# Commute Time?



## Quelso (Mar 19, 2012)

Hello,

My Husband will be working in the Coyoacan area and we are currently searching areas we like within Mexico City for a rental home. 

After an extensive search we really like the following areas: Santa Fe, Bosques de las Lomas, Interlomas and some of the areas inbetween.

Reasons are is my Husband gets a stipend for housing and these neighborhoods fit the bill on how much he is given (we may as well use all of it), we aren't too fond of city living and are more of a suburb kind of family and it seems closer to the ammenities we enjoy having children and 3 dogs.

The major issue we have is commute time for my Husband to and from the Coyoacan area from any of these areas we like. We currently live in the suburbs out in the country of San Diego, CA and a 1 hour commute is nothing new for us....anything more than that would be a bit ridiculous though.

Does anyone know or have firsthand experience of how long the commute would be from these areas we like or ways to make the commute less of a headache (public transportation or toll roads/freeways)?? We plan on going down and doing the drive ourselves during rush hours sometime soon.

Any advice is appreciated! Thank you...


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

I don't think there's an easy route from the places you mention over to Coyoacan. Travel would be on a mix of cross-town streets and expressway. Traffic times could be 1.5 to 2 hours by car .... depending upon time of day, day of week, and other unknowns.

Have you considered these other neighborhoods / communities as a place to live?:

Coyoacan (historic center)
San Angel
Pedregal
Guadalupe Inn
Colonia Condesa
Polanco
Del Valle

I believe they'd be better located for your husband to get to/from Coyoacan while at the same time placing you in upper middle-class communities which are family-friendly.

I worked in Bosques de las Lomas and Sante Fe, among other communities and have some familiarity with Interlomas. I really like Bosques de las Lomas. You'll pay a price, as that term may be differently/multiply defined, the farther you move from Coyoacan. And adding 3+ hours a day to the husband's time away from home coupled with longer than we find in the USA hours at work ... can prove to be a real disadvantage and stress-contributor, especially so for a family unfamiliar with the larger community and in a new and challenging culture.

Lucky you, though! The opportunity to live in Mexico City and have good housing and expense money to do it right!

Here's a link to a _google map_ of Mexico City, with which you can play and plot travel routes and identify colonias or communities where you might locate yourself:

http://maps.google.com/maps?rlz=1T4...,+mexico+city&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&sa=N&tab=wl

And here's another link to a good street map of Mexico City and the D.F. from _Guia Roji_, with which you can enter a wide variety of variables and see street / colonia maps ... for planning purposes. I use both of these maps frequently:

http://guiaroji.com.mx/index.php


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

Coyoacan itself has some nice suburb-like areas. What area of Coyoacan is he going to be working in? Some parts of it are close to some parts of Tlalpan and Xochimilco which also include some nice areas ranging from suburban to semi-rural. Great for your dogs. 

In Mexico City at its worst (which happens frequently), a 1-hour commute could be as little as 3 or 4 miles; very frustrating!


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## Levi_501 (Aug 13, 2011)

An hour commuting in DF will not get you very (distance wise)especially if you are in rush hour traffic and are going with the flow of the traffic!

I also work in Coyocan and would concure with:
Coyoacan
San Angel
Pedregal
Guadalupe Inn

One of my colleagues lives in Jardines en la Montana and really likes it. IIRC, he does it in about 45mins unless there are problems.


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## Levi_501 (Aug 13, 2011)

I forgot to add; my house is 2km from my office and I walk to work 20mins casual stroll and I love it.

Everyone in my office envious, especially on Friday afternoons!


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## Quetza (May 27, 2012)

It all depends on which part of the Coyoacan area is your husband going to be working in. Maybe being a bit more specific with that could help because even one Delegación in this city can be a huge place and working in the Center of Coyoacán is very different from working in, say, Miguel Ángel de Quevedo which is still in Coyoacán and not far by car but a lot more accesible from some areas you show interest in.

Umm, some Xochimilco areas could work for you.

Apart from agreeing with fellow commenters above about apropiate places, I would suggest to take a look at the homes in the area that's between Anillo Periférico and Bosque del Pedregal (more commonly called Bosque de Tlalpan), I think they are close to a suburban style. And being close to Periferico usually means good movility, it's a matter of learning the "right" times of the day and the "bad" ones. And maybe I'm biased by my own experience, but being near a forest (even if it's little) is a good thing if you have children.


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