Milla de Oro

La Milla de Oro (English for the golden mile) is both the popular name given to the main central business district of San Juan and a nickname given to the section of Juan Ponce de León Avenue that crosses Hato Rey Norte from north to south. It encompasses the largest agglomeration of corporate investment, banking and finance institutions in the Caribbean. The headquarters of Puerto Rico's largest retail investment bank, Popular, Inc., are located at Popular Center in 208 Juan Ponce de León Ave. La Milla de Oro is served by the Tren Urbano stations of Hato Rey, Roosevelt, Domenech and Piñero stations in addition to numerous bus routes with connections to Río Piedras, Plaza Las Américas, Santurce and Old San Juan.

Muñoz Rivera Ave. at Milla de Oro. Buildings visible, from left to right:

1. Fine Arts Cinema Cafe
2. Popular, Inc.
3. Citigroup
4. Westernbank World Plaza
5. American International Group
Milla de Oro
Hato Rey
Commonwealth Puerto Rico
Municipality San Juan

List of buildings at La Milla de Oro

Popular, Inc. headquarters main building at the Golden Mile.
Panorama in the vicinity of Roosevelt Avenue and Expreso Las Americas looking towards the Golden Mile.

Plans

Night view of the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum. Photo taken from the nearby Tren Urbano Station in Milla de Oro.

Milla de Oro has received criticism from nearby communities for its lonely and dark environment after work hours. In order to foster tourism and economic growth in the area, the government has planned to convert the district into a more community friendly sector by attracting tourists, visitors, and local residents to the district during after hours through concerts, retail shops, and nightspots.

The first phase of this conversion was to locate the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum and several Tren Urbano metro system stations in the district. Banco Popular recently inaugurated a new project near its headquarters called Arts Cinemas at Popular Center for exhibiting foreign and independent films and a deli-café. New residential apartments and a 31-story high commercial complex near the Coliseum are being developed in the area as well.

The Milla de Oro was heavily featured in the Calle 13 2010 musical video for "Calma Pueblo". The song features lead singer, Residente, singing on top of a building while businessmen and random people run around the Milla de Oro, eventually getting naked.[2][3]

The Milla de Oro was also featured in the film Fast Five during one of the heists.[4]

References

  1. Shokooh Valle, Firuzeh (14 March 2005). "Fraternidad con fin social y sin violencia" (in Spanish). PRIMERA HORA. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
  2. "Controvertible video de Calle 13". El Nuevo Día. July 29, 2010. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013.
  3. Amary Santiago Torres (July 29, 2010). "Explosión musical y creativa de Calle 13". Primera Hora.
  4. "Sigue prendía la acción de Fast Five en Hato Rey". Primera Hora. July 26, 2010.
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