Tijuana

[+ GregM]

I'm about 98% sure (if I don't get booked that day or night) I am going to make a stop in Tijuana while I'm in San Diego. I mean how can I not spend an afternoon and early eve with my peeps? Anyways any suggestions on where to eat and maybe see? I'm not super fussy on my eats just no mushrooms please and thank you. Public art is super cool as well as maybe a museum or nice park to people watch would be rad. Yeah I'm a lil trashy. No shame in my game.

 

Hugs,

Greg

P.S. Not really interested in hearing how dangerous it is. I frequently go to the south side of Chicago. I'm not scared of much.

[+ Avalon]

I've not been to Tijuana for maybe 30 years. I was visiting friends in Los Angeles and we took a day trip. No adult activities. Just shopping. One friend went there every month to get meds. I remember a Woolworth store and we ate near there.

[+ GregM]

I've not been to Tijuana for maybe 30 years. I was visiting friends in Los Angeles and we took a day trip. No adult activities. Just shopping. One friend went there every month to get meds. I remember a Woolworth store and we ate near there.

 

30 yrs ago is a long time ago. I was 12 years old 30 years ago.

 

Hugs,

Greg

[+ Avalon]

Back when I went didn't need a passport.

 

One place we visited was

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tijuana_Cultural_Center

[+ azdr0710]

I think you do need your passport these days, even for day tourists staying within a few hundred feet of the line......used to be more wide open and no passport needed......walk across (don't drive) and see if there is a pedestrian gate to and fro......

 

https://www.smartertravel.com/2017/02/13/san-diego-trolley-tijuana-transportation/

(very small x is at upper right if you get a "sign up" ad at first)

[+ bashful]

used to be more wide open and no passport needed.

 

Used to be the same way between Detroit (USA), and Windsor (Canada).

[+ GregM]

Used to be the same way between Detroit (USA), and Windsor (Canada).

Luckily I haz passport. Next question, will I be allowed back into the country? Hahaha jk.

 

Hugs,

Greg

[+ bashful]

Luckily I haz passport. Next question, will I be allowed back into the country? Hahaha jk.

 

Hugs,

Greg

 

Hopefully. Never crossed the border there.

[Walker1]

Is it safe? One hears of all the cartel violence and kidnapping?

[+ José Soplanucas]

Is it safe? One hears of all the cartel violence and kidnapping?

 

If you are living in America you are probably not Black, or Muslim, or an immigrant, or a journalist, or a high schooler, or attending music concerts, or going to movie theaters, or ...

[Walker1]

If you are living in America you are probably not Black, or Muslim, or an immigrant, or a journalist, or a high schooler, or attending music concerts, or going to movie theaters, or ...

I have been to San Diego a few times. My close friends lived there, who used to go to Tijuana almost on a weekly basis. There is a place you park on this side of the border and you walk over. They stopped, even though they enjoyed-said it was becoming too dangerous. They moved to Oregon since, this was close to ten years ago. I think it was about that time that they arrested a guy who worked for the cartels who admitted to dissolving 200+ bodies in a vat of acid.

 

But that was a while ago and I don't have anyone who lives in San Diego now. That is why I wonder how is Tijuana now?

[Epigonos]

I wouldn't be terrible fearful of visiting Tijuana during the day and early evening. I would, probably, stick to the central part of town along Constitution. Caesar's Restaurant has been there forever and claims to be the place where the Caesar Salad was invented. The salad has traditionally been excellent and the rest of the food just fine.

Tijuana was once the haunt of U.S. sailors stationed in or visiting San Diego and local college and university kids. Not anymore; the navy has declared Tijuana strictly OFF-LIMITS to naval personal, and local college and university students are also avoiding the city based on advise from their schools. What this means is that most of the shops, restaurants, and bars that attracted tourists are now gone. Frankly these days there isn't a lot in Tijuana to attract visitors. It never had much in the way of cultural attractions and it still doesn't. The major attraction today seems to be for older American crossing to seek medical treatment or to seek prescription drugs at lower prices.

Edited July 14, 2018 by Epigonos

[+ Avalon]

Back in the 80s I'd visit friends in Los Angeles; they lived in Compton, South Central. I got stares. "What was this white guy doing here?". But I never had any problems. My friends have since both passed on. But even if I could now I would not want to go back. My friends were "trapped" in their home during the 1992 Rodney King Riots.

 

First time I encountered security guards in stores. Homes with bars on windows and doors. And it seemed there were storefront churches on every block.

[+ Pensant]

It’s one of the most dangerous cities in the hemisphere. Stay away. There are far nicer places in Mexico.

[Rudynate]

I visited there a couple times in the 90s. At the time you could take the trolley from downtown San Diego to El Cajon, where there was a border crossing that you just walked through.

 

The main tourist street is AvenIda Revolucion and it is lined with pharmacies and souvenir stores selling the usual stuff-sombreros, alabaster chess sets, velvet paintings.

 

The squalor was depressing. Even though the US is only a few minutes away, the poverty hits you in the face. There is grime and dirt everywhere.

