Xanadu : Gringo :
Touristic Information.
What Does the A.A.A. Say About TJ ?
WARNING: This INFORMATION is NOT by DANIEL or MICHAEL.
BEware the BIas.
Copyright 1998 DeLorme. Copyright 1998 American Automobile Association.
Tijuana (tee-HWAH-nah), some 29 kilometers (18 miles) south of San Diego, is the main U.S. point of entry to Baja California. A booming tourism industry has helped transform this former tawdry border town into a bustling metropolis of high-rise buildings, broad boulevards and an extraordinary assortment of shops, restaurants and bars aimed squarely at the thundering hordes of incoming visitors. ''The World's Most Visited City'' (as its boosters optimistically proclaim) extends for more than a dozen miles along the international border; its downtown core is less than a mile from the United States and about 6 miles inland from the Pacific Coast.
Tijuana is a window to Mexico, although it's not necessarily typical of how the rest of the country lives. It benefits from geographical location. To the north is San Diego, linked to the city via two border crossings. The bustling port city of Ensenada lies an hour south. To the east via Mex. 2 is the Baja California state capital, Mexicali.
Tijuana, often referred to as ''TJ,'' is the farthest point in the country from Mexico City and does indeed seem apart. The area was settled relatively recently in comparison to other areas of Mexico--the 1860s--although the region has been inhabited by indigenous peoples for centuries. The city's name is derived from ''Tia Juana,'' a former 10,000-hectare working ranch. When Mexico lost Upper California to the United States as a result of the Mexican-American War in 1848, the area around the ranch became the new border between the two countries. Along the way Tia Juana progressed from grazing grounds to customs house to genuine, albeit rickety, town.
The city's urban beginnings date from 1889, when the streets of the central downtown area were laid out. Californians first filtered across the border to watch horse races and boxing matches, shop around for souvenirs and enjoy hot springs bathing. Northwestern Baja has welcomed Golden State residents seeking an easily accessible weekend retreat ever since.
The 1920s brought important changes. Prohibition fueled tremendous growth as well as Tijuana's sinful reputation for drinking, gambling and worse. Hollywood movie stars and the indolently rich jetted into the city, congregating at the Agua Caliente Racetrack and its neighboring resort. Upon Prohibition's repeal and the Great Depression's onset, the resort folded, the jetsetters moved on and Tijuana slumped. President Lázaro Cárdenas' administration closed down the casinos in the 1930s, furthering the city's decline. The government did, however, designate all of Baja California a duty-free port, and shoppers began flocking to Tijuana in search of bargains.
U.S. servicemen kept alive the city's reputation as a bawdy center for illicit fun. Reform laws instituted in the 1930s began curbing some of the more undesirable aspects, but it was not until the 1960s that city leaders took steps to create a more family-friendly image for Tijuana.
Meanwhile, industrial expansion in the post-World War II era contributed to renewed growth. Mexican immigrants from all over the country came to Tijuana in search of jobs, higher wages, a better standard of living and perhaps the opportunities waiting beyond the border in California's rich agricultural industry. The population tripled between 1940 and 1950. According to the 1990 Mexican Census the city's official population was just under 700,000; it is estimated, however, that some 1,500,000 people crowd the metropolitan region, making Tijuana Mexico's fourth largest urban area. Millions more pour back and forth across the San Ysidro border crossing--said to be the world's busiest--each year, and the resulting combination of tourism, manufacturing and commerce places Tijuana among the top visitor attractions on the West Coast.
In the decades since 1970 the city really began reaping the rewards of a vast, money-spending gringo population just across the border. College students and weekend tourists flock to Tijuana to shop, play golf, have dinner, bet on sports and party the night away, although not all at once. International visitors are attracted by the opportunity to purchase expensive foreign goods at discounted prices. City boosters have so far failed, however, to move Tijuana beyond its image as a day-trip destination. While the city receives 10 times as many annual visitors as Cancún, its challenge is to keep them for more than an afternoon.
Tijuana is a hybrid--it's an Americanized place where English is widely spoken, yet has the curiosity appeal of a foreign country. It is also a city of contrasts. When viewed from the United States side, Tijuana looks decidedly ramshackle. Much of the central downtown area, however, is booming, vibrant and newly constructed. In the fashionable Zona Rio district, Paseo de los Héroes (roughly, ''avenue of heroes'') is lined with substantial hotels and office buildings, testaments to the city's prosperity. The name refers to the statues of historical figures--among them Aztec ruler Cuauhtémoc and U.S. President Abraham Lincoln--standing in the center of several traffic circles.
The passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has furthered the proliferation of foreign-owned businesses, the majority of them attracted by Tijuana's low production costs; an educated, relatively cheap labor force; and a prime location. Maquiladoras--the term for foreign-owned manufacturing operations--have been springing up here and at other Mexican border areas over the last several decades. One example is the Otay Mesa Industrial District, a sprawling conglomeration of plants southeast of the same-named border crossing. Goods of all kinds are churned out of Tijuana factories, including several million TV sets each year; the big electronics manufacturers have all set up shop in the city.
Not all is rosy. Away from the familiar tourist areas are grimy warehouses. Uncontrolled growth without an underlying infrastructure has resulted in the rise of glum shantytowns, or colonias, which spread across the low hills east, west and south of downtown. Political violence has visited the city as well. The 1994 assassination of Luis Donaldo Colosio, the handpicked presidential candidate of Mexico's ruling governmental party, occurred at a Tijuana political rally and underscored the economic pressures being felt by many Mexicans.
Although industry has dramatically changed the city's face, tourism still bolsters the local economy, and Tijuana has shed some of the tackier aspects of its enduring appeal as a Mexican vacation spot. Avenida Revolución, the main street and traditional tourist zone, once was lined with cheap souvenir stands, rowdy bars and sleazy strip joints. While many endearingly kitschy curio shops remain, much of the street has been extensively cleaned up. Benches along tree-shaded brick walkways invite idling--if only for a moment.
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Getting Around
Busses /
Taxis
Walking
Bicycling
Disabled
Leaving Town
Things to See.
Revolution Avenue.
Eating
Movies
Museums/Galleries
Markets/Swap Meets
Shopping Malls
SHOPPING!
Drinking
Buying Liquor
Baja California wine
Cigarettes
Customs/Border
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