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Since 1325, the area we know today as Mexico City has held some sort of cultural or historical bond. The bond is so strong that, no matter what, no matter how bad a shape the country gets, they always return to it even though the entire city is sinking into the earth as we speak ... at just a few centimeters a year.

There have been several times throughout history where Mexico "temporarily" changed its capital city to Querétaro, Querétaro. The change would never last over a year before they moved it back to Mexico City.

My question, what is so special about the Mexico City area that causes the government to return to it every time? Even if they got into a situation today where they had to relocate the capital city, I am by now convinced that they would in fact return to it ... with all its air pollution, toxic waste and overfilled landfills.

Is there a definite reason for this or does the Mexican government just aim to use Mexico City until all of the buildings collapse. I even read an article published November 1949 in Popular Mechanics were they were pitching construction techniques to accommodate for the sinking. I am baffled.

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Isn't this simply a matter of the historical center for the Aztec empire? As well, the emblem of the Mexico flag (eagle, snake, cactus) come from the legendary founding of the city. – NewAlexandria Nov 22 '12 at 8:37
Historical to the 14th century, yes. Even though the emblem of their flag originates there, all of the most important events in Mexico, from the Mexican-American War to the creation of the 1917 Constitution happened elsewhere. Everything that I have read mentions a return to Mexico City. Other than the Aztecs stumbling upon a vision given to them by a diety, nothing significant ever occurred there. Throughout Mexico's history, the area is fought over several times, yet these struggles never occured within the city itself. – Zane Edward Dockery Nov 22 '12 at 9:10
May be of some use: books.google.com/books?id=J_wzOoGtYQoC&pg=PA110 – kubanczyk Nov 22 '12 at 13:15
Apart from the comments above, the question itself could be answered as "there's no real answer": Venice continues to sink every year, NY is one of America's dirtiest and polluted cities: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_issues_in_New_York_City and Budapest has not changed locations since 1 AD (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest#History) - yet people still live on these cities. It's like asking why Japan continues to build buildings in such a seismic area: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seismicity_in_Japan. I don't believe there's an actual answer for this question, it just is. – Osvaldo M. Nov 23 '12 at 5:19
BTW, here is an interesting map of Mexico City from 1522. (Just came across this while preparing another question.) – Drux Jan 9 at 22:45

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