San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area
Encyclopedia
San Diego–Tijuana, also known as Tijuana–San Diego, is an international
metropolitan area
, or conurbation
, on the border between the two large North American
coastal 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 municipalities of Tijuana, Rosarito Beach, and Tecate in Mexico. The 2010 population of the region was 5,105,769, making it the largest bi-national conurbation shared between the United States and Mexico. The region maintains global cities and is known for its culture, history, technological innovations, natural geography, and tourism.
Both centers of San Diego and Tijuana maintain global city
status and the metropolitan region is host to 13 consulates from Asian, European, North American, Oceanian, and South American nations. San Diego and Tijuana are the 40th
and 42nd largest cities in the Americas
, respectively. San Diego is one of the largest cities in the United States and serves as a center for finance
, economics
, and culture
in California
; while Tijuana is the westernmost city in Mexico and dominant center of northwestern Mexico. Over forty million people cross the border each year between Tijuana and San Diego, giving the region the busiest land-border crossing in the world. Much of this commuting populace travels for both tourist and business reasons. Since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) in 1994, San Diego–Tijuana has become a dominant commercial
center in the United States. Tijuana and the southern reaches of the metropolitan area have become major industrial centers; while San Diego and the north have increasingly focused on technological development, fueling its knowledge-based economy. San Diego has grown to maintain its status as the 33rd richest city in the world. The economic success of globalization
has allowed San Diego–Tijuana to grow to the third richest region in the Californias, with a GDP of $136.3 billion in 2002. The cities are situated on the Pacific Coast
at the United States–Mexico border
adjacent to one another.
San Diego–Tijuana traces its European roots to 1542 when the land was explored by Portuguese explorers on behalf of imperial Spain
. In 1601 it was mandated by the Spanish viceroy
in Mexico City
that safe ports be found, one of which would be San Diego Bay
, for returning Spanish trade ships
from Manila
to Acapulco
. During this mission, the explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno
was also told to map the California coast in great detail; leading to the further exploration of the modern day site of San Diego–Tijuana.
The metropolitan region is the largest shared between the two states. San Diego–Tijuana is made up of two metropolitan areas. These are the San Diego metropolitan area
with over three million people, and the Tijuana metropolitan area
with almost two million people. It is the third most populous region in the two states, smaller only than the metropolitan areas of Greater Los Angeles
and the San Francisco Bay Area
. While Tijuana is the industrial center of the region, San Diego is the leading financial center of the region.
stumbled upon modern-day Baja California in his search for Calafia. Later, more thorough, exploration occurred in 1542 when Iberian explorers, including Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
, explored the land of California; and in 1601 when Sebastián Vizcaíno mapped the coast of the Californias. Baja California was explored by successive religious groups proceeding the initial discovery of the region including the Jesuits in 1683, the Franciscans in 1768, and the Dominicans in the 1770s. What would become America's Finest City, San Diego, was founded in the year 1769 by Junípero Serra
, during which the first of the California missions – Mission San Diego de Alcalá
– was also constructed. The Valley of Tijuana was explored the same year by Juan Crespí
. However, not until 1889 was Tijuana officially founded when descendants of Santiago Argüello
and Agustin Olvera
would enter an agreement to develop the city; though, Santiago Argüello had already obtainedt the ranch known as Rancho Tía Juana in the area in 1829.
The metropolitan region was historically united as part of the province of Alta California
under the Viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1821 Mexico won its independence from the Spanish crown and kept the area under the jurisdiction of Alta California. In 1846 the Mexican-American war began as the United States sought to control more land under the doctrine of Manifest Destiny
. In 1848 the war ended with the Fall of Mexico City and boundaries were redrawn that created a border between San Diego and Tijuana, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of San Diego Bay
. 1919 saw the implementation of Prohibition
and the rapid development of Tijuana tourism. Americans flocked to the city to drink and the construction of the Agua Caliente Tourist Complex spurred the rise of hotels and overall growth in the city.
, Playas de Tijuana, and in some places, Rosarito Beach. The urban area stretches from the farthest northern regions of Camp Pendleton South
to the south of Rosarito, with the populace ending shortly before the Ensenada Municipality border. The urban area of San Diego–Tijuana is the 72nd largest in the world and 11th largest in North America
, with a population of 4,360,000. While the San Diego metropolitan area is relatively isolated from the other South Coast urban centers of Long Beach
, Santa Ana
, and Los Angeles
, in terms of continuous urban development by Camp Pendleton (with only 40,000 commuters entering the county in 2000), the development between San Diego and the Baja California Gold Coast, in contrast, is so great that 300,000 visitors cross daily into Tijuana daily from Greater San Diego.
As far as United States Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) definitions are concerned, the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area is likened unto a combined statistical area
with two separate metropolitan statistical areas. San Diego–Tijuana consists of an aggregation of two core based statistical areas linked strongly by commuter ties where the commuting population is daily over 300,000 people. The region also consists of four total counties and municipalities. In this regard it is similar to the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA CSA. If San Diego–Tijuana were a United States combined statistical area
, it would rank 12th - smaller than Metro Detroit
but larger than the Puget Sound area
. While San Diego–Tijuana fits the standards of the CSA definition, the OMB does not included foreign populations in its definitions, however, in Mexico it is recognized by The National Population Council.
, on the border between the United States and Mexico. The region lies just south of Orange County
, west of Imperial County, and shares borders with Greater Los Angeles
. The area has a varied topography with over seventy miles of coastline and snow-capped mountains that rise to the northeast, in San Diego County. The terrain includes flood plains, canyons, steep hills, and mesas. The region has its eastern terminus in the Colorado Desert
and Imperial Valley
regions, where another conurbation – Mexicali–Calexico – is formed. The urbanized area where San Diego and Tijuana meet is known as San Ysidro on the American side of the border and Colonia Federal/Colonia Libertad on the Mexican side. East from the coast ten miles, the Tijuanense boroughs of Mesa de Otay
and Centenario are heavy urbanized whereas the corresponding American area of Otay Mesa is composed of primarily dispersed industrial and distribution facilities. At the Pacific Ocean region of the border, the border is urbanized on the Mexican side while the adjacent American side is a estuarine preserve, and thus not urbanized.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau
, the San Diego County has a total area of 4526 square miles (11,722.3 km²), of that 4200 square miles (10,878 km²) of it is land and 326 square miles (844.3 km²) of it (7.20%) is water. The area of Tijuana Municipality is 339.5 square miles (879.3 km²); the municipality includes part of the Coronado Islands
, located off the coast of the municipality in the Pacific Ocean
. This combined area, with the additional areas of Tecate, 1188.8 square miles (3,079 km²), and Rosarito Beach, 198.2 square miles (513.3 km²), place the area of San Diego–Tijuana at 6252.5 square miles (16,193.9 km²).
