the urban scene. 

One of the telltale signs of Mexican city life is the ramshackle private buses that constitute a central part of  'public' transportation systems. These buses tend to be old and unattractive, and spew out huge amounts of pollution. 

Guadalajara is investing in new, city run public transportation projects. One of the most delightful is the new electric trolley buses that have replaced the derelict old electric buses from years past. These buses are beautiful, clean and a pleasure to ride (pictured here). I rode this bus several times and felt it was really up to typical European standards of public transport.. 

Guadalajara has other nice public transport options: its very clean light rail system, Tren ligero de Guadalajara (which is currently building a new line) and a bus-rapid transit line, Macrobus. 

Another sign of change is the spate of new high-rise construction projects west of the city center in the area near Chapultepec. The style of these buildings reminds me of buildings in nicer neighborhoods of Bogota, Colombia, a far denser city. The increase in density (and higher-income residents) will bolster local businesses such as restaurants and cafes and increase security. It's the beginning of a virtuous cycle of positive developments which I feel has finally come to this city. 

In contrast with Bogota, I should say that Guadalajara has a more laid-back and less-frenetic atmosphere, aided by the warm and sunny (but not too warm) climate that has got to be one of the best in the world. ​

The days I spent in Guadalajara were filled with a sense of adventure and enjoyment. There are many lively and delightful neighborhoods away from the typical tourist areas, such as the district around Calle Andrés Terán, that overflow with energy and tasty surprises, such as my favorite spot for tortas ahogadas, Mr. Paco´s.

A friend of mine from New York came for a visit, and she agreed that Guadalajara really would be a nice place to live. We enjoyed leisurely walks, delicious food, beautiful cafes, and the typically friendly Mexican people everywhere we went. Adding to the pleasure is the remarkably low cost of living here. Delicious meals can cost less than US$5, and the cinema less than US$3. Guadalajara, incidentally, has an outstanding independent film house, Cineforo, where I recently saw an excellent Iranian film, The Salesman. For those interested, Guadalajara is not a bad place to retire. A large apartment in a nice area near the center can run for less than US$500/month. 

As I wrote several years ago, Guadalajara has a lot of very attractive architecture and cultural attractions that need to be brought together into a cohesive whole to make this city really outstanding.

Although progress is being made, more pedestrianization of streets in the center - especially those that reach out to landmarks such as the Expiatorio (pictured at right) and the Chapultepec area - would help more fully tie things together.

A couple of good candidates would be Calle Priscilana Sànchez and/or Calle Manuel López Cotilla. At present these streets have narrow sidewalks and are traversed by polluting private buses of the old sort making them uninviting corridors for pedestrians. Their unwelcoming nature reinforces the sense of distance between the historical center and other beautiful areas of the city.

How difficult would it be to close one of these streets to traffic and just let pedestrians and businesses take over? It puzzles me how controversial rather simple solutions like this can be, especially in light of all the evidence from around the world showing how pedestrianization can bring connective streets like these to life, increasing quality of life and increasing economic activity significantly.

One of the joys of arrival in a foreign city is picking up a local newspaper, heading to a cafe and just absorbing the scene while perusing the news. In Guadalajara, I get the Latin American edition of El Pais (one of the best newspapers in the world, I believe), and with that stroll over to a sunny sidewalk cafe or restaurant and get settled in for a couple of hours. The simple pleasures of life are really hard to beat. Add to that the smiles of the ever-charming Mexicans, and I am a happy man here in Guadalajara. I will be back to spend more time in this lovely city.

Guadalajara, the center of Mexico's second largest metropolitan area, is a city I've come to know over several decades.  My grandparents used to spend their winters here (in the 1980s), and my parents have made the nearby village of Ajijic their retirement home for the last 10 years.  There are thousands of expatriates from all over the world in this area and the attraction is easy to see.  It has one of the best climates anywhere on the planet and is wrapped in the beauty of the mountainous mesa central, Mexico's altiplano region.

