DENVER – Friday is the last day of the first Cities Summit of the Americas, a large meeting of local government leaders from across the western hemisphere. It's hosted in Denver.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum was in attendance for her first visit to the Mile High City. She is the first female mayor of Mexico City.
Sheinbaum discussed some of the similar challenges Mexico City and Denver face, such as rising rent prices.
During the pandemic, many U.S. workers who worked remotely moved to Mexico City, driving up rent prices.
“We're doing that study, in special parts of the city — three neighborhoods, which are in downtown, and the neighborhoods are called Condesa, Roma and Polanco. We thought that the platforms such as Airbnb and all these have increased rents in in Mexico City. But we're doing a study because these were places, these were neighborhoods, where rents are increasing already,” Sheinbaum said.
She also responded to questions about thousands of migrants who came from South America, making their way through Mexico City and eventually ending up in Denver.
“I think immigration — it's a complex phenomenon," she said. "And I think the most important thing to learn from Mexico City, Denver and other cities, and countries really is that we have to invest in places where the migrants are coming. Most of the people who migrate — it’s for necessity.... And they want to stay in their countries or in their cities or in other places. So there has to be opportunities for them in order to stop migration. And the other thing that it's important is discrimination has to end in any way.”
