Right now, David is studying public accounting at a local university! Comuna 13's progress largely owes itself to the efforts of local residents and the interventions initiated by Medellín's local government.
For one, early in the 2010s, local Comuna 13 artists began painting graffiti murals with messages of resistance, empowerment and hope all over the neighborhood. The first murals created momentum, and now the entire community seems to be painted with inspiring graffiti art in vibrant hues. These works of art have attracted increasing numbers of visitors to the Comuna 13 each year, and now the community has a significant tourism economy which has brought many more jobs to the neighborhood. This also helps keep the community safe, since more residents have jobs that benefit their community and profits come from tourism rather than the illicit drug trade.
Another important improvement has been outdoor escalators that wind upward through Comuna 13's extremely steep neighborhood alleys. These escalators were installed by Medellín's local government and they serve two purposes. On one hand, they allow local residents to move within and to and from their community with greater ease, making it easier to access necessary resources such as public schools and healthcare facilities or to go into Medellín's downtown. On the other hand, they also encourage more tourists to visit the neighborhood since outdoor escalators are not only an unusual innovation to find in a residential neighborhood, but also because they help tourists move around Comuna 13 without having to walk up too many steep hills.
