20 replies to this topic

[Chivas3]

Is there a trash service in Tijuana?

Im asking becuase i noticed there is crash all over Tijuana even in the tourist areas.

Tijuana has to be one of the ugliest and dirtiest cities of Mexico.

[felix]

Trash collectors come twice a week to pick up my trash in Playas. Only got pick up once a week in my small town in NH.

[Chivas3]

Trash collectors come twice a week to pick up my trash in Playas. Only got pick up once a week in my small town in NH.

But why is Tijuana so dirty? I noticed in the poor areas in the hills people just dump their trash down the hill. I told my cousin when we were going to Garita Otay. You just won't see that in the interior cities of Mexico.

Many Mexicans like my parents were horrified on how dirty Tijuana is.

Look at downtown San Luis Potosi,Central Mexico, my parents are from this city.Very clean compared to Tijuana.Even downtown Tijuana is dirty.

[BajaGringo]

I think that unfortunately Tijuana is dirtier than most large cities throughout Latin America. I have lived in and traveled to almost every single country in north, central and south America and Tijuana takes the prize. The only explanation that I can give is that Tijuana probably has by far the largest percentage of migratory population, either just shipped south back across the border via Border Patrol Bus or awaiting their chance to make the trip north. As Tijuana is only a stop on the way for them, they may take little pride in the quality of life and the aesthetics. Just a guess...

[zunigan]

Sounds about right. I was also wondering why it was so dirty. Even where my husband is from he says its cleaner than this. So much dust and trash everywhere. When I no longer need to work I am hoping we can move somewhere else. Those pictures are so pretty. I just knew there were nicer, cleaner places than this!!!

[Chivas3]

I think that unfortunately Tijuana is dirtier than most large cities throughout Latin America. I have lived in and traveled to almost every single country in north, central and south America and Tijuana takes the prize. The only explanation that I can give is that Tijuana probably has by far the largest percentage of migratory population, either just shipped south back across the border via Border Patrol Bus or awaiting their chance to make the trip north.
As Tijuana is only a stop on the way for them, they may take little pride in the quality of life and the aesthetics. Just a guess...

As Tijuana is only a stop on the way for them, they may take little pride in the quality of life and the aesthetics. Just a guess...

Thats a good explanation. They don't care ,they are only passing by, it's like throwing trash outside the car when you are on the road. lol

[Chivas3]

Sounds about right. I was also wondering why it was so dirty. Even where my husband is from he says its cleaner than this. So much dust and trash everywhere. When I no longer need to work I am hoping we can move somewhere else. Those pictures are so pretty. I just knew there were nicer, cleaner places than this!!!

Yes,when Mexicans from the interior first visit Tijuana they are surprised on how dirty and "ugly" the city looks.

You should visit the interior cities of Mexico. My gringo brother in- law loved San luis Potosi,Guanajuato, Guadalajara,San Miguel de Allende.
My brother in law had only visited Tijuana and Rosarito and thought thats how the other Mexican cities looked like.lol

Mexico has many beautiful Colonial cities. Very few Americans will ever visit them. Most prefer Cancun,Acapulco,Cabos,Puerto Vallarta.

San Luis Potosi is a modern and Colonial city of 1,000,000 metro.
Here is more pics Colonial areas of the city,some are 30 year old pics

[Miggiesmallz- TEXMEX]

Look, one of San Luis Potisi's pics has a Sushi Itto. I knew it was Mexican owned but I thought they were only in San Diego.

The only explanation that I can give is that Tijuana probably has by far the largest percentage of migratory population

I thank BG’s explanation is very true. Tijuana has a huge transient community like all other border towns. If you visit Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Piedras Negras, Matamoros, and Reynosa, all of which are along the border on the Rio Grande they have the same feel to them… dusty and dirty. I think it has to do a lot with the fact that most passer bys don’t care about these cities; they’re just pit-stops for them.

On top of that, TJ is a VERY YOUNG city whose population sprawled out very quickly, so we have all these neglected colonias that lack infrastructure on the outskirts. … but then again you have more established neighborhoods like El Mirador with that same trash over the hill problem… guess I don’t have a clear answer. I just wish my city weren’t so littered and graffiti’d like it is. VERY FRUSTRATING. I've read several places that by 2018 the population of this city will have doubled to over 4 million.


These are some beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing them with us. As far as history goes, my belief is that TJ doesn’t have colonial missions like other Mexican cities do because it shares its history with San Diego. It’s just that most of the missions, like the Presidio or Mission de Alcala, wound up north of the imaginary line that was created after the treaty de Guadalupe.

[Chivas3]

Hey Miguel(miggie TexMex) have you ever visited the interior of Mexico?
What part of Mexico's is your family from?

And yes i forgot to say that the graffiti is all over Tijuana even in some nice neighborhoods. It makes the city look so bad. They should shoot the graffiti aholes on the spot.

Trash and Graffiti unpaved roads etc makes Tijuana look bad and Mexico to. It gives the bad impression to the rest of Mexico.

And Tijuana doesn't have colonial buildings.
Tijuana is only like 125 years old.