San Diego is by far the most populated county though population density is much higher in the immediate border area adjacent to the south in Baja California than it is in San Diego County. Urban growth is currently developing regions to the east of Tijuana Municipality and south of Rosarito Beach, where developers are building many new residential communities while in San Diego it is observed to the northeast along the Interstate 15
corridor to Temecula
and Murrieta
.
Ensenada
is sometimes considered part of the region, though it is ninety and seventy-four miles from San Diego and Tijuana respectively. However, recent develops have occurred between the port city and Rosarito that include more upscale, Americanized, developments such as Punta Azul, Baja Mar
, and La Salina
. These developing projects along the scenic tollway between Tijuana allow a corridor of urban growth and in essence provide more reason for inclusion into San Diego–Tijuana.
San Diego–Tijuana straddles a Mediterranean climate
and Semi-arid climate area. The Mediterranean climate is characterized by generally warm, dry summers on the near coastal regions while the with a slight temperature increase westward, and relatively cool, mild, wet winters; this is the climate that dominates northern San Diego–Tijuana. In southern San Diego–Tijuana the Semi-arid climate is observed, though characteristics of the Dry-Summer Subtropical Mediterranean climate are present, with most of the annual precipitation falling in the winter. The Peninsular Ranges
assist in containing moisture to the coastal areas and create a rain shadow
to the east as they are west facing mountains.
The climate of the area often varies significantly due to the abundance of microclimate
s characterizing the region. San Diego–Tijuana's topography, bays, coastal hills, mountains, canyons and gorges maintain their own climates while being relatively near to each other. During the May gray and June gloom
seasons, a dense cloak of coastal clouds, known as marine layer
, cover the coastal areas keeping the area cool and moist to up to 5 – inland. This coastal cloud cover is frequently observed reaching as far inland as Poway
and in some cases, San Diego Country Estates
. Yet once outside this cloud, the weather in sharp contrast can be warm and sunny. In some cases June gloom lasts into July creating cloudy skies over the coastal regions for entire days.
An example of the regional temperature fluctuations are shown in the varying averages of downtown San Diego, averaging January lows of 50°F and August highs of 78°F; El Cajon
, just 10 miles (16.1 km) northeast of downtown San Diego, averaging January lows of 42°F and August highs of 88°F; Tijuana averaging January lows of 45°F and August highs of 78°F. The differences are even more observed in North County, where coastal Oceanside
maintains an average January low of 45°F and August highs of 73°F, while inland Escondido
maintains average January lows of 42°F and August highs of 89°F.
San Diego–Tijuana is also subject to El Niño weather events. In extreme cases, the overwhelming fall of rain
creates mudslides and greatly increases the flow of urban rivers. This sudden influx of water has the potential to flood populated places and drown out wetland habitat; measures have been taken to reduce this potential negative affect while simultaneously restoring the rivers and their watersheds to a pristine and natural state.
ecoregion
that is further divided in three sub-regions where two are observed in San Diego–Tijuana. These are the coastal sage and chaparral
and montane chaparral and woodlands
ecoregion
s. In the montane region, fire serves a unique purpose as a medium of change, and while fire typically can threaten urban development, it is essential for the historically annual cleanse of the woodlands and reproduction of pyrophytes.
Southern coastal sage scrub
is further observed on the coast. This is an ecoregion with extremely high levels biodiversity
where its endemic species are endangered by human encroachment. In this terrestrial ecoregion, the coastal lowlands are within a semi, semi-arid Mediterranean climate; inhabited by low-growing aromatic, and drought
-deciduous
shrubs.
In the water, the Intertidal
, Estuary
and Kelp forest
biomes dominate the aquatic world; home to an equally diverse set of flora and fauna. The cool nutrient rich waters of the north Pacific are able to provide kelp forests with millions of plankton
- the base of the aquatic food chain
- due to an upwelling of water from the deep sea in the stormy, winter months.
Trees of San Diego–Tijuana included chamise, scrub oak
, manzanita
, live oak
, lodgepole pine
, black oak and closed-cone pine forests. Lowland shrubs included California sagebrush, black sage
, white sage
, California buckwheat, as well as cacti
and succulents.
Terrestrial mammals included the Mountain Lion, Bobcat
, Bighorn sheep
, Mule deer
as well as a variety of rodents and lagomorphs including the California ground squirrel
, San Diego Kangaroo Rat, and Brush Rabbit
. Black bear
s, Jaguars and Sea otters historically populated the area, but their range has been restricted by human encroachment and the Jaguar and the Sea Otter are now rarely, if ever, observed. Aquatic mammals included the Gray whale
, a seasonal migratory animal, as well as the Bottlenose dolphin
, Killer whale, and California sea lion
and on rare occasion, Guadalupe fur seal
. In recent times the region has seen the rebound of artiodactyls such as the Peninsular bighorn sheep, a distinct population segment
of the Desert Bighorn Sheep
.
Reptiles include Olive ridley sea turtle, Western fence lizard
, various rattlesnake
species and species of blind snake and gopher snake. Amphibians included the Barred tiger salamander and California tree frog
.
Bird species popular to the region are the California quail
, California condor
, California least tern
, Peregrine falcon
and Golden eagle
. Introduced parrot
species such as the Red-crowned Amazon parrot have also been found living and breeding in San Diego County and parts of Tijuana Metro.
