Mexico City vs Madrid (neighborhood, theatres, to live)

[Yihey]

Concerning how ancient each city .Madrid is quieter young for European standards.
The Aztecas inhabited the area of Mexico City thousands of years ago.
Having said that. There are some ancient relics right throughout Mexico whereas there are cities such as Toledo or Segovia and many others just outside Madrid that are full of architectural buildings , bridges and aqueducts that give the area of feeling much older

Mexico City also has a far higher rate of poverty and crime than Spain

It is obviously a much poorer country.
Just look at Madrid's metro which is much more extensive than Mexico cities with a fraction of the population.

[sf_arkitect]

I think Mexico City would be far and away the more impressive city to visit.

On the other hand Madrid might be better to live in simply because it is cleaner, safer, and a more manageable scale.

Now, it is a farce to try and say that Madrid has more to see and do than Mexico City .

Madrid just doesn't have as many people or as much wealth concentrated within it as Mexico's capital.

Mexico City is the central node for a larger economy than Madrid. CDMX's disproportionate command of the Mexican economy only compounds the nation's heavily centralized structure.

With so much wealth (and poverty!) focused in CDMX, it has developed into a multi-nodal city. The historic center, Reforma Avenue, Nuevo Polanco, Santa Fe, Interlomas, Coyoacan, and stretches of Avenida Insurgentes around the World Trade Cetner all serve as economic hubs in the capital.

Like any mega city, there is no shortage of stuff to do in CDMX.

[iron_stick]

Originally Posted by sf_arkitect

I think Mexico City would be far and away the more impressive city to visit.

On the other hand Madrid might be better to live in simply because it is cleaner, safer, and a more manageable scale.

Now, it is a farce to try and say that Madrid has more to see and do than Mexico City .

Madrid just doesn't have as many people or as much wealth concentrated within it as Mexico's capital.

Mexico City is the central node for a larger economy than Madrid. CDMX's disproportionate command of the Mexican economy only compounds the nation's heavily centralized structure.

With so much wealth (and poverty!) focused in CDMX, it has developed into a multi-nodal city. The historic center, Reforma Avenue, Nuevo Polanco, Santa Fe, Interlomas, Coyoacan, and stretches of Avenida Insurgentes around the World Trade Cetner all serve as economic hubs in the capital.

Like any mega city, there is no shortage of stuff to do in CDMX.

What can you do in Mexico City than you cannot do in Madrid?

[Yihey]

We'll take a look at things to do in TripAdvisor for example and you'll find more things to do in Madrid than ciudad de México.
Madrid is also surrounded by many ancient cities and towns that are thousands of years old.
Mexico City has some ancient relics of old Indian civilizations but nothing in the same scale
Europe is Europe.
The nightlife in MX was very dissapointing compared to Madrid

Madrid could also be considered to be the football capital of the world being home to the biggest club on the planet Real Madrid plus Atletico et Al.
If you like football Madrid is also a much better place.
The Mexican league is not even on the same planet.
This

[sf_arkitect]

Originally Posted by iron_stick

What can you do in Mexico City than you cannot do in Madrid?

Let's say, for example historic and modern architecture, Madrid's core is not very large nor very old.

Colonial Mexico City and Madrid were being built at the exact same time (early-mid 1500s).

Mexico City's historic center is remakably intact.

Madrid's core is decent - though now largely composed of late 19th and early 20th century beaux art, art nouveau buildings with older 18th and 17th century buuldings sprinkled throughout.

Retiro vs Chapultepec.....not exactly a fair contest. Chapultepec is the largest urban park in the western hemisphere (containing museums, a former royal residence, ancient groves of giant trees planted by the Aztec emperors, etc.)

And someone said "a few Indian relics" and "Europe is Europe" in an a former post....what on earth!?

That statement reveals a slightly Euro-centric sentiment :S

The "few indian relics" Mexico City has amount to the ruins of one the largest cities in the world at the time of contact with Europeans in the 1500s. Ruins are continually being discovered beneath the colonial historic core of Mexico City. And they are substantial - e.g. stone shrines and temples, etc.

