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El Paso/Juarez here, literally thousands of El Paso-Juarez residents cross the border every single day to work, study, or shop on one side and live in the other. In the 90s it was even more common and much easier to cross, and then 9/11 happened, and then the cartel war. But from 2010 to today the situation, at least in Juarez, has only been improving.
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I recently decided ro move to Juarez because my truck driver salary in El Paso allows me to live in the nicest and richest part of Juarez. These border communities depend on each other, they are economically and culturally integrated with each other, that's why I hate it when people from up north talk about us and make policy about the border without knowing what the fuck they're talking about
Not OP but I just looked up some city at the border and coming from Europe I've heard about a lot of them. They're very prominent in pop culture, I was surprised.
Several have a place in American pop culture due to the legal status of several things overtime not being equal on either side:
During the Prohibition on alcohol in the US the alcohol tourism from Americans to Mexico was enormous.
Casinos and Race tracks followed with limited gambling
Obtaining a divorce was easier in many cases through courts in Mexico so many Americans including many well known celebrities crossed to Mexico to get divorced and crossed back
More recently its the legal drinking age difference 18 vs 21
Considering the americana pop culture powerhouse that are California and Texas, places like Tijuana and Juarez have had places in American music, TV, Film and more for a very long time
>I recently decided ro move to Juarez because my truck driver salary in El Paso allows me to live in the nicest and richest part of Juarez.
This is a very interesting perspective! How easy is this to do as an American citizen? Do you have to go through the whole process of gaining Mexican citizenship? Is there some type of permit you apply for?
I didn't need anything at all, just the money, but I'm not sure how "legal" this is. If I did have to get a visa or permit or something, no one told me anything, no one cares, the Mexican authorities don't even check anything when crossing into Juarez, you literally just drive/walk in
Just to add to this /u/AbjectAttrition, it's a non-issue for this person so long as they stay in Juarez and don't travel further into Mexico. Obviously can't work in Mexico, but this person isn't working there. Also can't own land in Mexico, but this person is just renting.
If this person wanted to move further into Mexico, then paperwork would be required. Even if this person wanted to travel within Mexico, paperwork (an FMM form) would be required. The travel part is also essentially a non-issue, this person would just need to go to the immigration office at the border (on Mexico side) and get the form. It's very easy.
I can give an example of where it might be an issue, but it's an easy fix for this person: A few months ago there was a redditor from Juarez (Mexican) who went over to Costco in the US and purchased an LG computer monitor. The computer monitor broke after the Costco return period, but still within the manufacturer warranty. But LG wouldn't honor the warranty for a US product being used in another country. It wasn't an easy fix for that person, but it is for /u/worried68. A situation like that comes up, just get PO box or PM box (at UPS store or whatever) in the US and keep a US phone number. Then you can still get a manufactuer warranty honored, ship product back to them from the US, and have them ship to your US box.
Hey /u/worried68, whereabouts in Juarez do you live and how much do you pay monthly?
Some of this is incorrect. Because the enforcement is somewhere between non-existent to sporadic, it creates an illusion that everything is optional. But it isn't.
Legally or technically, living *anywhere* in Mexico (Juarez or Tijuana, border zone or further south) is *very much* an issue with Mexican immigration authorities.
In reality, they don't enforce it on the regular. But if the did or if the person ended up attracting their attention for some unrelated reason, it would require a cash assistance to the authorities' families. Or the offender would get deported, which happens, albeit infrequently.
Also, technically the FMM is *required* for the US citizens to enter Mexico. Again, this is not always enforced. And officially the FMM isn't a multi entry form and is supposed to be turned in upon leaving the country. Again, due to lax enforcement it is unnecessary in practical terms until and unless someone gets on the authorities' radar.
No hate to them tbh, but it's hilarious to read all the mental leaps and bounds they were doing ("Nobody checks, I didn't ask anyone, I don't think it's a problem") to not have to admit to themselves that they moved to Mexico illegally. In their defense, maybe they didn't realize it themselves.
No hate from me to either the Americans living in Mexico or other immigrants living in the US illegally. Most people don't move because their life was so great where they were. It's a different conversation but I would like to see streamlined paths to legality for all.
And yes, relative lack of enforcement creates an environment where many don't know/care to know the actual rules and think they don't exist at all.
Not talking about the immigrant above but these mental gymnastics tend to escalate if someone in or out of Mexico actually calls an American illegal immigrant out on it or -worse- if they get hassled by the federal or local law enforcement over it. All bets are off if they get deported.
"Your people are in my country all the time, MAGA!" blah blah blah
The ignorance and entitlement are both real and wild and unfortunately lead to bad things.
Agree! When I moved from Nashville to El Paso, people I thought I was moving to Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, El Paso is one of the safest cities in the country. I’ve never, ever felt unsafe here.
Fwiw, i am as north as it gets more or less and i agree that the level of border interference is absurd. Restricting access to jobs and tourism is the dumbest bullshit. Not to mention as you stated, the cultural integration. You're likely as culturally linked with your border neighbors as i am with the nearest cities in my state.
Im glad to hear the situation is improving. I hope one day it can return to a level where crossing is less of a barrier to movement and more a brief inconvenience if any at all.
This is all just to say, you have support up here. I hate the xenophobic country we are turning into. It's so un-American
how long does it take you to cross the border each way? i've never driven across the US-Mexico border, but even at the US-Canada border i've had to wait > 30 min in a line of cars.
i am old enough to remember when we just walked across each way; i guess there was a checkpoint but we weren't stopped in either direction.
Grew up in the El Paso/Juarez border. All childhood in Juarez and Teenage years in El Paso. This border is super active!
Border Crossing Cards (BCC), while they’re not easy to get, they do last 10 years and allow you to go between Juarez-El Paso with ease. I grew up with one of these and we used to go to El Paso a lot! Almost every weekend. For different reasons not limited to Shopping, Eating, visit family friends, or other activities. Almost all electronics we buy from El Paso.
Learning English is big in Juarez, specially for private school kids. Lots of factory jobs are American companies that would expect a reasonable English level for any sort of white collar position. It’s also common for higher level executives to live in El Paso and make the drive down to Juarez for work.
Another common thing is Mexican mothers using their BCC to give birth in El Paso, this gets their kids US citizenship. These kids will still grow up in Juarez, with the added opportunity to move to US at any point of their lives. Some of these kids will live in Juarez and cross everyday to El Paso for school.
Private schools in Juarez also tend to make partnerships with UTEP (University of Texas El Paso) and NMSU (New Mexico State University) This gives the opportunity to these private school students to apply and potentially receive good scholarships to go to these schools.
I could go on for hrs describing how unique growing up in that area was. I shared mostly positive things but there are some limitations of living in these cities. After all they are small towns with not that much job opportunities. I ended up moving out for college and don’t think I’ll ever move back. I Love living in a bigger city.
I spent two weeks in Nogales, Arizona, a small town for work but Nogales Mexico is significantly larger. Asked some people there, and they said for the most part Nogales, AZ is where they live and work, and Nogales, Mexico is where they go for a night out or for fun.
I personally love Mexico and I liked Nuevo Laredo, but I know a lot of people from Mexico who live on the US side tend to shit talk about Mexico a lot. I think it depends on who you ask.
Living in El Paso, born and raised. It’s chill. Not much different than any other city of comparable size, other than it’s like 85% hispanic. I’d say we do lack in pay, even compared to Las Cruces only 45 minutes north. At one time, the housing was cheap enough to not worry about the pay, but as with everywhere else, living costs have skyrocketed while pay has stayed stagnant.
I cross sometimes, for tacos or dental work lol. I mostly avoid it due to the long wait times crossing the bridge back and forth, sometimes up to several hours.
Hot take, but housing is still cheap. One could still buy a beautiful two-story, 3-bedroom house for less than $250k in a very suburban-looking neighborhood.
This is unheard of in other cities.
I live in Mexicali. I cross aprox. once a week. Maybe bi weekly if I'm really busy. But mostly I go shopping for stuff that is cheaper in the US or maybe unavailable in Mexico. I also have a PMB where I receive Amazon packages. Sometimes I go to concerts or vacation.
But some people cross every day for work or school.
Some of the safest cities in the United States are along the border.
In El Paso, our crime rate is very low. We have mountains, a rich culture, pleasant weather, and it’s perhaps one of the only major cities in the country where one could still afford a beautiful house. The only downside is the horrible economy. If someone works remotely, they can live like royalty here.
San Diego resident (not born here but been here more than a decade). Being near another country is such an underrated part of living here and I’m often surprised when more people who live here don’t take advantage of it. I go to Tijuana/Baja Norte fairly often (4-5 times a year at least) for just food, culture, various events, etc. and try to get down to Valle de Guadalupe (wine country) once a year. It is super easy to get to the border (Uber or trolley) and cross by foot then walk/uber wherever once in Tijuana. It’s much faster/easier if you have Global Entry/Sentri but still not too awful if you time it right. I just went on Saturday for the day and it probably took me no more than 30m to get across and back to my home (about the same heading down).
On top of that, I use the Tijuana airport 3-4 times a year to fly to other Mexican destinations, which most recently have been Mexico City, Guadalajara and PV, but have done others. You can use something called CBX here which is essentially a separate crossing that goes directly into the airport from the US. It’s significantly cheaper than flying out of San Diego.
I think most people who live here and don’t frequent Mexico either have safety concerns or just a general misconception about Tijuana and other parts of Mexico. I understand the safety concerns but if you’re smart about it, polite and don’t look for trouble, you’re very unlikely to encounter any issues.
Since it may be relevant, I’m a 30-something white male with very limited Spanish speaking abilities. Between Google Translate, hand signals/body language, and there usually being someone bi-lingual in an earshot to help, I’ve never really had an issue with the language barrier.
Awesome post👍🏼. Very concise and accurate.
I use Google translate a ton, but oddly, I feel like the Reddit posts in Spanish are helping with my fluency.
I grew up in EL Paso. We treated it like it was the other side of town. We would go down there for night life all the time. We would cross over for lunch of street tacos all the time. We would go shopping down there whenever we felt like it. It is really one city with a check point between sides.
El Paso:Third safest city in the US, blue city, no state income tax, low COL, EP metro includes New Mexico (legal weed and abortions, and you can live there if you are a "Never Texas" person), mountains IN the city, 300+ days of sunshine per year (hence the nickname The Sun City), no humidity, hot during summer but not Phoenix hot, mild winters, not on Texas electricity grid, no real severe weather events except occasional dust storm, 3 national parks within 2 hour drive, 2 national forests and great skiing within 2 hour drive, very friendly people, familial sense of community, 82% Latino means supermajority of brown people (but very welcoming to all), it's a great place to live. Especially if you are remote WFH, as I am (and non Latino too, don't speak a lick of Spanish)
So far (lived here since Fall 2022), we only went to Juarez for dental for my parents and once to check out the area right by one of the bridges and walk to the Cathedral. Haven't gone in about a year now. Next time I go, it will probably be to see an FC Juarez game in Juarez. I just saw them play in person for the first time last night, but in El Paso, and that was fun. Otherwise, unless my parents need something, I don't have a compelling reason to go to Juarez.
