as you can see in your pictures, there's a ton of construction in downtown santiago. it's too bad these are mostly ugly apartment blocks. the good thing is that people are moving back to downtown and the city center is becoming more and more vibrant. for years, people and businesses have been moving out, usually to las condes or providencia east of downtown, and now many older neighborhoods (like barrio brasil, just west of downtown) are being revived by young professionals. if you get a chance, i really recommend you explore barrio concha y toro (just north of the "republica" metro station, line 1) between the alameda (the big main street) and plaza brasil. cumming street and barrio brasil have a lot of neat little restaurants and bars.
james st. james
non-member comment
as you can see in your pictures, there's a ton of construction in downtown santiago. it's too bad these are mostly ugly apartment blocks. the good thing is that people are moving back to downtown and the city center is becoming more and more vibrant. for years, people and businesses have been moving out, usually to las condes or providencia east of downtown, and now many older neighborhoods (like barrio brasil, just west of downtown) are being revived by young professionals. if you get a chance, i really recommend you explore barrio concha y toro (just north of the "republica" metro station, line 1) between the alameda (the big main street) and plaza brasil. cumming street and barrio brasil have a lot of neat little restaurants and bars.