Crime, Safety, and the Police

[SenorTJ]

I saw that a month ago. There's parking near the hotels, motel 6, it's just side of the road, and a mile or so walk to the border. I'd leave the car window open though. A window is hundreds to replace and I've had them break two at once.

I've yet to see anyone using the bike lane. These used to be good free spots for late night quick runs.

Another fine example of how a government action has constrained supply and forced up prices.

FYI: I left my car in the parking lot with the Ross one time, had too much fun and came back a little late, around 11 pm-- it was towed at 10 pm. Cost me about $180 and over an hour waiting for the tow lot to open up.

[Travv]

Associated Press MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Sat, Oct 19 12:05 PM PDT.

EL AGUAJE, Mexico (AP) — The Mexican city of Culiacan lived under drug cartel terror for 12 hours as gang members forced the government to free a drug lord's son, but in many parts of Mexico, the government ceded the battle to the gangs long ago. . .

But in state after state, the Mexican government long ago relinquished effective control of whole towns, cities and regions to the drug cartels.

"They are the law here. If you have a problem, you go to them. They solve it quickly," said a young mother in the town of El Aguaje, in western Michoacan state. El Aguaje is so completely controlled by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel that the young wife of lime-grove worker. Who would not give her name for fear of reprisals. Can't turn to police: They are too afraid to enter the town.

In some cases, the government has even defended cartel boundaries, apparently as part of its strategy of avoiding bloodshed at all costs.

The cartel grip in Tamaulipas was so firm by 2011 that Zetas gunmen were able to kidnap almost 200 people from passing buses and kill them even as the passengers' unclaimed luggage kept piling up at local bus stations. Nobody reported the crimes for months.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took office less than a year ago, has repeatedly urged military restraint, saying his predecessors' hardline confrontation strategy in gang-controlled areas "turned this country into a cemetery, and we don't want that anymore. ".

Average citizens in many zones, meanwhile, can only hope the most benign cartel comes to rule in their town. The problem is that almost all of the cartels promise to respect the local population and not kidnap them or shake them down for protection money. But all of the gangs eventually break that promise.

"It does send a very sobering signal, I think, to Mexico and arguably to Mexico's USA Partners," said Shirk. "If I were going to write the next State Department advisory for Mexico, I would dramatically increase this number and the number of advisories that I had for different parts of Mexico, because it's very clear that the federal government is ceding territory. And not just rural territory, but major cities and perhaps even entire states to drug traffickers. ".

https://www.yahoo.com/news/many-part...160540791.html

Commenter "Gun control laws work great in Mexico! Shining example for the USA and rest of the world!" LOL.

Another "It's about the money guys, I am Mexican / American and have lived in Mazatlan as a kid. Cartels pay in dollars, the government pays in pesos. Soldier gets a salary of 500 peso $ a month, the cartel comes by and offers $500 dollars a week. ".

[Goyo61]

ParkWhiz.com and Border Station Parking

The only day I have found that is a Pain to find parking is Saturday afternoon's. I still like parking at Border Station parking and before you drive down you can pay online with ParkWhiz.com or download the ParkWhiz app. The advantage is if you prepay and they and the lot is full. They will let you come in and hunt around for a space to open up compared to just sitting in line with those who didn't prepay and are just waiting for people to leave. It gives you a little advantage.

I know the place isn't the cheapest but I still like using them.

When you come in instead of using a credit card you just show them your paid QR code they will send you and enter your phone number into the entry box at the parking lot.

When you leave just give the attendant your phone number and he will open gate for you.

Goyo.

[Phordphan]

If you think that existing parking lot owners have nothing to do with the scarcity of available parking options. I know some bookies interested in having you as a client.

I'm sure many of the parking lot owners are happy about the shortage. But if you have any evidence that they are colluding to prevent other operators from entering the market, or, even better, driving them out, then by all means share. Maybe you could win an anti-trust suit and retire to Tijuana with your bookies.

[Dogers69]

Looks like all the street parking around the mall was removed-- with a bike lane in its place. Yet another parking options bites the dust.

I saw that a month ago. There's parking near the hotels, motel 6, it's just side of the road, and a mile or so walk to the border. I'd leave the car window open though. A window is hundreds to replace and I've had them break two at once.

[SenorTJ]

Looks like all the street parking around the mall was removed-- with a bike lane in its place. Yet another parking options bites the dust.

[ScatManDoo]

No, he's not. I realize this is deep but try to keep up.

Now I may be wrong. Perhaps, as you posit, Frank is more or less singlehandedly responsible for the parking problems at the border. His avarice is to blame for all of us paying inflated parking rates. I don't know the guy, so I don't know his reasoning behind raising rates. If you do, and if he's confided these reasons to you, please share. But in the real world I don't think we have enough evidence to determine if these price increases were due to market conditions, or to Frank simply gouging customers for the hell of it.

However, I do know that the parking situation at the border has been terrible for a long time. So long that normal market forces would have compensated, or begun to compensate, by now. When you have a situation like that you can bet your sweet ass that some gov't agency, or a bunch of attorneys, or often both, are behind it. These are the people rigging the system. I kinda thought that was obvious from my post, but I guess it went over your head.

If you think that existing parking lot owners have nothing to do with the scarcity of available parking options. I know some bookies interested in having you as a client.

[Artisttyp]

I thought Artistype was indeed hating on the owner asshole with his system of gouging weekday parkers.

Seems like the right place to direct his hate.

Isn't Frank the American Cocksucker the one running the system?

LOL.

Love It.

By the way guess who I ran into in the alley today ? The parking lot attendant of Border Station Parking !

