Introduction: Everyone, in Brazil, has had heard of "cracolândia", in São Paulo. It is an inexhaustible source of news, stories and panic. The most famous crack place in the country is considered a place that should be avoided, a place of danger. And a place of great attraction. Thinking about it demands creativity and seriousness. Objectives: Contrary to alarmist views, in this text, this place will be described through its relationship with its surroundings, especially the neighborhood of Luz, avoiding approaches that treat such spaces as impenetrable boundaries, physically and, what is worse, morally isolated. Methodology: The large number of people who circulate through there, as well as the different uses and spatial practices, will be highlighted ethnographically. Results: this ethnography intends to give visibility to the disputes, interactions and connections that produce a city and contributes to an accurate view of this place.