In 1997 the then-mayor León Febres-Cordero achieved what seemed impossible, namely getting the owners of the properties to renew their home fronts, especially the fences, because they were virtually on the public sidewalk leaving merely few centimeters for pedestrians to walk. After initial problems with the proprietors, who complained about high costs for removing only a meter or even a few centimeters, the then-mayor announced that if they didn't do it on themselves, the city hall personnel would do it by force. That scared most of the home owners and today, all of them have constructed new fences and there's finally enough sidewalks in order for pedestrians to walk.
