In the very late 19th century and early 20th century, the historic center of Mexico City was deteriorating as its colonial and Baroque buildings came to be seen as antiquidated. Many of the city's elite moved to new neighborhoods being constructed in the western suburbs along Paseo de la Reforma. Around the 1880s the city expanded west past Colonia Santa Maria de la Ribera, enveloping the areas where now are found the streets named Donato Guerra, Antonio Caso, Balderas, Chapultepec and Bucareli. Just beyond this, around 1887, there were still groves and cornfields; however, soon to be built were the streets named Roma, Milán, Lucerna, Dinamarca, Hamburgo, Londres, Berlín, Río Neva, Río Amazonas and Avenida de los Insurgentes, which form the heart of Colonia Juarez. Many of the new streets were named after European capitals, due to early resident and ex-consulate of Mexico Ricardo García Granado, for his children had been born in some of these cities as he performed his diplomatic duties.
