General Reports

[GentileBear]

Probably best to keep a low profile down there. And ignore the guys who bark "Cuanto Cuanto Cuanto" and then hide in the alley- way. Those are street dealers. Bad news!

https://www.fox5ny.com/news/travel-w...juana-rosarito

[StRobert]

It was a British real estate agent with a red Audi who lived in Cancun murdered in Cancun in March. Related to drugs because he loudly protested against drug dealers in Cancun or something like that. The murderers were arrested. I am looking for a link to this story.

Link to this story https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...14-Mexico.html.

[StRobert]

A late post but was reading about a real estate agen in. A red Audi that was killed by the cartel. Anyone know why it happened.

It was a British real estate agent with a red Audi who lived in Cancun murdered in Cancun in March. Related to drugs because he loudly protested against drug dealers in Cancun or something like that. The murderers were arrested. I am looking for a link to this story.

[Bunter Hiden]

Spent a dozen hours in Tijuana on the 4th of July as the Saturday and Sunday down at the beaches in Diego were a shit show. Restaurants and clubs way busier than normal. But the takeaway I want to express is the pedestrian line on the way back was crazy long even at ten at night. I have sentri so never care but if you don't and plan on spending a long three day for American holidays please TTFF and make this note.

[TjBrazil]

A late post but was reading about a real estate agen in. A red Audi that was killed by the cartel. Anyone know why it happened.

[TjBrazil]

The various colonies in Tijuana can vary based on what streets you are on. Plenty of large cities have graffiti and homeless issues (I. E. Honolulu, L. A. , Paris, and. Why. , etc.). It just means you're in a higher density location with people that are less fortunate or too ignorant to respect other peoples' property. The reason you don't see the graffiti and homelessness on the outskirts of Tijuana in those new subdivisions you noted are they are so far from the center 30-45 min. Drive and the rents are actually quite cheap $500-$750. In addition they are gated with 24/7 security. If you're in Chapultepec, La Cacho, Hippodromo, Zona Rio, etc. Then you're looking at rents in the $1,000-$2,000 range. Almost similar to Midwest USA, but not as expensive as SoCal where you're looking at $2,000 for a 1 br. I've lived in Tijuana for the past year and walked in various areas and never felt unsafe. The only time I've felt my life was in danger was walking around in the USA In cities such as Compton (don't wear wrong colors), New Orleans, and Atlanta. Never had a gun pulled out on me, robbed, or assaulted while in Tijuana and I've been out at all hours of the night, early mornings.

One of my friends got a gun pointed at his head near the outskirts of Bourbon st. In New Orleans and he had to give them his wallet, watch, and shoes. Never had that happen to me anywhere else in the world. I imagine the USA Is going to get more violent in the coming years where the cost of living is going to have people resort to robbing each other and businesses. The people I've ran across in Mexico have been respectful and kind even though I know very little Spanish. The only time I've been taken advantage of was when I was in HK about a decade ago and gave a mesero a $20 for some ones while sitting at the main stage. He never came back and didn't get his number so I learned my lesson to just get change directly from the bartender. The $20 wasn't a big issue for me and just chalked it up as charity to the less fortunate. He must have needed it more than I did. It humors me reading about some guys getting jumped or mugged in Zona Norte as I've walked from Revolucion to Zona Norte plenty of times and never had an issue. I find it hard to believe some guys are always getting smacked around unless you are disrespecting someone, then you probably deserve the beat down. I've seen falangs get a beat down in Thailand by the motorbike taxi guys, but probably due to some form of disrespect. People don't usually attack you if you don't provoke them.

I wouldn't deter people from considering Tijuana as an alternative to SoCal and it is convenient if you are a digital nomad or remote worker since they have an airport, variety of restaurants, and good entertainment venues. Every month they have a concert and the only thing I wish is the city had better roads, but imagine the tax revenue doesn't cover the costs for repairs, similar to the deteriorating infrastructure in the USA I can see in 510 years Tijuana becoming similar in price to SoCal and higher cost of living than most, if not all, of Mexico due to the gringo invasion. The average 1 br luxury condo unit being built in Tijuana is going from $150 k-$250 k. I've met some Uber and DiDi drivers that are retired from the USA And prefer the cost of living compared to SoCal (Orange County, SD, LA).

I've been going to Tijuana since 9/11 happened. That's 20 years now. Never been robbed or assaulted. I've lost a dollar here or there paying the gringo tax, but that's it. I've been stopped by the cops for WWW about 3 times, and was never robbed. Maybe I'm lucky. I don't know.