The waters off of the coast of San Diego–Tijuana are densely populate by the denizens of the Kelp forest
s. Kelp forests are found to a great extent and are populated by Garibaldi, Leopard shark
s, Gobies, Rockfish
, and Sculpins. Great White Shark
s have been observed in the waters off the coast, while there are numerous documentations of their occurrence in the waters off Guadalupe Island
. From the confines of the forests, ocean going species such as the Ocean sunfish
are observed.
. The transform fault, known as the San Andreas Fault
was created during the Cenozoic Era by the movements of the Pacific Plate
and North American Plate
. The region experiences earthquakes and felt the shocks of the 2009 Gulf of California earthquake
and 2010 Baja California earthquake
.
The main mountain ranges of the Peninsular Ranges
ridging eastern San Diego–Tijuana are the Palomar Mountain
s, Laguna Mountains
, Sierra de Juárez
, and the peaks of the Cuyumacas including Cuyamaca Peak
. The highest points are located in the Lagunas at 6,378 feet (1,944 m) and in the Cuyumacas at 6,512 feet (1,985 m) while the highest is the peak of Hot Springs Mountain
at 6,535 feet (1,992 m). These mountain ranges constitute part of the Salinian Block
, a largely granitic terrane
dating back to the Mesozoic
era and thus explaining the abundance of such stone throughout the region. Once part of the North American Plate, the Salinian block broke off due to the formation of the San Andreas Fault and rift resulting in the Gulf of California
and its extension of the Salton Trough.
The faults nearest the urban area are the Elsinore
and Laguna Salada fault
s, both secondary to the San Andreas fault.
in that many cultures and ethnic groups are present. A large transitory population exists due to Tijuana's border proximity to the United States. This location draws many Latin Americans
, including Argentines, Cubans
, Guatemalans, and Andean nationalities, as well as Chinese
, Korean
, and Japanese
people; Italian, French
, Spanish
and Lebanese
also reside in the region. With a population of approximately five million people, the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area accounts for 40% of the United States - Mexico border population. The metropolitan area experiences the largest rates of growth in an urban area that stretches from Los Angeles to Tijuana. County age groups are different in that on the San Diegan side of the border, the populace is older while the Tijuanan side maintains a younger populace. The Tijuanan border side also maintains a population largely composed of people born outside of Baja California.
The 2010 United States Census reported the population of San Diego County to be 3,095,313 making it the fifth-most populated county in the nation. In San Diego County the racial makeup was 1,981,442 (64.0%) White, 158,213 (5.1%) African American, 26,340 (0.9%) Native American, 336,091 (10.9%) Asian, 15,337 (0.5%) Pacific Islander, 419,465 (13.6%) from other races
, and 158,425 (5.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 991,348 persons (32.0%). The Tijuana metropolitan area, comprising Tijuana and Rosarito Beach municipalities, was reported to have a population of 1,752,302 by the 2010 INEG Census - also the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Mexico. According to the 2010 census, Tecate Municipality was reported to have a population of 101,079.
San Diego is located at 32°42′N 117°09′W, just north of Tijuana. The city is divided into eight districts by the municipal government of the City of San Diego in accordance with policing and community service areas. The city lies south of North County, and east of East County
, while also being north of parts of South Bay
. Though the city boundaries grace Tijuana's, Centre City lies approximately 18 miles (29 km) north of Tijuana. San Diego has deep canyons separating its mesas, creating small pockets of natural parkland scattered throughout the city. This makes San Diego a hilly city. The Coronado
and Point Loma peninsulas separate San Diego Bay from the ocean.
Tijuana is located at 32°31′N 117°01′W, just south of San Diego. The city is divided into nine administrative boroughs, which are in turn divided into neighborhoods
. These boroughs offer administrative services such as urban planning
, civil registry
, inspection, verification, public works and community development, served by a delegate. As Tijuana ranks higher in the Mexican urban hierarchy
than San Diego does in the American urban hierarchy, Tijuana contains many foreign consulates
including those of China, Korea, Finland, the United States, Germany, Spain, Honduras, France, Austria, Gambia, the United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Israel, Canada, and the Czech Republic. Tijuana does not receive competition from a larger urban center as San Diego does from Los Angeles. However, with Mexicali
growing rapidly, a possible canal project planned and Silicon Border
development under way, Tijuana will soon face similar competition.
Population figures for California cities are from 2010 U.S. Census data. Population figures for Baja California cities are from 2010 INEG census data.
Major cities – 100,000+ inhabitants
Other cities – 40,000+ inhabitants
Cities with under 40,000 inhabitants
. The border's total length is 1951 miles (3,140 km). The border was established at its present location (except in Arizona) in accordance with the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War of 1846. The Arizona section of the border was adjusted in 1853 by the Gadsden Purchase
. The Pacific Ocean terminus of the border was defined as a line passing from the confluence of the Colorado
and Gila
rivers (now the southeastern corner of the U.S. State of California) to the Pacific Ocean such that it would pass one Spanish league south of the southern end of San Diego Bay. This ensured that the United States received the excellent natural harbor at San Diego.
The San Ysidro border crossing (San Diego–Tijuana) is the busiest border crossing
in the world; in 2005 alone, 41,417,164 people entered the U.S. through this port. There are maximum 30 vehicle border crossing lanes at the San Ysidro Port of Entry into the United States and 6 or 8 lanes into Mexico from San Ysidro. The great majority of border crossers into the United States 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 seeking entertainment in Tijuana, or purchasing services (vehicle repairs, hair and beauty services, childcare, medical and dental) that are generally more affordable there. Crossing times are notoriously slow at San Ysidro, particularly for those entering the U.S. in cars. Crossing into Mexico also has many delays, especially in the evenings. 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). Currently, the San Ysidro port of entry serves non-commercial traffic while Otay Mesa handles both industrial and non-commercial traffic.
