Medelin is an extraordinary city in the middle of Columbia.  Having once been named as one of the most violent cities in the world, it is now one of the safest. 

Wow. What a place to visit. I loved every minute meeting the people, photographing the communities and learning about the dramatic change in this once awful place to live. Spending several days in Medellin was part of a photography tour I took in March 2025. 

 The city’s terrible violent time period (too complicated to go into the history, just trust me that things were awful) was during 1980s and 90s.  But government stepped in, cleaned things up and eventually was awarded Most Innovative City in the World in 2013.

Medellin is located in the Andes Mountains. When things got particularly bad in Columbia a lot of people came in from the very violent countryside and squatted on the hills around the city. They had no running water. No electricity. These homes barely providied shelter.  Eventually improvements were made and  communities developed. 

Over time, a problem became obvious. If folks were to get to good jobs in the valley they needed a way to get there. So the city built a serious of gondola’s, yep, like ski hills so people could get to work and back home. Called MetroCable, it serves 500,000 a day.  Stairs existed between  the different neighborhoods. Often they were painted colorfully. 

We had a chance to ride in one to see what it is like. As you can imagine, it stopped at very points to let people on and off. So, what was this like? We saw neighborhoods filled with people going about daily life. 

Yes, we saw  a pet refuge, funny signs and construction going on. As typical in Catholic countries, a small altar for worshipers perched on a high traffic spot. Signs of normal life include the man cleaning his steps and another one doing a home improvement. 

The outdoor exercise areas intrigued me. I didn’t see anyone using the lime green equipment,  but I loved the idea.

The memorial of people from the community who died during the violence spoke to all of us and provided a constant reminder of what the Columbians have gone through. 

I loved being able to capture portraits like this young lady expressing herself two different ways, a fun lively woman who carried on a visual conversation with me, and the fellow selling bananas out of the trunk of his car.  

A highlight of our trip on the mountain was visiting a community center where young people learned to do hip hop and street art.The goal of these activities is to keep kids busy and out of trouble.   

For fun, I’ll end with a photo of our group and the guys who run the community center. They live up to the reputation Columbia has for friendliness.

DesignDestinations.org is published every other Monday.  Come back for more about Columbia including a description of the Communa 13, once one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in South America.  It now has a wide appeal with art galleries and street performers. The 1,260 foot long escalator system that has turned a sleepy neighborhood into a major tourist destination.