# For those contemplating a move to the Tijuana area



## mes1952 (Dec 11, 2012)

If you live in (or considering moving to) the Tijuana area check this map showing criminal activity. 
Notice that even Playas de Tijuana is not safe anymore.
Crímenes invaden zonas 'seguras'


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

mes1952 said:


> If you live in (or considering moving to) the Tijuana area check this map showing criminal activity. Notice that even Playas de Tijuana is not safe anymore. CrÃ*menes invaden zonas 'seguras'


Tijuana has never been safe. For those about to say otherwise, think it twice before you do. Tijuana is an ugly unsafe bordertown


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

GARYJ65 said:


> Tijuana has never been safe. For those about to say otherwise, think it twice before you do. Tijuana is an ugly unsafe bordertown


How much time have you spent in Tijuana? I am curious about the basis for your comment.


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## buzzbar (Feb 9, 2013)

Particularly bad is that super dangerous Playas de Tijuana. Everywhere you turn, all you can see is ugliness....


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

TundraGreen said:


> How much time have you spent in Tijuana? I am curious about the basis for your comment.


I Used to have relatives there. I really know what I am saying. 
I dont think anyone may say it is a peaceful safe, cultural nice Mexican town


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## mes1952 (Dec 11, 2012)

Buzzbar...Yep Playas is a peaceful pretty area Especially if you happen to see one of the severed heads that were found in the Playas area recently. That photo looks like something the Mexican Tourism agency would publish in their slick magazines/websites. I lived in TJ so don't consider it a "beautiful" town by any stretch of the imagination. And your car (and house/apt) will always be dirty with the pollution. And the beaches in the area are some of the most polluted in the country.


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## mes1952 (Dec 11, 2012)

I lived there in 2010-2011 when crime had subsided for awhile. Back then Playas was considered "safer" than other parts but not now as shown on that crime map. If you read the Tijuana news (in Spanish) there are daily murders everwhere and Playas is not immune from the news either.


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

GARYJ65 said:


> I Used to have relatives there. I really know what I am saying.


Even for a Mexican national, this is not much knowledge of Tijuana.


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## buzzbar (Feb 9, 2013)

mes1952 said:


> the beaches in the area are some of the most polluted in the country.


As I’m sure you’re aware, Semarnat take regular sea water samples from beaches around the country and publish the results. I'm looking at the latest figures, from March this year, and comparing Playas de Tijuana water quality with places like Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, Veracruz, Acapulco (of course) and Mazatlan. If what you say is true, I guess I must be totally misunderstanding the figures...... :confused2:


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

buzzbar said:


> As I’m sure you’re aware, Semarnat take regular sea water samples from beaches around the country and publish the results. I'm looking at the latest figures, from March this year, and comparing Playas de Tijuana water quality with places like Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, Veracruz, Acapulco (of course) and Mazatlan. If what you say is true, I guess I must be totally misunderstanding the figures...... :confused2:





mes1952 said:


> Buzzbar...Yep Playas is a peaceful pretty area Especially if you happen to see one of the severed heads that were found in the Playas area recently. That photo looks like something the Mexican Tourism agency would publish in their slick magazines/websites. I lived in TJ so don't consider it a "beautiful" town by any stretch of the imagination. And your car (and house/apt) will always be dirty with the pollution. And the beaches in the area are some of the most polluted in the country.


I suppose it depends on what it means when someone says the "beaches … are … most polluted". Does that mean the water is polluted or the beaches are littered with trash. "Polluted" sounds like the water. The study linked above make some of the Acapulco beaches look far worse than Tijuana.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

What bothers me about the Mexican site is they used to use different dates where numbers were much worse but now the tests are done before the Easter and Christmas Vacations happen and before the big rainy season begin...


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## buzzbar (Feb 9, 2013)

I’ve read there’s actually a bit of skullduggery going on with these Semarnat reports in many ways, but I think they’re useful for basic purposes like this, to show that Playas de Tijuana having polluted seawater is just a common misconception that you hear often from people who rely on info from relatives or memories of time spent there years ago. 

Beauty is subjective of course, but if people take the time to look at relevant available facts, it's clear Tijuana isn't as bad as some try to paint it. Along with anecdotal experiences of an individual that usually aren't reflective of the broader reality, there are two other factors that count against Tijuana. 

First is the number of media articles that quote raw numbers, rather than rates. Tijuana is a city of 1.3 million people, so if you’re looking for negative stats it usually isn’t hard to quote numbers about Tijuana that on the surface look alarming. But when you convert the figures to, say, a rate per 100,000 people it usually tells a very different story. 

Secondly, there will always be periodic spikes in the violence and murder rate due to skirmishes between local drug operators. For example May this year saw a battle for control of the drug trade in Zona Norte, the red light district. It was a localized battle between local cells. So no way I’d be wandering around Zona Norte at night, but the fact that two people murdered as part of this intra-Cartel fight had their heads removed and later dumped by the side of the road leading to Playas de Tijuana certainly doesn’t make me think that Playas has suddenly turned unsafe. 

