Not long ago, Palermo Viejo had flatlined. Like the rest of Buenos Aires, this traditionally middle-class area was a victim of the spectacular 2002 economic crash that obliterated the country's wealth and destroyed its currency. Businesses were shuttered. Homes were abandoned. But today, Argentina is on the mend - the Economist projects that the country's economy will grow nearly three times faster than that of the United States this year. And nowhere is the comeback more palpable than in Palermo Viejo. All over this neighborhood, which is 15 minutes west of downtown, construction crews are at work. Century-old former warehouses, factories, and homes are being converted for use as boutique hotels, cafés, and shops. New residents are moving in by the dozens, and they're christening new subneighborhoods as they arrive.

Yes, that's right: subneighborhoods. See, Palermo is one of the largest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, with some 250,000 residents. It is home to the city's botanical gardens and zoo, as well as to the new Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), which is a museum of Latin American art dating from the early twentieth century to the present day. At its core is Palermo Viejo, the oldest section of -Palermo proper. And now, there are also sub-subneighborhoods - some within Palermo Viejo, some nearby - going by the names Palermo SoHo, Palermo Hollywood, and even Palermo Queens.

If the names seem out of place, they should. Palermo Viejo is an anomaly in Buenos Aires. It is stuffed with boutiques but has none of the crazy bustle of the city's historic downtown shopping avenue, Calle Florida. It is home to several tango halls - known as milongas - but has nothing akin to the touristy tango shows in gritty San Telmo. Its streets are lined with trees, and many of its buildings are old and elegant, but Palermo Viejo is far more modest than tony Recoleta, the neighborhood that earned Buenos Aires its nickname, the Paris of the Pampas.