Colonia Roma

Colonia Roma
Neighborhood
Replica of Michelangelo's David in Plaza Río de Janeiro, a symbol of Colonia Roma
Replica of Michelangelo's David in Plaza Río de Janeiro, a symbol of Colonia Roma
Colonia Roma is located in Mexico City
Colonia Roma
Colonia Roma
Location in central Mexico City
Coordinates: 19°25′07″N 99°09′34″W / 19.418702°N 99.159567°W / 19.418702; -99.159567
Country Mexico
CityMexico City
BoroughCuauhtémoc
Population
 (2010)[1]
 • Total45,205
By official neighborhood
 • Roma Norte27,770
 • Roma Sur17,435
Buildings along Colima Street in Colonia Roma

Colonia Roma, also called La Roma or simply, Roma, is a district located in the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City just west of the city's historic center. The area comprises two colonias: Roma Norte and Roma Sur, divided by Coahuila street.[2]

The colonia was originally planned as an upper-class Porfirian neighborhood in the early twentieth century. By the 1940s, it had become a middle-class neighborhood in slow decline, with the downswing being worsened by the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. Since the 2000s, the area has seen increasing gentrification.[3]

Roma and neighbouring Condesa are known for being the epicenter of trendy/hipster[4] subculture in the city, and Roma has consequently been called the "Williamsburg of Mexico City".[5] Additionally, the area rivals Polanco as the center of the city's culinary scene. Besides residential buildings, the neighborhood streets are lined with restaurants, bars, clubs, shops, cultural centers, churches and galleries. Many are housed in former Art Nouveau and Neo-Classical buildings dating from the Porfiriato period at the beginning of the 20th century. Roma was designated as a "Barrio Mágico" ("magical neighborhood") by the city in 2011.[6]

  1. ^ ""Entorno", Cuauhtémoc borough website, retrieved 2016-08-23". Archived from the original on 2016-02-09. Retrieved 2016-08-23.
  2. ^ "En tu colonia" (In your neighborhood), Cuauhtémoc borough website, retrieved Sept. 9, 2019 Archived 2013-06-12 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Roma sets the scene: The magical Mexico City district behind the film". TheGuardian.com. 17 February 2019.
  4. ^ Sansores, Raúl Gasque (22 September 2016). "La Roma y la Condesa antes de los hipsters". Vice (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  5. ^ Waldman, Rachel (16 March 2018). "Wandering Colonia Roma, the Williamsburg of Mexico City". Vogue. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  6. ^ Quintanar Hinojosa, Beatriz, ed. (November 2011). "Mexico Desconocido Guia Especial:Barrios Mágicos" [Mexico Desconocido Special Guide:Magical Neighborhoods]. Mexico Desconocido (in Spanish). Mexico City: Impresiones Aereas SA de CV: 5–6. ISSN 1870-9400.