Living
Edward Finney
Oct 7 2008

Ten years ago, João Pessoa seemed like any other city south of the boarder. . . . . litter everywhere, posters covering every wall, unpainted buildings, advertising on every flat surface, broken sidewalks, holes in every street, broken windows, abandoned buildings, weed strewn vacant lots. . .ad nauseum.

What a difference a different administration makes. The present mayor who is running for his second term made it a point to clean up João Pessoa and what a fabulous job he has done. New laws that have teeth have transformed this city into a CLEAN city. Gone are the posters of shows, bands, and political candidates completely covering every wall. . no more advertising at every bus stop. Sidewalks and streets are mostly holeless and vacant lots are clean. Owners of abandoned building are forced to restore or lose them. Legions of workers hit the streets every morning to pick up garbage, pull weeds growing through cracks in the sidewalks,and cleaning the gutters. Peasants pulling handmade carts swarm the city every day looking and finding recycleable material like cardboard, plastic, glass, and such. . .none of which finds it´s way to city streets. It´s just amazing what it has done to the city. It is a pleasure to live here in this delightful

tropical seaside city of balmy seabreezes, friendly people and clean clean streets and sidewalks.

Another transformation is taking place in center city. The center has never been the prettist place to visit because it is crowded and very old. However, with the help of the federal government, this historical district of dozens of blocks is being completely reformed and will entertain 100,s of apartments, bars, restaurants and businesses. The building are 200 and 300 years old, most of Portuguese and Dutch design and well worth saving. A few years ago, part of this historical district was restored and the pastel buildings of old are a delight to see. A decaying center city was saved. With this new and larger restoration, the center city will be totally revitilized and beautiful to see.

A river from the sea boarders the edge of this historical district and the slums that littered the area have all been demolished and an enormous river side park is being developed, hopefully like San Antonio`s riverwalk. And throughout the city, parks are being reformed in every barrio. It is just amazing what is happening to this city. It is worth the while to visit this often overlooked and underbooked city 180 miles south of the equator and on the eastern most point of South America. Come. Visit. Enjoy. Maybe stay like me.