La Legua

I chose "La Legua" because I think it is a representative neighborhood of Santiago. Yes, the city has a lot of beautiful neighborhoods as Lastarria, Concha y Toro or París-Londres. In particular, I love "Barrio Yungay". But, in fact, most common people of Santiago live in a neighborhood as La Legua. Contrary to what most people believe, La Legua has a beautiful side.
La Lengua is one of the oldest neighborhoods of Santiago. It was founded in 1927 by unemployed workers of saltpeter companies that arrived to Santiago when the Chilean saltpeter industry was living its final days. The origin of the name is because the neighborhood is one "legua" from Santiago downtown. A "legua" was a Spanish distance unit, based in time. It means the distance that one person could walk in one hour (5.6 km aprox.). The original neighborhood housed socially marginalized people that arrived to Santiago looking for new opportunities.
20 years later, In 1947, The city of Santiago was living an explosive population growth, that implied the arising of homeless people. Many of them were established in "Sajón de la aguada" channel bank in very poor conditions. The unhealthy conditions and poor life expectations produced an illegal occupation by homeless of a farm area near to the Sanjón de la Aguada. So, it was born a new neighborhood called "La Legua nueva"(The new legua). The area has been known as Zañartu and it is east to La Legua, which name was changed to "La legua vieja" (The old legua).
In 1951, the "Sanjón de la aguada" channel overflowed producing a destruction of the nearby houses. The Chilean government built temporal houses north of the old legua in an area called "Maestranza". In the end, were the final houses. Then, this sector was known as "La Legua-Emergencia" or simply "Emergencia".
Some years later the name "La Legua" began to be used for the three neighborhoods.
In September 11, 1973, La Legua was one of the few neighborhoods of Santiago that opposed the coup d'état. The sector was controlled 5 days after by Chilean air force. Many residents were killed during the process.
Today, La Legua is fighting against drug trafficking and crime. There are many plans to change the neighborhood, that include demolishing La Legua-Emergencia (the most dangerous zone of La Legua) and interconnect to the city. La Legua has great expectations because is near to downtown Santiago and the most important areas of the city.