San Luis Potosi is over 400 years old and it's colonial building are around 300-350 years old.

[Miggiesmallz- TEXMEX]

Hey Miguel(miggie TexMex) have you ever visited the interior of Mexico?
What part of Mexico's is your family from?

Sadly, I have not visited the interior of Mexico but I have been to several border towns from here to Brownsville/Matamoros and have been in Tijuana for two years. I'll use the excuse that am younger (26) and will visit the interior soon. My mother is from a ranch just outside of Morelia, Michoacan. Even she tells me "the frontera is ugly".

We will hopefully be planning a trip to visit her home ranch pretty soon, I can't wait. My first time in the interior to visit the roots. I am really excited to see what it is like back there. She always has all sorts of neat stories from her upbringing. Guanajuato, Queretaro, and Guadalajara aren't too far, maybe we'll rent a car?

My father, well that cowboy and all his family, including me, are from Texas.

[Miggiesmallz- TEXMEX]

[quote="Miggiesmallz- TEXMEX"][quote]Hey Miguel(miggie TexMex) have you ever visited the interior of Mexico?
What part of Mexico's is your family from? [/quote]

Sadly, I have not visited the interior of Mexico but I have been to several border towns from here to Brownsville/Matamoros and have been in Tijuana for two years. I'll use the excuse that am younger (26) and will visit the interior soon. My mother is from a ranch just outside of Morelia, Michoacan. Even she tells me "mijo, the frontera is ugly".

We will hopefully be planning a trip to visit her home ranch pretty soon, I can't wait. My first time in the interior to visit the roots. I am really excited to see what it is like back there. She always has all sorts of neat stories from her upbringing. Guanajuato, Queretaro, and Guadalajara aren't too far, maybe we'll rent a car?

My father, well that cowboy and all his family, including me, are from Texas.

[Chivas3]

Hey Miguel(miggie TexMex) have you ever visited the interior of Mexico?
What part of Mexico's is your family from?

Sadly, I have not visited the interior of Mexico but I have been to several border towns from here to Brownsville/Matamoros and have been in Tijuana for two years. I'll use the excuse that am younger (26) and will visit the interior soon. My mother is from a ranch just outside of Morelia, Michoacan. Even she tells me "the frontera is ugly".

We will hopefully be planning a trip to visit her home ranch pretty soon, I can't wait. My first time in the interior to visit the roots. I am really excited to see what it is like back there. She always has all sorts of neat stories from her upbringing. Guanajuato, Queretaro, and Guadalajara aren't too far, maybe we'll rent a car?

My father, well that cowboy and all his family, including me, are from Texas.

I got an aunt that lives in Morelia, Morelia has alot of colonial areas too. You should visit also Guanajuato,Queretaro and Guadalajara. All 3 cities are also known for their beautiful colonial buildings.

Yeah you should rent a car.

How did a Tejano end up living in Tijuana?

[Miggiesmallz- TEXMEX]

How did a Tejano end up living in Tijuana?

Most others I meet work at the San Ysidro Border, they just transferred out here.
My case is simple, I came to San Diego four years ago for a job and to chase the California dream. I don't have any family out here and at the time no friends. The only thing I had going on out here on the west coast was a job interview, so I drove west. I landed the job luckily so I decided to stick around. After two years of small downtown studios and a bad roomate situation I decided I had to do something about the ridiculous cost of living in San Diego. I could either go back to San Antonio, or I could move to Tijuana a cross everyday like a friend of mine from work was doing. Lets just say I made the right choice.

While living in SD I used to frequent Tijuana alot with my broken Spanish as a "weekend warrior". After a while, my Spanish improved drastically and I began to see that TJ was much more than La Choahuila and Revolution which was what I was accostumed to at the time. After two years down here, despite all it's faults as most growing city do tend to have, I am happy living in this city. It's givin me the opportunity to meet some great people and to live a better life than I could ever afford in Southern California. I don't live down here exclusively for financial purposes. In three more semesters, as soon as I am done with my studies on "the other side" at Mesa College, I plan to study down here at the UABC.

[Chivas3]

How did a Tejano end up living in Tijuana?

Most others I meet work at the San Ysidro Border, they just transferred out here.
My case is simple, I came to San Diego four years ago for a job and to chase the California dream. I don't have any family out here and at the time no friends. The only thing I had going on out here on the west coast was a job interview, so I drove west. I landed the job luckily so I decided to stick around. After two years of small downtown studios and a bad roomate situation I decided I had to do something about the ridiculous cost of living in San Diego. I could either go back to San Antonio, or I could move to Tijuana a cross everyday like a friend of mine from work was doing. Lets just say I made the right choice.

While living in SD I used to frequent Tijuana alot with my broken Spanish as a "weekend warrior". After a while, my Spanish improved drastically and I began to see that TJ was much more than La Choahuila and Revolution which was what I was accostumed to at the time. After two years down here, despite all it's faults as most growing city do tend to have, I am happy living in this city. It's givin me the opportunity to meet some great people and to live a better life than I could ever afford in Southern California. I don't live down here exclusively for financial purposes. In three more semesters, as soon as I am done with my studies on "the other side" at Mesa College, I plan to study down here at the UABC.

