How to Visit and Stay in Mexico City WITHOUT Contributing to Gentrification

Your Guide

Mose Hayward

At Home Nowhere

Mexico City residents are increasingly complaining of overtourism and gentrification. There are the protests over housing prices and the day-to-day complaints of salsas not being as spicy.

You want to be a responsible visitor—so what can you do to limit the downsides of tourism and try ensure that your stay is a net positive?

I have myself been visiting Mexico City regularly for years and have seen controversies hit their peaks and valleys. This past year has seen an increase in concerns.

So—over café de olla, over birria, and over pulque—I’ve put my heads together with a number of chilango (hailing from Mexico City) friends of a variety of political and cultural backgrounds to come up with strategies worth sharing.

I’ve asked locals to share what they wish gringos (those from the USA) and other foreigners coming into the city from abroad would do and know when visiting. I’ve made maps of interesting areas to stay that aren’t overrun by foreigners. And I’ve read deeply into the economic root causes of Mexico City’s housing unaffordability (which in fact go well beyond Airbnb), which I’ll share as well at the end.

In a Nutshell: Common Complaints from Mexico City Residents about Gentrification and Over-Tourism and Ways to Address Them

Here is the list of most frequently heard complaints from Chilangos and our practical steps for what visitors can do to help address them.

Where NOT to Stay: The Overtouristed, Gentrified Areas

The following areas are extremely popular among tourists visiting Mexico City from abroad and foreigners making temporary and permanent homes here. This has started to take a toll and left some longer-term residents feeling displaced and annoyed.

For these reasons, you may want to avoid:

• Juárez
• Roma Norte
• Roma Sur
• Condesa

You can still visit these areas and we would actually encourage it; doing so can be both interesting for you and of great benefit to the locals.

For example, you can support Mexican jazz artists at Jazzatlán; salsa musicians at Mama Rumba; innovative chefs at Expendio de Maiz, Restaurante Rosetta, and randomly selected taco stands; and local artists at Perro Gris and many galleries.

These are just examples; explore and also find your own adventures in both these trendy neighborhoods and elsewhere. You can be of great support to Mexico City’s cultural scene with your presence and spending, while also enjoying what it has to offer.

In addition, you may want to avoid staying in the following areas:

• Centro Histórico: You’ll likely want to visit the very crowded city center for certain sites, but it can be a loud and overwhelming place to stay.
• Polanco: This is an upscale, expensive, long-gentrified neighborhood.
• Coyoacán: The center of Coyoacán is generally over-touristed but there are places to stay nearby that are much less popular and remain underrated.

Underrated Areas to Stay in Mexico City: Suggestions for Reducing Your Impact on Locals

Below we highlight some areas that most foreigners overlook, but that have interesting cultural options, food, drinks, events, and/or easy access to other areas.

We link to both apartment stays and traditional hotels in the maps below; we don’t link to Airbnb. We do think there is value in supporting various stay options (including apartments in some cases), but the choices are up to you.

Doctores: Centrally Located

Extremely convenient to reach anywhere in the city and home to a few important cultural institutions, Colonia Doctores has long been seen as a bit seedy—it’s traditionally where stolen car parts were (re-)installed in cars that had suffered recent thefts. It’s still got a bit of a bad reputation but that seems to be mainly leftover from days past. One doesn’t feel unsafe walking about at night—but it’s never bad to take a cab if the streets are a bit empty at late hours. My local and international friends and I feel perfectly safe here.

The map below shows stay options; note that to the west (left) of Avenida Cuauhtémoc is Roma Norte; there are many stay options there but then you’re entering into an area that’s extremely popular with tourists. The sharp dividing line is apparent. Stay east of Cuauhtémoc (the majority of this map) and you’re both very conveniently located and spreading your stay into a less-frequented and very interesting neighborhood.

Of note in Doctores:

• The Arena México, which is home to lucha libre wrestlers
• The Graphic Arts Garden, a cute park
• The Mercado San Juan Arcos
• A few fun cantinas and tons of great street taco stands

Coyoacán: Look Beyond Frida! There’s a Lot More to this Leafy, Bohemian District

A bit further south you’ll find the village-within-the-city: Coyoacán. It is not exactly unknown. The cobblestone streets and central squares are famous and it is home to the Frida Kahlo Museum.

But this area is much more than these central few blocks, and if you go a bit beyond them you can find yourself staying in spots with few other foreigners and ending up in deep, interesting experiences.

One highly recommended example from a friend of and frequent advisor to this site is Finca Coyoacán, a guesthouse with a garden and apartment-style stays where one can feel relaxed and at home for a long stay.