has a large influence on the San Diego–Tijuana Economy. Of all the goods that travel through the ports of entry, about 20% of goods transported in through to San Diego are destined to San Diego; while of the remaining 80%, 60% heads to other California counties, and the remaining 20% is destined out of state. In 2002 San Diego and Tijuana had a gross regional product
of $136.3 Billion; and in 2007 this figure increased to $176 Billion. San Diego has a primarily knowledge-based economy and trends show its economic development further developing in this direction; Tijuana relies on the manufacture of tangible items and its economic manufacturing base is becoming increasingly diversified. The leading industries of San Diego–Tijuana are trade, services, electronics, tourism, life sciences, high-tech and defense sectors. Leading private employers to the metropolitan region are Qualcomm
, SAIC
, Sempra Energy
, Sony
, Kyocera
, Pfizer Global Research & Development, Callaway Golf
, Sharp Healthcare
, Scripps Health
, Sanyo
, Hitachi
, Matsushita
, Samsung
, Hyundai
, Mattel
, Honeywell
, Pioneer Corporation
, Maxell
, Douglas Furniture, and International Rectifier
.
Historically the metropolitan region had been dependent on the twin ports of San Pedro Bay
since they were the primary docking point of Asian vessels shipping containers. Containers moving between Asia and industrial parks in San Diego–Tijuana had to pass through these ports. 1999 saw the transfer of automotive shipments from the twin ports to the Port of San Diego.
The economy of the region is largely influenced by the Port of San Diego
and mild climate of the region. In San Diego particularly, the maritime
influence is strong; it has the only major submarine and shipbuilding yards on the West Coast
, as well as the largest naval fleet
in the world. The port waters, including the surrounding blue
and littoral
waters, have become the new testing grounds of the Littoral Surface Craft-Experimental LSC(X) vessel dubbed Sea Fighter, developed by the Office of Naval Research
, which will test new technologies; and will also provide a platform for minimum manned concepts on future naval ships operating surface waters. 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. The Port of San Diego is the state's fastest-growing port in terms of cruise ship dockings, and the second largest behind the Port of Los Angeles
. The economic impact of the dockings is estimated to have an impact of more than two million dollars on the local economy from the purchase of food, supplies, fuel, and maintenance services.
Manufacturing accounts for a large part of the regional economy, though it is more-so observed in Tijuana. The focus of manufacturing in the region is on both soft and hard
technological products. While in metropolitan Tijuana, manufacturing has historically allotted for a large sector of the economy, San Diego County's economy has become increasingly more focused on manufacturing and in 2002 allotted for $25 billion of the county's economic income. The 2000's saw Tijuana overtake the Twin Cities
as medical device
manufacture capital of North America. The amount of diverse and numerous manufacture companies in the area have made the metropolitan region one of the worlds largest concentrated manufacturing areas.
Several areas of San Diego are home to offices and research facilities for numerous biotechnology companies and pharmaceutical companies. Among American metropolitan areas
, metropolitan San Diego is the third largest concentrated area of high technology and biotechnology businesses. 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
. 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. Due to San Diego's military influence, major national defense contractors, such as General Atomics
and Science Applications International Corporation
(SAIC), are or have been headquartered in San Diego.
, and University City. The Zona Río is one of the largest financial centers in San Diego–Tijuana and the fourth-largest in Mexico. Notability among business districts extends to Rancho Bernardo being the site of the Corporate Headquarters of Sony
US.
Tourism serves as a major industry to the region, owing much to the area's mild Mediterranean climate
. Major tourist destinations in the San Diego metropolitan area
include Balboa Park
, the San Diego Zoo
, Seaworld
, the Wild Animal Park
, Legoland
, the city's beaches
, and golf tournaments hosted in the region, such as the Farmers Insurance Open. The Baja California municipalities of the metropolitan region also rely on tourism as a major revenue. Tijuana is the most visited city in the Western Hemisphere
, second only to New York City
. 50,000,000 people visit the city each year and about 300,000 visitors cross by foot or car from the San Ysidro point of entry, 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 its economy.
Popular attractions in the region include:
Many large luxury hotels line the San Diego Bay
and coast at Playas de Tijuana
. The Bay and its marinas are surrounded by more than fifteen hotels while historic buildings such as the Hotel del Coronado
and Rosarito Beach Hotel lie on the Coronado Peninsula and Rosarito coast. In Playas, Baja Mar
, and Baja Malibu
, several luxury hotels and condominiums can be found lining the coast in customary beach resort fashion, including Park Towers and AQUA condominiums. While there were plans to build Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico
in Playas de Tijuana, the project was cancelled due to fiscal collapse and internal project issues.
The metropolitan economy has become increasingly more integrated as the NAFTA process has reduced trade and investment barriers that allow the increased flow of trade and more extensive sales services through cross-border exchange. San Diego–Tijuana has become a critical commercial link in the United States with the knowledge-based economy of San Diego and the North American manufacture center of Tijuana. In the metropolitan region, with touching proximity to San Diego, home to a diverse people, and located in the Southern California
megaregion: Tijuana appears as an attractive city for foreign companies and investors to establish industrial park
s; taking advantage of the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) and cheap labor to export products.
There are a number of assembly plants in these industrial parks that are referred to as maquiladora
s. Foreign and domestic companies employ thousands of employees in these plants, usually in assembly related labor. Such jobs are demanding but offer high pay in comparison to Mexican standards. Companies that have set up facilities in Tijuana include Sony
, Toyota, Samsung
, Kodak, Matsushita
/Panasonic
, Nabisco
, Philips
, Pioneer
, Plantronics
, Pall Corporation, Tara Labs
, and Sanyo
, while San Diego supports the expansion of its own industrial parks in Otay Mesa. Companies with parks, such as Samsung, in Tijuana have begun to source the development of items locally benefiting the local economy greatly.
Even prior to the implementation of NAFTA, Tijuana was home to many businesses selling products and services at a lower rate than in the United States. Today businesses such as auto detailing
, medical services, dentistry
and plastic surgery
are heavily marketed and located near Tijuana's border with San Diego. In addition, there are high-tech firms and telemarketing
companies, including Medtronic Inc., making their way into the city. This influx of companies is drawing skilled people from the United States with technical trades and college degrees to Tijuana slowly transforming the city economy into a knowledge-based one.
