Clavería & Nueva Sta. María

Clavería and Nueva Santa María are two highly walkable neighborhoods in Azcapotzalco. These used to be separated by the triangular and once solidly working-class Obrero Popular neighborhood. Today, one can traverse all three colonias and not necessarily see the differences between them.

The Avenida Cuitláhuac runs east-west across the north of Santa María, and then cuts north-south directly between Obrero and Clavería. This avenue frequently lends its name to the entire area: "the Cuitláhuac area."

All three are historically associated with ancient Tacuba, but only developed in the mid-20th century. Clavería grew up on the former farmlands of the colonial Hacienda. It lent its name to the neighborhood that began developing in the 1920s. So successful was Clavería that Nueva Santa Maria soon followed. Maps were drawn up to sell its now desirable lots in the late 1940s. At the same time, lower ranking workers from the refineries in the west, and the factories to the north, filled out Obrero Popular.

Moving from east to west today, one ranges from the sedate and the architectural, in Santa María. Clavería is then increasingly chic, artistic, and quirky. All three neighborhoods are famously home to independent restaurants, bars, and cafés. And what would "sidewalk culture" be without good places for coffee?

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