In addition to the typical visits in the area (the Coyoacán Market, the Frida Kahlo Museum, and the National Museum of Popular Cultures, consider checking whether there is good dance or theatre at the Teatro Raul Flores Canelo; I caught a spectacular, inventive modern dance piece that has really haunted my imagination since.

Tlalpan Centro

For a seriously tranquil small-time vibe in Mexico City, you can head a bit further south from Coyoacán to Tlalpan. Its center has enticing historical plazas and hiking is possible in the Tlalpan National Park.

• Casa Frissac: Expositions, theatre, dance, and classes
• Museo del Tiempo: Antique watches and clocks
• Lots of food, café and mezcal options: There is a good overview here (in Spanish)

Azcapotzalco Centro

The pre-hispanic neighborhoods of Azcapotzalco ooze charm; the historic center has gardens, cultural centers, markets, churches, a main plaza, and a giant red ant (the name means “place of the anthills”).

• Casa de Cultura Azcapotzalco: Expositions and concerts
• Parque Tezozómoc: A large park and pond with the Museo Tezozómoc (interactive science exhibits), walks, and recreation areas

Support Unsung, Delightful Corners of the City: Eat Un-Gentrified Tacos, Drink Pulque, Enjoy Modern Dance, Visit Galleries…

The problem: Locals and foreigners alike flock to taco stands and other food spots made temporarily popular on Instagram, TikTok, or “best restaurant” lists. This creates an extreme warping of the market. Lines become impossibly long and prices go up in select spots. Neighbors get priced out or annoyed, as do those who have travelled from across the city or country or world just to wait in these long lines for overrated experiences.

Over time, foreigners’ and influencers’ tastes start to flatten cultures (update: some wacky newspaper from New York agrees that Mexico City’s food is getting less interesting, at least in some ways). Quirky places disappear and are replaced with mass-market easy successes and their copycats. And voilà, another neighborhood is gentrified.

What you can do: Instead of relying on social media travellers’ and TV personalities’ takes on the best taco stand, tourist site, or cocktail bar, explore further. Below are some practical steps.

For food and drinks:

• Ask taxi drivers and others who eat out a lot where they most like to stop on a break.
• Stay in a less-visited corner of the city, try random spots out (don’t be afraid to try emptier restaurants, they can be amazing!), discover the best unsung neighborhood spot for yourself, and post that to social media (rather than posting your presence in front of déjà vu touristy spots) and recommend it to your friends. Help out the small family businesses that can use your support. Take risks—some of my best memories are when I’ve stepped the furthest out of my culinary comfort zone.
• Try gastronomy from all over Mexico; that’s one of the advantages of being in this capital city. Try Sinaloan, Yucateca, Oaxacan… just to name a few very important types of cuisine that can be found in Mexico City and could use more support.
• Look for neighborhood initiatives to celebrate both traditional and innovative cuisines. These might be temporary fairs and markets. I’ve had great luck by taking local cooking classes and going to regional food education events.
• Instead of seeking out the most recommended cocktail bar, look for local drinks and ways of drinking, like a pulquería or cantina in your neighborhood. I had great experiences with both of these on my last stay—and they’re a sharp contrast from Mexico City cocktail bars in Roma Norte, which, while nice, aren’t very different from those anywhere else in the world.
• Instead of Starbucks (please no), support a small, local coffee shop. Or grab a Nescafé on any street corner stand and chat up your neighbors.

For experiences:

• You should not miss great sites like the Anthropology Museum, and, if you can, should consider hiring one of the many enthusiastic and often over-qualified guides (also check out the Mexico City guides at Trip.com) that seek to help you understand and appreciate such wonders (an unquestionably ethical use of tourist dollars). Some things are famous for good reason. The fact that they’re full of foreigners is actually a net positive for both local and world cultures.
• That said, also set aside time to visit galleries, theatres, music halls, and cultural spaces showing work by current artists in neighborhoods around the city. Ask yourself, where are the Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo of the moment likely working? What is in event listings and reviews at the moment? What is going on at the neighborhood community space this weekend?

Learn Spanish—and Other Languages

A lot of foreigners feel like they “should” learn Spanish before visiting or staying in Mexico, but then don’t actually do much about it. Getting on an app like Duolingo barely counts (they can be fun but don’t give you real communication skills).

To learn to speak Spanish with people you need to actually speak Spanish with people, and at first that’s going to mean simple phrases, likely in an educational setting.

This can mean as little as a few one-on-one sessions via video classes on the internet with a teacher before a quick trip.

Or it can mean months of classes and studying with a textbook. We have full articles on language learning methods for getting off to an efficient start based on science as well as on Mexican slang for romantic situations.