 

My most persistent memory of Tijuana was of a man I saw on the street a few blocks off of Revolucion. He had lost both legs above the knee and didn't have prosthetic limbs. He got around by limping around on his stumps. At the end of the stumps, these huge callouses had formed that resembled an elephants feet.

 

I am curious about Rosarita, a beach community south of Tijuana with a large expat community.

[azulpalido]

@Rudynate Baja California has started to transform into expat beach communities. I've been mulling leasing some beachfront property for about 1/10th the price of CA beach front property (can't buy, they only provide leases). If you check Airbnb, there are a lot of great options over there. If you travel a bit further south, you can run into BC's budding wine region.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/travel/travel-mexico-baja-california-wine-country.html

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/jan/31/mexico-wine-trail-valle-de-guadaloupe-baja-california

 

@GregM Sorry to hijack your thread. That said, TJ isn't what it used to be. It does have a few cool breweries.

https://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=breweries&find_loc=Tijuana%2C+Baja+California

I've been to Border Psycho. Interesting to see the craft brewing (IPA craze) hop across the border.

[Rudynate]

@Rudynate Baja California has started to transform into expat beach communities. I've been mulling leasing some beachfront property for about 1/10th the price of CA beach front property (can't buy, they only provide leases). If you check Airbnb, there are a lot of great options over there. If you travel a bit further south, you can run into BC's budding wine region.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/travel/travel-mexico-baja-california-wine-country.html

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/jan/31/mexico-wine-trail-valle-de-guadaloupe-baja-california

 

@GregM Sorry to hijack your thread. That said, TJ isn't what it used to be. It does have a few cool breweries.

https://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=breweries&find_loc=Tijuana,+Baja+California

I've been to Border Psycho. Interesting to see the craft brewing (IPA craze) hop across the border.

 

 

Thanks for the info. I'm very interested in the area.

[+ Avalon]

Back in the 70s had a family friend whose grandson worked in San Diego but he and his family lived in Tijuana because of the lower living costs. They had a son who was not school age yet and the wife stayed at home.

[+ bashful]

I lived in Houston in the very early 80's. Just prior to Mexico's financial problems, and around the time their peso was devalued. Then, some I worked with had no problem driving to Mexico. Occasionally would see Mexican license plates in the parking lot at the Galleria.

[rvwnsd]

Luckily I haz passport. Next question, will I be allowed back into the country? Hahaha jk.

 

Hugs,

Greg

Simply change your last name to "Monterowski" and you will be fine. JK.

 

When I first moved to San Diego in 2000 I'd go down to TJ pretty frequently. In 2001 I was getting my cats' ringworm meds down there (with a prescription from the vet). Then, it became dangerous and I stopped going. I think things have gotten better, but now the border lines are interminable.

 

[+ E.T.Bass]

Back in the 80s I'd visit friends in Los Angeles; they lived in Compton, South Central. I got stares. "What was this white guy doing here?". But I never had any problems. My friends have since both passed on. But even if I could now I would not want to go back. My friends were "trapped" in their home during the 1992 Rodney King Riots.

 

First time I encountered security guards in stores. Homes with bars on windows and doors. And it seemed there were storefront churches on every block.

So which was it? Compton or South Central? Bars on storefronts have existed in major cities decades before your culture shock of visiting LA.

 

 

Is it safe? One hears of all the cartel violence and kidnapping?

 

I have friends in San Diego that go to TJ for fun at the strip clubs. They never mentioned being worried about safety but never hurts to understand the risks.

[+ Avalon]

So which was it? Compton or South Central? Bars on storefronts have existed in major cities decades before your culture shock of visiting LA..

 

I thought they were basically the same area but I see I'm wrong. I knew that Compton was its own city. I had supposed that South Central was the surrounding area. But South Central is a part of Los Angeles.

 

Where I live there are still no bars on doors and windows and no security guards.

 

The first place my friends took me to see were the Watts Towers

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_Towers

[Epigonos]

Compton and South Central are pretty much the same thing. The only difference is that Compton is an incorporated city while South Central is a part of Los Angeles. They abut each other and there really isn't a dividing line.

In this era of political correctness we no longer speak of South Central Los Angeles because of the horrible image it has achieved over the years. We now speak of South Los Angeles.

[+ E.T.Bass]

Compton and South Central are pretty much the same thing. The only difference is that Compton is an incorporated city while South Central is a part of Los Angeles. They abut each other and there really isn't a dividing line.

In this era of political correctness we no longer speak of South Central Los Angeles because of the horrible image it has achieved over the years. We now speak of South Los Angeles.

Geographically there are parts of the old South Central that are miles from Compton. Folks in Orange County and Santa Clarita and Minnesota likely believe they are the same place

[Epigonos]

You are certainly correct E.T. I was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles (Western and Florence Avenues). I graduated from George Washington High School which while located in South Central is actually nearer Gardena than Compton. My aunt and uncle lived on 108th St. just east of San Pedro St. Their home was almost due north of Compton. Those neighborhoods where considerably different when I was a kid in the 1940's and 50's than what they are today. Beginning in the late 50's the ethnic population transitions from predominately Anglo to predominately African American. Beginning in the 90's the area started changing again and is currently predominately Hispanic yet most of the elected officials at the local, the state and the federal levels remain African American.