. In Tijuana as in the rest of Mexico the official currency is the Mexican peso
. In Tijuana, where many people from Southern California
, and the United States in general visit, the US dollar is widely accepted. Some stores in tourist-centric parts of Tijuana display the price in US$ and in MXN$. A very small number of businesses on the United States-side of the border accept Mexican pesos. The toll roads in Mexico also display the price in pesos and dollars. In addition, many signs and advertisements in Tijuana are displayed in both Spanish and English.
Many businesses located near the border crossing offer currency exchange services.
's Blue Line goes from the San Ysidro Border Crossing, roughly along Interstate 5 to Downtown and Old Town. As the trolley travels it also serves as a means of transportation for the southern suburbs
. Passengers may transfer at the 12th & Imperial station to an Orange Line trolley, serving the eastern suburbs
. Another option is to transfer at the Old Town Trolley Station to a Green Line trolley serving Mission Valley and the campus of San Diego State University
.
Free parking is available in plenty at the Qualcomm Stadium
station on days when the stadium is not hosting events. All trolley stations also provied connection points to MTS bus services, as MTS has designed the trolley to be the backbone of the local public transit system.
In Tijuana there is currently no public rail system, although, there is a system of buses that operate in the area. However, it was reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune that San Diego officials desired that the California High Speed Rail be extended to Tijuana and South Bay
in order to capitalize on the potential economic benefits.
Many businesses in South Bay offer Mexican car insurance on a short-term, prepaid basis. Most large car rental companies in San Diego do permit their vehicles to be taken across the border but generally require a hefty fee, sometimes costing more than the rental, for Mexican insurance. Visitors to the region should note that automobile insurance does not travel across the international border. Vehicles registered in Mexico may also require separate insurance for use in the United States. In California Automobile insurance is required by the State.
s and Federal Highway
s. Radiating to the east and south are connections to the Arizona Sun Corridor
, Imperial Valley
and Mexicali Valley via Interstate 8
, the Las Vegas Strip
and metropolitan area
and Salt Lake City via Interstate 15
; and to the Greater Ensenada area via Federal Highway 1D
. To the north and west the area is connected to Northern California
, Upstate California
, and Cascadia
via Interstate 15
. Interstate 5
and Federal Highway 1
are critical highways for commercial and international trade due to their junction at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, linking major industrial regions along the British Columbia Coast
, West Coast of the United States
, and the Gold Coast of Baja California at the busiest port of entry in the world. The metropolitan area is linked by Federal Highway 2 and State Route 111
to Gulf of Mexico
cities.
Within the metropolitan region, there are many transportation routes via highway
. These included Interstate 805
, connecting Tijuana
to Del Mar
. Many highways have a terminus in South Bay and run north and west towards other agglomerations such as the Inland Empire
and Los Angeles metropolitan area
. State Routes that link to these urban areas include California State Route 79
and California State Route 78
. San Diego–Tijuana is linked to Ensenada by various ways as well; including Federal Highway 3 and Federal Highway 1 and 1D, running from the border cities of Tijuana and Tecate to the Cinderella of the Pacific.
In addition to the extensive highway system, the cities and regions within San Diego–Tijuana are interconnected by many state routes as well. California State Route 52
connects communities in northern San Diego, California State Route 905
connects the Otay Mesa Port of Entry with South Bay cities, California State Route 125
connects South Bay with East County
, California State Route 94
connects South Bay with the Mountain Empire
, and California State Route 78
connects North County Coastal with North County Inland, as well as to the mountain communities of the San Diego County Peninsular Ranges.
San Diego has a major network of roads, predominantly free Highways with several toll roads, and Interstates. Interstate 5 runs south from the Canadian near-border city of Vancouver
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 the Arizona Sun Corridor
at Casa Grande, 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 with many newly constructed off ramps being set up in an impractical method often 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.
destination. The Port of San Diego
has recreation terminals and docked ships at the Maritime Museum of San Diego
, which is located at the Embarcadero. The port is serviced by nine cruise lines including Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International
. A new cruise terminal was recently constructed at the Port to compensate for the increased levels of maritime tourism.
Cargo and container terminals are located to the south of the Embarcadero where two marine cargo facilities are administered. The Port of San Diego was ranked by the United States' Bureau of Transportation Statistics
as one of America's top 30 U.S. container ship
ports in 2007. The Port also serves as the primary port of entry for larger car corporations including Honda
, Volkswagen
, and Nissan into the United States of America. The nearby Port of Ensenada
also serves as a transport point where cruise ships arrive and depart from Southern Californian, European, and Central American ports. Cargo arriving at the Port of Ensenada is also transported to the metropolitan region via the Tijuana-Ensenada Freeway.
The Port of Punta Colonet is being planned as an alternative port to the West Coast ports of the United States and Canada; though the port is not without its negative environmental impacts. 150 miles (241.4 km) south of Tijuana, the port is intended to compete with the twin ports of Long Beach
and Los Angeles
, Once completed the port would serve as the primary dock for Asian vessels unloading shipping containers. and would have a 200 miles (321.9 km) rail line to San Diego–Tijuana.
s. These are the San Diego International Airport
(Lindbergh Field), Tijuana International Airport (General Abelardo L. Rodríguez) and McClellan-Palomar Airport
(Carlsbad). Thoughts of creating a binational terminal have also been brought up. In 2008 the intention to build a U.S.-Mexico terminal which would relieve high levels of congestion at San Diego International Airport
was expressed. Approved by Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, the project is slated to be completed by 2012.
San Diego International Airport is located 3 mi (4.8 km) northwest of Centre City and 20 mi (32.2 km) from Tijuana. Operated by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, the San Diego International airport is the busiest single-runway
commercial airport in the world, second only to London Gatwick. SAN has approximately 600 departures and arrivals, carrying 50,000 passengers, each day. As of October, 2010, San Diego International Airport is served by 20 passenger airlines. In 2010 the Tijuana International Airport served 3,649,500 passengers. It is the fifth busiest airport in Mexico and serves as the focus city for Aeroméxico
, an airline with flights to Asian market cities such as Tokyo-Narita
. McClellan-Palomar Airport is located near the central business district of Carlsbad, serving North County. It is slated to be the home base for California Pacific Airlines
.
