The Urbanism of the Yucatan
Early this year I visited Cancun and some of the smaller cities and towns across the Yucatan. Since then I’ve been meaning to write a post exploring the urbanism of the region and I’ve never gotten around to it.
I think part of the reason is that I didn’t have a good thesis that could properly contain the wide range of places that I visited. The trip couldn’t be easily reduced to a singular idea.
Yet the idea has remained and I’d be remiss if we reached the end of the year with this remaining in my to-do list.
This post is going to be more like a photo gallery or a travelogue with things I saw and some reflections I have.
Valladolid
Although the sidewalks in Valladovid look old, as does much of the city, they did have these small ramps for wheelchairs.
The city is centered around this plaza with a church on one side and the place is quite walkable. I saw a few random performances being held in the park like this dancing.
One of their streets takes you to a convent and park. Along the way there are an ample number of restaurants and lots of great food.
This chocolate museum was half museum but also a zoo. Like Xcaret, it seems like there’s less of a real dichotomy between zoos and not.
Campeche
Like Valladovid, this city also has a plaza right next to the church and a walkable core inside of the original Spanish walls from centuries ago. However outside of the walls the city does sprawl a bit and cars are more important.
This is part of the original wall the Spanish set up to protect the city from pirates.
I noticed that Campeche had been building a light rail station along the waterfront. Unfortunately this plan changed a bit and it turned into a bus rapid transit which opened a few months after I returned. Should I go back?
I did enjoy enjoy eating at some of the restaurants on Calle 59 within the city walls. However, the sidewalks in this area aren’t even and are all very narrow. Given how narrow the streets are already for cars, it might not be easy to fix this problem.
Merida
The Rellor Negro was the best dish I ate while on my trip. I haven’t been able to find it served at a restaurant in New York. I need to see if I can make it myself.
The busses in Merida look like trains. It’s quite sleek, although I didn’t get to use it. The city is walkable enough for a tourist.
A number of old mansions in the rich people’s section of Merida have been converted to restaurants and museums.
The Tren Maya is a new train line that cuts through the Yucatan, linking many tourist locations together. We visited one station that was off the highway which isn’t the most useful destination. It has been opposed by some due to environmental concerns of construction. Yet there are also a number of highways and cars already traveling through these areas.
Since a car had already been rented, we did not take the train on this trip.
Izamal
Izamal is known for having streets where every home is painted the same shade of yellow. It’s a fun gimmick, although it kinda sounds like the whole town is part of an HOA.
Cancun
Cancun is basically a combination of the touristy Hotel Zone and the rest of the city. I think it’d be useful to get a light rail.
Between the lagoon and the ocean, it does provide visitors with great views.
There is a bus which takes you up and down the hotel zone but it lacks some infrastructure to make it fully useful like bus shelters and departure times.
The mainland part of Cancun sprawls for a while and has a number of small shops and local services.
They still have a Sears in a classic 1990s mall.
You can watch a movie at the mall’s theater for a cheap price, like $6 a ticket.
Conclusion
There’s a lot of great views you can find in the Yucatan, and that’s great as a tourist. However, if I look at it through the lens of a resident, I think there are a number of good and bad things related to the urban design. Certainly there are no utopias. There’s stuff to learn from them and probably some stuff they can learn from others. And if we keep learning and doing, everyone can have better urban lives.