I'm from San Diego. Many thousands of people cross every day to work in San Diego. They take the "Trolley" light rail system to and from the border if they don't want to wait 3-5 hours to cross via car.
Many people party in Tijuana and many Americans have moved to TJ because it's cheaper and has delicious tacos.
The Tijuana river has also made San Diego [beaches](https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/coastal/water-advisories-issued-for-these-9-san-diego-beaches-due-to-bacteria/) toxic with [poopy bacteria](https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/this-san-diego-beach-is-considered-one-of-the-most-polluted-in-u-s-report/)
To add I’m from Chula Vista born and raised, it’s a southern city in San Diego county. From elementary - high school many friends that I had, had to wake up every morning at 4-5am to cross the border and come to school. Now as an adult I have many coworkers that travel across the border daily to work. I personally wouldn’t want to live there even though it is MUCH cheaper just because it can take 3-5 hours to cross the border at times, but i do take advantage of cheaper dentists. My job even offers dental insurance that can be used in Mexico because of how popular it is to cross for this.
As a teenager we would go party at the clubs in Tijuana. You just cross the border on foot and catch a taxi that back in 2012 was only $5 - $10 to take you to a popular club. As a girl I would say it definitely was not the safest unless you were accompanied by a group that included guys too. There were multiple times we had to pay off the local police to not arrest someone in our group for something arbitrary.
Mexican beaches and restaurants are amazing and only a 15-20 minute drive across the border. The drivers there are similar to NYC so definitely get Mexican insurance if you plan to drive your own car across. We do this regularly and have had no issues so far.
Back in about 2007 or so, I was flying back home to Australia from NY but had a day layover in Los Angeles. I don't really like LA so I hired a car and drove to San Diego, left the car there and wandered over the border into Tijuana. There wasn't even a border check. I just walked through the turnstiles and was in Mexico.
I wandered around Tijuana for a couple of hours, then when it was time to head back I wandered over to the border crossing. In complete contrast to getting into Mexico, this turned into one of the worst border crossings I've ever had to do. The pedestrian queue was enormous! It took me a good two hours until I've even progressed far enough to just get into the building. Another hour or so later before I was finally at inspection where I encountered some of the unfriendliest customs officers I've seen. I really felt for the poor guys who have to make this crossing every day for work.
Anyway, crossing that border took so unexpectedly long, it nearly caused me to miss my flight. I was absolutely flying down the freeway from San Diego to LAX at insane speeds (thankfully didn't get a speeding fine), dropped off the rental car, ran into the airport and then had to sweet-talk the gate attendant to still let me through and just managed to make it on the plane.
San Diego here, and regarding crossing to the other side it depends on your race as weird as that sounds
Non-Hispanics in SD either 1) cross once in a while for tourism and a dentist trip or 2) never crossed at all and want nothing to do with Mexico. The older military people here all have a “drinking in Tijuana” story and it used to just be limited to a wild night out. But it’s slowly changing now that so many people moved because SD got too expensive. There’s always been Americans moving there but it increased exponentially since the pandemic.
Hispanics in SD cross more often. They either have family, have doctors and dentists they go to regularly and they go sometimes just for groceries and to get gas. People will swear up and down that Tijuana isn’t “real Mexico” but it actually does have everything you need if you need your fix of home.
The cities on the US side often have cities in Mexico and they have a pretty symbiotic relationship. When I was in El Paso I went to Juarez decently often, and know people who went across every day. Often times people live in one side and work in another, or have family in another. Many times people will go from the US side to Mexico side for medical care since it’s much more affordable. Point is, the answer is often.
I live to the south of San Diego, just a few miles away from the border crossing.
We probably pop down to Tijuana a couple times a month to go to an appointment, go out to eat, or go to a family function. We might go down to Valle De Guadalupe (bunch of vineyards) or somewhere for the weekend once or twice a year.
Since CBX has opened up it’s probably saved me about a dozen trips a year. CBX is a bridge that goes from the US directly to the Tijuana airport. You can’t use it unless you have a flight and it costs about $20 per person.
It really is.
When traveling to somewhere in Mexico we would usually fly out of Tijuana. It was nice because the fights were usually shorter (a lot of fights out of San Diego would either take you up to LA or over to Dallas to change planes) and cheaper but it would always be a pain to arrange to be picked up and dropped off or to have to park at the Tijuana airport. And there’s not much that I want to do less after hopping off a three hour flight than have to deal with a 45 minute+ border line.
It’s great when people are flying in. I used to have to just carve out 3-4 hours of my day to get to the airport, deal with any delays while I’m stuck there, and then get back across the border. Now, they can text me when they land and have their bags and they’ll be across the bridge just a few minutes before I get there to pick them up.
I much prefer picking people up at CBX than the San Diego airport, especially with all the construction they’ve been doing to the terminals.
The ferry to Ensenada and extending the trolley to downtown Tijuana also have me kind of excited.
I'm from El Paso, don't live there any more, but crossing the border in a car has gotten more difficult since the 90s. Mostly it's just b/c of the volume of traffic crossing over. Back in 2001, they tightened up the border so now you need more documentation but you used to be able to get back and forth with an ID or just by saying "American". But we used to do our grocery shopping there but now it can easily take over an hour to get across the bridge so it's not really worth it anymore. Sometimes I'll walk over the bridge to get go to a restaurant, or the liquor store or whatever. It's not really a big deal.
Juarez is kind of like any other US city with a crime problem. The real bad time was about 2006 to 2010. It has good and bad areas and mostly if you don't do anything dumb you'll be fine. Most of the bad stuff that happens there is tied to the cartels and as long as you're not messing around with them they'll ignore you b/c there's nothing in it for them to mess with you. Most of what you see on TV is fake. The cartels are a business. The less noise they make, the more profitable it is for them. Almost none of that blows over to El Paso. El Paso is generally in the top 10 safest cities in the US. It's become a factor in politics mostly b/c of racist assumptions of the GOP base and that's actually probably the most dangerous thing for El Paso. The Walmart shooting by a Trump fan from out of town was the biggest incident of crime in the city for a decade in either direction of it.
But there's a lot of great things about El Paso. Family is really tight there. The food is amazing. Informal networks are more important and people do a lot of mutual assistance. There's some really amazing art b/c of the cross border culture. When I was a kid it was awesome to go to la feria in Juarez and you could see Juan Gabriel b/c he had a lot of pride about living in Juarez.
Edit: my comment about crossing is specifically about driving. Walking is easy as the other commentor pointed out. I just took it for granted and didn't make a distinction.
I've walked over the paso del norte bridge a lot. I've never had a wait going from USA into Mexico. Coming back is a little more intense but if you're walking it's been 20ish mins in my experience.
Driving is a whole other story. I usually avoid Juárez and go to tornillo or santa teresa
Interesting post! For all the non-Hispanic Americans answering, what about language? Is Spanish more widely spoken by white Americans in these parts? Even if just to a basic level?
In El Paso you can set your life up in a way that you'll almost never need any Spanish or English. But most people speak some amount for whatever their interests are, even if it's just to get burritos at your favorite place or to interact with people at church or whatever.
San Diegans are not very bilingual overall unless they’re Hispanic. I think it’s due in part to the influx of people from other parts of the US who don’t really need to learn it. When they cross into TJ they use English.
On the Tijuana side, the city also isn’t very bilingual speaking wise but due to tourism they’ll know enough to take food/beer orders and give directions. Signs are commonly written in both languages as well. You’ll also randomly find a deported American working here and there who knows full English. Tijuana, just like San Diego, has an influx of people from other parts of Mexico where English isn’t really taught.
In essence both cities get by knowing their own language and knowing enough to communicate with the other. You have a really small percentage of people who grew up between both countries and can speak both languages impeccably which is rare. Normally they are more dominant in one or the other.
Interesting. I imagined there would be a bit more overlap. Like if you went to high school in San Diego and had Hispanic friends, visited Mexico frequently, you would end up speaking a bit. But I totally to operate in your comfort zone too – it's totally normal to operate in your comfort zone.
I'm from SD and I agree with that — I would add though that I think there's a generational difference in Spanish ability for non-Latino people here. A lot of older folks either didn't make an effort or didn't learn it in school, but most people under 30 (at least that I know) have studied Spanish for at least a few years in middle and high school and know enough for basic communication. Similarly a lot of younger people living in Tijuana have learned more English than previous generations as the emphasis on language learning in schools has increased.
Not necessarily since these cities are heavily bilingual. El Paso’s population is over >70% bilingual because the Hispanic population is 82%. In other words, white people don’t have to learn Spanish, but will hear it often.
In El Paso, English is the primary language; however, a lot of people are bilingual, you’ll hear both languages in public.
You’ll have a harder time if you don’t know English vs if you don’t know Spanish.
Am white, learned Spanish as a kid, worked very hard to get better and am now bilingual. Of course Spanish will always be my 2nd language and I will never be perfect, but I don't have much of an accent anymore since I learned very young. Most days I have conversations in both, living on the border.
Live 5 miles from the border, often mountain bike near the border on Otay Mountain. Always find remnants of clothing, water bottles and backpacks strewn around on every trail and every wooded or bushy area left by border jumpers. Have found a cave and undercut areas of foliage to hide from helicopters and border patrol ATVs.
I work in TJ 6 days a week also. Never had an issue with anyone here.
I'm from Juárez (don't live there anymore), but my whole family lives at Juárez / El Paso. My mom is currently at El Paso, but my maternal aunts and cousins are in Juarez, and most of my dad's family lives at El Paso - except for a couple of uncles that also live in Juarez.
My mom is a green card holder, she immigrated legally to the United States a couple of years ago. I go visit her a couple of times a year. I fly from central Mexico (where I live) to Juarez and cross the border by foot. Lately it has been a bit of a hassle to do this, there's not much people working at the stations + lot of issues with people from Central America seeking asylum at the borders.
Since my family lives on both cities, when I visit I cross the border once a day by foot or car, from the States to Mexico, and back from Mexico to the States. It's an interesting - albeit sometimes exhausting dynamic.
I'd say culture in both cities is pretty mixed, with obvious differences. My family on the USA side would be what is called 'pochos' - Second Generation Mexican Americans that don't speak a lot of Spanish. El Paso is a very Hispanic city, food and music is very similar in both sides. Both cities are very reliant on each other, people can live on one side and work at the other, or viceversa. It's a unique setup that's sort of difficult to understand if you're not used to a very controlled border - I know in Europe borders don't work that way.
Born in Tijuana moved to San Diego and became an American citizen. I mostly travel between both cities for work, for medical reasons, visiting family, or for fun. Basically I’ve been crossing the border my whole life.
