Cumbayá is a rural parish of the Metropolitan District of Quito in the

Pichincha Province Pichincha () is a province of Ecuador located in the northern Sierra region; its capital and largest city is Quito. It is bordered by Imbabura and Esmeraldas to the north, Cotopaxi and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas to the south, Napo and ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

. It is located east of

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

, in the Tumbaco Valley northwest of the Ilaló volcano, in the San Pedro River valley, a tributary of the Guayllabamba River.

Climate

At an elevation of 2200 m (7200 ft) above sea level, Cumbayá is lower than Quito and its climate is about 2 to 5 degrees Celsius warmer. Weather is

semi tropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north and ...

year-round, with a short

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * ''T ...

Developments

In the years up to 2008, the parish has become a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

as a significant number of middle-upper and higher class families moved from the city to live a more

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

an lifestyle. A significant amount of expensive and luxurious properties of Quito can be found in Cumbaya making it the highest income area in the country. This shift in population has attracted investors and entrepreneurs to the area, boosting the local economy. In 2017 there has been commercial activity centered around restaurants ranging from food trucks to gourmet-style places. The town is also characterized by many

gated communities A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. ...

that vary in size and wealth. Cumbayá has become home to the main campus of the

Universidad San Francisco de Quito Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ (informally Universidad San Francisco, or simply USFQ) is a liberal-arts, private university located in Quito, Ecuador. It was the first totally private self-financed university in Ecuador and the first l ...

. International students of the campus are placed in host families in Quito for cultural immersion. Quorum Quito, built in the late eighties and located in Paseo San Francisco in the Cumbayá Valley gathered parliamentarians from all over the world at the assemblee of the

Interparliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; french: Union Interparlementaire, UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; othe ...

in 2013.

Architecture

Examples of architecture drawing from the area's rural beginnings include the ''Iglesia de Cumbayá'' in the Main Square and the ''Iglesia de Miravalle'' built in 1987. Modern examples include the ''Rancho San Francisco'' complex, ''Paseo San Francisco'', ''La Esquina'', ''Centro Plaza'', ''Scala'' and ''Villa Cumbayá'' shopping centers, among new office blocks.

Traffic and tourism

The

Túnel Oswaldo Guayasamín ''Túnel'' is the third studio album by the Puerto Rican rock band La Secta, released in 2003 by Universal Latino Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a division of Universal Music Group, is a record company specialized in producing and distr ...

, named after the revered Quito born painter and sculptor

Oswaldo Guayasamín Oswaldo Guayasamín (July 6, 1919 – March 10, 1999) was an Ecuadorian painter and sculptor of Kichwa and Mestizo heritage. Biography Early life Guayasamín was born in Quito, Ecuador, to a native father and a Mestiza mother, both of Kichwa de ...

, is the longest vehicular tunnel in Ecuador at 1.5 kilometres and connects the parish with the

Iñaquito Iñaquito is a parish of Quito, Ecuador, located toward the north of the city. There is a large concentration of malls in the area, and the population is wealthy relative to the rest of Quito. This is also home to a large international communit ...

urban parish of the city of

. In 2004, the ''Chaquiñán''

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

from Cumbayá to the parish of Puembo, 20 kilometres to the northeast was re-opened.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumbaya Parishes of Quito Canton