Greater San Juan is a vast metropolitan area that encompasses the neighborhoods of Old San Juan, Puerta de Tierra, Miramar, Condado, Ocean Park, Santurce, Hato Rey, Puerto Nuevo and Río Piedras. The separate municipalities of Carolina, Trujillo Alto, Guaynabo, Cataño and Bayamón are often considered part of the San Juan metroplex, and sometimes cities as far as Canóvanas, Caguas, Toa Alta and Toa Baja are included in the mix.
The city of San Juan proper has a population of about half a million, but within the vicinity live and work some two million people, about half the total population of the island. San Juan is Puerto Rico’s capital and major seaport, plus its manufacturing, financial, cultural and tourism center.
Most visitors are familiar with the oceanfront Condado, Ocean Park and Isla Verde areas with their resorts, guesthouses and fine places to dine. Between Puerta de Tierra and Miramar is the new 113-acre Puerto Rico Convention Center District. Santurce is home to art museums, a performing arts center, a new natatorium, offices, shops, restaurants and theaters. Hato Rey is known for its many banks, the 18,000-seat José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum and the largest shopping mall in the Caribbean. Río Piedras is our university city and the site of the National Botanical Garden of Puerto Rico. Puerto Nuevo has emerged as the island’s art district with more than half a dozen galleries on Andalucía Street alone.
One good way to get a glimpse of the city is to take a ride on the Urban Train that glides along a 10.7-mile route from Santurce to Bayamón. Each of its 16 architecturally interesting stations hosts fine examples of urban art. (Don’t miss the mural at Centro Médico station that is made up of thousands of spools of thread.)
Among the many other places of special note are the Luis Muñoz Marín Foundation with its library and gardens in Trujillo Alto, the Caparra Ruins Historical Museum and Park in Guaynabo, the world largest rum distillery in Cataño and the 42-acre Luis A. Ferré Science Park in Bayamón.
San Juan is a city of cities and neighborhoods. You can see it in a day, or you can live it in a lifetime and always find something new.