He was a really nice guy. He told me alot of customers use Groupon when they park. I will look to see.

And yeah he thinks Frank sucks D tambien.

[Phordphan]

I thought Artistype was indeed hating on the owner asshole with his system of gouging weekday parkers.

Seems like the right place to direct his hate.

Isn't Frank the American Cocksucker the one running the system?

No, he's not. I realize this is deep but try to keep up.

Now I may be wrong. Perhaps, as you posit, Frank is more or less singlehandedly responsible for the parking problems at the border. His avarice is to blame for all of us paying inflated parking rates. I don't know the guy, so I don't know his reasoning behind raising rates. If you do, and if he's confided these reasons to you, please share. But in the real world I don't think we have enough evidence to determine if these price increases were due to market conditions, or to Frank simply gouging customers for the hell of it.

However, I do know that the parking situation at the border has been terrible for a long time. So long that normal market forces would have compensated, or begun to compensate, by now. When you have a situation like that you can bet your sweet ass that some gov't agency, or a bunch of attorneys, or often both, are behind it. These are the people rigging the system. I kinda thought that was obvious from my post, but I guess it went over your head.

For whatever reason the supply of parking at the border has been artificially limited. Frank may be the one responsible for it, although I seriously doubt it. If he is, then he deserves all of your invective. But I suspect that he is merely an easy scapegoat for a much larger problem. Blaming capitalism for price increases due to the government limiting the supply of a product / service is like blaming the fire department for fires started by arsonists.

[Sound7]

DTLA to DTSD to SY Border.

Flix Bus. SD Trolley.

Starting at $4.95 + 2.00 + optional seat assignment $1.49 +trolley fare.

3 to 3.25 hrs travel time.

Mega Bus. $1. 0 ride Union Station to San Yasidro. First three seats booking. Service unavailable now.

Flix bus

[ScatManDoo]

In other words, don't hate the system, hate the assholes running (read rigging) the system.

I thought Artistype was indeed hating on the owner asshole with his system of gouging weekday parkers.

Seems like the right place to direct his hate.

Isn't Frank the American Cocksucker the one running the system?

[Sound7]

Mega Bus. $1. 0 ride Union Station to San Yasidro. First three seats booking. Service unavailable now.

Flex bus?

I knew someone who used to take the $1 bus from LA directly to the border. That's the way to go!

[Phordphan]

What's the confusion about?

Uber $120 RT (2 x's a month) = $240 to get to Tijuana and back plus rent plus expenses.

Coaster / Trolley 3 hrs.

DRIVE 35 minutes.

I am moving closer to South Bay when my lease expires next Nov.

Problem Solved.

The confusion was simply me misinterpreting the meaning of "I live down here" in your previous post. I assumed it meant in SD or nearby. If you're north of SD and the only alternatives are the Coaster or Uber, then no. Public forms of transport are, indeed, at a minimum.

I know the trolley from America Plaza to SY is about 45 minutes. Why does Coaster take over 2 hours? I ask because I used to take Amtrak on occasion. It was about 2 hours from Anaheim, then 45 minutes on the trolley from the SAN terminal.

[Phordphan]

There is no demand on the weekdays. His lot sits 2/3 empty. It puts a lot of unnecessary hurt on people. If there was a line waiting to get in it would make sense but there is no line. He does really well on weekends why not give back to the community during the week and why leave your lot 2/3 empty?

Why, indeed. I have never parked there, and don't know the guy. I don't know what his P&L statement looks like, either. I do know that there is only a little room for altruism in the free market. Recent history is littered with examples of business who tried to operate under an altruistic model and failed. One that springs to mind is the place that served meals priced on the basis of one's ability to pay.

It's possible that the gummint levied more taxes on parking lots, forcing a price increase. I've seen that at LAX in the past. Or, attendants' salaries are on the rise and the rates rise to compensate. The looming $15 minimum wage will have a knock-on effect. Or, who knows what else. These are hypothetical reasons why a business might raise prices.

Regardless, the question is does the market support the price increase? If there is a surplus of available parking alternatives, the answer will be no, he will lose money during the week, and prices will fall. If there are no alternatives then the price increase will remain. It seems there are few parking alternatives in the area and it's very much a seller's market. I don't like it, you don't like it, nobody but the parking lot companies like it. Normally the free market would increase supply, but there are government forces involved so it doesn't.

We can extend this to many facets of everyday life. I travel and I absolutely hate being at the mercy of shops at airports. A $4 sandwich anywhere else is $12 at the airport. A $1 bag of pretzels is $5. Even when the airport is slow prices remain the same. Why can't they give back to the community when there are few travelers? Why are prices so high? Obviously they have a monopoly. You're a captive. Don't like it? Screw you. Starve. The question is, why is there a monopoly? A quasi-government body has given them exclusive rights to operate at the airport and they take full advantage. My point is that most of the time when the free market fails is due to the actions of some governing body or other. Greed (or at least the ability to take advantage of the situation) only flourishes in this sort of environment. Were this not the case, some enterprising person would be going hammer and tongs building a parking structure at the border.

In other words, don't hate the system, hate the assholes running (read rigging) the system.

[Artisttyp]

If you live in the Los Angeles area take the Greyhound bus to San Ysidro station (right next to pedeast crossing and trolley station). Greyhound Express travel time about 3 hours only one stop in San Diego and the price is around $ 40 R / T. Regular Greyhound bus stops in San Diego, Oceanside, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Long Beach about 4 hours travel time. Link www.greyhound.com.

I knew someone who used to take the $1 bus from LA directly to the border. That's the way to go!