Why Mexico City's Geography SUCKS

Select video clips courtesy of Getty Images

Select video clips courtesy of AP Archive

Special thanks to MapTiler / OpenStreetMap Contributors and GEOlayers 3

[MIGALA]

A bird eating a snake told us to put it here. We had no choice

[ramosmolinainaqui]

Me, who has been living there almost his entire life: they forgot the active volcano.

[mako]

History of Mexico city:
-No mame jefe es un pinché lago
+Quedará mamalon

[laughingvampire]

the conquest of Tenochtitlan wasn't just Spanish vs Aztecs, it was an anti-Aztec Alliance lead by Cortez and followed by the top Aztec enemies in the region, the Tlaxcaltecas and multiple other vassal cities rebelling against Aztec rule. There were only 600 Spanish soldiers and thousands of Indigenous enemies of the Aztecs.

Tenochtitlan was just half of the island the other half was Tlatelolco a different city with a different ruler but it was also Mexica.

[edchez]

"This is our promised land!"
"But... Its water, not land."
"Not with that attitude."

[davidmagyar]

Spain: *tries to conquer the Aztec’s capital
The Aztecs: What are you doing in my swamp?!

[TyberCusaa]

Cómo ciudadano de la CDMX puedo decirte abiertamente y con toda certeza sin miedo a cometer algún error al decirte que la CDMX es un lugar que no fue planeado y creció a lo pendejo.

[sophiegriffin]

Tenochtitlan was also a waste-free city. Unlike London or other european cities at the time, they had a very proficient system for organic and inorganic waste disposal. The water was clean and everyone showered regularly.

[MrMywishlist]

Patrick: “Why don’t we take Mexico City and push it somewhere else!”

[mini-_]

"Imagine your house sinking 30 meters"
Me, who lives below the sea-level already: _uhh, I'd rather not_

[lis_michu]

In Cortés' diaries, Cortés expressed his amazement and admiration at seeing such a wonderful city. The Aztec Empire had clean water, they could bathe, they had food and canals that worked perfectly, but they did not take advantage of the city as it was.

[hugoarboleya]

I live in Mexico City and because of the fragile terrain (you can go to the downtown and see how the cathedral and many buildings are sinking) the earthquakes are specially destructive here, literally makes you feel like you're stand on a jelly. Everyone fears them.

[cileft]

so you're telling me that the aztecs had a metropolitan city with the population size of boston perfectly suited to their environment and the spaniards came and short-sightedly imposed their european building methods onto the city and it was a disaster? 🤔

[mariomario]

Italy: We got a leaning tower.

Mexico: Amateurs

[dgochez]

Mexico City does have one huge geographic advantage. The weather is great all year around, heating and cooling costs are very low compared to most other places.

[ThoughtMold]

As a mexicain the lives in mexico city in our history class were taught that during the colonial period they tried to move the capital from mexico city to somewhere in Puebla because of the massive floodings and the spread of deseases and they even started the construction copies of important buildings in that place but at the last moment the king of spain told them that they would stay in mexico city and they just obey

[smqrtie]

“Imagine your house 30 m lower”
The Netherlands 🇳🇱: 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

[EpreTroll]

Extremely sad that we can't ever see this aztec city

[blp]

As a Filipino I have always been fascinated by Mexico City ever since as a child and it's still my dream destination in the Americas..

[birdair]

some missing data: it was not just one lake, it was a lake system made up of 5 lakes: Texcoco, Chalco, Xochimilco, Xaltocan y Zumpango