The 'San Diego-Tijuana Metropolitan Area' is the name of an
urban agglomeration surrounding the cities of
San Diego,
California,
United States and
Tijuana,
Baja California,
Mexico. The region consists of
San Diego County in the United States and the
municipios of
Tijuana and
Playas de Rosarito in Mexico. The total population of the region has been estimated to be about 4.9 million in 2007
[, making it the 21th largest metropolitan area in the Americas][World Gazetteer – Metropolitan Areas of America] and is the largest bi-national metropolitan area that is shared between US and Mexico.
Geography
Both San Diego and Tijuana are situated along the Pacific Coast and on the border between United States and Mexico.
San Diego County
Main articles: San Diego County#Geography, San Diego#Geography
A snow plow clearing a street in one of San Diego County's mountain roads.
'San Diego County', contrary to popular belief, has a varied topography. On its western side is seventy miles of coastline. Snow-capped mountains rise to the northeast, with the Sonoran Desert to the far east. The Cleveland National Forest is in the northeast portion of the county. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 11,721 km² (4,526 mi²). 10,878 km² (4,200 mi²) of it is land and 843 km² (326 mi²) of it (7.20%) is water.
'San Diego' is located at , just north of Tijuana. San Diego has deep canyons separating its mesas, creating small pockets of natural parkland scattered throughout the city. Downtown San Diego is located on the San Diego Bay, It is surrounded by several dense urban communities and abruptly ends in Hillcrest to the north. The Coronado and Point Loma peninsulas separate San Diego Bay from the ocean. Ocean Beach is on the west side of Point Loma. Mission Beach and Pacific Beach lie between the ocean and Mission Bay, a man-made aquatic park. La Jolla lies north of Pacific Beach. Mountains rise to the east of the city, and beyond the mountains are desert areas. Numerous farms are found in the valleys northeast and southeast of the city. San Diego County has more endangered plant and animal species (as determined by United States Environmental Protection Agency) than any other county in the United States.
Urban Communities of San Diego County
Main articles: Urban Communities of San Diego County
San Diego County features many urban communites that are mainly situatued on the south side of Interstate 8.
Tijuana
Main articles: Tijuana#Geography
'Tijuana' is located at , just south of San Diego. The adjacent city and formerly part of Tijuana is Playas de Rosarito, which became independent in 1995. The city is divided into nine administrative boroughs (''delegaciones'', in Spanish), which are in turn divided into colonias. These boroughs offer administrative services such as urban planning, civil registry, inspection, verification, public works and community development and are served by a ''delegado''.
Major Cities
US-Mexico Border
Main articles: US-Mexico Border
A sign in Tijuana displaying how to get to San Diego (International Border).
Traffic in
Tijuana,
Mexico waiting at the San Ysidro port of entry.
The international border between the United States and Mexico runs from San Diego-Tijuana eastward towards The Gulf of Mexico. The border's total length is 1,951 miles (3,141 km) with over 350 million people crossing, legally, every year.
The San Ysidro border crossing (San Diego-Tijuana) is the busiest border crossing in the world, in 2005 41,417,164 people entered the US through this port[[1] - 2005 border crossing data on amount of people entering in to the United States through San Diego-Tijuana port of entry.(2006 data is incomplete and is not up-to-date). ]. The great majority of these are workers (both of Mexican and U.S. nationality) commuting from Tijuana to jobs in the greater San Diego area and throughout southern California. There is also a thriving reverse traffic for those purchasing services (vehicle repairs, hair and beauty services, childcare, medical and dental) that are generally more affordable or seeking entertainment in Tijuana. Crossing times are notoriously slow at San Ysidro, particularly for those entering the U.S. in cars. For this reason many cross on foot, the line for which is frequently much faster than the vehicle line. Some foot travelers own a car in each country, and store them in one of the large parking lots located near the border post, or use the respective public transportation systems of both cities (both systems have a bus station built solely to serve the border crossing point, and the San Diego Trolley runs from downtown San Diego to the border crossing).
Transportation
Public Transportation
In San Diego, the San Diego Trolley's Blue Line goes from the San Ysidro Border to old town through downtown. Passengers may transfer to an Orange line train in downtown or to a green line at oldtown. Also, the same company that operates the trolley also operates a highly advanced bus system.
In Tijuana there is currently no rail public system but there is a system of busses that operate in the area.
Road Network
U-turn sign where the I-5 terminates, the international border.
In San Diego there is a major network of roads, freeways, and Interstates. Interstate 5 runs from the Canadian Border south and terminates at the San Ysidro International border where it becomes Mexican Federal Highway 1. Another major freeway is Interstate 8 that runs east to Tucson, Arizona.
The roadway system in Tijuana is very low end compared to the quality of streets in the United States. The majority of the roads are in desperate need of repair and many new off ramps that are constructed are set up in an impractical method, such as requiring sharp and hard turns. When it comes to long distance travel through Baja California, many people use the toll roads that are well maintained and are at a standard comparable to that of U.S. roads.
Major Highways
'San Diego':
'Tijuana'
A sign on Mexican Federal Highway 1D's termination displaying the direction to San Diego.
