Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Bright Lights, Big City
Around half of all Guatemalans live in what are classified as 'urban environments', but it's
important to remember that by international standards, Guatemala City is the country's
only really big city - while the capital has more than 4 million inhabitants, Quetzaltenango
(the second largest city) is yet to hit 200,000.
Life in the capital (and even in the larger cities) resembles life in any big city in many
ways. There are slums, middle-class neighborhoods and exclusive gated communities.
Overcrowding and an ever-growing car culture make for traffic jams that wouldn't be out
of place in London or New York. Guatemala City in particular has a bad reputation for
street crime and it's rare to see people out walking at night. Also here you'll see the most
fortified homes - razor wire, barred windows, closed circuit camera surveillance; people
tend to take as many measures as they can afford to guard against burglars and home inva-
sion.
The standard of living in Guatemala City is slowly improving, thanks largely to the ef-
forts of ex-President and four-time mayor Álvaro Arzú, whose initiatives to open up public
spaces and create pedestrian-only streets have earned him the nickname 'El Jardinero' (the
gardener) from critics.