The quick recommendation: Sign up for at least a handful of Spanish classes on Italki (my favorite site for this) before you go, to start out, improve your level, or just for a refresher. Important: Select a teacher from the Mexico City region (and not from, say, Madrid) so that you can learn that same accent and informal vocabulary that you will use during your stay.

Actually Learn to Speak a Language

Want to improve your ability to actually speak a language and not just click on animated buttons on a phone app?

You’ll need to actually speak. To humans. Fortunately, you can do so at your convenience with half-hour video calls with friendly, fun, smart teachers who are both native speakers and experienced in explaining their languages and local dialects.

I used Italki for years and became fluent in seven. You can do it too. But you’re going to have to stop clicking and start talking.

Book a Trial Lesson on Italki

Indigenous Languages

Mexico City is home to people from all over Mexico and Central America, and you may get the opportunity, especially with older folks, to hear an indigenous language.

People do not expect you to speak languages like Zapoteco but in my experience are always delighted if you show an interest and make a real effort to learn, even just a few words.

Since Mexican politics and general social attitudes have strongly disfavored these languages (and favored Spanish and even English), you as a foreigner can make a real difference sometimes in helping people re-evaluate these priors through simple curiosity.

You can also study these languages with online teachers via Italki but that is more likely to be useful if you’re going to be staying in a region outside Mexico City where that language is more widely spoken. And even then, it’s hard to target the exact version of a language like Zapoteco that you will need prior to arrival, as there are many varieties from town to town and they are not always mutually intelligible.

Staying: Apartments vs. Hotels

Apartment stays have gotten a bad rap because they’re associated with Airbnb, which has certainly done some bad stuff over the years (evaded local laws, charged high fees, provided poor service…).

But there are alternatives to Airbnb for renting apartments in places like Mexico City. We shouldn’t necessarily assume that these are worse for the locals than if we stay in a hotel or a guesthouse. Here’s why:

• Ultimately, wherever we put our money encourages the building of more of that type of property, whether it’s more hotels, more apartments, more guesthouses. It’s true that apartments are more quickly and more informally converted into housing for visitors as opposed to locals and so the effect on the market is more immediate, but if we all choose to stay in only hotels or small guesthouses, more of those will ultimately be built in certain neighborhoods, also potentially displacing residents.
• Apartment stays allow for more interaction with local communities. This can mean buying fresh food to cook in the market (one of my favorite activities in Mexico City!). And it can mean interactions with neighbors, making friends, and inviting locals to dinner, rather than always being purely a guest.
• If you’re working while travelling, apartment stays tend to give you space to work and so you don’t need to take up a coworking space as well, thus slightly reducing your overall footprint. That said, otherwise a hotel room can be a smaller footprint.
• Apartment stays provide income sources to families that can really use them. One apartment that I stayed at in Mexico City had been preserved by the family just as their deceased grandparents had left it. Not only did that the casa de la abuela had tons of charm, art, 70s furniture, and interesting books for visitors to take in, it allowed the family to preserve their memories and use the apartment at times while also having an additional source of revenue.
• Apartment stays can make it easier to visit and stay in less-tourist-dense areas that cannot support a full hotel, thus spreading out the impact of tourism across the city.

In the end, of course, too much demand (for apartments or hotels) means prices will go up. This is a larger citywide problem that involves building codes, construction-market corruption, and transportation issues…

Mexico City’s Housing Crisis Is (Mostly) Not Due to Visiting Foreigners

It’s easy to see foreigners paying higher prices for shorter term apartments in certain areas of Mexico City and assume that their presence has pushed up pricing in the city as a whole, causing or at least contributing to the crisis of affordability for long-time residents.

The left-leaning UK Guardian has a good explainer in the second half of this article showing why digital nomads and other visitors likely have very little to do with the overall housing problem.

In a nutshell, prices have quadrupled across the city in a pattern that began well before the current boom in the city’s popularity among foreigners. A careful study shows that “the influx of digital nomads, which significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, does not appear to significantly impact the dynamics of housing access”; rather, prices were already rising disproportionately in already-expensive neighborhoods and surrounding zones. The authors say that digital nomads’ purchasing power may eventually worsen the crisis, but it is not the primary cause.

After all, there are 21 million people living in the greater Mexico City area. The number of digital nomads, while extremely hard to estimate, is generally put in the tens of thousands. The number of Airbnbs is only around 24,000. If foreign visitors are causing housing prices to go up, it is only in a select few neighborhoods where they are highly concentrated.

In most of Mexico City’s vast area, one finds few foreign visitors, so they cannot possibly be to blame for the housing-price increases across the entire city. Prices have also risen several-fold in neighborhoods that have never seen a tourist nor a digital nomad.

So what, then, is actually causing Mexico City housing prices to go up?

