These are some of the best articles on Xalapa I’ve seen so far:
Xalapa: City of Flowers – by Alan Cogan, published on Mexconnect. It doesn’t say when the article was written, but a reference in the final paragraph leads me to believe it was written in 1998.
Xalapa of My Dreams – by Roy Dudley, published in 1999 on Mexconnect.
Xalapa – some dry facts from Wikipedia.
About Xalapa – from Universidad Veracruzana. Little information but has some nice photos.
Xalapa – by Steve Bridger, published on Mexicanwave.
Why Xalapa: From Chicago to Mexico – by Jan Morgan, published on Escape Artist (no indication of original publication date).