Also within Mexico City is Tlatelolco (the plaza of the 3 cultures). Tlaltelolco was formally a separate nearby city state that was absorbed into Tenochtitlan as the latter grew larger in both size and power.

Beyond Mexico City there is Teotihucan - also one of the largest cities in the world during it's heyday and boasts the 2nd tallest pyramid in the world (behind the Great pyramid at Giza).

The largest pyramid in both area and volume in the world (though not as tall as the pyramid of the sun in Teotihuacan) is the great pyramid of Cholula outside Mexico City.

[Yihey]

Ok.
So relics being discovered is the same as as while cities full of ancient architecture and bridges?,
Ancient cities such as Toledo are only 70 KMs from Madrid's city centre.
And you're pretty wrong about the age of Madrid's old architecture.
Inner barrios such as La Latina and Lavapiés are full of buildings and structures that are 5 or 6 centuries old.
Mexico City trumps Madrid concerning skyscrapers nothing else.

[Yihey]

And concerning Chapultepec being compared to Retiro?
Retiro id quite possibly the most beautiful city park on earth.
Certainly not the largest.
If you want large parks go to casa de campo which is 20 times bigger than Retiro or rl Pardo which makes casa de campo palé in comparison.
You have to compare apples with apples.

[sf_arkitect]

Originally Posted by Yihey

Ok.
So relics being discovered is the same as as while cities full of ancient architecture and bridges?,
Ancient cities such as Toledo are only 70 KMs from Madrid's city centre.
And you're pretty wrong about the age of Madrid's old architecture.
Inner barrios such as La Latina and Lavapiés are full of buildings and structures that are 5 or 6 centuries old.
Mexico City trumps Madrid concerning skyscrapers nothing else.

I am not wrong. Hahaha

Tell me...what year did Phillip II establish Madrid as the capital of the Spanish court? 1561!!

Now, tell me when Mexico City was made the capital of the viceroy of New Spain? 1520s...

As I mentioned earlier, the 2 capitals were being built at pretty much the same time.

Much of Habsburg Madrid has been built over or reconstructed. Either by the subsequent Bourbon monarchy in the 18th, 19th, or early 20th century OR it was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War and replaced with more contemporary architecture. <Rolling Eyes>

And back to the relics comment....again, what on earth are you trying to say? You continously brush off the significance of ancient Mexican cities like Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlan, both of which were far more populous than any city in Spain during their heyday (except Cordoba in it's heyday).

Teotihuacan IS ancient. The great pyramids in the city are at least 1,800 years old! Construction of the pyramid of the sun was begun around 100 CE. :S

[Yihey]

Ok.
There a Roman aqueducts that are more than 2,000 years old just outside Madrid.
You keep carrying on about most of Madrid's buildings being from the 28th and 29 th century.
How do I say it.
La Latina and Lavapiés are full of buildings from the 15th and 16th century.
That's very much central Madrid..
Plaza Mayor one of the main plazas in Madrid was built nearly 500 years ago.
Plaza de la Villa and surrounding buildings are at least 500-600 years old.
I agree Madrid itself is young by European standards.
But many surrounding cities which are virtual dormitory suburbs of Madrid these days are thousands of years old

There is nothing in Mexico that can compare..
If there are whole cities full of buildings ,aqueducts and bridges.
I mean entire cities not just a few relics like there is outside Madrid.
Please let me know.
I'm currently visiting Australia.
Yes the ancient Aboriginal civilizations have been in this country for many thousands of years.
The only reminders are alot of cave paintings.
And Madrid was founded in the 9th century.
Just outside the Almudena cathedral there's the parque de Atenas which contains some very old Moorish walls of the city that are 1,200 years old.
And yes Mexico City is huge compared to Madrid.
But size isn't always everything.
Madrid metro is considerably larger than Mexico cities to put one example.

[Yihey]

Sorry meant to say 18th and 19 th centuries.