Colonia Morelos
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Colonia Morelos | |
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 Bus in Colonia Morelos | |
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| Coordinates: 19°26′50.1″N 99°7′31.87″W / 19.447250°N 99.1255194°W | |
| Country | Mexico |
| City | Mexico City |
| Borough | Cuauhtémoc |
| Population (2010) | |
• Total | 36,590 |
Colonia Morelos is a colonia located just north of the historic center of Mexico City in the Cuauhtémoc borough. It has been a poor area since Aztec times, with many residents today living in large tenements called vecindades. The area, particularly the Tepito neighborhood, is known for crime, especially the sale of stolen merchandise and drugs. It is home to the very large Tepito tianguis or market, and also has two major places of worship dedicated to Santa Muerte.
The boundaries of the colonia are defined by the following streets: Canal del Norte on the north, Paseo de la Reforma on the west, Eje 1 Norte Heroes de Granaditas on the south and Eje 1 Oriente Av. Del Trabajador on the east.[1]
The colonia, especially the Tepito neighborhood, is known as a high crime area in Mexico City. It is known for the handling and selling of stolen merchandise as well as drug dealing, mostly of marijuana. According to a city statistics, 14.45% of the city’s jail population indicates this colonia as its residence.[2] Another major problem for the area’s infrastructure is the theft of electrical services by residents and businesses tapping directly into overhead wires and bypassing meters. In May 2010, the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), or federal electricity commission, announced steps to eliminate these practices, as well as the replacement of faulty transformers and other equipment.[3]
Schools, all public institutions, in the area include Bertha Dominguez Preschool Capep Cuauhtemoc 3 Special Needs School, Cedex Jorge Casahonda Castillo Technical High School, Cei Cuautemoc V Primary, Cendi Gdf Tepito 1 Ropa y Telas Primary, Cendi Gdf Tepito 2 Varios Primary, Cendi Gdf Tepito 3 Zona Primary, Dolores Correa Zapata Primary, Escuela de la Musica Mexicana Technical School, Escuela Secudaria Tecnica 3 Technical High School, Escuela Secundaria Tecnica 42 Technical High School, Estado de Durango Primary and Estado de Zacatecas Primary.[4] There is a Houses of Hospitality for Immigrants and the Deported in Mexico and Guatemala located at the Albergue Ejército de Salvación on Labradores Street.[5]
History
This area north of the historic center in Aztec times covered by lake and a small, poor community with lived by fishing and other aquatic activities.[6] It was subdued by the Aztecs quickly, but its original residents were barred from trading in the large nearby Tlatelolco market.[7] It soon became a place to stay for those bringing goods into this market to sell, leading to the Aztec name Mecamalinco, roughly translating to “for carriers.”[8]
After the lake here dried, much of the land was occupied by the Carmen monastery. The city was steadily growing northward up to the monastery’s lands which prevented the building of road north out of town as late as 1864. However, the Reform Laws soon decommissioned the monastery and its lands broken up by new roadways. Colonia Morelos was planned and subdivided by Juan Violante in 1882 on part of these lands. The first housing lots were sold in 1886 and the original extension was diminished as sections broke off to form other colonias. From its beginning, the colonia has been inhabited by the lower-classes mostly laborers and craftsmen, which lived and continue to live in large “vecindades” or tenements.[1]
In 2007, the city government expropriated two large blocks with the rationale of reducing crime in the colonia located on Tenochtitlan and Jesús Carranza streets, an area locally known as “La Fortaleza” or The Fortress.[2]