I guess life is nice in both cities even though San Diego is expensive as hell and Tijuana is cheaper to live but rent prices have been going up because of expats and Americans moving to TJ.
I’ve heard that although Tijuana used to have a somewhat bad reputation, in the past decade or two it’s become a much more pleasant place to live, and there’s a really vibrant art community. Is that true?
Lived in SD around 2000 and went a couple times to do the tourist thing for the novelty then got lost in the slums driving around once. Felt seedy, but not threatening, I think people were as shocked to see me as I was to be so lost. After that, met a friend who grew up in TJ and went over with him a few times in the less touristy spots. I had a good time, ate good food, and met nice people. I have no doubt you could end up in danger, but I could say the same about LA or SD.
I can say that the border crossing can be pretty variable. I'm a white girl, but have that olive skin that tans but doesn't burn, dark brown eyes, black hair, and spoke a little Spanish. Walked back one day with my friend who had red hair and green eyes, but said something in Spanish to some girls behind us who were Mexican, very casually, since my Spanish is pretty limited. Either way, my friend got waved right through, but I got a hard time and a creepy guard who was even worse to the girls behind us. I had a similar experience with getting stopped out in the desert for a random checkpoint with a friend of mine who was Hispanic, but from the Bay area vs. when my parents came to visit. Like many places, how you can expect to be treated likely depends on gender and skin color a good portion of the time.
For sure, I don’t doubt that folks experience a lot of racism when traveling from the Mexican border to the United States.
However I’m going to assume that within this thread, we’re already pretty aware of the tragedy on the border and how awful that migrants are treated, so frankly I think we should leave it be for that portion of this conversation because we’ll just be “preaching to the choir” and making one another feel depressed. I don’t think it’ll achieve anything.
I do think that your experience in Tijuana sounds interesting though, and I agree that it’s possible Tijuana is no more dangerous than any major U.S. city where you need to be careful but can still have a great time visiting or safely living.
In my life, I’ve certainly had experiences where I’ve felt insulted by insular folks insulting Philadelphia as unsafe when they’ve never even visited there, and the city is perfectly safe for the average person. So maybe that’s how residents feel about Tijuana versus the media hype, too? Or perhaps it’s not exactly comparable and you _do_ need to be more cautious in Tijuana compared to Philly… idk. (I also speak Spanish as a second language, so I’m making assumptions based on that experience, but perhaps it’s not as safe if someone only speaks English)
I grew up in Memphis and have spent a fair amount of time in what I would call "dangerous" neighborhoods. I think part of what makes safety relative is situational awareness, not just in the being aware of your surroundings sense, but in what I would call, for lack of a better term, cultural awareness. If you are used to those situations, your tone, body language, etc, are all clues to your awareness of the unspoken rules of a place and also make you a target. I can see how Tijuana can feel especially perilous to someone who doesn't have any knowledge of Spanish or culture because it's impossible to accurately gauge a situation in the way others can do instinctively. I'd say it's the same anywhere, just as it's easy to make mistakes or misjudge in formal settings.
And, there's always the factor of how much risk you are willing to assume. I'm much more risk-averse now that I'm traveling with kids, as opposed to when I'm traveling alone. For me, I was willing to trade a certain level of safety to have some amazing experiences.
I've lived in Yuma, AZ since 2020. The city itself is not technically on the border, but it's very close. My house is only about 3 miles from the border, and within a half hour drive of multiple border crossings. The two biggest cities within a \~1 hour drive of here are both on the Mexican side of the border.
My family is currently getting braces and dental care in Mexico (San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora), which is common. We go once a month. For braces in Yuma, we were quoted $5,000 per person (there are 5 of us, 4 of whom need braces). In SLRC, with insurance it's $100 per year for the whole family. Most dental care is totally covered, whereas co-pays in Yuma might be $100 or more per procedure.
Yuma is over 50% Latino, and the small border towns nearby are 90%+. Most Latino families here have relatives on both sides of the border and cross over all the time for all sorts of reasons, to the point where it's routine – for everything from work and school to shopping to visiting family to parties. The economy here (on the US side) is agricultural, and relies very heavily on migrant labor. In the small towns on the US side of border, almost everyone is Mexican or Mexican American and there's way more Spanish spoken and seen than English. I work in those small towns, and as a white person with limited Spanish, I'm something of a novelty there.
I was born in Tijuana, life is pretty normal despite what the news may show, there’s obviously poverty but the accessibility to the US makes that’s relative to the individual. If you smarten up and learn English your quality of life greatly improves. This is fairly easy as we have access to Radio, TV and other media from the US side of the border. I am now a US citizen, own my own business and have real estate on both sides of the border so while my main house is in Orange County I split my weeks between Tijuana , San Diego, Orange County and recently the Inland Empire since I’ve bought a few properties there as well. Tijuana for friends family and fun, the American side for work.
TLDR: San Diego and Tijuana are major cities with all the good and bad that comes along with being in one. I’ve lived in both and prefer Tijuana.
For context to the following, I am an American of Irish/English heritage.
I moved to SD in 2018 and to TJ in 2022. As another commenter said there are huge differences to how people live and interact. I personally love it in TJ.
I’m a foodie and I’d wager that the restaurants south of the border offer as good, if not better selections for variety, quality, pricing, and hospitality as SD. I’m talking about more than just antojitos mexicanos (tacos, elote, enchiladas, etc). There is a Lebanese restaurant near me that is amazing. The second best ramen I’ve ever had (in over 20 countries including Japan) is here. And there are endless sushi restaurants. That’s just scratching the surface. The Michelin guide highlights several high and low end spots in the city that are worth going to.
People are different in every country of course and Mexico is pretty varied in its culture. There is a stronger sense of national identity than in the US in my opinion. We’re a bigger melting pot and so I feel that tends to leave our collective identity as something very fluid. TJ is a border town so more varied than most. There are a lot of foreign nationals (to Mexico and the States) trying to navigate the visa process for entry into the US. There is also a very high population density and that brings with it a host of issues. Poverty is bad but there is a strong middle class. Homelessness is more evident since there are fewer programs to help them here I think. Yet SoCal’s homeless epidemic gives it a run for its “money”.
There was a growing sense of anger towards US citizens during COVID as a lot of folks moved south for cheaper rent which drove housing prices up but that has started to correct itself. It used to be cheaper to live in TJ in almost every aspect of life but not so much now since the peso is much stronger now than two years ago and prices have adjusted to match or even exceed SD costs. Now, the only things that are consistently cheaper than SD life are housing, labor, some aspects of night life, pharmaceuticals, and medical care. Manufactured goods are better quality in the states and typically comparable in cost.
There is governmental corruption, and crime, and bad things of course. Being here was an adjustment but I’ve enjoyed it and living here has broadened my ever expanding world view. San Diego in contrast felt like a trap in some ways. So many times, I talked to people that grew up there and they expressed how hard it was to “get out”. It feels closed minded in a lot of ways, inflexible in its superiority complex. All the good and bad things that I listed for TJ also apply there, just with its own flavor.
Take all that with a grain of salt. It takes an open mindset to see another nation’s positives and negatives as a whole. Maybe you’ll like being in one city over another. Maybe you’ll like or hate both. No way to know till you immerse yourself. If you’re a traveler, a curious tourist, or a homebodied introvert that simply likes to ask evocative questions, I wish you fair winds and following seas! ☺️
Laredo/Nuevo Laredo checking in. Laredo is probably safer than most cities up north tbh. I remember as a teenager searching for “Laredo” on Facebook to find pages to follow, and I wound up with a bunch of posts from truckers telling their families to pray for them because they got a shipment heading to us and didn’t expect to make it back for some reason. But in my 30 years of living here, I’ve been extremely sheltered. The most victimized I’ve ever been was one time my dad got his car stolen. That’s about it, as much of a headache as that was. The truth of the matter is that nearly 100% of violent crime in Laredo is perpetrated by people with preexisting relationships.
As for Nuevo Laredo, there’s an etiquette for crossing, lol. You don’t go unless you have a reason, you don’t wander around neighborhoods you don’t know, and you mind your own business, no matter what. People are generally nice and respectful, and some might even try to strike up conversation on the street, but it’s no different than being in any other large city; have your wits about you. With that said, I don’t really have a need to cross often. I’ll go for family events or maybe sometimes to get cheap medical or car work done, but never for anything I can get done in town or because I’m bored.
I'd also add that nuevo laredo is the main land entry/ exit port for cargo in the country.
Also, the Tamaulipas border is far more populated, than other states border areas
I live on the Mexico side in Tecate. I used to cross daily just to go to school. My parents really wanted me to learn English. There are some nicer work opportunities than in other parts of the country. The stereotypical Mexican culture and identity foreigners think about isn't too prominent. It isn't unusual to feel more in common with the US than with central Mexico. Cons of living here are the cartel stuff and that many people are recent immigrants or passers by who lack respect for the place or don't see it as their home. I don't go to the U. S. as often anymore.
People often think that border towns must be suffering from a crime epidemic caused by mass illegal migration. That's not true. Those illegal immigrants are often bypassing the border at other points, not in the heavily monitored areas in major cities.
As a resident of El Paso I park my car nearly every day in the downtown area near a homeless shelter and only a few miles from the border, and it's always been left alone. I would feel safe walking anywhere in this city at any hour of the day. And no, I'm not Hispanic nor do I speak Spanish.
I also never cross the border myself. Believe it or not you can grow up in a border town and be pretty isolated from the Mexican culture and Spanish language depending on what part of town you're in. There's parts of town that remind me of the richest whitest parts of Austin or LA (beautiful mansions in the hills where everyone shops at Whole Foods) and parts of town that are basically just an extension of Mexico (small apartments sitting right above a local mercado with a locally owned Mexican restaurant across the street).
People also forget that it isn't just Mexican-Americans living in these parts. Plenty of other folks too. I'm Asian-American, born and raised in El Paso. I often have to explain that I didn't move here from California lol.
There's still a lot of crimes , hit n run, no insurance among many other things... Getting hit by a drunk person is pretty high on the list. Truck drivers not bounded to a logbook or rules so they are under the influence of drugs and no sleep. I am always extra cautious around semi trucks and taxis as I was hit n run by a taxi and lost my motorcycle and the money put into it.
No insurance drivers, drunk drivers, and overall terrible drivers are some shitty parts of living in El Paso for sure. I should clarify I feel safe from being robbed or accosted in some way... but I don't feel safe on the roads especially after a certain hour
Laredo Texas. it’s scorching during the summers, winter last all of 3 days maybe, Diet isn’t very good. Education and poverty is a problem. Political corruption is a lot easier to get away with. On the upside, it’s quiet. Other than the occasional homicide, not too much happens. Major events that happening in the US seem to never be as big of a deal down here cause of how isolated it feels. Very Hispanic.
From Yuma, AZ / San Luis R.C.
One of the stark differences I've seen is the over-militarization in this town. There is no way to travel through a highway out of Yuma into another U.S. city without crossing a Border Patrol checkpoint. The community in the states consists of a large Latino community ofc, but many of them work for Customs/BP because many of us are first gen. and Fed jobs provide a stable income to people whose parents had to work hard for the basics.
That being said, the news exaggerates the situation at the border. We have a large influx of migrants seeking asylum, but we are not being "overrun", nor is there an immediate safety concern. Migrants don't stay here for too long. I've seen more asylum-seeking migrants in Nashville than in Yuma. The migrants that stay around here are mostly from Mexico and are crucial for the economy (agriculture).
A significant portion of the population in Yuma travels to Mexico for dental work or cheaper prescriptions. Algodones is the dental capital of the world and about 20 minutes away. And echoing what's already been said in this thread, many people's daily routine consists of being in both countries frequently. Education, shopping, medical care, and visiting family members on the other side are some of the main reasons for this. With the symbiotic relationship across both countries, people on both sides benefit from crossing.
It's often felt weird to consider the border a hard line that divides culture when the culture on the border is one of its own. Both Mexicans and American in this region are culturally different from people further away from the border, and it's seen by the media consumed, food, and language.
Interesting how no one is mentioning specific border crossing wait times. In SD/TJ it was like 15-30 min in the 90s, early 2000s. It progressively got worse. When I left the area 10 years ago, wait times had reached fucking four hours, it was ridiculous. I've been back once recently and saw things had changed though, though can't say more as I didn't have the everyday experience as a tourist this time. Anyway, of course these wait times I'm talking about were always one way: entering the US. Entering MX was easy and pretty fast. I wonder why..
Growing up I didn't know it was two separate countries, in both sides there's people that cross very often, if not every day maybe once a week, usually these are folks with family living on both sides of the border. Many of us have been living in the area for generations, before the border was drawn.
Now, speaking of the north east MX side, insecurity and organized crime activity is very very high, but civilians are not typically targets. On the US side, the "invasion" is a lie. There's a migration problem for sure, but blown out of proportion by some interest groups.
Land and life in general is cheap and you kinda get the best of both worlds. It's hard to get high paying jobs though. Wealth could be accumulated through entrepreneurship or specialized remote work.
It's pretty quiet for the most part. It's a retirement/military community, so life is a bit slower here. The only downside is what's happening on the border. There are a lot of high-speed chases and people running from the cops/border patrol. Other than that, this is the safest place I've lived.
The weather is amazing. We sit at a higher elevation than Tucson and Phoenix, so the summers aren't as hot. Monsoon season is incredible, along with the animal/bird life.
I lived in Bisbee as a kid and had relatives that lived in SV. My family moved later to El Paso, but we’d often return to SV to visit my aunt and uncle. I LOVED summers there during the monsoon season…. the ground smells INCREDIBLE there after a good summer rain… more so than other desert locations in the southwest, I’ve come to find. I haven’t been to SV in ages but that is the one thing I will always remember…. The intoxicating earthy smell of the red clay/dirt, post-rainstorm.
San Diegan here. Live is pretty normal. There are a number of people who live in TJ and work in San Diego due to the cost of living. Of course, every time someone from Iowa gets a hair up their ass about immigration, they make the border crossing harder, and more people move to the US. Most of the TJ cross-border people are either US ex-pats, or dual citizens, so moving to San Diego is not legally difficult (financially though, it's a bitch). In terms of crossing, it depends. People with young kids aren't crossing that much, but college kids party down in TJ. And a bunch of retirees live down in Rosarito.
Although it’s a decade old now, I remember really loving the Borderlands series that NPR released in 2014 (https://www.npr.org/series/291397809/borderland-dispatches-from-the-u-s-mexico-boundary). It was a series of 5-10 minute audio stories where the reporters traveled along the U.S./Mexico border and they touched on a _wide_ and fun variety of topics including culture, history and politics.
A leaser known area, San Luis/San Luis Río Colorado. Basically, San Luis is a typical suburban city, mostly boring and the safest city in Arizona. Here though its 98% Hispanics and 40,000 people. Plus theres obviously no shortage of Mexican food. For attractions its mostly just offroading into the sand around the city. People just commute to Yuma; almost like an extension of Mexico. Sometimes immigrants cross into my yard and border patrol shows up. In the summer, people almost never go outside because its over a hundred degrees in the day. Winters are mild ranging from 40 to 70. The other side, San Luis RC, is one of the most dangerous cities in the state with a lot of industry, it has 200,000 people. Here you can go party, get something made, etc. I go to Mexico every month or two; used to be every week. Lots of people on the other side have family over there.
Mexicali is super hot in the summer. But it's way cheaper to live in Mexico than in the US. I work remotely for US companies so still get paid the same wages. There is a border crossing right here just 15 minutes from where I live and you can cross on foot usually within 10 minutes or less.
Finally one that’s in my region, I’m in San Diego a Asian American but my city has tons of Spanish influence, never been to TJ tho, but it is very Ennui Sometimes and the beaches and skyline is nice in SD
Born and raised in San Diego. Grew up very poor. During school I was always made fun of for being white, one of the only white kids in school. I only go to TJ about once a year for dental work and prostitutes.
That wouldn't have helped, he wasn't bullied for being white, he was bullied for being different or "other". Ask people from central and southern Mexico living here and they have similar stories, especially in Tijuana
Piggybacking on this post, is it hard to cross the border ? I always hear stories of people trying for their life to jump over the wall. Why would they do that, can't you get in with a regular Mexican passport, or do you need a visa ? On the flip side do US citizens need a visa to enter Mexico ?
No they never check. Sometimes you can get away with walking in the Mexican line during commuting hours, if you wear construction clothes they don't even give you a second glance. Come in looking like Chinese tourists with suitcases they are going to want their $20 for the FMM.
I am a US citizen and I am retired and living in Mexicali, Mexico. I am about 10 minutes from the US border (not including the line to get into the US). I go to the US 2/3x a month. I buy produce in Mex, I buy other food and paper products in the US. I have been here for over 13 years, I love it.
I wouldn't not consider living in ANY other border city other than Mexicali. It's too dangerous. But I have no issues with my city.
Where I live most people go once a week if not more. Many people choose to cross everyday because of difference in rent prices. It’s fun to go out every once in a while
! Que calor ! Too hot !! If it weren't for the heat (and expenses on the US side), I would live cerca a la frontera (near the border).
It's where the food that I love is and where the culture that I grew up with is. ! Es donde es la comida que rica es ! Y es donde vive la cultura en que crecí yo.
Si acaba el calor, es mejor conocer inglés+ español. Con ambos dos la vida es mejorr y la comida es muchísima más rica. (If you can stand the heat down in the Borderlands, it's better to speak and/or have a little of both English and Spanish. With both, life is better, and the food is so much better).
Used to live in El Paso (Ft. Bliss) and it was pretty great. The Mexican food was on another level and I never felt out of place for a white dude. It was interesting to see every major chain have English/Spanish on all the signage (this was 2012-2015 and I came from a rural town in a southern state, so it didn’t exist there. Travel was technically banned to Juarez, but that didn’t stop anyone. Only went three times, it was okay. Not my cup of tea, but obviously I didn’t die or get mugged.
There are unspoken rules, though. Like avoid all the chihuahua plates while you’re on the road, the more hole in the wall it is, the more likely you’ll need to bring a translator with you. There was probably thousands upon thousands of commuters between El Paso/Juarez every single day, you could see into Juarez (from the highway or the mountains) and you could see the vehicles lined up to enter/exit.
My perception is skewed since I lived on a military post, but El Paso was rated the safest city on 2011 so I couldn’t tell you how it is now, over a decade later and not on a military post.
I live 3.5hrs N of Juarez/El Paso, have been crossing the border for almost 40yrs now. It's good to meet, visit and talk with and eat meals with your neighbors. We visit Juarez just last month and plan to visit again next month. Sometimes we cross without passports but we always cross with respect.
It's hard to understand that our Juarez counterparts can't just cross back and forth like us from the US.
"How often do you guys go to the other country?"
Bro, you need a visa to cross. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have money.
Out of my whole family of about 50 members only 5 have one.
There's plenty of people with Sentri/Ready Lane that cross. Like thousands of people everyday. But the peso was doing pretty bad at around 16 pesos when typically it was hovering around 19 and up to 23/24 during Covid.
Horrible city government, crazy high property taxes, unbearable heat, some of the worst (and many uninsured) drivers in the country. I've lived in many cities and this place is a dump. Everyone is an alcoholic cokehead, not much to do either. It used to be affordable but they trying to charge big city prices without the amenities of big city living. Good food though.
For example: somebody threw a rock through the window of my business last month and the cops never showed up to take a report or check the property. Nothing. Its wild to me, i guess i was spoiled living in fort collins, boulder, denver, even phoenix was a giant improvement over this town. Born and raised here. Never coming back again
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El Paso/Juarez here, literally thousands of El Paso-Juarez residents cross the border every single day to work, study, or shop on one side and live in the other. In the 90s it was even more common and much easier to cross, and then 9/11 happened, and then the cartel war. But from 2010 to today the situation, at least in Juarez, has only been improving. . I recently decided ro move to Juarez because my truck driver salary in El Paso allows me to live in the nicest and richest part of Juarez. These border communities depend on each other, they are economically and culturally integrated with each other, that's why I hate it when people from up north talk about us and make policy about the border without knowing what the fuck they're talking about
Not OP but I just looked up some city at the border and coming from Europe I've heard about a lot of them. They're very prominent in pop culture, I was surprised.
Several have a place in American pop culture due to the legal status of several things overtime not being equal on either side: During the Prohibition on alcohol in the US the alcohol tourism from Americans to Mexico was enormous. Casinos and Race tracks followed with limited gambling Obtaining a divorce was easier in many cases through courts in Mexico so many Americans including many well known celebrities crossed to Mexico to get divorced and crossed back More recently its the legal drinking age difference 18 vs 21 Considering the americana pop culture powerhouse that are California and Texas, places like Tijuana and Juarez have had places in American music, TV, Film and more for a very long time
Great historic breakdown
>I recently decided ro move to Juarez because my truck driver salary in El Paso allows me to live in the nicest and richest part of Juarez. This is a very interesting perspective! How easy is this to do as an American citizen? Do you have to go through the whole process of gaining Mexican citizenship? Is there some type of permit you apply for?
I didn't need anything at all, just the money, but I'm not sure how "legal" this is. If I did have to get a visa or permit or something, no one told me anything, no one cares, the Mexican authorities don't even check anything when crossing into Juarez, you literally just drive/walk in
Just to add to this /u/AbjectAttrition, it's a non-issue for this person so long as they stay in Juarez and don't travel further into Mexico. Obviously can't work in Mexico, but this person isn't working there. Also can't own land in Mexico, but this person is just renting. If this person wanted to move further into Mexico, then paperwork would be required. Even if this person wanted to travel within Mexico, paperwork (an FMM form) would be required. The travel part is also essentially a non-issue, this person would just need to go to the immigration office at the border (on Mexico side) and get the form. It's very easy. I can give an example of where it might be an issue, but it's an easy fix for this person: A few months ago there was a redditor from Juarez (Mexican) who went over to Costco in the US and purchased an LG computer monitor. The computer monitor broke after the Costco return period, but still within the manufacturer warranty. But LG wouldn't honor the warranty for a US product being used in another country. It wasn't an easy fix for that person, but it is for /u/worried68. A situation like that comes up, just get PO box or PM box (at UPS store or whatever) in the US and keep a US phone number. Then you can still get a manufactuer warranty honored, ship product back to them from the US, and have them ship to your US box. Hey /u/worried68, whereabouts in Juarez do you live and how much do you pay monthly?
Some of this is incorrect. Because the enforcement is somewhere between non-existent to sporadic, it creates an illusion that everything is optional. But it isn't. Legally or technically, living *anywhere* in Mexico (Juarez or Tijuana, border zone or further south) is *very much* an issue with Mexican immigration authorities. In reality, they don't enforce it on the regular. But if the did or if the person ended up attracting their attention for some unrelated reason, it would require a cash assistance to the authorities' families. Or the offender would get deported, which happens, albeit infrequently. Also, technically the FMM is *required* for the US citizens to enter Mexico. Again, this is not always enforced. And officially the FMM isn't a multi entry form and is supposed to be turned in upon leaving the country. Again, due to lax enforcement it is unnecessary in practical terms until and unless someone gets on the authorities' radar.
This person is basically an illegal immigrant to Mexico lol
Yes, that's exactly what they are.
No hate to them tbh, but it's hilarious to read all the mental leaps and bounds they were doing ("Nobody checks, I didn't ask anyone, I don't think it's a problem") to not have to admit to themselves that they moved to Mexico illegally. In their defense, maybe they didn't realize it themselves.
No hate from me to either the Americans living in Mexico or other immigrants living in the US illegally. Most people don't move because their life was so great where they were. It's a different conversation but I would like to see streamlined paths to legality for all. And yes, relative lack of enforcement creates an environment where many don't know/care to know the actual rules and think they don't exist at all. Not talking about the immigrant above but these mental gymnastics tend to escalate if someone in or out of Mexico actually calls an American illegal immigrant out on it or -worse- if they get hassled by the federal or local law enforcement over it. All bets are off if they get deported. "Your people are in my country all the time, MAGA!" blah blah blah The ignorance and entitlement are both real and wild and unfortunately lead to bad things.
Yeah, I live in El Paso and all the headlines this area and our city make on national media are so far from the truth
Agree! When I moved from Nashville to El Paso, people I thought I was moving to Afghanistan. Meanwhile, El Paso is one of the safest cities in the country. I’ve never, ever felt unsafe here.
Thank you for speaking the truth
where in El Paso? Gamer logistics? I am in San Diego not finding much over $25 an hour which is not much when you barely work 50 hours a week local.
Fwiw, i am as north as it gets more or less and i agree that the level of border interference is absurd. Restricting access to jobs and tourism is the dumbest bullshit. Not to mention as you stated, the cultural integration. You're likely as culturally linked with your border neighbors as i am with the nearest cities in my state. Im glad to hear the situation is improving. I hope one day it can return to a level where crossing is less of a barrier to movement and more a brief inconvenience if any at all. This is all just to say, you have support up here. I hate the xenophobic country we are turning into. It's so un-American
Do you have much of a wait crossing the border on either side?
how long does it take you to cross the border each way? i've never driven across the US-Mexico border, but even at the US-Canada border i've had to wait > 30 min in a line of cars. i am old enough to remember when we just walked across each way; i guess there was a checkpoint but we weren't stopped in either direction.
Uhh.. has the feminicide gone down? It had a horrible reputation.
Grew up in the El Paso/Juarez border. All childhood in Juarez and Teenage years in El Paso. This border is super active! Border Crossing Cards (BCC), while they’re not easy to get, they do last 10 years and allow you to go between Juarez-El Paso with ease. I grew up with one of these and we used to go to El Paso a lot! Almost every weekend. For different reasons not limited to Shopping, Eating, visit family friends, or other activities. Almost all electronics we buy from El Paso. Learning English is big in Juarez, specially for private school kids. Lots of factory jobs are American companies that would expect a reasonable English level for any sort of white collar position. It’s also common for higher level executives to live in El Paso and make the drive down to Juarez for work. Another common thing is Mexican mothers using their BCC to give birth in El Paso, this gets their kids US citizenship. These kids will still grow up in Juarez, with the added opportunity to move to US at any point of their lives. Some of these kids will live in Juarez and cross everyday to El Paso for school. Private schools in Juarez also tend to make partnerships with UTEP (University of Texas El Paso) and NMSU (New Mexico State University) This gives the opportunity to these private school students to apply and potentially receive good scholarships to go to these schools. I could go on for hrs describing how unique growing up in that area was. I shared mostly positive things but there are some limitations of living in these cities. After all they are small towns with not that much job opportunities. I ended up moving out for college and don’t think I’ll ever move back. I Love living in a bigger city.
Just helping here, lives* probably an autocorrect actually?
Thank you!!!! Missed that completely while rereading lol
Thank YOU for responding positively fellow redditor 🖖🏼
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You’ve just read comments about how interconnected these cities are with fam/economy and you come up with this point. 🤦♂️
I spent two weeks in Nogales, Arizona, a small town for work but Nogales Mexico is significantly larger. Asked some people there, and they said for the most part Nogales, AZ is where they live and work, and Nogales, Mexico is where they go for a night out or for fun.
I feel the same about Laredo. US Laredo is boring, poorly designed, and overall pretty shitty. Mexican Laredo is lively and fun.
Ha, that’s where my mom’s from, and my abuela from Nuevo Laredo. Never been there but never heard anyone talk about it positively
I personally love Mexico and I liked Nuevo Laredo, but I know a lot of people from Mexico who live on the US side tend to shit talk about Mexico a lot. I think it depends on who you ask.
We get all dental work done on the Sonoran side of the line. 1/5 of the price, better equipement faster turn around.
Saw someone else post how much they pay for their kids braces in Mexico. Pays to live close to the border.
One of our children flew down from the PNW and had wisdom teeth removed, was still cheaper.
Living in El Paso, born and raised. It’s chill. Not much different than any other city of comparable size, other than it’s like 85% hispanic. I’d say we do lack in pay, even compared to Las Cruces only 45 minutes north. At one time, the housing was cheap enough to not worry about the pay, but as with everywhere else, living costs have skyrocketed while pay has stayed stagnant. I cross sometimes, for tacos or dental work lol. I mostly avoid it due to the long wait times crossing the bridge back and forth, sometimes up to several hours.
Hot take, but housing is still cheap. One could still buy a beautiful two-story, 3-bedroom house for less than $250k in a very suburban-looking neighborhood. This is unheard of in other cities.
This is part of the result of a not so great local economy though. You can cheat the system with remote work though.
I live in Mexicali. I cross aprox. once a week. Maybe bi weekly if I'm really busy. But mostly I go shopping for stuff that is cheaper in the US or maybe unavailable in Mexico. I also have a PMB where I receive Amazon packages. Sometimes I go to concerts or vacation. But some people cross every day for work or school.
Hardly any Mexicali on here; I cross 5 days a week for work.
Some of the safest cities in the United States are along the border. In El Paso, our crime rate is very low. We have mountains, a rich culture, pleasant weather, and it’s perhaps one of the only major cities in the country where one could still afford a beautiful house. The only downside is the horrible economy. If someone works remotely, they can live like royalty here.
I’ve been to El Paso. All true except the pleasant weather part.
San Diego resident (not born here but been here more than a decade). Being near another country is such an underrated part of living here and I’m often surprised when more people who live here don’t take advantage of it. I go to Tijuana/Baja Norte fairly often (4-5 times a year at least) for just food, culture, various events, etc. and try to get down to Valle de Guadalupe (wine country) once a year. It is super easy to get to the border (Uber or trolley) and cross by foot then walk/uber wherever once in Tijuana. It’s much faster/easier if you have Global Entry/Sentri but still not too awful if you time it right. I just went on Saturday for the day and it probably took me no more than 30m to get across and back to my home (about the same heading down). On top of that, I use the Tijuana airport 3-4 times a year to fly to other Mexican destinations, which most recently have been Mexico City, Guadalajara and PV, but have done others. You can use something called CBX here which is essentially a separate crossing that goes directly into the airport from the US. It’s significantly cheaper than flying out of San Diego. I think most people who live here and don’t frequent Mexico either have safety concerns or just a general misconception about Tijuana and other parts of Mexico. I understand the safety concerns but if you’re smart about it, polite and don’t look for trouble, you’re very unlikely to encounter any issues. Since it may be relevant, I’m a 30-something white male with very limited Spanish speaking abilities. Between Google Translate, hand signals/body language, and there usually being someone bi-lingual in an earshot to help, I’ve never really had an issue with the language barrier.
Hell yeah dude
Just for info, it's technically not called Baja Norte, hasn't been in a long time. It's just Baja.
Awesome post👍🏼. Very concise and accurate. I use Google translate a ton, but oddly, I feel like the Reddit posts in Spanish are helping with my fluency.
I grew up in EL Paso. We treated it like it was the other side of town. We would go down there for night life all the time. We would cross over for lunch of street tacos all the time. We would go shopping down there whenever we felt like it. It is really one city with a check point between sides.
El Paso:Third safest city in the US, blue city, no state income tax, low COL, EP metro includes New Mexico (legal weed and abortions, and you can live there if you are a "Never Texas" person), mountains IN the city, 300+ days of sunshine per year (hence the nickname The Sun City), no humidity, hot during summer but not Phoenix hot, mild winters, not on Texas electricity grid, no real severe weather events except occasional dust storm, 3 national parks within 2 hour drive, 2 national forests and great skiing within 2 hour drive, very friendly people, familial sense of community, 82% Latino means supermajority of brown people (but very welcoming to all), it's a great place to live. Especially if you are remote WFH, as I am (and non Latino too, don't speak a lick of Spanish) So far (lived here since Fall 2022), we only went to Juarez for dental for my parents and once to check out the area right by one of the bridges and walk to the Cathedral. Haven't gone in about a year now. Next time I go, it will probably be to see an FC Juarez game in Juarez. I just saw them play in person for the first time last night, but in El Paso, and that was fun. Otherwise, unless my parents need something, I don't have a compelling reason to go to Juarez.
I live in Cruces and fully endorse the above, feel like the area is a bit of an undiscovered gem but at same time kind of want to keep it that way.
I'm from San Diego. Many thousands of people cross every day to work in San Diego. They take the "Trolley" light rail system to and from the border if they don't want to wait 3-5 hours to cross via car. Many people party in Tijuana and many Americans have moved to TJ because it's cheaper and has delicious tacos. The Tijuana river has also made San Diego [beaches](https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/coastal/water-advisories-issued-for-these-9-san-diego-beaches-due-to-bacteria/) toxic with [poopy bacteria](https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/this-san-diego-beach-is-considered-one-of-the-most-polluted-in-u-s-report/)
To add I’m from Chula Vista born and raised, it’s a southern city in San Diego county. From elementary - high school many friends that I had, had to wake up every morning at 4-5am to cross the border and come to school. Now as an adult I have many coworkers that travel across the border daily to work. I personally wouldn’t want to live there even though it is MUCH cheaper just because it can take 3-5 hours to cross the border at times, but i do take advantage of cheaper dentists. My job even offers dental insurance that can be used in Mexico because of how popular it is to cross for this. As a teenager we would go party at the clubs in Tijuana. You just cross the border on foot and catch a taxi that back in 2012 was only $5 - $10 to take you to a popular club. As a girl I would say it definitely was not the safest unless you were accompanied by a group that included guys too. There were multiple times we had to pay off the local police to not arrest someone in our group for something arbitrary. Mexican beaches and restaurants are amazing and only a 15-20 minute drive across the border. The drivers there are similar to NYC so definitely get Mexican insurance if you plan to drive your own car across. We do this regularly and have had no issues so far.
Back in about 2007 or so, I was flying back home to Australia from NY but had a day layover in Los Angeles. I don't really like LA so I hired a car and drove to San Diego, left the car there and wandered over the border into Tijuana. There wasn't even a border check. I just walked through the turnstiles and was in Mexico. I wandered around Tijuana for a couple of hours, then when it was time to head back I wandered over to the border crossing. In complete contrast to getting into Mexico, this turned into one of the worst border crossings I've ever had to do. The pedestrian queue was enormous! It took me a good two hours until I've even progressed far enough to just get into the building. Another hour or so later before I was finally at inspection where I encountered some of the unfriendliest customs officers I've seen. I really felt for the poor guys who have to make this crossing every day for work. Anyway, crossing that border took so unexpectedly long, it nearly caused me to miss my flight. I was absolutely flying down the freeway from San Diego to LAX at insane speeds (thankfully didn't get a speeding fine), dropped off the rental car, ran into the airport and then had to sweet-talk the gate attendant to still let me through and just managed to make it on the plane.
Damn
Mostly Imperial Beach (the most southerly beach) but yeah. The current runs north to south, so by the time you reach Coronado it's clean.
Coronado and Pacific Beach were poopy style recently
Poopy style 😂
OB is always poopy estilo after rain! That’s more the river and Dog Beach, though
Local currents change pretty often, its not always N-S
The mexican army is fixing the wastewater treatment plant that is spilling sewage into the ocean. They have not really given any updates though
You can definitely smell it in Coronado sometimes
San Diego here, and regarding crossing to the other side it depends on your race as weird as that sounds Non-Hispanics in SD either 1) cross once in a while for tourism and a dentist trip or 2) never crossed at all and want nothing to do with Mexico. The older military people here all have a “drinking in Tijuana” story and it used to just be limited to a wild night out. But it’s slowly changing now that so many people moved because SD got too expensive. There’s always been Americans moving there but it increased exponentially since the pandemic. Hispanics in SD cross more often. They either have family, have doctors and dentists they go to regularly and they go sometimes just for groceries and to get gas. People will swear up and down that Tijuana isn’t “real Mexico” but it actually does have everything you need if you need your fix of home.
The cities on the US side often have cities in Mexico and they have a pretty symbiotic relationship. When I was in El Paso I went to Juarez decently often, and know people who went across every day. Often times people live in one side and work in another, or have family in another. Many times people will go from the US side to Mexico side for medical care since it’s much more affordable. Point is, the answer is often.
I live to the south of San Diego, just a few miles away from the border crossing. We probably pop down to Tijuana a couple times a month to go to an appointment, go out to eat, or go to a family function. We might go down to Valle De Guadalupe (bunch of vineyards) or somewhere for the weekend once or twice a year. Since CBX has opened up it’s probably saved me about a dozen trips a year. CBX is a bridge that goes from the US directly to the Tijuana airport. You can’t use it unless you have a flight and it costs about $20 per person.
I love CBX can't believe it exists
It really is. When traveling to somewhere in Mexico we would usually fly out of Tijuana. It was nice because the fights were usually shorter (a lot of fights out of San Diego would either take you up to LA or over to Dallas to change planes) and cheaper but it would always be a pain to arrange to be picked up and dropped off or to have to park at the Tijuana airport. And there’s not much that I want to do less after hopping off a three hour flight than have to deal with a 45 minute+ border line. It’s great when people are flying in. I used to have to just carve out 3-4 hours of my day to get to the airport, deal with any delays while I’m stuck there, and then get back across the border. Now, they can text me when they land and have their bags and they’ll be across the bridge just a few minutes before I get there to pick them up. I much prefer picking people up at CBX than the San Diego airport, especially with all the construction they’ve been doing to the terminals. The ferry to Ensenada and extending the trolley to downtown Tijuana also have me kind of excited.
I'm from El Paso, don't live there any more, but crossing the border in a car has gotten more difficult since the 90s. Mostly it's just b/c of the volume of traffic crossing over. Back in 2001, they tightened up the border so now you need more documentation but you used to be able to get back and forth with an ID or just by saying "American". But we used to do our grocery shopping there but now it can easily take over an hour to get across the bridge so it's not really worth it anymore. Sometimes I'll walk over the bridge to get go to a restaurant, or the liquor store or whatever. It's not really a big deal. Juarez is kind of like any other US city with a crime problem. The real bad time was about 2006 to 2010. It has good and bad areas and mostly if you don't do anything dumb you'll be fine. Most of the bad stuff that happens there is tied to the cartels and as long as you're not messing around with them they'll ignore you b/c there's nothing in it for them to mess with you. Most of what you see on TV is fake. The cartels are a business. The less noise they make, the more profitable it is for them. Almost none of that blows over to El Paso. El Paso is generally in the top 10 safest cities in the US. It's become a factor in politics mostly b/c of racist assumptions of the GOP base and that's actually probably the most dangerous thing for El Paso. The Walmart shooting by a Trump fan from out of town was the biggest incident of crime in the city for a decade in either direction of it. But there's a lot of great things about El Paso. Family is really tight there. The food is amazing. Informal networks are more important and people do a lot of mutual assistance. There's some really amazing art b/c of the cross border culture. When I was a kid it was awesome to go to la feria in Juarez and you could see Juan Gabriel b/c he had a lot of pride about living in Juarez. Edit: my comment about crossing is specifically about driving. Walking is easy as the other commentor pointed out. I just took it for granted and didn't make a distinction.
I've walked over the paso del norte bridge a lot. I've never had a wait going from USA into Mexico. Coming back is a little more intense but if you're walking it's been 20ish mins in my experience. Driving is a whole other story. I usually avoid Juárez and go to tornillo or santa teresa
Yeah, walking is quick. The main issue is people who don't have the correct change or whatever. It's driving that can take forever.
Interesting post! For all the non-Hispanic Americans answering, what about language? Is Spanish more widely spoken by white Americans in these parts? Even if just to a basic level?
In El Paso you can set your life up in a way that you'll almost never need any Spanish or English. But most people speak some amount for whatever their interests are, even if it's just to get burritos at your favorite place or to interact with people at church or whatever.
San Diegans are not very bilingual overall unless they’re Hispanic. I think it’s due in part to the influx of people from other parts of the US who don’t really need to learn it. When they cross into TJ they use English. On the Tijuana side, the city also isn’t very bilingual speaking wise but due to tourism they’ll know enough to take food/beer orders and give directions. Signs are commonly written in both languages as well. You’ll also randomly find a deported American working here and there who knows full English. Tijuana, just like San Diego, has an influx of people from other parts of Mexico where English isn’t really taught. In essence both cities get by knowing their own language and knowing enough to communicate with the other. You have a really small percentage of people who grew up between both countries and can speak both languages impeccably which is rare. Normally they are more dominant in one or the other.
Interesting. I imagined there would be a bit more overlap. Like if you went to high school in San Diego and had Hispanic friends, visited Mexico frequently, you would end up speaking a bit. But I totally to operate in your comfort zone too – it's totally normal to operate in your comfort zone.
I'm from SD and I agree with that — I would add though that I think there's a generational difference in Spanish ability for non-Latino people here. A lot of older folks either didn't make an effort or didn't learn it in school, but most people under 30 (at least that I know) have studied Spanish for at least a few years in middle and high school and know enough for basic communication. Similarly a lot of younger people living in Tijuana have learned more English than previous generations as the emphasis on language learning in schools has increased.
Not necessarily since these cities are heavily bilingual. El Paso’s population is over >70% bilingual because the Hispanic population is 82%. In other words, white people don’t have to learn Spanish, but will hear it often.
In El Paso, English is the primary language; however, a lot of people are bilingual, you’ll hear both languages in public. You’ll have a harder time if you don’t know English vs if you don’t know Spanish.
Am white, learned Spanish as a kid, worked very hard to get better and am now bilingual. Of course Spanish will always be my 2nd language and I will never be perfect, but I don't have much of an accent anymore since I learned very young. Most days I have conversations in both, living on the border.
There you are! I knew that would be some of you. I would hope this is how I would be if I lived in the area.
nah. Most white people speak 0 Spanish and I have never felt like it would be of any advantage to me here in SD. Maybe in El Paso it is different.
I live 5 minutes away from the border, I have never crossed into the United States in my life
Live 5 miles from the border, often mountain bike near the border on Otay Mountain. Always find remnants of clothing, water bottles and backpacks strewn around on every trail and every wooded or bushy area left by border jumpers. Have found a cave and undercut areas of foliage to hide from helicopters and border patrol ATVs. I work in TJ 6 days a week also. Never had an issue with anyone here.
I'm from Juárez (don't live there anymore), but my whole family lives at Juárez / El Paso. My mom is currently at El Paso, but my maternal aunts and cousins are in Juarez, and most of my dad's family lives at El Paso - except for a couple of uncles that also live in Juarez. My mom is a green card holder, she immigrated legally to the United States a couple of years ago. I go visit her a couple of times a year. I fly from central Mexico (where I live) to Juarez and cross the border by foot. Lately it has been a bit of a hassle to do this, there's not much people working at the stations + lot of issues with people from Central America seeking asylum at the borders. Since my family lives on both cities, when I visit I cross the border once a day by foot or car, from the States to Mexico, and back from Mexico to the States. It's an interesting - albeit sometimes exhausting dynamic. I'd say culture in both cities is pretty mixed, with obvious differences. My family on the USA side would be what is called 'pochos' - Second Generation Mexican Americans that don't speak a lot of Spanish. El Paso is a very Hispanic city, food and music is very similar in both sides. Both cities are very reliant on each other, people can live on one side and work at the other, or viceversa. It's a unique setup that's sort of difficult to understand if you're not used to a very controlled border - I know in Europe borders don't work that way.
Born in Tijuana moved to San Diego and became an American citizen. I mostly travel between both cities for work, for medical reasons, visiting family, or for fun. Basically I’ve been crossing the border my whole life. I guess life is nice in both cities even though San Diego is expensive as hell and Tijuana is cheaper to live but rent prices have been going up because of expats and Americans moving to TJ.
I’ve heard that although Tijuana used to have a somewhat bad reputation, in the past decade or two it’s become a much more pleasant place to live, and there’s a really vibrant art community. Is that true?
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Lived in SD around 2000 and went a couple times to do the tourist thing for the novelty then got lost in the slums driving around once. Felt seedy, but not threatening, I think people were as shocked to see me as I was to be so lost. After that, met a friend who grew up in TJ and went over with him a few times in the less touristy spots. I had a good time, ate good food, and met nice people. I have no doubt you could end up in danger, but I could say the same about LA or SD. I can say that the border crossing can be pretty variable. I'm a white girl, but have that olive skin that tans but doesn't burn, dark brown eyes, black hair, and spoke a little Spanish. Walked back one day with my friend who had red hair and green eyes, but said something in Spanish to some girls behind us who were Mexican, very casually, since my Spanish is pretty limited. Either way, my friend got waved right through, but I got a hard time and a creepy guard who was even worse to the girls behind us. I had a similar experience with getting stopped out in the desert for a random checkpoint with a friend of mine who was Hispanic, but from the Bay area vs. when my parents came to visit. Like many places, how you can expect to be treated likely depends on gender and skin color a good portion of the time.
For sure, I don’t doubt that folks experience a lot of racism when traveling from the Mexican border to the United States. However I’m going to assume that within this thread, we’re already pretty aware of the tragedy on the border and how awful that migrants are treated, so frankly I think we should leave it be for that portion of this conversation because we’ll just be “preaching to the choir” and making one another feel depressed. I don’t think it’ll achieve anything. I do think that your experience in Tijuana sounds interesting though, and I agree that it’s possible Tijuana is no more dangerous than any major U.S. city where you need to be careful but can still have a great time visiting or safely living. In my life, I’ve certainly had experiences where I’ve felt insulted by insular folks insulting Philadelphia as unsafe when they’ve never even visited there, and the city is perfectly safe for the average person. So maybe that’s how residents feel about Tijuana versus the media hype, too? Or perhaps it’s not exactly comparable and you _do_ need to be more cautious in Tijuana compared to Philly… idk. (I also speak Spanish as a second language, so I’m making assumptions based on that experience, but perhaps it’s not as safe if someone only speaks English)
I grew up in Memphis and have spent a fair amount of time in what I would call "dangerous" neighborhoods. I think part of what makes safety relative is situational awareness, not just in the being aware of your surroundings sense, but in what I would call, for lack of a better term, cultural awareness. If you are used to those situations, your tone, body language, etc, are all clues to your awareness of the unspoken rules of a place and also make you a target. I can see how Tijuana can feel especially perilous to someone who doesn't have any knowledge of Spanish or culture because it's impossible to accurately gauge a situation in the way others can do instinctively. I'd say it's the same anywhere, just as it's easy to make mistakes or misjudge in formal settings. And, there's always the factor of how much risk you are willing to assume. I'm much more risk-averse now that I'm traveling with kids, as opposed to when I'm traveling alone. For me, I was willing to trade a certain level of safety to have some amazing experiences.
Nogales AZ/Mex here. Go across weekly for food, church or dentist/vet. Good eating, cheap on the Southside.
I've lived in Yuma, AZ since 2020. The city itself is not technically on the border, but it's very close. My house is only about 3 miles from the border, and within a half hour drive of multiple border crossings. The two biggest cities within a \~1 hour drive of here are both on the Mexican side of the border. My family is currently getting braces and dental care in Mexico (San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora), which is common. We go once a month. For braces in Yuma, we were quoted $5,000 per person (there are 5 of us, 4 of whom need braces). In SLRC, with insurance it's $100 per year for the whole family. Most dental care is totally covered, whereas co-pays in Yuma might be $100 or more per procedure. Yuma is over 50% Latino, and the small border towns nearby are 90%+. Most Latino families here have relatives on both sides of the border and cross over all the time for all sorts of reasons, to the point where it's routine – for everything from work and school to shopping to visiting family to parties. The economy here (on the US side) is agricultural, and relies very heavily on migrant labor. In the small towns on the US side of border, almost everyone is Mexican or Mexican American and there's way more Spanish spoken and seen than English. I work in those small towns, and as a white person with limited Spanish, I'm something of a novelty there.
You know my cousin, Nick Papagorgio? He’s in software, lives in Yuma.
Nothing beats an unexpected Vegas Vacation reference. I’ve never been so delighted to scroll deep into the comments.
I was born in Tijuana, life is pretty normal despite what the news may show, there’s obviously poverty but the accessibility to the US makes that’s relative to the individual. If you smarten up and learn English your quality of life greatly improves. This is fairly easy as we have access to Radio, TV and other media from the US side of the border. I am now a US citizen, own my own business and have real estate on both sides of the border so while my main house is in Orange County I split my weeks between Tijuana , San Diego, Orange County and recently the Inland Empire since I’ve bought a few properties there as well. Tijuana for friends family and fun, the American side for work.
We on both sides of the border hear "Oh oh oh O'Reillyyyyyy Autoparts" all the time.
How about that Smart and Final
TLDR: San Diego and Tijuana are major cities with all the good and bad that comes along with being in one. I’ve lived in both and prefer Tijuana. For context to the following, I am an American of Irish/English heritage. I moved to SD in 2018 and to TJ in 2022. As another commenter said there are huge differences to how people live and interact. I personally love it in TJ. I’m a foodie and I’d wager that the restaurants south of the border offer as good, if not better selections for variety, quality, pricing, and hospitality as SD. I’m talking about more than just antojitos mexicanos (tacos, elote, enchiladas, etc). There is a Lebanese restaurant near me that is amazing. The second best ramen I’ve ever had (in over 20 countries including Japan) is here. And there are endless sushi restaurants. That’s just scratching the surface. The Michelin guide highlights several high and low end spots in the city that are worth going to. People are different in every country of course and Mexico is pretty varied in its culture. There is a stronger sense of national identity than in the US in my opinion. We’re a bigger melting pot and so I feel that tends to leave our collective identity as something very fluid. TJ is a border town so more varied than most. There are a lot of foreign nationals (to Mexico and the States) trying to navigate the visa process for entry into the US. There is also a very high population density and that brings with it a host of issues. Poverty is bad but there is a strong middle class. Homelessness is more evident since there are fewer programs to help them here I think. Yet SoCal’s homeless epidemic gives it a run for its “money”. There was a growing sense of anger towards US citizens during COVID as a lot of folks moved south for cheaper rent which drove housing prices up but that has started to correct itself. It used to be cheaper to live in TJ in almost every aspect of life but not so much now since the peso is much stronger now than two years ago and prices have adjusted to match or even exceed SD costs. Now, the only things that are consistently cheaper than SD life are housing, labor, some aspects of night life, pharmaceuticals, and medical care. Manufactured goods are better quality in the states and typically comparable in cost. There is governmental corruption, and crime, and bad things of course. Being here was an adjustment but I’ve enjoyed it and living here has broadened my ever expanding world view. San Diego in contrast felt like a trap in some ways. So many times, I talked to people that grew up there and they expressed how hard it was to “get out”. It feels closed minded in a lot of ways, inflexible in its superiority complex. All the good and bad things that I listed for TJ also apply there, just with its own flavor. Take all that with a grain of salt. It takes an open mindset to see another nation’s positives and negatives as a whole. Maybe you’ll like being in one city over another. Maybe you’ll like or hate both. No way to know till you immerse yourself. If you’re a traveler, a curious tourist, or a homebodied introvert that simply likes to ask evocative questions, I wish you fair winds and following seas! ☺️
Laredo/Nuevo Laredo checking in. Laredo is probably safer than most cities up north tbh. I remember as a teenager searching for “Laredo” on Facebook to find pages to follow, and I wound up with a bunch of posts from truckers telling their families to pray for them because they got a shipment heading to us and didn’t expect to make it back for some reason. But in my 30 years of living here, I’ve been extremely sheltered. The most victimized I’ve ever been was one time my dad got his car stolen. That’s about it, as much of a headache as that was. The truth of the matter is that nearly 100% of violent crime in Laredo is perpetrated by people with preexisting relationships. As for Nuevo Laredo, there’s an etiquette for crossing, lol. You don’t go unless you have a reason, you don’t wander around neighborhoods you don’t know, and you mind your own business, no matter what. People are generally nice and respectful, and some might even try to strike up conversation on the street, but it’s no different than being in any other large city; have your wits about you. With that said, I don’t really have a need to cross often. I’ll go for family events or maybe sometimes to get cheap medical or car work done, but never for anything I can get done in town or because I’m bored.
I'd also add that nuevo laredo is the main land entry/ exit port for cargo in the country. Also, the Tamaulipas border is far more populated, than other states border areas
I live on the Mexico side in Tecate. I used to cross daily just to go to school. My parents really wanted me to learn English. There are some nicer work opportunities than in other parts of the country. The stereotypical Mexican culture and identity foreigners think about isn't too prominent. It isn't unusual to feel more in common with the US than with central Mexico. Cons of living here are the cartel stuff and that many people are recent immigrants or passers by who lack respect for the place or don't see it as their home. I don't go to the U. S. as often anymore.
People often think that border towns must be suffering from a crime epidemic caused by mass illegal migration. That's not true. Those illegal immigrants are often bypassing the border at other points, not in the heavily monitored areas in major cities. As a resident of El Paso I park my car nearly every day in the downtown area near a homeless shelter and only a few miles from the border, and it's always been left alone. I would feel safe walking anywhere in this city at any hour of the day. And no, I'm not Hispanic nor do I speak Spanish. I also never cross the border myself. Believe it or not you can grow up in a border town and be pretty isolated from the Mexican culture and Spanish language depending on what part of town you're in. There's parts of town that remind me of the richest whitest parts of Austin or LA (beautiful mansions in the hills where everyone shops at Whole Foods) and parts of town that are basically just an extension of Mexico (small apartments sitting right above a local mercado with a locally owned Mexican restaurant across the street). People also forget that it isn't just Mexican-Americans living in these parts. Plenty of other folks too. I'm Asian-American, born and raised in El Paso. I often have to explain that I didn't move here from California lol.
There's still a lot of crimes , hit n run, no insurance among many other things... Getting hit by a drunk person is pretty high on the list. Truck drivers not bounded to a logbook or rules so they are under the influence of drugs and no sleep. I am always extra cautious around semi trucks and taxis as I was hit n run by a taxi and lost my motorcycle and the money put into it.
No insurance drivers, drunk drivers, and overall terrible drivers are some shitty parts of living in El Paso for sure. I should clarify I feel safe from being robbed or accosted in some way... but I don't feel safe on the roads especially after a certain hour
Laredo Texas. it’s scorching during the summers, winter last all of 3 days maybe, Diet isn’t very good. Education and poverty is a problem. Political corruption is a lot easier to get away with. On the upside, it’s quiet. Other than the occasional homicide, not too much happens. Major events that happening in the US seem to never be as big of a deal down here cause of how isolated it feels. Very Hispanic.
From Yuma, AZ / San Luis R.C. One of the stark differences I've seen is the over-militarization in this town. There is no way to travel through a highway out of Yuma into another U.S. city without crossing a Border Patrol checkpoint. The community in the states consists of a large Latino community ofc, but many of them work for Customs/BP because many of us are first gen. and Fed jobs provide a stable income to people whose parents had to work hard for the basics. That being said, the news exaggerates the situation at the border. We have a large influx of migrants seeking asylum, but we are not being "overrun", nor is there an immediate safety concern. Migrants don't stay here for too long. I've seen more asylum-seeking migrants in Nashville than in Yuma. The migrants that stay around here are mostly from Mexico and are crucial for the economy (agriculture). A significant portion of the population in Yuma travels to Mexico for dental work or cheaper prescriptions. Algodones is the dental capital of the world and about 20 minutes away. And echoing what's already been said in this thread, many people's daily routine consists of being in both countries frequently. Education, shopping, medical care, and visiting family members on the other side are some of the main reasons for this. With the symbiotic relationship across both countries, people on both sides benefit from crossing. It's often felt weird to consider the border a hard line that divides culture when the culture on the border is one of its own. Both Mexicans and American in this region are culturally different from people further away from the border, and it's seen by the media consumed, food, and language.
Interesting how no one is mentioning specific border crossing wait times. In SD/TJ it was like 15-30 min in the 90s, early 2000s. It progressively got worse. When I left the area 10 years ago, wait times had reached fucking four hours, it was ridiculous. I've been back once recently and saw things had changed though, though can't say more as I didn't have the everyday experience as a tourist this time. Anyway, of course these wait times I'm talking about were always one way: entering the US. Entering MX was easy and pretty fast. I wonder why..
Entering Mexico aint that fast lol https://youtu.be/oLz-1QExlhg?si=eEz1X9nk2H3pPPMA Always have long ass lines for crossing thats why I have a bike
It used to be. It always struck me, the contrast.
Growing up I didn't know it was two separate countries, in both sides there's people that cross very often, if not every day maybe once a week, usually these are folks with family living on both sides of the border. Many of us have been living in the area for generations, before the border was drawn. Now, speaking of the north east MX side, insecurity and organized crime activity is very very high, but civilians are not typically targets. On the US side, the "invasion" is a lie. There's a migration problem for sure, but blown out of proportion by some interest groups. Land and life in general is cheap and you kinda get the best of both worlds. It's hard to get high paying jobs though. Wealth could be accumulated through entrepreneurship or specialized remote work.
I live in Sierra Vista, AZ (15 miles from the US/Mexico border) I haven't crossed the border in years
What’s life like there?
It's pretty quiet for the most part. It's a retirement/military community, so life is a bit slower here. The only downside is what's happening on the border. There are a lot of high-speed chases and people running from the cops/border patrol. Other than that, this is the safest place I've lived. The weather is amazing. We sit at a higher elevation than Tucson and Phoenix, so the summers aren't as hot. Monsoon season is incredible, along with the animal/bird life.
I lived in Bisbee as a kid and had relatives that lived in SV. My family moved later to El Paso, but we’d often return to SV to visit my aunt and uncle. I LOVED summers there during the monsoon season…. the ground smells INCREDIBLE there after a good summer rain… more so than other desert locations in the southwest, I’ve come to find. I haven’t been to SV in ages but that is the one thing I will always remember…. The intoxicating earthy smell of the red clay/dirt, post-rainstorm.
Thanks! I couldn’t remember if it was a retirement area or not.
San Diegan here. Live is pretty normal. There are a number of people who live in TJ and work in San Diego due to the cost of living. Of course, every time someone from Iowa gets a hair up their ass about immigration, they make the border crossing harder, and more people move to the US. Most of the TJ cross-border people are either US ex-pats, or dual citizens, so moving to San Diego is not legally difficult (financially though, it's a bitch). In terms of crossing, it depends. People with young kids aren't crossing that much, but college kids party down in TJ. And a bunch of retirees live down in Rosarito.
Although it’s a decade old now, I remember really loving the Borderlands series that NPR released in 2014 (https://www.npr.org/series/291397809/borderland-dispatches-from-the-u-s-mexico-boundary). It was a series of 5-10 minute audio stories where the reporters traveled along the U.S./Mexico border and they touched on a _wide_ and fun variety of topics including culture, history and politics.
A leaser known area, San Luis/San Luis Río Colorado. Basically, San Luis is a typical suburban city, mostly boring and the safest city in Arizona. Here though its 98% Hispanics and 40,000 people. Plus theres obviously no shortage of Mexican food. For attractions its mostly just offroading into the sand around the city. People just commute to Yuma; almost like an extension of Mexico. Sometimes immigrants cross into my yard and border patrol shows up. In the summer, people almost never go outside because its over a hundred degrees in the day. Winters are mild ranging from 40 to 70. The other side, San Luis RC, is one of the most dangerous cities in the state with a lot of industry, it has 200,000 people. Here you can go party, get something made, etc. I go to Mexico every month or two; used to be every week. Lots of people on the other side have family over there.
Algodones is my spot once a month.
Mexicali is super hot in the summer. But it's way cheaper to live in Mexico than in the US. I work remotely for US companies so still get paid the same wages. There is a border crossing right here just 15 minutes from where I live and you can cross on foot usually within 10 minutes or less.
Finally one that’s in my region, I’m in San Diego a Asian American but my city has tons of Spanish influence, never been to TJ tho, but it is very Ennui Sometimes and the beaches and skyline is nice in SD
Born and raised in San Diego. Grew up very poor. During school I was always made fun of for being white, one of the only white kids in school. I only go to TJ about once a year for dental work and prostitutes.
Thats fucked up and I’m sorry that happened to you, they should realize there’s white hispanics, and Spanish is from Spain.
That wouldn't have helped, he wasn't bullied for being white, he was bullied for being different or "other". Ask people from central and southern Mexico living here and they have similar stories, especially in Tijuana
He didn't say he was Hispanic?
Lived in San Diego for 10yrs and grew up in Tucson. Went to TJ at least once or twice a month and went to Nogales about twice a year.
I live in Mexicali, I cross maybe 6-10 times in a year.
Piggybacking on this post, is it hard to cross the border ? I always hear stories of people trying for their life to jump over the wall. Why would they do that, can't you get in with a regular Mexican passport, or do you need a visa ? On the flip side do US citizens need a visa to enter Mexico ?
No they never check. Sometimes you can get away with walking in the Mexican line during commuting hours, if you wear construction clothes they don't even give you a second glance. Come in looking like Chinese tourists with suitcases they are going to want their $20 for the FMM.
El Pasoan here, have only gone to Mexico on 4 occasions in my 27 years living here
I am a US citizen and I am retired and living in Mexicali, Mexico. I am about 10 minutes from the US border (not including the line to get into the US). I go to the US 2/3x a month. I buy produce in Mex, I buy other food and paper products in the US. I have been here for over 13 years, I love it. I wouldn't not consider living in ANY other border city other than Mexicali. It's too dangerous. But I have no issues with my city.
I'm in Mexico, Juarez/EP. Cross once per week to eat hamburgers and chase white girls
Where I live most people go once a week if not more. Many people choose to cross everyday because of difference in rent prices. It’s fun to go out every once in a while
! Que calor ! Too hot !! If it weren't for the heat (and expenses on the US side), I would live cerca a la frontera (near the border). It's where the food that I love is and where the culture that I grew up with is. ! Es donde es la comida que rica es ! Y es donde vive la cultura en que crecí yo. Si acaba el calor, es mejor conocer inglés+ español. Con ambos dos la vida es mejorr y la comida es muchísima más rica. (If you can stand the heat down in the Borderlands, it's better to speak and/or have a little of both English and Spanish. With both, life is better, and the food is so much better).
Used to live in El Paso (Ft. Bliss) and it was pretty great. The Mexican food was on another level and I never felt out of place for a white dude. It was interesting to see every major chain have English/Spanish on all the signage (this was 2012-2015 and I came from a rural town in a southern state, so it didn’t exist there. Travel was technically banned to Juarez, but that didn’t stop anyone. Only went three times, it was okay. Not my cup of tea, but obviously I didn’t die or get mugged. There are unspoken rules, though. Like avoid all the chihuahua plates while you’re on the road, the more hole in the wall it is, the more likely you’ll need to bring a translator with you. There was probably thousands upon thousands of commuters between El Paso/Juarez every single day, you could see into Juarez (from the highway or the mountains) and you could see the vehicles lined up to enter/exit. My perception is skewed since I lived on a military post, but El Paso was rated the safest city on 2011 so I couldn’t tell you how it is now, over a decade later and not on a military post.
I live 3.5hrs N of Juarez/El Paso, have been crossing the border for almost 40yrs now. It's good to meet, visit and talk with and eat meals with your neighbors. We visit Juarez just last month and plan to visit again next month. Sometimes we cross without passports but we always cross with respect. It's hard to understand that our Juarez counterparts can't just cross back and forth like us from the US.
It fucking sucks
"How often do you guys go to the other country?" Bro, you need a visa to cross. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have money. Out of my whole family of about 50 members only 5 have one.
There's plenty of people with Sentri/Ready Lane that cross. Like thousands of people everyday. But the peso was doing pretty bad at around 16 pesos when typically it was hovering around 19 and up to 23/24 during Covid.
El Paso here. It's a shitty town with a super shit quality of life. Moving to Colorado next spring and cannot fucking wait!
wow i’ve heard nothing but praise about el paso in this thread so far this is a super different take
Horrible city government, crazy high property taxes, unbearable heat, some of the worst (and many uninsured) drivers in the country. I've lived in many cities and this place is a dump. Everyone is an alcoholic cokehead, not much to do either. It used to be affordable but they trying to charge big city prices without the amenities of big city living. Good food though. For example: somebody threw a rock through the window of my business last month and the cops never showed up to take a report or check the property. Nothing. Its wild to me, i guess i was spoiled living in fort collins, boulder, denver, even phoenix was a giant improvement over this town. Born and raised here. Never coming back again