In the Barrio

After visiting the Franz Mayer Museum, I did a bit of exploring in the neighborhood right behind it.  The Colonia Guerrero is considered a rather dangerous neighborhood, but I had read that the wedge of Guerrero behind the museum and bordered by the Paseo de la Reforma has been undergoing a lot of renovation.  So I decided to take a look.

Well, the neighborhood market building looked as if it had been spruced up on the outside, although I took a peek inside, and it did not look inviting.

There were a couple of playgrounds that appeared to be new, and plantings along some of the streets.  This pedestrian street was about as picturesque as it got.

There was trash in some the streets, and numerous abandoned buildings were in a state of decay (perhaps damaged in the 2017 earthquake... or the 1985 earthquake?)  Some of the older buildings had doorways which opened into tenement courtyards.

There is a colonial church, Santa María la Redonda, which dates back to 1677 when it was the parish church for Cuepopan, a segregated "barrio" reserved for indigenous people.  The church was rebuilt in the baroque style in1734.  The interior is supposed to interesting but the doors were closed when I was there.

Behind the church is a fairly well-maintained little park facing the Paseo de la Reforma (perhaps part of what they are talking about when they say the neighborhood has been renovated).  In the park is a monument to the heroes of the War for Independence.  I suspect that the large figure to the left is Vicente Guerrero (after whom the "colonia" is named).  Notice that somebody broke off the sword.

The one thing that the neighborhood has to recommend it is a fair amount of street art on the buildings.

I did not really feel unsafe here, although I would definitely not venture here after dark.  However, I did not feel comfortable, and I did not linger too long.