Lomas de Chapultepec

Lomas de Chapultepec is a colonia, or officially recognized neighborhood, located in the Miguel Hidalgo borough of Mexico City. It dates back to the 1920s, when it was founded with the name Chapultepec Heights. Home to some of the biggest mansions in the city and many high-net-worth individuals, it has gained a reputation of exclusivity. Its main entrance is through Paseo de la Reforma.

History

In the early 1920s, Mexico City suffered a housing shortage as a result of internal migrants fleeing from uncertainty in the provinces caused by the Mexican Revolution.^[2] To meet demand, the Ayuntamientos of the Distrito Federal passed various city ordinances in order to make it easier for private investors to develop urban subdivisions.^[2] Also beneficial was Article 27 of the 1917 Constitution, which was used to promote agrarian land reform and indirectly encouraged the construction and emergence of new urban developments when it prompted the change of land-use of the properties surrounding the capital.^[2] A total of 26 to 32 colonias were built as a direct result, one of which was Lomas de Chapultepec.^[2]

In September 28, 1921 the corporation, Chapultepec Heights Company, was formed with the objective of developing the land acquired from the Hacienda de los Morales (also known as Rancho del Huizachal de Alberto Cuevas Lascuráin).^[2] The company was founded by five investors (two Americans, two Mexicans and one Briton) who were able to buy the 687 hectares of the ex-Hacienda for about one cent per square meter.^[2]

In 1922, Chapultepec Heights was planned by José Luis Cuevas Pietrasanta in the "Garden City" fashion.^[3] With large lots, large gardened yards, wide winding streets, gardened boulevards and scattered small shopping areas within walking distances from homes. The early settlers attracted to the area were young professionals and some of the nouveau riche revolutionaries, bureaucrats and the new business class of Mexico City. Smaller homes were built on the side streets while mostly large houses were built on Paseo de la Reforma and Paseo de Las Palmas, the two main avenues.

INBA-catalogued home built in the Colonial Californiano style. This mansion was on the market for an asking price of 75.88 million Mexican pesos, or about US$6 million.^[4]

Most of the early houses were built in the "Colonial Californiano" style, with stone carvings around windows and doors and pitched roofs. Many of these early homes are catalogued and protected by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes as they have been deemed a cultural patrimony. Later on, Modern houses designed by notable architects such as Luis Barragán, Juan Sordo, Ricardo Legorreta and Enrique Norten were built. Many of the houses built during the era known as the Mexican Miracle are still standing and constitute the largest mansions in the western area of the city.

The colonia grew in size, being mostly inhabited by the upper class and wealthy immigrants that arrived in Mexico in the early 20th century.

Today, Lomas de Chapultepec is inhabited by Mexican and foreign business professionals, celebrities, politicians and other wealthy individuals. In recent years commercial and business areas have developed on the edges of the neighborhood and there are also various embassies located in the area. Sales in the northwestern part of Mexico City, which includes luxury areas like Lomas de Chapultepec, generally average US$1 million per house.^[4]

Geography

Lomas de Chapultepec is located in the northwestern hills of the Anahuac Valley, which is mostly contiguous with Mexico City, and was mostly created following the contour of the terrain, leaving the natural drainage as open space. The developed area was planted with a large number and variety of trees, and is now one of the most wooded areas in the city.

The area was well planned and designed by some of the best professionals of the time, its main avenues run the crests of the hills while the streets follow the gentle curves of the terrain, thus affording varying points of view and some magnificent vistas of the city on the flat part of the valley.

The colonia's borders are:^[5]

• On the northwest and north, the Tecamachalco area of Cuajimalpa borough (colonias Lomas de Tecamachalco, San Miguel Tecamachalco, etc.) and colonia Reforma Social
• On the northeast, the Anillo Periférico ring road and Polanco district
• On the east, colonia Molino del Rey and the Bosque de Chapultepec
• On the south, the 2nd and 3rd sections of the Bosque de Chapultepec; colonias Lomas Altas and Lomas de Reforma
• On the west, colonia Bosques de las Lomas

Demographics

Lomas de Chapultepec is divided into eight sections, in 2005 their population was as follows: Section I had 1,855 individuals, Section II had 1,528, Section III had 3,302, Section IV had 3,161, Section V had 2,379, Section VI had 2,069, Section VII had 707, and Section VIII had 5,439.^[1] Combining for a population of 20,440 inhabitants in the colonia.

Jewish community

In the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, the majority of Mexico City's Jews moved from Condesa, Roma and the Downtown to Polanco, Lomas de Chapultepec, Interlomas, Bosques de las Lomas, and Tecamachalco, where the majority are now based.^[6]

Economy

Interjet has its headquarters in Lomas de Chapultepec.^[7]

Education

Private schools:

• The Westhill Institute has two campuses in "Las Lomas": Athos and Carpatos.^[8]
• The "Las Lomas" campus of Peterson Schools is in Lomas de Chapultepec.^[9]
• The Kindergarten Prado Norte facility of the Campus La Herradura of the Colegio Alemán Alexander von Humboldt is located in Lomas de Chapultepec.^[10]
• The toddler center campus and the preschool campus of the Eton School is located in the colonia.^[11]

The Irish Institute (Instituto Irlandés), a private school in Naucalpan, is in proximity to Lomas de Chapultepec.^[12]

Notable residents

• Cantinflas^[13] – comedic actor of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema
• Angelica Rivera^[14] – actress and First Lady of Mexico
• Carlos Slim^[15] – businessman and multibillionaire
• Zhenli Ye Gon^[16] – businessman and alleged drug trafficker

The name "Lomas"

Starting in the early 1950s, riding on Lomas de Chapultepec's success and the glitter of its name, other developers opened subdivisions further out into adjacent Estado de Mexico with names including the magic word "Lomas" (Spanish for hills). Some of the neighborhoods that stemmed from these expansions are Lomas de Tecamachalco, Lomas de la Herradura, Lomas de las Palmas, Lomas Anahuac, Lomas Altas, Lomas de Bezares, Lomas de Santa Fe, Lomas de Vistahermosa and Interlomas.

Today, the area encompassing Lomas de Chapultepec and neighboring developments is sometimes incorrectly referred to as simply Las Lomas, though locals specify which neighborhood they live in, be it Tecamachalco, Herradura, etc.

See also

• Polanco (Mexico)

References

Coordinates: 19°25′14″N 99°13′08″W / 19.42056°N 99.21889°W / 19.42056; -99.21889