Before outgoing-Mayor Marcelo Ebrard of Mexico City took office, only the city's affluent could partake in many of the leisure activities around the city. However, with an eye for both politics and his people he has become somewhat of a legend in the international community, revamping a city once known for severe class distinctions that has become a great place for anyone to go or live.

Jose Guadalupe Gonzalez walks among giant paper-mache renderings of fantastical dragons and serpents, called alebrijes, with his wife and two teenage daughters in the middle of Mexico City’s Zocalo to celebrate Day of the Dead. Later, the family considered catching a play for free, also in the main plaza, or strolling along the nearby, new pedestrian streets of downtown Mexico.

In the winter the Gonzalez family goes ice-skating in the same spot. And on Sundays, any time of the year, they can hop on free bicycles and ride along Reforma, the city's most icononic thoroughfare.

Read More on csmonitor.com