CDMX according to Adrián Marcelo: where artisanal coffee displaces neighbors (and common sense)
Ah, the beautiful Mexico City, that paradise where you now pay $100 for an avocado toast while your lifelong neighbor packs his things for Ecatepec. The phenomenon of gentrification—or “the art of turning popular neighborhoods into Instagram scenes”—is advancing in leaps and bounds, leaving in its wake cafes with unpronounceable names and rents that would make an oil tycoon cry.
From Rome to Xochimilco: the involuntary tour of the displaced
According to Adrián Marcelo, content creator and expert in summarizing urban tragedies in acidic tweets: “Every time CDMX becomes more gentrified, the State of Mexico becomes more dangerous”. Wow, what a relief to know that while some toast with kombucha on a vintage terrace, others learn to sprint between rounds. The influencer equation: gentrification + resentment = broken glass at Starbucks, as demonstrated in the recent protest where some protesters confused “activism” with “breaking nice things.”
The Dr. Lorena Umaña from UNAM, with that academic delicacy that contrasts so much with Marcelo’s memes, points out that this is a “process of urban transformation”. Translation: the former neighbors are now background extras in the film “Hipsters vs. Reality”, filmed in locations like Condesa (previously affordable, now only for heirs or YouTubers).
And while apartment prices reach stratospheric heights—did someone say “loft with industrial charm”?—Marcelo drops another pearl: “Ignorance + resentment = violence”. Maybe he meant that it’s easier to break a window than pay rent… or maybe he was just criticizing that some Protestants forgot that the enemy is not the bagel bar, but real estate speculators. Hard to know.
The future: Thematic CDMX or organic coffee revolution?
The truth is that the capital becomes a theme park where the locals are secondary characters. Next attraction? “The tour of the houses that you can no longer afford”, with a mandatory stop at that building where there used to be a tortilla shop and now they sell spirulina croissants. Meanwhile, Marcelo continues in
Are you outraged or amused by this panorama? Share this article with that friend who still believes that gentrification is “just a fad.” And if you want more analysis with sarcasm included, explore our notes on urban planning and social chaos. Of course, read them before your cologne becomes trendy and they charge you to breathe the air.
