Ла-Гаренн-Коломб: История и современность пригорода Парижа

La Garenne Colombes (la gaʁɛn kɔlɔ̃b) is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from Notre Dame de Paris, France's kilometre zero.

The city used to be part of the neighbouring city of Colombes. At this time, before 1910, it was called La Garenne de Colombes, literally "the warren of doves". The explanation for the city being called "warren" is that it used to be a warren where people would hunt. But this dates back to the French monarchy, in the 18th century and before.

La Garenne Colombes is usually simply called "La Garenne", and nicknamed "petit Neuilly".

Four towns surround La Garenne Colombes: Colombes (North), Bois Colombes (East), Courbevoie (South) and Nanterre (West). The city is quite small compared with the other cities in the Hauts de Seine, it is more or less as small as the first arrondissement of Paris. Very close to La Garenne Colombes are La Défense and the Île de la Jatte island (Bowl Island).

La Garenne Colombes is served by two stations on the Transilien Paris – Saint Lazare suburban rail line: La Garenne Colombes and Les Vallées (this last station is located at the border between the commune of La Garenne Colombes and the commune of Bois Colombes, with a postal address in La Garenne Colombes). The train has been used there since 1837. The two stations directly join Paris's most important urban station (Gare Saint Lazare) in 10 minutes and the largest university in Paris (Paris Ouest La Défense University, Western Paris University La Défense) in 2 minutes. In 1935, five Tramway lines crossed La Garenne Colombes. Many RATP Bus lines also cross the city: lines 73, 161, 163, 164, 176, 178, 262, 272, 278, 358 and 378. Two RATP Noctilien night Bus lines cross the city: N24 and N152. In 2012, the line 2 of the Parisian Tramway will cross La Garenne Colombes, with two stations: Les Fauvelles (French for Wildcats) and Charlebourg. To join the center of the CBD, 2 to 4 minutes will be required by tramway.

It was named in 1240 as "La Garenne dépendant de Colombes" ("La Garenne depending on Colombes"). After the Bourbon Restoration in 1815, the estate was bought by Peter Urban Sartoris, a Genevois banker who had lived in London for many years. On his death in 1833 it was inherited by his 6 children, who urbanised it and named the rue Sartoris. They sold the last of their interests in 1865. The commune of La Garenne Colombes was created on 2 May 1910 by detaching its territory from the commune of Colombes.

As the commune's territory is entirely built up, population can only grow if buildings are demolished and replaced by bigger buildings for more people (higher, less gardens). Thereby the population will grow certainly over the 30,000 after many reconstructions in the "Champs Philippe" neighbourhood, with a density over
According to statistics, La Garenne Colombes is an average city of the Hauts de Seine department (Paris region), which is one of the richest places in Europe.

The landscape looks like an American CBD (Central Business District). But this is in the suburbs of Paris, which do not look like the downtown Paris districts surrounding the Eiffel Tower or the Champs Elysées. Paradoxically, the most advanced part of the city of Paris, geographically speaking, is on the outskirts of the city itself. There used to be many workshops in La Garenne Colombes, as in a large part of the Hauts de Seine department. Today, it is mainly a residential city. However, some 1200 business units are there.

In spite of the proximity of La Défense and Paris which has applied a strong pressure, no big buildings were built in La Garenne. Residential buildings (detached homes and apartment buildings) account for the majority of the building stock in La Garenne Colombes. Many of these buildings were constructed in the early 1900s. In a large part of the town, new construction is limited to 4 floors. The neighbourhood of the place de Belgique and National boulevard, which is the entry of La Défense, is being redeveloped.

+List of successive mayors of La Garenne ColombesIn officeNamePartyRef. June 1910December 1933Jean BonalJanuary 1934November 1943Charles JubertApril 1944October 1944Maurice GodauxOctober 1944May 1945André CrimetMay 1945October 1947Gaston SourrisseauOctober 1947February 1955Louis JeanMarch 1955September 1971René GuestSeptember 1971February 1975Albert FabbiFebruary 197510 March 2001Max Catrin11 March 20018 July 2022Philippe Juvin9 July 2022IncumbentMonique RaimbaultLR

According to statistics published by the Figaro newspaper, La Garenne Colombes is the Hauts de Seine's city with the lowest crime rate, without forgetting that the Hauts de Seine is a very quiet part of the Paris region.