El Centro, and the surrounding neighborhood called Sopocachi, comprises the Central Business District (CBD) and Zone of Maturity.

Favorable balance of trade in the mid-1970's led to increased foreign loans and a great building boom. La Paz built many modern sky-scrapers and buildings in the CBD, updating it to more current urban standards. Today the CBD is very busy, full of businesses, commerce (mainly through established markets, stores, & restaurants), financial institutions, and entertainment. It acts as the main social and employment space for the city. The public transit (buses/taxis) fills up the streets.

Although the maps look like a mess of tangled streets, the city is actually straight-forward and easy to get around. There is one main boulavard that runs the length of the city, following the natural diagonal canyon of the Choqueyapu River. The river runs underground through most of the city, though. This area acts as the Central Business District. The main street changes names several times throughout its course, called Avenidas Ismael Montes, Mariscal Santa Cruz, 16 de Julio (the Prado), Villazon, and then splits into Avenida 6 de Agosto and Avenida Aniceto Arce. The busiest part is the Prado, or 16 de Julio, where recent infrastructural improvements have improved the brick sidewalks and public flower gardens. On Sunday afternoons the Prado is blocked off from traffic to make way for pedestrians, vendors, and bycicles.

The downtown area is filled with pedestrians as well as informal street vendors. The feeling in el Centro is that of relaxation, evidenced by the fact that nothing seems to start on time. There is a street dedicated entirely to pedestrian use, prohibiting the use of vehicles for at least five blocks.

The Plaza Murillo, with the city's cathedral, legislative buildings, and government institutions, is the focal area of the central part of the city. Bolivia's most important university, Mayor de San Andres (founded in 1830), several other institutions of higher learning, and museums give La Paz its dominant position in the country's cultural life. 

The Zone of Maturity consists of the old Spanish Colonial houses and buildings that have since been torn down for newer buildings, remodeled into shops and restaurants, or kept as houses. The neighborhood in this area is called Sopocachi. This neighborhood would now be classified as middle class, where it once was the home of the elite. The Maturity Zone also includes some In-Situ (self-built) residences that have been structurally improved and added to the urban infrastructure system.

 

Many of the streets branching out from the main highway and up the sides of the steep canyon are paved with cobblestones.  This actually helps retain their structure even through floods, mudslides, and repeated use.

As this picture shows, there are even stairs on the sidewalks to help prevent pedestrians from slipping when the rainy season makes the streets slick.