Guadalajara: Mexico's silicon valley and cultural capital

-Mexico has three of the most important cities in Latin america (Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara). But we will focus on a big city that is home of 6 million people. With a strong economy and being kind-off a secure city it is considered a Pearl of the whole country. This is kind of an exploration through it. Knowing places, lifestyle, history, politics, symbols and economy.

-In 1560 the Spaniard were looking for a place to make it home with the name of Nueva Galicia after two failures because the climate, lack of water and dangerous tribes they found a paradise and what we call nowadays Guadalajara. The city was previously founded in 1542 in the Valley of Atemajac a place that had plenty of water. The city with a great climate, place and water also with the compliment of men and women that really wanted to progress with agriculture like the corn in Zapopan a city that is part of the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara and I would talk about it later. An intresting fact is that the city has founded by a WOMAN; Beatriz Hernandez, because people wanted to changed and she proposed to stay there. 

Metropolitan Area 

-But Guadalajara as we know it is actually a big Metropli composed mainly by 6 cities: 

Guadalajara, Zapopan, Tlaquepaque, El Salto, Tonala and Tlajomulco. 

Guadalajara: 

The first thing to think about when talking about the city is culture because the magic of the landscapes filled with a new bohemian but also trendy culture is what paints Guadalajara as a city. The good restaurants and bars of Providencia also the Downtown and Chapultepec makes the culture to colour Guadalajara's landscape. Museum of almost everything comes to your mind like Art, History, Geography, Anthropology, Politics and it is the place where the decisions are done because the Executive, Legislative and Judicial power take place there. Also the big companies like Flextronics, Kodak, HP, Ryder want to have power in that city. 

Zapopan:

Guadalajara would be anything without Zapopan because it is the biggest city of the Metropolitan Area, long time ago it was know because the corn plantations but know it is because the luxury and lifestyle.
With a high Human Development and Economic importance for the federation Zapopan could be considered the real Guadalajara. That is why Kodak, Motorola, Coca Cola and other wanted to be in there. The most important universities have campus there.

Tlaquepaque & Tonala: A look of the old-town 

Also if you want to see the art but in a more Mexican way and a more relaxed way of living go and visit Tlaquepaque and drink a Jarrito or you could go to buy all the Mexican hand-done furniture of Tonala it is breathtaking to look the creativity of Guadalajara and a fresh image of old times. Also if you love plants go to the Botanical Garden of the Western Institute in Tlaquepaque. 

El Salto & Tlajomulco: Industry and economic empowerment. 

Maybe this two guys are not that big or cultural as their brothers but they have a big thing to be recognized all the industries of all kinds like Steel, Iron, Engineering, and lots others that wanted to have a franchise in those two representing Guadalajara. Even the Airport is located in Tlajomulco. 

Political life of Guadalajara 

PRI: The winner of every election until .... 

Guadalajara was governed as a State level represented by the Governor of Jalisco and by the mayors by the Institutional Revolution Party but everything changed in the decade of the 90s because the killing of an important Catholic priest with no resolutions and by the Explosions of the underground that made them to lose the power. After all those years governing Jalisco a new political forced entered to the story.

 

PAN: A new Jalisco is being built. 

In the year of 1995 the election showed that people felt sick about PRI and a new political party took the power, the PAN with the election as Governor of Alberto Cardenas a man that was Mayor from Ciudad Guzman and had a clever mind the city was nicknamed the Mexican Silicion Valley comparing it with the Mexican city. Also with Guadalajara and Zapopan being governed by PAN things started to have a significant and important change. 

New players to same game. 

Another important step for the political life of the city was when Enrique Alfaro from the a left-party won the Mayorship of Tlajomulco being the first to do so and when Bertha Alicia Moreno won in El Salto being the first woman mayor of the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara.

2009: A slow return of the Old Government 

-In the election of 2009 and mainly because of the failure of PAN the PRI returned to govern almost all the cities of the metropolitan area and also in 2012 they return to the Governorship after 3 periods. 

 

Casa Jalisco 

Another interesting fact of the political life of Jalisco is that the state was the first to have an official residence for the Governor; Casa Jalisco 

Guadalajara through the decades: 

 

 

The Mexican Silicon Valley 

In the USA there is an area where Science, Electronics, Animation and Tech industries form an important industrial area named the Silicon Valley and since the late 90s a lot of international industries came to Jalisco and started to be part of the economic supply of the city. 

Financial and Business centre

Also a lot of enterprises specialized in the international comerce, law, business and economy have presence in Guadalajara principally in Chapultepec and Andares area.



LIFESTYLE AND MALLS: 

Plaza del Sol : The first mall of America and a well known and well located one.

Gran Plaza: The most fancy of the 90s and a family style mall

Galerias: The biggest and the youth mall
 

Andares: The luxury, new and trendy mall of all Mexico. 

A PERFECT PLACE FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS 

UDG: The Public school, the best of the city in Medicine and Law. Their pet is the black lion and they are well known because of the big and difficult process of addition.

UAG: The oldest private university of all the country. Well know because of their pet the Teco and because of their moral and values.

ITESO: A jesuit university know because of their liberal ideology and hippie-trendy students that are most of the from left-wing ideology.


ITESM: A institute where the difficult practice of education and high level of work has named them the best university of all the country. 
UP: A right-wing ideology with high moral levels and a good management and law schools this school is part of the opus dei ideology.



UNIVA: A catholic university and well known because of the communications programme.

PANAMERICAN GAMES 2011 

Guadalajara held the 2011 Panamerican Games even though they left us a big debt and crisis it had a big opening and closing ceremonies because the well planned games. 

FUTURE PROJECTS: 

GUADALAJARA 2020: 

With a better public transportation they want to create and area for University people to hang out with restaurants, cafes, bars, libraries, cinemas, etc. 

DIGITAL CITY:

A place to bring companies from Japan and the US of animation to help all those careers to get a job in the city, 

 

TO SUM UP YOU WONT FEEL A 100% TAPATIO IF YOU DONT EAT A TORTA AHOGADA, POZOLE OR BIRRIA WHILE DRINKING TEQUILA AND LISTENING TO MARIACHI MUSIC.