Thursday, November 19, 2009

The Zocola

Our town square was bulldozed down and modernized, what, about 2 years ago now? Gone are the pavillion, the topiaries, the tree lined pathways, the benches for people to rest in the shade, the lovers benches where teenagers used to sit and hold hands and speak of who know what to each other, the food vendors, the families gathered in small groups, adults talking while the children ran and played.

Instead we now have this warm, inviting piece of cement parking lot. Don't you just want to spend lots of time here sitting in the hot sun, visiting with friends and passing the time away?




The main church on the island forms the border on one of the sides. It, too, looks so inviting now. Beckoning you in to worship and find solace from life's problems. If not for the Virgin, one might think it is an office building. It used to be charming.




I will never forgive the past administration for ruining our town square like this.

10 comments:

Calypso said...

We have a similar situation just going on here in Xico. Now that you bring this up I will write a Blog about it - They totally destroyed our parque Independencia (the park next to the grand church). This to modernize and improve - this remains to be seen as it currently looks like a World War II bombed site.

I guess this is why as of January there will be new sin taxes and an increase in IVA - need the pesos for all these 'improvements'.

Anonymous said...

I love the homeade potato salad I used to get. And it was "room temp" and never had a problem.(sigh) I miss it too. Bad judgement call on the Mayors part.
carl/debbie

Nancy said...

I remember when you posted about this before, I just couldn't believe it. The design of the Zócalo is classic and is so sensible in our climate. Shame on them!

What do other people say about it? When does the administration change again?

One Small Voz said...

So sad...pave paradise, put up a parking lot. :-(

- Mexican Trailrunner said...

Pathetic. It used to be so inviting.
They did the same thing to our beautiful Joco plaza a couple of years ago. Gone are the big shady trees where the old folks could sit and be sheltered from the sun, gone are the statues and garden, and replaced with more shadeless benches and less ambiance.
Politicos! Our current admin, so to speak, bailed about 6 months ago to run for national office, handing over the reins to a chayote farmer from a neighboring village. BUT, not before changing a significant part of the areas zoning to high density and approving a total of nearly 3000 cracker box houses to be built, and a new high speed carretera cut into the hillside so the residents of these ticky-tackys can scuttle rapidly to and from Guad.
Meanwhile, we roast in the sun on the plaza and continually have to pick your way through town on roads so deteriorated with pozos and neglect that some village roads are all but non-negotiable.
Apart from that, I have no opinion on the matter. . .

Isla Deb said...

I wish I could have seen it before all the changes. But even without knowing the difference, I've never thought of it as being inviting or a place where I wanted to hang out. And the little white picket fences are just wrong.

Linda Dorton said...

What a shame! How long before the next administration moves in?

Life's a Beach! said...

It is kind of beyond me how someone could have designed something so lacking in character and charm.

Islagringo said...

Calypso: When we drove around Mexico in 2007, we saw no less than 4 town squares that looked exactly like ours. Somebody must be going around selling this plan to dumb Mayors and town councils. Such a pity.

carl/debbie: bad, bad judgement is right. I have never heard one person say they prefer the new park.


Nancy: the current Mayor has 3 more years left. Doesn't matter though. It was her predecesor who approved this plan. Both the current Mayor and the previous one are female. Shame on them for not thinking of families.

Leah: actually, I would be happier if they had made a parking lot!

Mexican Trailrunner: please comment again when you have something to say! LOL! Very well put.

IslaDeb: maybe better you don't remember the old one. It makes dealing with the new one just that much harder.

Lin: see my comment to Nancy. It doesn't matter because it is not going to change.

Beck: money.

Bob said...

Wayne,
There are some pics of the zocola from the mid 80's on pages 6 and 7 here - http://www.islatravelers.com/board/gallery/album.php?album_id=1&sid=c069f6711d692934c9daa07bcabd3187