In short, lots of Mexicans (and some foreigners) want to live in Mexico City, but there is a severe lack of supply. Young Chilango natives increasingly want to get out of their family homes. People from across the country want to come to Mexico City. But construction was “practically prohibited in the early 2000s” as noted in El País, and the number of homes now being built is well under the needed annual construction of new homes: 11,000 to 50,000, depending on the estimate. In 2023, there were only 1,701 Mexico City homes built and just 12% of those were affordable housing. Why?

• Market obstacles in raw materials: The cost of cement is largely controlled by CEMEX, which has concentrated market power. Steel is subject to a 15% tariff and there are investigations into unfair trade practices.
• Permitting: City construction permits and licenses add up to sometimes prohibitively high costs for housing developers.
• Poor urban planning: There are too few walkable, green neighborhoods, which makes the limited areas near parks or with tree-lined streets disproportionately attractive and therefore expensive. Also, public transportation is poor and cars are prioritized, which similarly creates more incentive to live in (and pay more for) the few “good” neighborhoods, since it’s so hard to get around.
• Lack of public housing: There is a need for the city to build housing dedicated specifically for low-income residents.

These concepts are a bit more complex and less sexy than “Gringo go home”, which fits on a protest sign, is easily understood (if misguided), and gets more attention…

The More Extreme—and Sometimes Ugly—Anti-Gentrification Statements

The anti-gentrification protests in Mexico City were mainly peaceful and the main focus of most was on the right to affordable housing. These views are widely shared by frustrated long-term residents, whether born in the city, the country, or abroad.

There were fewer but very visible people displaying much uglier sentiments. There were videos of a small number of protesters smashing store windows and stealing. Some of the graffitti and signs used foul language (“gringo pendejo” and much worse) and were openly xenophobic and nativist. A group sometimes quoted in news coverage of the protests is the Anti-Gentrification Front (Frente Anti-Gentrificación), which says that “responsible/conscious gentrification does not exist” and defines gentrification (as opposed to migration) as anyone who can “come and return home when they want to”, claiming then that gentrification is an “institutional violence exercised by those with more purchasing power”.

Putting this together, their idea is that anyone who comes to Mexico City but could afford a return ticket should not have come at all. And foreign peoples who are here but can afford to leave should get out. Their rhetoric culminates in signs and graffiti saying “Gringo go home”. It’s not clear if they believe that all of the world’s cross-border travel should be stopped or only that of people coming to Mexico City. The group says that it only supports the rights of migrants (the under-privileged) to come and to stay, just not people who come by choice (whether for culture, education, experience, etc.).

The same group also has posted against hiring bilingual wait staff and claims that “white people can’t dance” due to “disconnection,” “Christian morals”, etc… give their content 10 minutes and you can follow them down an increasingly racist and xenophobic rabbit hole. It’s well worth noting that the comments on their content suggest that many (most?) of those who follow it (and are presumably anti-gentrification to some degree) don’t agree with taking things so far.

Indeed, from every conversation I’ve ever had here in Mexico City about this, it seems that most Chilangos love the fact that their city brings in people from all over the world, including those speaking other languages and even those in privileged financial situations. Most don’t want to close off their city to visitors; they want to be as welcoming as they always have been. They says so even as concerns about housing and prices become ever-more paramount, and (mostly mistakenly) associated with foreigners. The anti-gentrification protests are part of much larger complaints about economic inequality in the city and the country and born out of frustration seeking a target—especially one that is more easily understood than the economic explanations for housing prices in the previous section.

Also worth noting: Colorist attitudes against darker-skinned people and especially those of indigenous ancestry are shockingly common in Mexico. The counter-reactions to such attitudes can sound a bit obnoxious and anti-lighter-skin-tones, and while those are also unacceptable, it’s important to appreciate the context in which such statements are made. Throughout their lives and to a very harsh extent darker-skinned Mexicans are made to fell lesser-than; the rejection of these attitudes can sound a bit strong taken out of that context.

This post is not an argument that any one group—those staying in the place where they were born nor those who are mobile—should have priority. Sedentary societies always tend to privilege their fellow co-residents. Visitors can ensure that they are actually contributing to the places that they stay (and reducing any harms) and in doing so help fight against the more negative attitudes.

No single action is going to fix Mexico City’s problems, but we can choose how we visit the city and make steps towards positive contributions through our choices.

There is also an argument to be had for the value of cultural exchange and what foreigners can bring to a culture. Years back, it was impossible to find samba in Mexico City. Now the Brazilian community gathers about once a month…for events like this one in the video below. It’s hard to say that Mexico City is any poorer as a result of this contamination from new, incoming, foreign taste.

ethical travel, gentrification, gringo, lodging, Mexico, Mexico City, nomads, travel hacking