[Hargow20]

Google FI should not be a problem since they use the T-Mobile. There is times I have problems connecting to T-Mobile. In such a case go internet settings. Turn of adaptive connective & automatically connect networks. Then connect to Telcel. Tmobile uses the Telcel network in Tijuana.

I used Google Fi for a month or so in February and March. Sometimes there would be a little hiccup for 10 minutes in rural areas when it would search around for a different network, but no problem. Might have been a two minute hiccup when I crossed at Tijuana. I used it for navigation in remote areas of Michoacan -- no problems. And the monthly bill wasn't any higher than it was in the US.

[Phordphan]

You do have to have an open mind when moving to a different country as it won't be what you are use to in the US. I know when I went to Tijuana once I walked by a apartment complex and joked with my friend that it was ghetto type housing but later when I moved to Tijuana that was a middle class area.

Completely agree. I think too many "experts" don't have enough experience to really understand the differences in cultures. I wondered for a long time why so many Mexican neighborhoods looked relatively dumpy. Curb appeal seemed to be something of a foreign concept. Then I visited Spain. All of the neighborhoods we went through were relatively dumpy. Yet every place I went into was very nicely done and nicely kept up. So many buildings were built with the "garden" concept. A ring of apartments or rooms surrounding an inner courtyard or garden. The entire concept is 180 degrees out of phase with the USA. Here we care more about what our house look like on the outside. There it was the opposite. Well, who was it that conquered Mexico? The Spaniards! And their housing concepts came with them, along with their language and all their other weird cultural oddities. Just like every invader.

So, if you're looking for a neighborhood with white picket fences and green lawns, they are few and far between. Only the very upscale places will look anything like that. Probably due to lots of gringo influence. Middle class Mexican neighborhoods tend to look kind of ghetto to us.

[Artisttyp]

I used Google Fi for a month or so in February and March. Sometimes there would be a little hiccup for 10 minutes in rural areas when it would search around for a different network, but no problem. Might have been a two minute hiccup when I crossed at Tijuana. I used it for navigation in remote areas of Michoacan -- no problems. And the monthly bill wasn't any higher than it was in the US.

Great. Thank You.

[John Clayton]

Are any of you guys using this down there and how is the connection?

I used Google Fi for a month or so in February and March. Sometimes there would be a little hiccup for 10 minutes in rural areas when it would search around for a different network, but no problem. Might have been a two minute hiccup when I crossed at Tijuana. I used it for navigation in remote areas of Michoacan -- no problems. And the monthly bill wasn't any higher than it was in the US.

[TjBrazil]

Does anyone know if the club that was called Madonnas is back open under a different name yet.

[Artisttyp]

Are any of you guys using this down there and how is the connection?

[KBToys]

I'll have to agree with Dodger here. I thought about moving to Tijuana about 2 years ago and looked for a middle class neighborhood. But I did not find one until I actually left Tijuana and go down towards Baja Malibu. But in Tijuana, it seems that there are no real neighborhood lines. You can rent a real nice apartment, then open you windows and find yourself in a bad location as you now have a real nice view of the slums. It not like San Diego or LOS Angles where you have easier to define neighborhood lines. Seems like in Tijuana, the neighborhood lines end at the end of your street, or the front gates of your gated and secured building.

On the other hand, it does get better the further away you get from downtown Tijuana. Seems that Otay-Tijuana is less of a slum. And it seems that the newer developed communities South somewhere between Tijuana and Rosarito has better looking neighborhoods with less barb wires, graffiti and homelessness. I suspect the professional middle-class live out here somewhere and drive into Tijuana to work, then escape downtown Tijuana at the end of the day.

The various colonies in Tijuana can vary based on what streets you are on. Plenty of large cities have graffiti and homeless issues (I. E. Honolulu, L. A. , Paris, and. Why. , etc.). It just means you're in a higher density location with people that are less fortunate or too ignorant to respect other peoples' property. The reason you don't see the graffiti and homelessness on the outskirts of Tijuana in those new subdivisions you noted are they are so far from the center 30-45 min. Drive and the rents are actually quite cheap $500-$750. In addition they are gated with 24/7 security. If you're in Chapultepec, La Cacho, Hippodromo, Zona Rio, etc. Then you're looking at rents in the $1,000-$2,000 range. Almost similar to Midwest USA, but not as expensive as SoCal where you're looking at $2,000 for a 1 br. I've lived in Tijuana for the past year and walked in various areas and never felt unsafe. The only time I've felt my life was in danger was walking around in the USA In cities such as Compton (don't wear wrong colors), New Orleans, and Atlanta. Never had a gun pulled out on me, robbed, or assaulted while in Tijuana and I've been out at all hours of the night, early mornings.

