Successful draining of the lake in the early 20th century created new land, which the government eventually sold into private hands.

However, public services such as adequate potable water, electricity and sewerage were lacking until after the area was made an independent municipality in 1963.

The first major drainage project was begun in 1590, with the aim of eliminating the chronic flooding that plagued Mexico City.

Starting in 1917 under Venustiano Carranza, efforts to determine legal ownership of lands that began to appear due to the drainage of the lake were undertaken.

In 1945 the Xochiaca dam and the Tequixquiac tunnel were built, the diversion of potable water allowed for the creation of the first formal neighborhoods of Juárez Pantitlán, México and El Sol.

[2] By the early 1980s, major public buildings such as hospitals, the municipal palace, schools, libraries and the Museum of Archeology had been built.

[2] The city has produced a number of athletes, such as Humberto "La Chiquita" González and Graciela Hernández, the first of many wheelchair basketball gold medalists in the Pan American Games.

It has won various awards, including the "Premio estatal de la juventud 2002" (State Youth Prize of 2002).

[9] All of its civil constructions such as the municipal palace, the Casa de Cultura, the Alfredo del Mazo Vélez Auditorium and others are of modern design.

In front of the municipal palace there are monuments to Nezahualcóyotl, Cuauhtémoc and Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla located on the Plaza Unión de Fuerzas.

The cathedral was inaugurated by ex bishop José María Hernández González and contains an adjoining chapel, atrium, bookstore and exterior altarpieces which contains the Lord's Prayer in six languages: Spanish, Latin, Nahuatl, Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.

The stadium seats 28,000 people and is officially part of the campus of the Universidad Tecnológica de Nezahualcóyotl (UTN).

[2][16] The park was opened in 1975 and also contains a natural history museum, spaces for educational workshops, a lake and an open-air theatre.

[19] The word cholo, as used in various Latin American countries, referred to a person of mixed race (mestizo) from the lower classes.

The CIDNE collects valuable information related to the municipality in historical-legal, bibliographic, cartographic, photographic, newspaper and video topics; materials that can be consulted and photocopied.

The house of the Mexican YouTuber and internet celebrity Marisol Domínguez, better known as AimeP3,[28] has become an important place of public interest for her group of followers, known mainly as "La Mansión P3" is located in the middle of Avenida Adolfo López Mateos.

[29][30][31] Currently, line 3 of the Mexibus System is in operation, which runs from the Pantitlán Metro station to the municipality of Chimalhuacán.

[34][35][37] In the 2000s, a project called Ciudad Jardín Bicentenario was undertaken to seal the landfill and reclaim the land for various purposes.

Next steps were taken to stabilize the ground and install a system to monitor and manage methane and other gases produced by the decomposing garbage.

Rainwater catchment systems were also placed in the area to capture and reuse runoff for the irrigation and cleaning of the 350,000 m2 (3,800,000 sq ft) of grass that has been planted on the site.

[35] The entire project has required an investment of three billion pesos, with most of the money coming from Grupo Carso, headed by Carlos Slim Helú.

The Ciudad Jardín Bicentenario contains a shopping mall, a rehabilitation center related to the Teletón, campuses of the Universidad de La Salle and the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, offices of the federal judiciary, an installation of the Telmex Foundation, a hospital called VIVO associated with the Star Médica association.

The facility was inaugurated in March 2009 by state Governor Enrique Peña Nieto and principal investor Carlos Slim Helú.

[35] The project has generated over six thousand jobs directly and indirectly and will benefit more than two million inhabitants of Nezahualcóyotl, Chimalhuacán and other areas of the eastern Valley of Mexico.

The institution offers six two-year degrees in Administration, Commerce, Computer Science, Processes of production, Environmental Technology and Telematics.

The campus has extensive sports facilities including a volleyball court, an Olympic-sized pool, and a professional football stadium.

FES-Aragón (Faculty of Superior Studies – Aragón UNAM, part of the decentralization program of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.)

This is creating a new Mexican subculture called "Neza York" distinguished by dress, speech and the likelihood of learning English.

Only six localities are considered to be outside the city proper: Colonia Gustavo Baz Prada, Ciudad Jardín, Relleno Sanitario Nezahualcóyotl Segundo, Polígonos, Escuela Laura Riojas de Colosio and 17 de Junio, but the city functions as the local government for these communities.

[2] Because of it urban nature, there is no agriculture in the area and livestock production is minimal, restricted to the very northeastern edges of the municipality and only for self consumption.