Living in Del Valle

Del Valle is one of the largest residential neighborhoods in Mexico City. Away from the avenues, its streets run under decades-old trees and open onto a park every few blocks: Parque Mariscal Sucre, with its French kiosk from the 1920s, and Parque San Lorenzo, which grew around a chapel with four centuries of history. Most of what comes up for rent is apartments in Del Valle, from fifties-era buildings to recently finished towers, and furnished units are a common find. Houses seldom appear for rent, partly because many of the surviving ones now work as offices or clinics; houses in Narvarte, one neighborhood over, come up more often.

What to consider before renting

The corner of Del Valle you choose sets the routine. Tlacoquemecatl keeps its own mercado (a traditional food hall), Mercado Tlacoquemecatl, and quiet blocks around Parque San Lorenzo, while apartments facing Insurgentes Sur, Félix Cuevas or División del Norte live with traffic all day; one street in, the noise drops. Since buildings with several decades behind them share blocks with just-finished towers here, ask the year of construction, whether wiring and plumbing were renewed, and if the unit includes a parking spot. Nápoles and the World Trade Center sit just across Insurgentes Sur, so apartments in Nápoles can extend the same search west.