Quezon City/Northern Quezon City

Commonwealth Avenue is Quezon City's second major thoroughfare, with its notorious traffic and contrasting areas, with a mix of opulence and poverty. Lying to the north of the Commonwealth Area is Fairview and Lagro areas, both mid-class communities to the north, centered on three malls facing each other along Quirino Highway. This article also covers Pasong Putik, and the Balintawak, Novaliches, Project 8, and Project 9 areas in northwestern Quezon City.

Understand
Commonwealth Avenue area covers the Commonwealth Proper, one of the most densely district in the city. The area includes the areas of Riverside, Manggahan, and Litex. Urban sprawl dominates the area with few business centers, primarily located along the Commonwealth Wet Market.

Meanwhile to the north of Commonwealth Proper, Fairview is consists of the Baranggays of Greater Fairview, and North Fairview. The area is well-known for mid-range restaurants and malls. Most of neighborhood in the area are mid-class communities. Lagro is located to the north of Fairview, is also an extension of mid-class neighborhood with some small business centers.

Northwestern Quezon City is the birthplace of the Philippine Revolution. Today it is a busy commercial district, with Balintawak's bustling public market, the up-and-coming Cloverleaf mixed-use development nearby, and the many restaurants along Congressional Avenue.

This part of the city is sprawling. With a mix of car-dependent subdivisions in Fairview-Lagro area, noisy slums in the Commonwealth Proper, and the district's main artery, Commonwealth Avenue, known for its cacophony and high accident record mitigated by a 60 km/h speed limit and pedestrian overpasses, is more catered for travel by bus, jeepney or car. Walking in the areas is more of a strenuous activity that exposes you to the dangers of the city's heat and the district's criminal den. Shopping options are rather far apart, with just only one mall, some supermarkets, and non-air conditioned public markets.

Fairview is more of a mid-class neighborhood, but it is just as sprawling as the Commonwealth area. There are few places to visit, like its commercial district dominated by three malls, mid-range restaurants, and the La Mesa Ecopark. The MRT Line 7 project will mostly boost the district's growth by providing a faster connection to the rest of the city, but the line is not expected to open until around 2023.

Get in
The wide Commonwealth Avenue, a 6 to 18-lane highway, also the namesake for the area and a barangay along it, is the main thoroughfare for this district. Travel is quite a breeze with many bus and jeepney routes plying it, and the wide carriageways that makes it look more of a superhighway, yet you must watch out for many quirky local driving habits if you're going to drive through it.

Stay safe


The area around barangay Commonwealth is the seediest corner of Quezon City, notorious for almost everything: slums, fires, thugs and drugs, you heard it. Illegal drugs are rampant, especially involving shabu (crystal methamphetamine), and police and drug enforcement agents occur almost daily. Residential fires often occur, most commonly triggered by illegal electricity connections. Exercise caution when walking as a stroll may lead you to slums; drug addicts, pickpockets, holduppers, hypnotists robbers (budol-budol) and drunk thugs might be just waiting to commit their dirty business if they sight you. If you don't have a good reason to visit the slum, don't go there or ask a resident.