Eastwood City: The Lively Mini-District in Metro Manila

You could be mistaken for thinking that beyond MDC 100 and MDC 1—the buildings that line up the only road from E. Rodriguez Avenue leading up to this neighborhood—there isn’t much behind but more buildings and worker bees for some of the biggest corporate entities in the world. Rather, these imposing structures keep intact the mystique of Eastwood City, a business/shopping district that refuses to call it quits.

It's obvious that this place can’t keep up with a district like Bonifacio Global City or even Ortigas Center. The last bits of real estate that can be developed are already developed, so the only option to build new things is to destroy old things. It’s not totally unheard for property developers to start afresh on previously used land. The old Philcomcen Building along Ortigas Avenue made way for One Filinvest. A few hundred meters to Meralco Avenue, the old Ortigas Building is gone and is going to be…something else. In Ayala Avenue, the BPI building met the same fate, but odds are it’s just going to be BPI again.

Back to Eastwood, it’s tremendous how life here just persists. Much of the praise goes to the workforce that keeps this place humming all day, all week and all year. They’re probably the reason why this place is the way it is now. They’re the usual customers of the bars and restaurants that open and reopen in the Citywalk. The old Eastwood Mall is even fully alive and connected to the hum of the place.

But, the rehashing of old Eastwood isn’t the only thing about Eastwood. The One Eastwood Towers is home to a few of the most common names in the F&B scene here like Barcino and UCC. As for entertainment, the Eastwood City Open Park is fast becoming a busking hotspot where every few feet, you’ll find different performers.

Among the weekend revelers, partygoers, office workers and homemakers, there’s always someone who will prefer Eastwood to any of the big districts. And that could be enough to keep this place alive and kicking in a time when there’s always something new and something changing.