I didn’t say it—the Merida city government did (OK, maybe just “best city in Mexico”). But if they hadn’t, I would have.

By happy chance, I arrived on a Sunday, which is when the central plaza downtown is closed to car traffic, food vendors set up shop all over, and live bands play.

Allow me to clarify: This happens every Sunday. And people come and hang out. It’s not like they went a few times, they’re over it, and who would want to hang out in the boring old downtown again. No, people show up, all dressed up, and dance to the bands, and eat panuchos and salbutes and churros and generally just enjoy life in a way you don’t see happening in, say, downtown St. Louis.

And actually, technically, there’s also sort of a party starting on Saturday night. And if I hadn’t shown up on Sunday, well, there’s also free music on Monday. Tuesday, too, for that matter, though I can’t remember precisely where. And on Thursday, there’s trova and dancing in the Parque Santa Lucia.

You get the picture—even though that’s not even getting into the fact that it’s the start of the fall cultural season, and you see all these people all gussied up in their Yucatecan finest (huipiles for the ladies, guayaberas for the gents) in front of Teatro Peón Contreras.

Anyway, that’s all fine and good, but then I was flipping through a magazine and saw an ad for the Mérida Bici-Ruta. Which appears to be simply that huge parts of the city are closed to car traffic on Sunday mornings, and you and your family are invited to ride your bikes in a “sane and safe environment.” Classy!

Then tonight I had the good fortune of getting to meet (and eat yummy tacos with–more later) the masterminds behind Yucatan Living, a quality website that magically seems to answer all my questions I didn’t know I had–a Magic 8 Ball for Mexico, if you will.

Not only had I just read all about the complexities of Mexican septic systems on their site, but I just came home tonight and saw they’ve got a whole post on the Bici-Ruta program, with pictures (dig that last guy’s ride!). To get an idea of the scale of the shut-down, imagine if Broadway in Manhattan were closed to car traffic between, say, 72nd Street and Union Square. Dreamy.

Check it out, American urban planners, and see what it might take to get inching toward Best City status…