The physical charms of the city of Guadalajara, however, are harder to appreciate.  Despite a historic center studded with hundreds of impressive buildings, the quality of the urban experience is greatly compromised by jarring architectural blight, streetscapes overwhelmed by traffic in cars and smoke-belching, ramshackle buses, and a serious shortage of trees.  Considering Mexico's relatively high economic standing, lack of resources cannot be a fair excuse for this state of affairs.  Mexico has an income per head well above the Latin American average and one significantly higher than that in Belgrade or Bogota, cities I've written about favorably here.  It's obvious that something has seriously gone wrong with city governance and planning.  Tapatios, as the people of Guadalajara call themselves, are proud of their city and may be surprised to read what I write here.  But compared to so many other cities at this economic level, Guadalajara has a lot of work to do to catch up. 

Let me put my disappointment into context.  Whenever I go into the center of Guadalajara I feel a sense of promise.  The ingredients required for a stunningly beautiful urban scene are all here.  I'm not exaggerating.  As I mentioned earlier, there is a wealth of impressive architecture, from colonial to neoclassical, with many beautiful plazas and parks.  There is also a lively pulse due to a youthful population  Yet, the beautiful assets are disconnected and mixed in with unsightly buildings, low-end retail and gaudy fast food establishments.  The areas of beauty are strung together by charmless and unwelcoming streets.  This is a city that seems to willfully ignore its own potential (and problems), leaving its incredible assets wasted.  It's why Guadalajara itself never features as a top tourist destination in Mexico.  In discussions with people here I sense complacency.  There is limited recognition that the city lags so severely in quality of life.  And without this recognition there is, I imagine, limited public demand for the changes necessary to tie all the wonderful things this city has to offer into a compelling whole.

The quality of life deficit derives from   many things, including a society plagued by high levels of inequality and undeniably poor planning and city governance.  The inequalities have produced social problems that have driven the middle and upper classes out of the center of the city into quiet and safe suburban enclaves.  City and regional leaders did seemingly little to stem this flow and encouraged unending sprawl by building wide roads, almost like highways, radiating out from the center.  Instead of bolstering the historic center by maintaining high quality infrastructure and creating incentives for the middle and upper classes to stay, the center was allowed to deteriorate and become, in many areas, a haven for beggars and criminals.  It was no longer a meeting place for all segments of society, but primarily a commercial center for the lower classes. 

So instead of investing in the center and establishing policies that would encourage density and vertical growth, the Guadalajara region has opted, if by plan or negligence, to expand horizontally.  In structure, it has more in common with large cities in the United States than with those in Europe or South America.  Yet, unlike the United States, Mexico is not a wealthy country where automobile ownership is the norm.  Despite having nearly 5 million people in the metro area, most of whom are dependent on public transport, the region does not have a well developed, integrated public transport system. For those in poverty, this disorganization means grueling, multi-segment and expensive commutes.

It wouldn't be fair not to point out the recent efforts that are being made to improve the center of Guadalajara, although in my opinion they are piecemeal.  In many areas of the center new, wider stone sidewalks have been laid, often with tree plantings.  There are now pole-mounted garbage cans on many streets, and plans are afoot to extend the metro and add more rapid-transit bus lines.  Some serious urban renewal is taking place, especially in the Chapultepec area, where new high-rise apartment buildings are under construction and the young and trendy congregate.  However, it is still in the outlying suburbs where the major development takes place. Puerta Hierro, an exclusive commercial and residential high-rise development, is a case in point.  It is far from the city center and difficult to access without a car.

What I have't been able to find is a clear vision and master plan for the urban renewal of central Guadalajara - a renewal that includes the return of the middle and upper classes (and tourists) to the city center.  It would require getting cars off more of the streets and a great expansion of pedestrian areas, replacing polluting, derelict buses with modern, quiet and clean alternatives, the widespread construction of quality multi-story housing, and incentives to get desirable businesses back into the center.  There are many excellent models available.  Santiago, Chile provides one example of how a thriving Latin American city center, inclusive of all socioeconomic groups, can look.  See my posting on Santiago here.  With the right policies and investment, Guadalajara has what it takes to become an elegant, walkable city with a thriving, inclusive city culture.  It can also become a top destination for tourists to Mexico.

PLEASE SEE MY NEW BLOG POSTING IN 2017 ON POSITIVE CHANGES IN GUADALAJARA: http://www.citinature.org/city-livability-blog/category/guadalajara