Roma didn't start as a neighborhood people lived in — it started as somewhere wealthy families kept a second home. The name itself comes from a tree-lined road once said to resemble one in Rome, connecting the old village of La Romita to San Miguel Chapultepec; the pastures around it became known as “Potreros de Romita,” which shortened to Roma. Development began in earnest in the early 1900s, and by the 1940s it was Mexico City's premier address — roughly 1,100 buildings from that era survive today, a mix of Art Nouveau and Neo-Classical style built in a distinctly Porfirian blend of French, Roman, Gothic, and Moorish influence.

What September 19, 1985 did to this neighborhood

The 1985 earthquake hit Roma harder than almost anywhere else in the city — more than 258 buildings collapsed and 181 were damaged in the Cuauhtémoc borough alone, and Roma Norte specifically was hit hardest, triggering an exodus of residents first to Condesa, then further out to Polanco. The starkest example sits in Roma Sur: the Multifamiliar Juárez, a modernist mid-century housing complex designed by architect Mario Pani, home to one of the largest mural installations of the 20th century by Carlos Mérida. Fifteen of its nineteen buildings came down that morning.

What's happening in Roma Norte right now, in real numbers

The transformation happening today isn't a vibe — it's measurable. Rents across Roma and neighboring Condesa have jumped more than 80% since the pandemic, and a small apartment in Roma Norte itself can now run past $30,000 MXN a month, well above the Cuauhtémoc borough average of roughly $24,456 MXN, with some units listed above $50,000. Roma Norte and Roma Sur together now carry over 3,383 short-term rental listings aimed at the foreign, dollar-earning arrivals who came in waves during and after COVID — enough that the city government named Roma Norte specifically as one of the neighborhoods hit hardest by gentrification pressure, and rolled out a “Plan Maestro” covering Roma, Juárez, Condesa, and Escandón together in 2025 to try to manage it.

That demand shows up as construction. Cuauhtémoc is the borough with the most resident complaints in the city — 888 total, 233 of them from Roma Norte and Roma Sur combined, and 68% of those specifically about construction, noise, or unauthorized land use. That's not decline, it's turnover: older buildings being gutted, converted, or replaced faster than at almost any point since the neighborhood's original 1900s boom.

Roma Sur: slower, but not standing still

Roma Sur — everything south of Coahuila street — has felt this less than Roma Norte's commercial core, and its residential character has held on longer. But the construction-complaint numbers above are combined across both colonias, not confined to the north, and the same pressure shows up most visibly toward Roma Sur's southern and eastern edges, nearer Avenida Cuauhtémoc and the border with Doctores and Narvarte — change arriving later than in Roma Norte, but arriving.

What 3,383 short-term rentals mean for your tap

The most literal version of that risk is happening right now: with more than 3,383 short-term rental listings across Roma Norte and Roma Sur, a lot of current renovation is happening specifically to make a unit look good in a listing photo, not to hold up over years of daily use. A digital nomad on a one-month stay isn't going to notice a slow leak or an overdue cartridge the way a long-term tenant would, and won't be the one living with the consequences. That's the actual argument for checking your own water instead of trusting a fresh coat of paint: a renovated-looking kitchen doesn't tell you anything about what's actually behind the wall.

Sources

  • “8 datos de la Roma, la colonia porfiriana de la que todos hablan en Hollywood,” Expansión.
  • Colonia Roma, Wikipedia — founding era, architectural character, 1985 earthquake damage.
  • Centro Urbano Benito Juárez (Multifamiliar Juárez), Wikipedia.
  • “Una burbuja inmobiliaria ha disparado más de 80% las rentas en la Roma-Condesa,” Forbes México.
  • “Gentrificación: ¿cuánto tengo que ganar para vivir en la Colonia Roma?,” Nación321.
  • “CDMX lanza Plan Maestro contra la gentrificación en las colonias Roma, Juárez, Condesa, Escandón y más,” Chilango.