Mexico City: From Skyscrapers To Slums

Stepping out of the taxi with my luggage, I looked upon the beautiful redstone hotel 20 stories high, towering in front of me. Down the street on either side of me, similar hotels stretch on for miles, with little fruit markets squished in between. However, behind me, stretching out for as far as I can see, are little cardboard shelters with no floor, no pluming and no hot water. And yet, these makeshift boxes that house as many as 10 people are right across the street from these amazing hotels. It may sound unheard of but in Mexico city, its a reality. The culprit is called urban sprawl. In Mexico city, the standard of living in one neighborhood can be no roof, no plumbing, no heating, no green space, while a nearby neighborhood can have all the above in abundance, plus luxuries such as pools and cable television. In order to understand this phenomenon, we have to step back a few years in time, back to when Mexico City was mostly small farms and acres of crops. Back before the mass urbanization. Many of these farms owned by families who didnt make much of an income but were able to scrape by by selling their harvest and livestock. Farming was already difficult enough in Mexico due to the rocky soil and mountainous terrain before bigger farming corporations stepped in. These big farming corporations had advanced machinery, more workers, and way more money than the small farming families. These corporations changed Mexicos urban/rural ratio forever by chasing out all the small companies, stealing their customers and thus all their profit. This was called rural decline, because when smaller farmers moved to the city to look for new work the population of rural communities declined and the city was forced to expand. In Mexico, there is a huge separation between the rich and the poor. The wealthiest people live in nice homes with a high standard of living, whereas the poor families live in poverty with hardly any space to do their daily chores. I decided to interview a family on the bottom of the wealth scale to get a better perspective. First up was Maria Gonzalez, who lived with her 5 kids and husband in a 15x15 cardboard box without electricity or plumbing. We used to have a farm south of here. Maria said. We had cows and chickens, and we grew corn. It was all good and we had enough room for everybody to sleep, but then the machines came. We couldnt sell anymore because we couldnt match their prices. We had to leave and come here. Now we dont have enough money for a real house, but we are still happy because we are together as a family. Maria also told us stories about families she knew who were split up because of rural decline. The Hernanzes familys two eldest children, Fernando and Pablo, went to America looking for work. They dont hear from them much. I would be very sad if that happened to my family. All in all, my experiences in Mexico gave me a new perspective of wealth and standard of living. I realized how fortunate I am to have a house and my own room, and things that I have always considered given, such as plumbing and

electricity, are actually luxuries for some people. I strongly encourage all of you to travel to Mexico city some time. It is a very influential trip that you wont regret.