Like every town and city in Mexico I guess, where you’ll be happy depends on what you’re looking for. If a Mexican dream is all about historic colonial buildings and impressive architecture, or a quiet sleepy life in a small town, or living in a huge ****** enclave with all the comforts of the old country, then Tijuana isn’t a place you’ll enjoy.

But if you’re looking for a place with a bit of an edge and excitement to it, somewhere that has a world renowned culinary scene, where the arts and music are flourishing and your comfort level is such that you’re not frightened off by the fact that it’s a border city and will always have issues of cartels and drugs, then Tijuana just might be a place you’ll love.


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## Meritorious-MasoMenos (Apr 17, 2014)

With all this back and forth, what is the climate of Tijuana like? It is nearly identical to its neighbor San Diego, 360 days of sunshine, mid-80s and low humidity? If not, what?


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

joaquinx said:


> Even for a Mexican national, this is not much knowledge of Tijuana.


I guess I don't want to get started on writing about all the bad things of Tijuana.
I could wear out my iPad screen


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

GARYJ65 said:


> I guess I don't want to get started on writing about all the bad things of Tijuana.
> I could wear out my iPad screen


Oh, come on, Gary, just give us a couple of examples. For me the worst thing about Tijuana would be that it's so close to the US and so far away from the rest of Mexico!


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## buzzbar (Feb 9, 2013)

Meritorious-MasoMenos said:


> With all this back and forth, what is the climate of Tijuana like? It is nearly identical to its neighbor San Diego, 360 days of sunshine, mid-80s and low humidity? If not, what?


But you gotta at least admit the climate is nice Gary! San Diego has temperature variations in the valleys, further up the coast and inland, but if you compare San Diego downtown’s climate to Tijuana there wouldn’t be much difference. Sunny, mild the year round, not much rain and never oppressively hot. The days on the coast often start out with some fog for a couple of hours before the sun breaks thru. And it’s a dry heat – I can’t stand humidity and can only recall about five days in the past year where Tijuana's got a bit hot and steamy.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> Oh, come on, Gary, just give us a couple of examples. For me the worst thing about Tijuana would be that it's so close to the US and so far away from the rest of Mexico!


Other than being unsafe, ugly, not cultural, border town, narco nest, with not the nicest cultured people living or visiting?


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

GARYJ65 said:


> Other than being unsafe, ugly, not cultural, border town, narco nest, with not the nicest cultured people living or visiting?


unsafe - Could be said of many cities, north and south of border
ugly - A subjective opinion
not cultural - It does seem to lack a central plaza and the history of some places
border town - Hard to debate that
narco nest - See unsafe
not the nicest people - This seems really unfair. There must be lots of nice people in TJ, just as there are probably some nice people in DF.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

TundraGreen said:


> unsafe - Could be said of many cities, north and south of border ugly - A subjective opinion not cultural - It does seem to lack a central plaza and the history of some places border town - Hard to debate that narco nest - See unsafe not the nicest people - This seems really unfair. There must be lots of nice people in TJ, just as there are probably some nice people in DF.


You see why I did not want to elaborate in the subject?
I rest my case


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## Meritorious-MasoMenos (Apr 17, 2014)

GARYJ65 said:


> Other than being unsafe, ugly, not cultural, border town, narco nest, with not the nicest cultured people living or visiting?


Wow, thanks for the recommendation. I've got to go back and spend more time there.


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## xolo (May 25, 2014)

TundraGreen said:


> unsafe - Could be said of many cities, north and south of border
> ugly - A subjective opinion
> not cultural - It does seem to lack a central plaza and the history of some places
> border town - Hard to debate that
> ...


Much of this could be said of Los Angeles. Plus, LA is much larger, congested with traffic, and has high cost yet low quality housing. Basically, the Hollywood image is misleading. The Hollywood image of TJ is misleading too, perhaps in the opposite direction.


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## buzzbar (Feb 9, 2013)

TundraGreen said:


> not the nicest people - This seems really unfair.


When you give the full quote: "not the nicest, cultured people", you can't help wondering if a little snobbery is sometimes involved when it comes to opinions of Tijuana (shades of a certain American's prejudiced remarks!)


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

buzzbar said:


> When you give the full quote: "not the nicest, cultured people", you can't help wondering if a little snobbery is sometimes involved when it comes to opinions of Tijuana (shades of a certain American's prejudiced remarks!)


Which American is that? Gary is Mexican.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

I think he meant Donald Trump.


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## Meritorious-MasoMenos (Apr 17, 2014)

Well, Tijuana doesn't hold any monopoly on brutal crime. As a former long time resident of the Washington DC area, I keep in contact, and on July 4th, we had one of the most savage murders, which happened at 1 pm on a nearly full subway. It took place amid the usual overflowing crowds heading to the Mall for fireworks - ya gotta get there early for the best seats. I've ridden the route many times, and on that time of day, on that holiday, everyone would've assumed it's as safe as sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom.

Horrified passengers witnessed brutal July 4 slaying aboard Metro car - The Washington Post

Can you top this, Tijuana?


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