Doce de Octubre

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    Doce de Octubre (Comuna 6) is at the northwestern edge of Medellín, bordering Robledo to the south, Castilla to the east, the township of San Cristobal to the west and the city of Bello to the north.

    It’s a residential neighborhood built haphazardly on the steep slopes of the city’s western mountains. The typical slope is 20 percent, with some neighborhoods on pitches as steep as 60 percent.

    Demographics

    According to 2013 government statistics, Doce de Octubre is home to a little over 191,000 people, 45 percent of whom are ages 15 to 44. It is also the comuna with the highest population density in the city.

    The majority of residents fall into strata 2 (on a scale of 1 to 6), making it one of the poorer comunas as well.

    Points of Interest

    As it is a primarily residential neighborhood at the periphery of the city, there are few points of interest nor reasons for foreigners to visit.

    Ecoparque Mirador del Cerro El Piacacho is the name of an ecopark and scenic viewpoint.

    Safety

    In 2013, the homicide rate of Doce de Octubre was slightly less than the city average, but it is still considered a highly dangerous part of the city, and one that we suggest should be avoided.

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    Leave a Reply to Shane Talmage Cancel reply

    4 COMMENTS

    1. Doce de Octubre is the second largest cumuna in Medellín in terms of population (after Belén). Much of it is located on steep slopes so it doesn’t have very good roads. Some taxi drivers won’t go there because of the roads and it being a dangerous part of the city.

      I have been to the Doce de Octubre Biblioteca (library) when I went around to see all the Medellín libraries last year. It has some nice views of the city.

      My paisa girlfriend says that Doce de Octubre is dangerous and has a pretty bad reputation plus she says that foreigners shouldn’t go there – she would never go there.

    2. i think i have been in this area 2 times. one time i jogged at night on the main road above el picacho and the view of the city all lit up at night was great. that time i visited a foundation for children just a couple blocks from el picacho and i met a family whos daughter speaks english and they have a restaurant/cafe about a mile north of picacho(i can ask her for more info if its truly the barrio you speak of or perhaps just close. the first time i was at picacho, we visited el picacho in the day and enjoyed the hospitality of the tienda owner just a few doors above the stairs for el picacho. his name is “elias” and his name is above the small shack/tienda. important because that day there were no vendors at el picacho and we were out of water. the city is improving the site and trying to make it more public friendly and safer(was there in january 2014). then we walked down for 1 hour on relatively empty curvy roads until we found a friendly tienda to buy fruits. in the day i felt safe there. we finally caught a taxi back down since the sun and heat had wore us out. you can go there by bus from terminal norte or from san cristobal(perhaps from the metro cable)