The top ten flights in 2010 and 2009 from all three airports were to San Francisco with 737,000 passengers, Phoenix
with 618,000 passengers, Denver
with 571,000 passengers, Los Angeles
with approximately 408,000 passengers, Chicago
with 402,000 passengers, Dallas
with 394,000 passengers, Guadalajara
with 382,429, Oakland
with 380,000 passengers, Las Vegas
with 375,000 passengers, and Mexico City
with 358,241.
In 2008 it was reported that construction will begin on El Tigre International Airport along the Tijuana-Ensenada Scenic Tollway
. Also referred to as Airport Ensenada, this airport will serve the cities of metropolitan region and Ensenada. Further developing the area between Rosarito and Ensenada, it will have a 12000 feet (3,657.6 m) runway and will be capable of serving Boeing 747
s and Airbus A380
s. Service is being planned to Singapore
, Tokyo
, Shanghai
, Frankfurt
, Bogota
, and other large transit hubs. The bankers group of investors for Airport Ensenada are from all over the globe maintaining residency in Canada
, the United States and Europe
. In addition to serving as a new domestic transportation hub, the main customer for the new international airport is going to be the air package delivery company DHL
.
(SANDAG), the amount of trucks driving north through the Otay Mesa Port of Entry numbered over 725,710, representing approximately $20 billion dollars worth of freight. Over time congestion has increased as the population of the region has grown at a high rate. San Diego and Tijuana have both begun collaborative renovation plans in order to ease border congestion. The San Ysidro Land Port of Entry Expansion Project
involves adding an additional ten lanes to the San Ysidro border crossing and the creation of the El Chapparal Port of Entry. Another plan includes adding an extra border crossing to the east of Otay Mesa with completion estimated for the year 2015. Projects such as these will attempt to reduce the loss of millions of dollars per day due to waiting at the border.
There are currently three ports of entry serving the metropolitan region. Once the San Ysidro Expansion project is completed, the addition of the El Chapparal Port of Entry will make that number four. The most trafficked port of entry is the San Ysidro Port of Entry -- the busiest international crossing in the world. It serves as the primary entry point for the commuting populace of the metropolitan region. To the east, the Otay Mesa Port of Entry
deals with high volumes of commercial traffic as it is located in the manufacturing zone of the region. The Otay Mesa Port accounts for billions of dollars worth of product. The farthest east, the Tecate Port of Entry
is the smallest port of entry and is not designed for dealing with large volumes of traffic as it follows a long winding road through the Mountain Empire
.
Notable schools included the Autonomous University of Baja California, Tijuana
, Ibero-American University, Tijuana, CETYS University, Tijuana
, San Diego State University
, University of California, San Diego
(UCSD), California Western School of Law
, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
, and UCSD School of Medicine. Of the colleges in San Diego–Tijuana, UCSD is the highest ranked college; ranking as 14th best university in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities
and in 2010 ranking as the top university in the United States by The Washington Monthly
.
ing. To call Tijuana from the United States, "011" (the US international call prefix) must be dialed followed by Mexico's country calling code "52"; to call San Diego from Mexico, "00" (the ITU prefix) must be dialed followed by "1" (the North American Numbering Plan
calling code). Then the caller will in both cases proceed to dial the area code and the local number.
San Diego County Area Codes
Tijuana Metro Area Codes
is shared between the two cities as necessary, as is the case along both land U.S. borders. Frequency coordination
means that all broadcast station
s must be approved by both countries before making any major changes. In this case, approval is required by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) in the U.S. and Federal Commission of Telecommunications (CoFeTel) (under the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation) in Mexico. Additionally, the FCC requires a permit to supply programming to a foreign broadcaster for transmission back into the U.S.
Cooperative frequency coordination between both city regions is quite common; for example the local CW affiliate
is XETV
6, the K being replaced by the X as an indicator that it is a Mexican-licensed station. The two other such TV stations are MyNetworkTV
on XHDTV
49, and Miami-based (and NBC
-owned) Telemundo
on XHAS-TV
33. These stations will not be required to shut-down their NTSC
analog TV operations in June 2009, as full-powered FCC-license
d stations must. In 2007, a bill in the U.S. Congress called the DTV Border Fix Act
was introduced, which would have allowed all stations in San Diego, and all television stations within 80 kilometres (49.7 mi) of the Mexican border, to keep their analog signals active for another five years, delaying the television transition that the rest of the United States would be going through; while the bill passed the Senate, it did not pass the House.
On radio, relaying programming across the border is even more common, with stations like XHITZ-FM
90.3 and XHMORE-FM
98.9 being programmed by U.S. broadcast groups, while being owned by Mexican companies (as required under Mexican law) and operating under Mexican broadcast law
. Other American stations relayed via Mexico through local marketing agreement
s (LMAs) are XEPE AM 1700, XEPRS AM 1090 and simulcast
XHPRS-FM
105.7, XESPN AM 800, XESURF AM 540, XETRA
FM 91.1, XHRM
FM 92.5, XEWW-AM
690, XHA-FM
94.5, XHFG-FM 107.3, XHGLX-FM 91.7, XHLNC-FM
104.9, and XHTY-FM 99.7. All of these stations are authorized by CoFeTel to simulcast digitally in HD Radio
, as are other stations within 320 kilometres (198.8 mi) of the U.S. border.
Because many stations in the reserved band (FM below 92 MHz) are used by Mexican stations, other specific allotments are reserved for non-commercial educational
(NCE) radio stations in the San Diego area. However, the lack of such allotments still leaves the area with no college radio stations available except via Internet radio
, cable radio
, LPAM, and TV SAP
. These are KCR from San Diego State University
, and KSDT
from University of California, San Diego
.