Interesting story. Do you think Tijuana is better place than Matamoros ,Reynosa and Laredo?

[Chivas3]

And I know why some people litter (a lot in TJ), and I'll be blunt, because they are stupid. I don't care what socio-economic class they belong to or how much education they don't have. Anybody can not litter. There's absolutely no excuse. I had a PhD microbiologist friend once who said the two major things that contributed to good health in the last century were antibiotics and garbage men. Throwing garbage in the street is just plain dumb.

True. I have visited the poor towns of the interior of Mexico and they are very clean. People every morning are always cleaning in front of their houses and the street.

[libertythor]

It all boils down to an obvious lack of pride and self worth. Its also true that the poor in small towns in the midwest of the US seem to take more pride than those in LA and other large coastal cities.

But what makes matters worse is that in TJ it appears that large segments of all socioeconomic levels are rather complacent. Take a walk around some middle class areas and note how long the grafitti has been there. (In Otay Altabrisa, a well to do area near the UABC, there is an expensive private school that has had the same grafitti on their wall for more than two years!)

Why wait for the authorities to clean things up? A few slingshot-launched rocks in the necks of the grafiteros while they dange from the rooftops ought to send a message. And then......PAINT OVER IT

[Miggiesmallz- TEXMEX]

For those that can read eSpanish. This recent article from July 4th, 2007 talks about the arrest of 30 GRAFITERROS by the TJ antigrafitti unit. Most of those arrested were minors and a few were females.

This is at least A STEP in the right dirrection.



CAEN MÁS DE 30 GRAFITTEROS

Tijuana, 7/4/2007 6:04:49 PM
Por: Guadalupe López Dueñas
Regresar
Video

Tijuanapress.com.- La Policía Municipal detuvo a más de 30 personas entre menores de edad y adultos que se dedican a grafitear las paredes y bardas de la ciudad.
Victor Zatarain Cedano, dijo que la masiva detención fue resultado de un operativo, encabezado por la unidad Antigrafitti, efectuado en las delegaciones de la Presa, Cerro Colorado, la Mesa, Playas de Tijuana, San Antonio de Los Buenos y los Pinos.

A los menores también se les decomisó varios botes de aerosol , mismos que utilizaban para drogarse.

Entre los menores también se encontraban jovencitas que no estudian, no trabajan y cuyos padres las desatienden>

Los asegurados serán puestos a disposición del Ministerio Público quien determinará su situación juridica, aunque por tratarse la mayoría de menores, posiblemente serán canalizados al Consejo Tutelar de Menores para su rehabilitación.

[Chivas3]

For those that can read eSpanish. This recent article from July 4th, 2007 talks about the arrest of 30 GRAFITERROS by the TJ antigrafitti unit. Most of those arrested were minors and a few were females.

CAEN MÁS DE 30 GRAFITTEROS

Tijuana, 7/4/2007 6:04:49 PM
Por: Guadalupe López Dueñas
Regresar
Video

Tijuanapress.com.- La Policía Municipal detuvo a más de 30 personas entre menores de edad y adultos que se dedican a grafitear las paredes y bardas de la ciudad.
Victor Zatarain Cedano, dijo que la masiva detención fue resultado de un operativo, encabezado por la unidad Antigrafitti, efectuado en las delegaciones de la Presa, Cerro Colorado, la Mesa, Playas de Tijuana, San Antonio de Los Buenos y los Pinos.

A los menores también se les decomisó varios botes de aerosol , mismos que utilizaban para drogarse.

Entre los menores también se encontraban jovencitas que no estudian, no trabajan y cuyos padres las desatienden>

Los asegurados serán puestos a disposición del Ministerio Público quien determinará su situación juridica, aunque por tratarse la mayoría de menores, posiblemente serán canalizados al Consejo Tutelar de Menores para su rehabilitación.

They should put them away for 5 years. They make Tijuana worse than it already looks.

[jdcs167]

Its true, they should lock them up or at least, instead of just fining them and "off they go" they should get a group of people that have been caught doing graffiti and make them work every weekend for 2-6 months paiting over all the graffiti in the city. Instead of having them pay the fine, have them pay for the paint that will need to be bought to paint. This will show the rest of them at least what is happening.
I also disagree with all these political parties paiting there political images and names all over the city and they end up staying there for years to come or until the next corrupt a.hole paints over it. Trash all over the walls and hanging off the side of buildings etc.

[Chivas3]

Its true, they should lock them up or at least, instead of just fining them and "off they go" they should get a group of people that have been caught doing graffiti and make them work every weekend for 2-6 months paiting over all the graffiti in the city. Instead of having them pay the fine, have them pay for the paint that will need to be bought to paint. This will show the rest of them at least what is happening.
I also disagree with all these political parties paiting there political images and names all over the city and they end up staying there for years to come or until the next corrupt a.hole paints over it. Trash all over the walls and hanging off the side of buildings etc.

Agree. It also seems that the recent mayors Tijuana has had are corrupt and don't give a .uk about the city.