After 1883, the province of Santiago was divided into three departments: Santiago, La Victoria and Melipilla. In 1891 the "Autonomic Commune Law" was enacted, after which the president signed as the "Decree of the Creation of Municipalities." From this decree the department of La Victoria was divided into the municipalities of Peñaflor, Talagante, Calera de Tango, San José de Maipo y Lo Cañas. According to regional law, the authorities of this new sector would be able to increase in proportion to the number of inhabitants in the area, as well as adding three additional mayors the bureaucratic structure. This law was passed with the aim of giving more individual power to the remote areas of the fast-growing city, instead of everything being governed as a whole under La Victoria.
Demographics
According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Puente Alto spans an area of and has 492,915 inhabitants. Of these, 492,603 lived in urban areas and 312 not.
Puente Alto is connected to the rest of Santiago vía two forms of organized public transportation. First, the Metro Bus, which can be taken from anywhere in Puente Alto to arrive eventually to downtown Santiago. Puente Alto is also home to the most southerly station of the Santiago Metro, Estación Plaza de Puente Alto. Travel time to downtown Santiago by metro train is approximately 45 minutes.
Areas of Interest
Estadio Municipal
Puente Alto`s city stadium is located in #450 Nemesio Vicuña Street, it has a soccer playing field and an athletics track. It has a capacity of 1900 people, making it one of the biggest sport centres of the commune including the sports complex Amador Donoso in this list. In May 30th, 2011 the city stadium was re-inaugurated by the Mayor Manuel J. Ossandón, a lot of neighbours were invited to the opening ceremony. The stadium has 4 bathroom, smart illumination, and 10exercise machines available to the people of the town. There are no requirements to use these facilities.
Mampato Amusement Park
Mampato is an amusement park which has different games for children and teenagers. It was opened in 1975 by Mr. Felipe Rodríguez Lobbé in Lo Barnechea. Its main attractions were the trains, the trampolines and tricycles. In addition, there was a show called "Far West", where there were Cowboys and Indians. It was inaugurated in 1998 in Las Vizcachas, Puente Alto. Currently, the rides are a wheel, train, roller coaster and slide. Apart from these, Mampato has got many other rides. The general ticket costs 7.000 Chilean pesos.
Pueblito Las Vizcachas
"Pueblito las Vizcachas" is a big and very beautiful park in Puente Alto for many families and neighbours. It opened on December 30, 2015. Many people visit this place every weekend since there is no entry fee for visitors. Can practice kayaking, look at different farm animals, make picnics, do sport and other activities in the great green areas. It was created by mayor Germán Codina. He also planned restaurants in the park for the year 2019.
