In Barcelona, they would call them Ramblas. In Vancouver, boulevards or, more bloodlessly, centre medians. In Mexico City … well, I’m not sure. But they’re wonderful.
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In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, “the mostly dried lakebed areas west of Mexico City were developed into ‘colonias’ for the wealthy, designed with wide streets, tree-filled traffic islands and boulevards such as those in Paris. ” Mexican architect José Luis Cuevas Pietrasanta (1881–1952) planned what is now known as the Condesa area, incorporating principles of Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City movement: park islands in the middle of “grand avenues” such as Avenida Amsterdam.
In Polanco, Avenida Horacio is one of the finest such examples: mature trees, a wide pedestrian and cycling route through the centre, and narrow side streets with yet more trees along the planting strips.
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On the other side of the city, in the intensely dense and poorer Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, a few of these park strips can also be found, like Av-Chimalhuacan – some of the only open space serving over a million people.
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Could something similar work on King Edward or 1st Avenue? (at least until they build a streetcar down first! I can dream!)