As the rents in Colonia Condesa and Colonia Roma climb higher and higher, speculation among certain chilangos grows about which neighborhoods will be the next to be discovered by artists, bohemians and incipient yuppies, and experience a form, however tentative, of gentrification. In previous posts I have written about Colonia Santa Maria la Ribera and Colonia Tabacalera. These neighborhoods -- like Condesa and Roma, conveniently central -- little by little are at least beginning to show signs of overcoming the dodgy reputations of their past and attracting residents with more disposable income.

One neighborhood that I fear will never live down its fabled past is the Colonia Doctores. It is admirably located between the Colonia Roma and the Centro Histórico and, if it is not uniformly prepossessing, has a decent housing stock and plenty of idiosyncratic neighborhood characteristics.

There are some great cantinas here, such as the Salon Casino at Calle Dr. Vertiz #199, and the Bar Sella, about which I have written previously.

There are also a couple of idiosyncratic small museums, such as the Antique Toy Museum on Calle Dr. Olvera #15, and the Indianilla Station Cultural Center on Calle Dr. Bernard #111.

It is even sprouting some sidewalk cafe action.

And, as this bus indicates, tourism. What exactly is being sightseen outside this housing project is anyone's guess.

But unfortunately, Colonia Doctores has an almost comically bad reputation, perhaps due to its proximity to the Colonia Buenos Aires, long a hotbed for stolen car parts.

From time to time I have mentioned to other chilangos an idle idea of buying a building in Doctores as an investment, thinking that its great location will inevitably lead to the neighborhood's ascendance. They have all looked at me as if I were suffering from a rare form of delirium.