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Avenida Presidente Masaryk is a thoroughfare in the affluent Polanco neighborhood of
The name of the street is often misspelled e.g. "Mazarik" or "Mazaryk". The City of Mexico decided to correct the signs under its control in 2000 (street, highway and other signs), but the incorrect names remained on some of the local shops.
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
. It stretches from Calzada General Mariano Escobedo in the east to Avenida Ferrocarril de Cuernavaca in the west, passing along the north side of the Polanquito restaurant district that borders Parque Lincoln
Parque Lincoln, or Lincoln Park, is a city park in Mexico City, Mexico.
The park is located in the Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City (''México, D. F.''). There is a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. installed in the park, as well as a copy ...
. Masaryk is one of the most expensive shopping districts
A shopping street or shopping district is a designated road or quarter of a city/town that is composed of individual Retail, retail establishments (such as Retail store, stores, Boutique, boutiques, Restaurant, restaurants, and Shopping center, ...
in the world and competes with Avenida Madero
Francisco I. Madero Avenue, commonly known as simply Madero Street, is a geographically and historically significant pedestrian street of Mexico City and a major thoroughfare of the Historic center of Mexico City, historic city center. It has an e ...
in the Historic Center for the title of street with the highest rents in the city.
History
PresidentLázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940.
Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the M ...
named the avenue after the first President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech and Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas.
It may refer to:
* Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), first President of Czechoslovakia
* Tomáš Baťa (1876–1932), Czech footwear entrepreneur
* Tomáš Berdych ( ...
in 1936.
In 1999 the city of Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
donated a statue of Masaryk to Mexico City, one of the two originals made when the statue for the Prague Castle
Prague Castle ( cs, Pražský hrad; ) is a castle complex in Prague 1 Municipality within Prague, Czech Republic, built in the 9th century. It is the official office of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for kin ...
was being prepared for the 150th anniversary of his birth. The statue was placed in the roundabout at the intersection of Av. Presidente Masaryk and Arquímedes on 28 October 2000, on the Czechoslovak National Day.
The name of the street is often misspelled e.g. "Mazarik" or "Mazaryk". The City of Mexico decided to correct the signs under its control in 2000 (street, highway and other signs), but the incorrect names remained on some of the local shops.
Renovation 2013–2015
In 2013 Seduvi, the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing of theFederal District
A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they e ...
, decided to invest 480 million pesos
The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...
for the urban renewal
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
of the street, with an emphasis on making it more walkable. Half of this budget will be contributed by the government, with the rest coming from the private sector and a tax being levied on the residents and businesses who will benefit from the rehabilitation.
The project was a complete overhaul of infrastructure, it included: granite sidewalks, hydraulic concrete, landscaping (including the replacement of unhealthy trees), new benches and bike racks, energy efficient light posts, replacement of aging water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...
and drainage systems, and the replacement of overhead electricity/telephone cables with an underground system. The rehabilitation, which was completed in phases, started in January 2014 and was expected to last 18 months. The avenue was officially reinaugurated on 8 and 9 August 2015 with a cultural event that included a performance by Kalimba
Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and pl ...
, a marathon and group yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
, among other activities.
Masaryk today
Masaryk now faces competition fromupscale shopping
In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good for which demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a greater proportion of overall spending. Luxury goods are in contrast to n ...
centers in the far west of the city such as Centro Santa Fe
Centro Santa Fe (English: Santa Fe Center or Santa Fe Mall), often incorrectly named "Centro Comercial Santa Fe", is a large enclosed shopping mall in the Santa Fe area of Cuajimalpa, Mexico City. Centro Santa Fe is the largest shopping cente ...
, Arcos Lomas and Paseo Interlomas
Paseo Interlomas is a shopping mall in the Interlomas edge city in Huixquilucan, Greater Mexico City. Three department stores anchor the mall: Liverpool, El Palacio de Hierro and Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is ...
; nonetheless it is still considered the standard for shopping in Mexico City.
Points of interest
Other than boutiques of world's biggest designer brands, landmarks along Masaryk include: * Pasaje Polanco, a smaller but historic collection of shops around a courtyard, built in the 1930s inColonial Californiano
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
In the ...
style (Mexican interpretation of California Spanish Colonial Revival architecture
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
In th ...
)
* National Conservatory of Music at the far west end of the street.
References
{{coord, 19.4316, N, 99.1966, W, source:wikidata, display=title Streets in Mexico City Miguel Hidalgo, Mexico City Shopping districts and streets in Mexico Retailing in Mexico City Polanco, Mexico City