海角大神

Jose Guadalupe Gonzalez walks among giant paper-mache renderings of fantastical dragons and serpents, called alebrijes, with his wife and two teenage daughters in the middle of Mexico City鈥檚 Zocalo to celebrate Day of the Dead. Later, the family considered catching a play for free, also in the main plaza, or strolling along the nearby, new pedestrian streets of downtown Mexico.

In the winter the Gonzalez family goes ice-skating in the same spot. And on Sundays, any time of the year, they can hop on free bicycles and ride along Reforma, the city's most icononic thoroughfare.

In many ways, Mr. Gonzalez says his native city is an unrecognizable place, having transformed under leftist administrations and particularly the city鈥檚 outgoing Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who has become an international star of sorts among the municipal set.

鈥淏efore the lower classes did not have access to these leisure activities," says Gonzalez, a retired mechanic.

Mayor Ebrard steps down on Dec. 5 with wide approval ratings over his six-year administration, which has changed Mexico City both on the surface and in ways much deeper. For starters, Mexico City simply looks different. There are all-women buses that circulate the city and newly paved bike paths traversed by men in suits commuting to work.

Perhaps the most important changes have taken place under the surface, via new laws, climate action, and violence-combating plans. Abortion was legalized in 2007, as was gay marriage in 2010, and later gay adoption. Mexico City has been at the vanguard of ecological change, and has also been transformed by the things one no longer sees: It鈥檚 now perceived as one of the safest places in Mexico.

In short, a city with one of the worst reputations among urbanites for pollution, lawlessness, and general chaos, has an entirely new appeal.

鈥淥utsiders once viewed the city as terrorizing,鈥� says Ivan de la Lanza, who works for the city鈥檚 bike sharing program called Ecobici. 鈥淣ow it鈥檚 a city that people want to visit, where they want to live.鈥�

Quality of life

It is on the environmental front that Ebrard has garnered the most international plaudits, and one of the reasons he won the World Mayor鈥檚 2010 prize for best urban leader. After taking office he outlined a 15-year 鈥淕reen Plan鈥� to reduce the city鈥檚 overall greenhouse gas emissions. The Ecobici program now counts over 50,000 users who can forgo their cars to commute to work along 17 paved miles of bike path. The city just unveiled a new $2 billion subway line that not only cuts commutes by an hour and in some cases much more, but also aims to get hundreds of buses off the streets.

鈥淎long with [President] Felipe Calderon, Ebrard has supported environmental causes more than any previous administrations,鈥� says Gustavo Alanis Ortega, the director general of the Mexican Center for Environmental Rights in Mexico City.

There are of course 鈥渋ncongruencies,鈥� says Mr. Alanis Ortega.

The city closed down a giant landfill as part of its environmental plan, but that鈥檚 meant that streets have piled up with garbage ever since. Ebrard has forged ahead with new road systems, including a double-decker structure for the highway that rings the city. While it's been supported by some who believe it will relieve unbearable rush-hour traffic, it is criticized by others for the additional cars it will bring to the city center.

鈥淗e hasn鈥檛 made anything better,鈥� says taxi driver Juan Hernandez Velasquez. 鈥淭here is trash all over the streets. His 鈥榩lans鈥� have brought more traffic. If we are fighting contamination, it doesn鈥檛 resolve anything to have us sitting in traffic on Sundays [when Reforma is closed down to cars],鈥� he says.

But the polls show that Mr. Hernandez Velasquez expresses a minority view.

Ebrard's general popularity is evident not only in approval ratings, but in the landslide electoral victory of his party鈥檚 candidate for mayor, Miguel Mancera. (Mexican politicians at all levels of government are limited to single terms.) Mr. Mancera won the election with 63 percent of the vote, on a platform of continuity with Ebrard鈥檚 policies. (Meanwhile Ebrard sought his leftist party鈥檚 ticket for the 2012 presidential election, but was edged out by Andres Lopez Obrador, who lost the 2006 and 2012 races. Ebrard is widely expected to be a presidential candidate in the 2018 race.)

Part of what has made Ebrard so popular is his focus on every citizen's right to quality of life. For the gay community in Mexico City, that means equal rights to marry partners and adopt children. For the lower-classes that means access to leisure. 鈥淢any people in this city could not go to the theater otherwise,鈥� says Jose de la Rosa, the coordinator for historic patrimony for the secretary of culture in Mexico City.

In addition, the Ecobici project is not only an environmental initiative, but an exercise in inclusion, says Rodrigo Guerrero, a strategist for the program. 鈥淚t is not necessary to have a car or better job to enjoy the city or have a good quality of life," Mr. Guerrero says.

But perhaps most important to Ebrard' supporters is the sense of safety that people today feel in Mexico City. In part that is because the drug-related violence that has captured global headlines has stayed on the periphery of Mexico City, for now. But the mayor also pioneered a security camera program that residents largely support.

鈥淚n terms of public security, it is clear that the city today is one of the safest in the country,鈥欌�� says Adriana Maciel, who works as the Mexico editor for the global organization City Mayors Foundation.

鈥淭his is important to emphasize given the grave situation of violence that the rest of Mexico is experiencing.鈥�

'Thieves all around us'

Despite all of these advances, Mexico City is still riddled with problems. The capital might be perceived as relatively safer than the rest of Mexico, but the key word is 鈥渞elative.鈥� A majority continues to believe that crime is worse today. One recent poll is telling of the limits of improvement: According to an October survey in the daily Universal, there was a five percent reduction (from 66 percent in 2011 to 61 percent this year) of those who say that crime has increased in the neighborhood in which they live.

In fact, Gonzalez鈥檚 wife, Rosa Hernandez Bravo, is one who says that she feels just as insecure as she did last year, and as she did six years ago. 鈥淭here are many thieves all around us,鈥� Ms. Hernandez Bravo says.

Her husband interrupts. 鈥淚t鈥檚 much better now,鈥� he says. He lists off several programs that have improved their quality of life, especially for the elderly, he says.

鈥淓brard has recuperated many public spaces,鈥� he says.

But husband听and wife clearly do not always see eye-to-eye. 鈥淚 think the city鈥檚 as ugly as ever,鈥� she says, smiling.

He shrugs, the girls laugh, and they walk off to view the rest of the alebrijes exhibit.