London Pete

Thinking of moving to one of these locations and have heard the usual mixture of positives and negatives about the two. Would really like some info on either? have heard Tijuana is not a very nice place and very dangerous but this is kind of surprising in that it forms one big urban area with San Diego which I have heard is nice?

Also what is the climate like? Is it similiar to Los Angeles etc? Have read a lot but there is no subsititute from hearing the opinions of other Brits or anybody that has been there.

Lord Lionheart

PMSL

London Pete

???

Lord Lionheart

Okay I'll try to help you ( stay alive for a start). What do you plan to work as in Tijuana? Do you speak Spanish?

London Pete

ah ok have heard that Its that my girlfriend has actually recommended Ensenada and not Tijuana but she lives in Hermosillo and suggested that Bajo California is good place to live, Tijuana was my idea as its on the border with the uSA. As for work no idea what I would do there, as in the UK I work in the retail business, the problem is she has a good job in Mexico and strong family connections etc therefore sh doesn`t want to leave and yes I do speak a good level of Spanish luckily.

Lord Lionheart

Tijuana is a border town that basically survives on tourism from the US. You can literally walk over the border from San Diego (San Ysidro if I recall) to Tijuana. The main street Revolucion Ave. is pretty much souvenir shops ( blankets, leather, guitars and other cheap rubbish). Unless you are a mariachi singer, taxi driver or work in a tourist shop for Mexican pay I would imagine your standard of living would drop significantly from that in the UK. Kids from San Diego go there to drink below the legal US age of 21. It also has a lot of seedy strip clubs and a red light area that serves US sailors from the large Naval bases in San Diego. Tijuana is surrounded by poverty including people living in corrugated tin shanty make shift huts. It has also been the center of recent drug wars with lots of corruption and police on the take.
Google Tijuana I think there were 30 something people killed there over drug turf recently, some beheaded.
Ensenada is a tourist fishing town, quite a bit cleaner than Tijuana but still poor by US standards. On the whole I'd say they make Benidorm look like Monte Carlo to give a European/British analogy. You almost might as well say I want to live in Cuba or South Africa.
How did you meet this Mexican lady and how old are you?

London Pete

Wow Its all worse than I thought, well I am in my 30`s and met her here in the UK where she was studying her masters. Obviously she wants to live in her home city of Hermosillo or Obregon where her family are based. Its kind of my idea the Bajo California scenario because of its more touristy nature and supposedly nice beaches instead of being in the interior. Even though I speak Spanish, I don`t feel like being the only Brit in Hermosillo or Obregon very Mexican locations from what I have heard, at least being on the coast there would be Americans etc. Think the best option is to visit this part of the world because as of yet never been to Mexico.

Lord Lionheart

Co-incidently my homepage is the LA Times and this was linked;

http://projects.latimes.com/siege/

London Pete

Quite a read definately has put me off being based around Tijuana. How well do you know Mexico and what parts are considered safe? Hear a lot about kidnappings around the border area with USA of Americans etc as well?

Lord Lionheart

Only the Baja peninsula. I've been to Tijuana a few times, shopping, drinking having a laugh in the strip clubs/bars which are shit but that was in my 20's. Fishing in Ensenada and did a trip across the peninsula to San Felipe. Mexico City is supposed to be highly polluted and overcrowded, never been. Always wanted to go and see the pyramids but haven't made it. If I were you I'd visit LA/San Diego and do some day trips to TJ and Mexico. You said your girlfriend has no problem getting in and out of the States, so you could base your visit there and do some day trips to Mexico.
I'm usually glad to get out of there after a long weekend lots of filthy kids begging at the border and the showers toilets hardly work in some of the hotels, at least the ones I stayed at. Having said that I'd eat off the street vendors carts in TJ and Ensenada and never had an issue. It's pretty evident it's a 3rd world country once you get away from the tourist areas and places like Cabo san Lucas and Acapulco. So about 10 or 12 times, only had a problem once. A cop pulled us over for having 4 people on the bench seat of a truck. We paid him off with $30 and we were on our way. Yes, they are that corrupt

London Pete

Cheers for the honest opinion in an ideal world I`d sooner she came to the UK or if US immigration wasn`t so strict settle in California.But saying that I´m still young enough for the adventure of Mexico as long as its not too dangerous, so will need to look at that. In fact I don`t envisage staying permantly somewhere like Mexico but I suppose you never know. My girlfriend is an accountant so from an upper middle class family in Mexico and her family had the money to send her to university in England as well, so I`m guessing where she lives must be pretty nice but will visit in the new year to find out. I plan to fly London to LA because from there you can fly to Hermosillo.

Lord Lionheart

I was thinking her family must have money if she was educated in the UK, so you'll probably be okay.
Feel free to PM me if you make it to LA. I'll show you around a bit

London Pete

Ok cheers made a note of that.

lizzers

Hi LondonPete,
I grew up in San Diego and have spent a lot of time in Tijuana, Rosarito and Ensenada. Unfortunately in the past year the violence situation in Tijuana has gotten pretty bad. It used to be narcos vs. narcos, but now a lot of innocent people are getting caught in the crossfire. Rosarito is a bit nicer place to live because of the beach, but the violence has spilled over there as well. Ensenada would be a good choice - its bigger than Rosarito and still on the coast. The climate is great--very similiar to LA. Any other questions, please let me know as I'm happy to help!

meauxna

Hermosillo is a nice place actually, and you might be surprised at the number of expats living down that way. Sonora state in general is pretty prosperous and you are not a long drive to the beaches; we spent a month down there last winter and couldn't escape the gringos.
It's less than a 4 hour drive from the border (bet getting back in to the US, the lines are long).