Puerto Vallarta was founded on the banks of the Rio Cuale where the vast Ameca Valley to the northeast meets the Sierra Madre mountains and the ocean. El Centro, the original downtown area, is situated on the northern banks of the river near its mouth. Along with 5 de Diciembre next door to the north and El Cerro (along with its Gringo Gulch), the hillside neighborhood above El Centro, are collectively known as Downtown North. Downtown South primarily centers around Emiliano Zapata, the colonia on the south side of the river.  A large and mostly flat community that butts up to and includes the hillside colonias south of it, Alta Vista and Amapas, which overlook the "Romantic Zone".  Zona Romantica, as it's called, is an unofficial yet important tourist zone that includes Olas Altas, the street parallel to Playa los Muertos, the city's most popular beach. Zona Romantica is where most of the city action is: Endless entertainment, nightlife, restaurants, an abundant gay scene, and with that a surge of new condominium developments that have sprung up the past several years which shows no signs of slowing down. The group of colonias grouped further along the Rio Cuale east of downtown proper, removed from the hubbub of activity being closer to the ocean on the north and south sides cause and attract, are the bedroom communities of Downtown East: Las Canoas, El Caloso, Las Peñas, Buenos Aires and Benito Juarez. For the most part, home prices are considerably less here than those closer to the ocean on either side of the Rio Cuale.