Tijuana Travel Guide
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17 miles S of San Diego
Like many large cities in developing nations, Tijuana is a mixture of new and old, rich and poor, modern and traditional. With about 2 million people -- many of them transient -- it's the second-largest city on the west coast of North America; only Los Angeles is larger. The maquiladoras -- foreign-owned factories where appliances, furniture, and other goods are assembled by poorly paid, often underage workers and with little environmental or labor oversight -- thrive here like no other place in Mexico, providing the U.S. and other countries with bargain imports. The Mexico you may be expecting -- charming town squares and churches, women in colorful embroidered skirts and blouses, bougainvillea spilling over walls -- is found in a different guidebook (if you plan to spend a few days here or in Baja California, pick up a copy of Frommer's Portable Los Cabos & Baja).
What you will find in Tijuana is a local populace that seems no more or less happy than their north-of-the-border counterparts. Yes, there is poverty, though less visible than a decade ago, and often nerve-wracking sanitary conditions, but the city is a more vibrant cultural center than many visitors expect. You won't really see this aspect unless you venture away from Avenida Revolucion -- the prime tourist strip -- and Mexico's fourth-largest city is undeniably also a thriving business center. Much of the tourism that Tijuana generates is by under-21 types looking for a place to buy cheap liquor, as well as pharmacy traffic. Drugstores offer all manner of pills, either not conventionally or not inexpensively available in the U.S., including Viagra, sold (seemingly) by the bucketful.
Note that, in the post-9/11 era, the border crossing can be an ordeal.
