Mexico City abandoned

The Ciudad de Mexico due to Spanish destruction of the dikes that kept Lake Texcoco's waters from flooding it during the Aztec era suffered periodically from flooding. Under the direction of Enrico Martinez, the Spanish attempted to drain the lake to keep the flooding under controllable levels but in 1629, another flood happened and it kept the city covered in water. There was talk of abandoning Mexico City and moving to another location but ultimately the Spanish had decided to stay. What if the Spanish had decided that it was not worth staying in Mexico City and it was preferable to relocate? If so, where?
 
Depends on where the new capital is located.

Puebla would likely be the new capital; it is closer to Veracruz, very centric and in many ways easier to get to and from to the rest of Mexico.

As a consequence Guadalajara would be farther away from the administrative capital, so it might not grow as much. While Veracruz will likely benefit from being closer to the capital. The road between Veracruz and Acapulco would also be much more direct, since it would not take the detour into the Mexico City Valley.

Interestingly though "Mexico City" would likely still develop. The original Spanish capital was not Tenochtitlán, since it had pretty much been destroyed and had to be rebuilt, but Coyoacán. Coyoacán, which is now part of Mexico City, is still within the Valley Basin but just outside the Texcoco flood plain. This would essentially shift "Mexico City's" downtown southwest of its current location. The city would still grow westwards, as in OTL, due to geography but the urban sprawl might be flipped. The bigger suburbs might be southwest of the city rather than north and the northwest/east might remain more agricultural. Ecatepec and Tlanepantla, would be much smaller and maybe not linked to Mexico City.
 
Depends on where the new capital is located.

Puebla would likely be the new capital; it is closer to Veracruz, very centric and in many ways easier to get to and from to the rest of Mexico.

As a consequence Guadalajara would be farther away from the administrative capital, so it might not grow as much. While Veracruz will likely benefit from being closer to the capital. The road between Veracruz and Acapulco would also be much more direct, since it would not take the detour into the Mexico City Valley.

Interestingly though "Mexico City" would likely still develop. The original Spanish capital was not Tenochtitlán, since it had pretty much been destroyed and had to be rebuilt, but Coyoacán. Coyoacán, which is now part of Mexico City, is still within the Valley Basin but just outside the Texcoco flood plain. This would essentially shift "Mexico City's" downtown southwest of its current location. The city would still grow westwards, as in OTL, due to geography but the urban sprawl might be flipped. The bigger suburbs might be southwest of the city rather than north and the northwest/east might remain more agricultural. Ecatepec and Tlanepantla, would be much smaller and maybe not linked to Mexico City.

Would a bigger part of the lake survive? Good news for axolotls then.
 
Would a bigger part of the lake survive? Good news for axolotls then.

A biggger chunk of Lake Texcoco will likely survive. Xochimilco, however will likely suffer more than OTL if the city is as large as Mexico City. If the capital has moved elsewhere that will likely not be the case.
 
A biggger chunk of Lake Texcoco will likely survive. Xochimilco, however will likely suffer more than OTL if the city is as large as Mexico City. If the capital has moved elsewhere that will likely not be the case.

I just found out their dead in the wild :(
 
What was the population at the time? It was certainly pretty large before the conquest, and immense today, but I don't know much about the period in between (I certainly don't imagine the immediate post-conquest population was quite so large..). I imagine if there were enough people there, rebuilding might just seem more appealing...
 
Would a bigger part of the lake survive? Good news for axolotls then.

Interesting consequence. OTOH, there will surely be a big city there, even if not as huge as otl, and the pollution from it wnt do the poor salamanders any good. Still, since they survived in the wild until after 2000 iotl, they might well hang on as an endangered population.
 
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