Highways with a corresponding "D" at the end of the name mean it is an adjacent toll road.
★ Mexican Federal Highway 1
★ Mexican Federal Highway 2
Airports
'Major Airports'
★ San Diego International Airport (Lindberg Field International Airport)
★ Tijuana International Airport (General Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport)
Communication
Telephone
For communication between San Diego and Tijuana via telephone, you must place an international call. To call out of the United States you must first dial "011" (US international call prefix) then Mexico's country calling code, "52", the area code then the seven digit number. For example, to call the number (664) 555-1234 in Tijuana from a US telephone you must dial 011-52-664-555-1234.
For communication between Tijuana and San Diego you must as well place an international call. To call out of Mexico you must dial "00" (ITU international call prefix) then the North American Numbering Plan calling code, "1", the area code then the seven digit number. For example, to call the number (619) 555-4321 in San Diego from a Mexican phone you must dial 00-1-619-555-4321.
'San Diego County Area Codes'
★ 619
★ 858
★ 760 | 'Tijuana Area Codes'
★ 664
★ 661 (Playas de Rosarito) |
Economy
San Diego
Main articles: San Diego, California#Economy
The Museum of Man is one of several museums in Balboa Park.
Several areas of San Diego are home to offices and research facilities for numerous biotechnology companies and pharmaceutical companies. The presence of University of California, San Diego and other research institutions helped fuel biotechnology growth. In June 2004, San Diego was ranked the top biotech cluster in the U.S. by the Milken Institute.[1]
San Diego is home to companies that develop wireless cellular technology. Qualcomm Incorporated was founded and is headquartered in San Diego; Qualcomm is the largest private-sector technology employer (excluding hospitals) in San Diego County.[2]
The economy of San Diego is influenced by its port, which includes the only major submarine and shipbuilding yards on the West Coast, as well as the largest naval fleet in the world. The cruise ship industry, which is the second largest in California, generates an estimated $2 million annually from the purchase of food, fuel, supplies, and maintenance services.[3]
Due to San Diego's military influence, major national defense contractors, such as General Atomics and Science Applications International Corporation are headquartered in San Diego.
Tourism is also a major industry owing to the city's climate. Major tourist destinations include Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo, Seaworld, nearby Wild Animal Park and Legoland, the city's beaches and golf tournaments like the Buick Invitational.
Tijuana
Zona Rio, Tijuana's business district
Avenida Revolución has many open bars, pharmacies, and curio shops, that attract many tourists. The majority of these businesses accept the US dollar and use both English and Spanish to conduct everyday business transactions.
Due to Tijuana's proximity to Southern California and the US border and its large, skilled, diverse and relatively inexpensive workforce it is an attractive city for foreign companies to establish extensive industrial parks comprised of assembly plants that are called ''maquiladoras'', even more so than other cities in the US-Mexican border zone, taking advantage of NAFTA to export products. Foreign and domestic companies employ thousands of employees in these plants, usually in assembly related labor. Such jobs are demanding but offer high pay for Mexico. Companies that have setup 'maquiladoras' in Tijuana include Sony, Toyota, Samsung, Kodak, Matsushita/Panasonic, Nabisco, Philips, Pioneer, Plantronics, Pall Medical, Tara and Sanyo.
Tijuana is also home to many businesses selling products and services at a much cheaper rate than in the United States. Such businesses as auto detailing, medical services, dentistry and plastic surgery are heavily marketed and located near the city's border with the US. In addition there are also some high-tech firms and telemarketing companies making their way into the city drawing skilled people with technical trades and college degrees to Tijuana.
A crowded beach, Playas de Tijuana.
Tijuana also relies on tourism as a major revenue. About 300,000 visitors cross by foot or car from the San Ysidro point of entry in the United States, to Tijuana, every day. Restaurants, taco stands, bars and dance clubs are part of the draw for the city's tourists. Many shops and stalls selling Mexican crafts and souvenirs are also located in walking distance from the border. Mexico's drinking age of 18 (vs. United States' 21) make it a common weekend destination for many high school and college aged Southern Californians . Tijuana is also home to several pharmacies marketed toward visitors from the United States. These pharmacies sell pharmaceutical drugs without prescriptions and at much lower costs than pharmacies in the US. In addition Tijuana has a legal "red-light" district known as the Zona Norte which also adds significant revenue to it economy.
Currency exchange
Blue signs at a toll road display pricing in Pesos and Dollar.
In San Diego as in the rest of the United States the official currency is the US dollar. In Tijuana as in the rest of Mexico the the official currency is the Mexican peso. The exchange rate is .09 US dollars (9¢) equals 1 Peso. In Tijuana, where many people from the US visit, the US dollar is widely accepted. Most of stores in Tijuana display the price in US dollar and in Mexican pesos. The toll roads in Mexico as well display the price in pesos and dollars. In addition, many signs and advertisements, in Tijuana, are displayed in English.
Footnotes
1. MilkenInstitute.org
2. SD Daily Transcript
3. Cruise Ships Face Stiffer Anti-Pollution Policies
See also
★ Bajalta California
External links
★ - International Call Assistance
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