(IWTP) was developed by the International Boundary and Water Commission
(IBWC) as a joint project between the USA and Mexico in the mid-1990s following substantial environmental studies regarding the polluting affects of the river system from run-off and untreated water on the Tijuana side of the border region. The facility now treats sewage flows exceeding the capacity of the present Tijuana sewage treatment system. The plant directly assists in the restoration of the Tijuana River Valley. Another collaborative effort between the two cities was the environmentally friendly
development of paved roads - created by placing concrete blocks on dirt roads - in the San Bernardo neighborhood of northwestern Tijuana. Whilst being a good example for overall development of Tijuana, it served to retain water in the earth and prevented possible negative impacts from floodwater.
. Approximately half of San Diego–Tijuana's fresh water is used for non-drinking purposes which includes landscape
irrigation
, commercial enterprise, and industrial processing. Methods such as saltwater desalination
provides options for obtaining fresh water
. Cities in the metropolitan region such as Carlsbad have begun desalination projects of their own, without a bi-national conference. The Carlsbad desalination plant
is expected to be completed in the 2012-2013 range as the largest desalination plant in the United States and produce 50-million gallons a day; enough water to supply 10% of San Diego region residents with drinking water.
constructed a natural gas pipeline to provide energy to a thermal power plant in Rosarito; also the principle plant in Baja California. The region was able to reduce levels of air pollution
substantially when the conversion to a natural gas fired electrical generation facility was completed. In the Baja California subregions, unleaded gasoline has also replaced leaded fuel as means for transportation, helping regional air quality. The new strategies also included plans that worked with the nearby capital of Mexicali, where the pipeline shared between the two states was constructed to supply natural gas to its metropolitan area with energy supplied by Sempra and Proxima. Sempra Energy has been applauded for its initial development of this cross-border infrastructure.
In April 19, 2011 it was reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune that San Diego Gas and Electric signed a twenty-year deal with Sempra Generation to obtain power generated by the Energia Sierra Juarez Project, a wind farm of 450 wind turbines, taking up an area predominantly in the Tecate region of Baja California larger than Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Energia Sierra Juarez is slated for construction in 2012, though the deal has yet to be approved by the California Public Utilities Commission
.
The cultural activities present on both sides of the border provide artists a benefited cultural activity sector. Art organizations on both sides of the border have binational programs. Mainly Mozart (Festival Binacional de Mozart) performs, for both cities of California and Baja California, with internationally known musicians and orchestras. In San Diego, the Opera's Ensemble tours the metropolitan region every year performing over 150 performances in the regions educational institutions, cultural centers, and concert venues. Additionally, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
actively promotes the binational arts culture in the area and has displayed exhibitions highlighting the border experience. In Tijuana the Cultural Centre anchors T.J. in its developing cultural scene and accommodates world class musical performances whose purpose is to perform solely in Tijuana, bypassing San Diego and encouraging its residents to cross the border to take advantage of the presented cultural opportunities.
San Diego–Tijuana's allure as a center for artistic attraction can be attributed to civic leaders who have promoted the international region as a place for ingenuity through a series of cross border exhibitions and displays. The metropolitan region has become a magnet for artists from abroad. Musician
s and visual artists from Russia
, Mexico, and Eastern Europe
are now found in organizations such as the Orchestra of Baja California.
The cultural region is the home of many museums and landmarks. The regions cultural institutions and landmarks are in part comprised by the many institutions of Balboa Park
, Tijuana Cultural Center, the Maritime Museum of San Diego
- a collection of large historic American vessels, Cabrillo National Monument
, Christ of the Sacred Heart, Mission San Diego de Alcalá
, Mission San Luis Rey de Francia
, Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
, and museum at San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park
. Local beach culture is in part represented by the California Surf Museum
.
and American contemporary culture
clash, native artists benefit from the manifested diverse cultural influences.
Tijuana's adjacent location to San Diego fuels its intrigue for artists and art curators. A growing number of artists and musicians have begun challenging the sometimes negative stereotype of Tijuana through exhibitions displaying the city as a place of contingency and creativity. San Diego–Tijuana has been considered "one of the hottest interfaces between first and third worlds." Artists attraction to San Diego–Tijuana’s arts and culture scene was accredited by the Tucson Weekly
to the environment created by one of the richest and most developed cities - San Diego - border proximity to a once third world
type city - Tijuana.
, reflecting the values of each city. Tijuana's emerging vibrant culture scene plays and undeniable role in the art enrichment of its neighborhoods. The metropolitan regions southern anchor city, Tijuana, was identified by Newsweek International as one of the top eight creative cities in the world. It was recognized for its amalgamation of traditional Mexican Norteño
music by cities as far away as Tokyo
and Berlin
. Berlin's Haus der Kulturen der Welt
attributed Tijuana as the "cradle of Mexican rock
... where the music of the future is being born in Mexico." According to Britain’s Guardian Newspaper, "Tijuana is in the middle of an artistic flowering in which artists are re-examining the city's hybrid binational culture."
In the five years prior to 2004 Tijuana's visual arts were sought out by European exhibitions, and received notable focus from Germany. An international exhibition in Hamburg titled Unlikely Encounters in Urban Space portrayed the developed environment in Eastern Tijuana as well as in New Delhi
, Mar de Plata, Milan
, Berlin, Munich
, and Hamburg
.
. The proposed bid intentionally rivaled L.A.'s bid for the 2016 games. However, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) decided against the binational bid and made it clear San Diego would not receive the opportunity to host the Summer Games. Furthermore, USOC member Bob Ctvrtlik
stated the International Olympic Committee
has never been inclined to consider a dual-city Games.
San Diego–Tijuana is an avid sports community. Popular sports include soccer, football
, baseball
, and to a lesser extent, bloodless bullfighting
. The region has professional teams involved in the National Football League
, Major League Baseball
, and National Professional Basketball League
. In a sign of binational friendship, San Diegans – Team USA – and Tijuanenses – Team Mexico – engaged in a friendly game of border volleyball
at Border Field State Park
in which volleyballs were passed over the international border fence splitting the beach. This was the first game of international border volleyball and garnered attention from tourists and the media.
