San Pedro Garza García
| File:Escudo San Pedro.gif Coat of arms of the Municipality of San Pedro | |
| Motto: Libertad con Orden y Justicia ("Liberty with Order and Justice") | |
| Foundation date | November 20, 1596 |
| Population | 225 005 (2005) |
| Population Metro Area | 3 837 910 (2005) |
| Population density | 1,743/km² (1990) |
| Altitude | 540 meters |
| Coordinates | 25°40′N 100°18′W / 25.667°N 100.300°W |
| UTC | - 6 hours(Central) |
| Telephone code number | 81 |
| Sources: INEGI, Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México,) CONAPO | |
San Pedro Garza García, commonly referred to as either San Pedro or Garza García, is primarily a residential and commercial suburb of the larger metropolitan city of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. With a population of over 120,000 people (93.7% of them Catholic), it sits in a valley surrounded by mountains; most notably La Loma Larga and Sierra Madre Oriental. The city is highly developed with many parks, private schools, gardens, and corporations. It hosts the administrative offices of important companies like Cemex, Gamesa, Vitro and Cydsa. It is often regarded as Latin America's most affluent suburb, but its vast territory covers some not as extremely wealthy areas that lower the income per capita. However, San Pedro is one of Mexico's cleanest and safest cities thanks in part to its wealthy citizens taking such an active part in their community.
In 2005 San Pedro signed a treaty with South Padre Island, Texas, United States to become Sister Cities (see Sister-Cities Intl). It is also twinned with El Porvenir, Chiapas, Mexico a municipality at the country's other extreme, in geographical terms.
History
Two months after the foundation of its neighbor, Monterrey, in 1596 the land on which San Pedro Garza García lies was turned into a large plantation called "Los Nogales", where crops like corn, wheat, beans, and many other foods were produced. During the 18th century, the plantation often went by the name of "San Pedro", in honor of Saint Peter. The city was not elevated to the status of "Villa" (Village) until December 14, 1882, when it was given the name Garza García, in honor of the governor of Nuevo León, Genaro Garza García. It was not until 1988 that the mayor at the time, Alejandro Chapa Salazar gave the city its current name, adding the reference to what it was called centuries before.
Government
The current municipal president (mayor) of San Pedro is Alejandro Paez Aragon representing the National Action Party (PAN).
Landmarks and Sightseeing
1. Chipinque Park (see below under "Natural Areas")
2. Centro Cultural Alfa. A science interactive museum, the first one of its kind in Mexico. It is located within a tilted column-shaped structure and surrounded by lush gardens. It is worth to visit, specially for kids. There is a good planetarium, and an impressive masterpiece glasswork by Rufino Tamayo.
3. Auditorio San Pedro. A middle-size cute place for plays and concerts.
4. Shopping Malls. The elegant Paseo San Pedro, Plaza Fiesta San Agustin and Plaza Valle Oriente malls boast the hottest shops in town.
5. Calzada del Valle and Calzada San Pedro. Beautiful gardened boulevards outside Mexico City. Some of the most exclusive shops lie right here. Joggers can be seen in the mornings. In Christmastime trees are lightened to add splendor to the zone.
6. El Centrito. A traditional place to drink a good coffe, have dinner or meet friends in a casual environment.
7. The DataFlux Tower. The tallest building in the Monterrey metropolitan area, and the tallest in Mexico outside Mexico City.
Education
The American School Foundation of Monterrey, regarded as one of the best private schools in Mexico, offers a non-religious co-educational alternative for wealthy families. ASFM, as it is called, provides a U.S.-type education to international and Mexican students. While the school offers a curriculum similar to U.S. schools in many respects and is fully accredited in the U.S., it is incorporated and licensed in Mexico. It operates two campuses: the original campus which serves students from Nursery through Grade Five and a new Middle School/High School (grades 6-12) campus.
The Legion of Christ, a strong and growing Catholic order among Mexico’s elite, holds three different private Catholic schools in this suburb. The first two offer a bilingual same-sex educational program. Instituto Irlandes de Monterrey is an all boys prep school and C.E.C.V.A.C. is the all girls version of the same. Both schools offer pre-school (Irish Valley), primary, secondary and preparatory (Bachillerato Anahuac) schools. Instituto Himalaya is the Legion’s new pre-school and primary school which offers a bilingual co-educational program. All three of these schools require daily formal uniforms and are part of Oak International Academies.
Instituto Brillamont offers integral education, giving a high importance to universal values, integrity, social responsibility and excellence as a way of life. This school was founded by Américo Ferrara Padilla and by Alma Rosa Olvera. Américo Ferrara´s Family goes back to the foundations of todays industrial Monterrey, when they arrived from Italy and founded Fundidora de Monterrey, which today is a top turist site, home of international tournaments, cultural events and leisure activities.
Instituto San Roberto offers trilingual education that ensures that students communicate with clarity, purpose and understanding of audience in Spanish, English, and French. This school was founded by the same family that made Monterrey a very important city; Eugenio Garza Sada and family.
Other schools like the American Institute of Monterrey (AIM) and Colegio Ingles offer other excellent bilingual programs.
Prepa Tec Campus Santa Catarina is the most popular elite Private High School choices among San Pedro's teenagers, although it is actually located in the neighboring municipality of Santa Catarina. Prepa Tec offers three different multicultural and multilingual programs (including the IB Diploma Programme) and is part of the ITESM: Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, one of the most important school systems in Mexico.
The Catholic Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM) ranks among the top universities in the country. Although much smaller in size and endowment than ITESM, it offers similar bachelor and master degree programs. The university's main campus is located within the suburb of San Pedro and it also offers several high school programs in separate campuses.
Natural Areas
San Pedro boasts one of the best preserved national parks in the country, the "Chipinque" park, within the Parque Nacional Cumbres de Monterrey. See Chipinque website.
The park is located at the foothill of the breathtaking Sierra Madre, and is the only naturally forested spot in metropolitan Monterrey. It's an excellent place for biking and jogging. There is a resort hotel within the park, with facilities for small business conventions.
A good number of tree species, birds and mammals can be seen within the park. Fires are a continuous threat during the dry hot summers and have caused devastation in the past.