Crowded Lideta southwest of the city centre is home to a mostly low-income population comprising day labourers, manual workers and low-level civil servants living mostly in state-owned houses in poor conditions. The Balcha Hospital, a specialist lung hospital founded by the Russian Red Cross in 1946, is a local landmark, and several Russian doctors still work there to this day.

Round the corner from the hospital is one of several Etfruit markets run by the Ethiopian Fruit and Vegetables Marketing Enterprise, the major domestic distributor and exporter of local produce in the capital, selling quality fresh fruit and vegetables and fruit juice at competitive prices. (The same products can also be purchased from distinctive green and white mobile units around the city.) Mexico Square between Lideta and Lagare is a key public transport hub, ensuring a good bus and minibus service but also heavy traffic.