Several Ways to Die in Mexico City Quotes

“In Mexico City, air pollution, acid rain, photochemical oxidants and soil erosion have been killing off the city’s plants and trees for decades. The sycamore trees that lined Avenida Reforma in the 1990s all died, and in 2005 thousands of sickly trees in Chapultepec Park had to be cut down due to deterioration from the effects of air pollution. The greatest damage caused by air pollution occurs within the forests that surround the city, especially among the pine tress in the woods of Ajusco and the Desierto de los Leones, two main oxygen sources of the city.”
― Kurt Hollander, Several Ways to Die in Mexico City: An Autobiography of Death in Mexico City

“In a study funded by IBM in 2011, Mexico City was considered the major city with the world’s worst traffic, as judged by drivers’ level of suffering, stress and loss of time, all consequences of speed bumps.”
― Kurt Hollander, Several Ways to Die in Mexico City: An Autobiography of Death in Mexico City

“more than half of all houses in Mexico City are located in unhealthy, unsafe areas.”
― Kurt Hollander, Several Ways to Die in Mexico City: An Autobiography of Death in Mexico City

“Mexico City has been ranked amongst the worst cities in the world in terms of urban planning,”
― Kurt Hollander, Several Ways to Die in Mexico City: An Autobiography of Death in Mexico City

“The wind in Mexico City tends to come from the north, picking up particles from Tlalnepantla, the most industrialized zone of the city (and the country), eroded soil from the dried-out Texcoco lake, and soot from trash being burned in the garbage cities, dispersing all these particles throughout the city. The southeastern part of the city, hemmed in by nearby mountains, accumulates the highest levels of ozone, while the eastern part of the city receives the highest levels of suspended particles. Eroded soil and deforestation caused by the urbanization of forest land help create dust storms, which sometimes reach the intensity of low-level urban tornadoes, whipping up dirt and garbage and sending them flying into the air.”
― Kurt Hollander, Several Ways to Die in Mexico City: An Autobiography of Death in Mexico City

“chilangos tend to throw their used toilet paper into wastebaskets instead of flushing them down the drain to keep from clogging up the pipes, and this shit-smeared paper winds up in the city dumps and eventually it too goes airborne.”
― Kurt Hollander, Several Ways to Die in Mexico City: An Autobiography of Death in Mexico City

“more than any act of God it is human activity (corruption, greed, exploitation) that continues to provoke the greatest disasters in Mexico City.”
― Kurt Hollander, Several Ways to Die in Mexico City: An Autobiography of Death in Mexico City

“most chilangos (Mexico City inhabitants) will die slow deaths from diseases related to long-term exposure to their environment. Which is just another way of saying that living in Mexico City long enough will kill you.”
― Kurt Hollander, Several Ways to Die in Mexico City: An Autobiography of Death in Mexico City

“Living in Mexico City is a two-way street. So much waste is produced in the city each day that the environment can’t absorb it all, and the organic and inorganic solids, fluids and gases that accumulate inevitably make their way into our body through our nose, mouth and even our skin. The longer someone lives in Mexico City, the more material from the environment enters into and is stored within their body, thus directly affecting their health and longevity. When exposed to high levels of toxic substances for a sufficient amount of time human beings tend to get sick and die.”
― Kurt Hollander, Several Ways to Die in Mexico City: An Autobiography of Death in Mexico City

“There’s an old Mexican saying that goes: “Tell me how you die and I’ll tell you who you are.”
― Kurt Hollander, Several Ways to Die in Mexico City: An Autobiography of Death in Mexico City