One of my friends got a gun pointed at his head near the outskirts of Bourbon st. In New Orleans and he had to give them his wallet, watch, and shoes. Never had that happen to me anywhere else in the world. I imagine the USA Is going to get more violent in the coming years where the cost of living is going to have people resort to robbing each other and businesses. The people I've ran across in Mexico have been respectful and kind even though I know very little Spanish. The only time I've been taken advantage of was when I was in HK about a decade ago and gave a mesero a $20 for some ones while sitting at the main stage. He never came back and didn't get his number so I learned my lesson to just get change directly from the bartender. The $20 wasn't a big issue for me and just chalked it up as charity to the less fortunate. He must have needed it more than I did. It humors me reading about some guys getting jumped or mugged in Zona Norte as I've walked from Revolucion to Zona Norte plenty of times and never had an issue. I find it hard to believe some guys are always getting smacked around unless you are disrespecting someone, then you probably deserve the beat down. I've seen falangs get a beat down in Thailand by the motorbike taxi guys, but probably due to some form of disrespect. People don't usually attack you if you don't provoke them.

I wouldn't deter people from considering Tijuana as an alternative to SoCal and it is convenient if you are a digital nomad or remote worker since they have an airport, variety of restaurants, and good entertainment venues. Every month they have a concert and the only thing I wish is the city had better roads, but imagine the tax revenue doesn't cover the costs for repairs, similar to the deteriorating infrastructure in the USA I can see in 5–10 years Tijuana becoming similar in price to SoCal and higher cost of living than most, if not all, of Mexico due to the gringo invasion. The average 1 br luxury condo unit being built in Tijuana is going from $150 k-$250 k. I've met some Uber and DiDi drivers that are retired from the USA And prefer the cost of living compared to SoCal (Orange County, SD, LA).

[Sol12]

I'll have to agree with Dodger here. I thought about moving to Tijuana about 2 years ago and looked for a middle class neighborhood. But I did not find one until I actually left Tijuana and go down towards Baja Malibu. But in Tijuana, it seems that there are no real neighborhood lines. You can rent a real nice apartment, then open you windows and find yourself in a bad location as you now have a real nice view of the slums. It not like San Diego or LOS Angles where you have easier to define neighborhood lines. Seems like in Tijuana, the neighborhood lines end at the end of your street, or the front gates of your gated and secured building.

On the other hand, it does get better the further away you get from downtown Tijuana. Seems that Otay-Tijuana is less of a slum. And it seems that the newer developed communities South somewhere between Tijuana and Rosarito has better looking neighborhoods with less barb wires, graffiti and homelessness. I suspect the professional middle-class live out here somewhere and drive into Tijuana to work, then escape downtown Tijuana at the end of the day.

As the other poster mentioned Tijuana has a few middle class areas that are separated from lower end neighborhoods. Zona Rio over by the New City going east towards the City Hall has many apartments that are safe and don't have poor views. I had a buddy live in one and he had a good view of the City Hall and depending on what building you are in the view could be even better.

Also I visited a nice apartment that had views on the golf course over on Agua Caliente blvd. It was twice as much to rent as other places I looked at but was also very large and if I had a roommate to share cost with it would be perfect. Another nice apartment complex I looked at was tempting since it had a community pool but I didn't like the lay out of the apartment as much.

The newer homes built out by Otay are more of your cookie cutter houses, I took a look at the but were kind of small and again wasn't impressed with the layout. I have never been to the homes that they have on the free road to Rosarito but I was surprised how many they had.

One thing about Tijuana that I remember a friend that grew up there he made a comment about how the population really exploded after Mexico City had that large earthquake back in the 80's. I think just to many people came and just set up very basic homes.

You do have to have an open mind when moving to a different country as it won't be what you are use to in the US. I know when I went to Tijuana once I walked by a apartment complex and joked with my friend that it was ghetto type housing but later when I moved to Tijuana that was a middle class area.

[Sol12]

La Cacho and Hipodromo are both considered middle class areas in Tijuana. You can also add the Zona Rio area.

I think they are confused in thinking that what the US planned middle class communities are and expect to find the same in Tijuana.