Santa Fe - Turning Hip?

Friendly Cafe Libro

The Santa Fe neighborhood, just northwest of downtown, has traditionally been a gritty neighborhood better known for low culture than high. The vices are still there, in abundance, as are the sometimes-sketchy repair shops, dive bars and other businesses.

But Santa Fe's eastern side, between Seventh Ave. and the hills, once territory of brothels and low-life bars, is being upscaled by the expansion of the Central and Jorge Tadeo universities. Now, the gentrification appears to be flowing west, across Seventh Ave., where two trendy cafes have opened recently amongst the electronics shops and dive hotels and bars.

Seis Manos' Entranceway

About nine months ago, some guys from France opened A Seis Manos, on 22nd St. between Seventh and Ninth Streets. Frequented by young, university-types, Seis Manos puts on cultural events, symposiums and other events.

One block north, on 23rd St., is the Cafe Libro, a friendly place
with lots of art on the walls which seems to be a hangout for some of the local professional people. The walls are decorated with paintings, many of them political and leftist, but, despite its name, I saw no books.

Bar of Seis Manos

To the east, Central University is renovating the fabled Teatro Faenza, which not long ago had degenerated into a porno theatre. Another half-block east Jorge Tadeo University recently completed two attractive new buildings, and has a plan to convert the whole area into a sort of campus area, connected to the nearby Parque de la Indpendencia, which the city is expanding over Ave. El Dorado.

The Teatro Faena, which one day will reopen.

Cafe Libro's street. 

Che graces Cafe Libro's walls. 

A decaying building along Seventh Ave. 

Santa Fe also has many once-handsome buildings, now decayed.

Pretty girl in Cafe Libro's entranceway. 

The neighborhood is full of handsome older buildings like this one. 

A mentally ill homeless man.

Cars and a donkey pass by Jorge Tadeo U.'s new buildings. 

Preparing coffee in Cafe Libro

Interior of Seis Manos

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours