Opinion Archive

What to Make of TJ

May 7, 2008

Tijuana, “TJ”, or the former “Rancho de la Tía Juana” (literally, “aunt Juana’s ranch”) bills itself as the most visited city in the world. The constant lines of thousands of cars crossing into and out of the city bear witness to this. The city is Mexico’s 6th largest and it is one of the most important manufacturing centers in the world for things like refrigerators and televisions, with around 600 maquiladora plants. And it needs a little help.

The Other California

As I-5 ends and Tijuana begins, the contrast is not so much one of poverty (which isn't immediately discernible), but the intensity of the urban sprawl that surrounds the monumental Mexican flag. Then there's the fact that the city seems scrunched up against the border, with a major two-lane thoroughfare following the older of two American fences, from the San Ysidro border crossing to where the avenue turns southward to go along the Pacific as a (very good) four lane toll road. That is the road you take to go to the beachside developments that are branding themselves as “Baja North”.

Driving parallel to the US side, with its open spaces, the dense cityscape of sprawl just comes to a halt at the corrugated metal fence. There is empty land on the US side, as well as a second, concrete, fence and tower-based banks of lights.

Tijuana has much urban blight, but there are large areas of the city that have modern office buildings and wide tree-lined boulevards. Walking into a Starbucks there felt much like walking into one in San Diego.
The Baja Californian Pacific coastline is rugged and beautiful. Large stretches of it are very similar to the Pacific Coast Highway/101 that is the main coastal highway of US California. Condominium prices are about 70% lower, however, and it is easy to see why people like Trump have plans for the area.

A promise unfulfilled

But residential tourism there is currently languishing because of 4 problems: 1) ever-longer waiting periods to cross back into the US, 2) violence in Tijuana, 3) the sub-prime economic crisis next door, 4) the unplanned, poor, mess of a city that makes up most the border town’s sprawl.

You get the feeling that if Puerto Vallarta, or even Monterrey were there instead of Tijuana, the area would have better prospects.

TJ doesn't feel overtly dangerous and the people are friendly and hard working. But groups of narco-traffickers just killed each other there to the tune of 14 people and you are reminded of the subtle warning from that old Steely Dan song about a weekend in TJ: "it's cheap... but it's not free."

The front page of the San Diego Union-Tribune a week after the massacre had an above-the-fold picture of a Mexican Military Hummer with a declaration by Mexican authorities that they “will win the war”. Americans are scared of Tijuana.

Then there are the interminable lines of cars to get back to the US. Customs and Border Protection currently has 320,000 people registered in its three “trusted traveler programs” that includes expedited border crossing from Mexico and Canada. SENTRI (“Secure Electronic Network for Traveler’s Rapid Inspection”) is the Mexican land border system, but so many people now have the RFID-tagged card that there are lineups in their special lanes, as well. With about 50 million people (17 million vehicles) crossing into the US every year through its gates, plans to double capacity at San Ysidro are running very late.

Two things need to be done for Tijuana to begin to fulfill its promise as a prime destination and a decent home for its residents. The first is for Mexican authorities to make Tijuana a test case for success in the war against organized crime. With new well-meaning PAN government officials at both the city and state level, as well as potential help from US government agencies and plenty of Mexican federal money, success is possible for Tijuana. Even if it takes curfews and emergency powers to finally leave the city with a strong and honest police presence, it can be done.

The second is to create a desirable destination. Flying through Los Cabos (800 miles away) after visiting Tijuana, the contrast was striking, with an overflow of happy Americans returning and arriving. Like the regenerated “Gaslamp” quarter in neighboring San Diego, “Baja North” needs to create an attractive story for itself, with top-notch restaurants, hotels and entertainment, not just gated condominium communities. If possible, a third border crossing (cost: about US$50 million), next to the beach, that would be exclusive to the new Baja North destination town and its development corridor, would avoid the urban blight of Tijuana proper, which anecdotal evidence suggests is a major detraction for US (and wealthy Mexican) tourists.

The results of these two significant but not impossible efforts would be practically guaranteed to pay off in spades. Just look at the other California.

For the latest thought-provoking article by Agustin Barrios Gomez please go to our Opinion Column page

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