Watersports and boardsports also form a large part of San Diego–Tijuana sports culture. Sailing
is a popular hobby in the San Diego Bay and Mission Bay areas. The San Diego–Ensenada International Yacht Race is hosted by the Southwestern Yacht Club of San Diego and takes place annually as over 100 contestants from Southern and Baja California race from San Diego Bay to Bahia de Todos Santos
. The region is known for its avid surf
scene. Surfers take to the water in the beaches of North County and Rosarito; well-known destinations include Swami's, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, and Baja Malibu
.
Organizations
International
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
metropolitan area
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
, or conurbation
Conurbation
A conurbation is a region comprising a number of cities, large towns, and other urban areas that, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban and industrially developed area...
, on the border between the two large North American
North American
North American generally refers to an entity, people, group, or attribute of North America, especially of the United States and Canada together.-Culture:*North American English, a collective term used to describe American English and Canadian English...
coastal cities of San Diego, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. The region consists of San Diego County
San Diego County, California
San Diego County is a large county located in the southwestern corner of the US state of California. Hence, San Diego County is also located in the southwestern corner of the 48 contiguous United States. Its county seat and largest city is San Diego. Its population was about 2,813,835 in the 2000...
in the United States and the municipalities of Tijuana, Rosarito Beach, and Tecate in Mexico. The 2010 population of the region was 5,105,769, making it the largest bi-national conurbation shared between the United States and Mexico. The region maintains global cities and is known for its culture, history, technological innovations, natural geography, and tourism.
Both centers of San Diego and Tijuana maintain global city
Global city
A global city is a city that is deemed to be an important node in the global economic system...
status and the metropolitan region is host to 13 consulates from Asian, European, North American, Oceanian, and South American nations. San Diego and Tijuana are the 40th
Largest Cities in the Americas
This is a list of the 50 largest cities in the Americas by population. Official definitions of cities are defined according to the concept of city proper, which is the territory within the city limits. The list ranks the world's urban municipal units according to population...
and 42nd largest cities in the Americas
Largest Cities in the Americas
This is a list of the 50 largest cities in the Americas by population. Official definitions of cities are defined according to the concept of city proper, which is the territory within the city limits. The list ranks the world's urban municipal units according to population...
, respectively. San Diego is one of the largest cities in the United States and serves as a center for finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
, economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
; while Tijuana is the westernmost city in Mexico and dominant center of northwestern Mexico. Over forty million people cross the border each year between Tijuana and San Diego, giving the region the busiest land-border crossing in the world. Much of this commuting populace travels for both tourist and business reasons. Since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
(NAFTA) in 1994, San Diego–Tijuana has become a dominant commercial
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
center in the United States. Tijuana and the southern reaches of the metropolitan area have become major industrial centers; while San Diego and the north have increasingly focused on technological development, fueling its knowledge-based economy. San Diego has grown to maintain its status as the 33rd richest city in the world. The economic success of globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
has allowed San Diego–Tijuana to grow to the third richest region in the Californias, with a GDP of $136.3 billion in 2002. The cities are situated on the Pacific Coast
Pacific Coast
A country's Pacific coast is the part of its coast bordering the Pacific Ocean.-The Americas:Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western border.* Geography of Canada* Geography of Chile* Geography of Colombia...
at the United States–Mexico border
United States–Mexico border
The United States–Mexico border is the international border between the United States and Mexico. It runs from Imperial Beach, California, and Tijuana, Baja California, in the west to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Brownsville, Texas, in the east, and traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from major...
adjacent to one another.
San Diego–Tijuana traces its European roots to 1542 when the land was explored by Portuguese explorers on behalf of imperial Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. In 1601 it was mandated by the Spanish viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
that safe ports be found, one of which would be San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port adjacent to San Diego, California. It is 12 mi/19 km long, 1 mi/1.6 km–3 mi/4.8 km wide...
, for returning Spanish trade ships
Galleon
A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used primarily by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries. Whether used for war or commerce, they were generally armed with the demi-culverin type of cannon.-Etymology:...
from Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
to Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
. During this mission, the explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno
Sebastián Vizcaíno
Sebastián Vizcaíno was a Spanish soldier, entrepreneur, explorer, and diplomat whose varied roles took him to New Spain, the Philippines, the Baja California peninsula, the California coast and Japan.-Early career:...
was also told to map the California coast in great detail; leading to the further exploration of the modern day site of San Diego–Tijuana.
The metropolitan region is the largest shared between the two states. San Diego–Tijuana is made up of two metropolitan areas. These are the San Diego metropolitan area
San Diego metropolitan area
The San Diego Metropolitan Area, also known as Greater San Diego and officially the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area, is a metropolitan area on the United States Pacific Coast. The U.S. Census of the Bureau defines the San Diego metropolitan area as encompassing all of...
with over three million people, and the Tijuana metropolitan area
Tijuana metropolitan area
The Tijuana metropolitan area, and in Spanish the Zona Metropolitana de Tijuana, is located on the Pacific Ocean in Mexico. According to the 2005 census, the Tijuana metropolitan area was the sixth-largest in Mexico, with a population of 1,483,992. The 2010 Census placed the Tijuana metropolitan...
with almost two million people. It is the third most populous region in the two states, smaller only than the metropolitan areas of Greater Los Angeles
Greater Los Angeles Area
The Greater Los Angeles Area, or the Southland, is a term used for the Combined Statistical Area sprawled over five counties in the southern part of California, namely Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County and Ventura County...
and the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. While Tijuana is the industrial center of the region, San Diego is the leading financial center of the region.
History
Exploration of the Californias dates back to the 1500s when in 1535 Hernan CortesHernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
stumbled upon modern-day Baja California in his search for Calafia. Later, more thorough, exploration occurred in 1542 when Iberian explorers, including Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese explorer noted for his exploration of the west coast of North America on behalf of Spain. Cabrillo was the first European explorer to navigate the coast of present day California in the United States...
, explored the land of California; and in 1601 when Sebastián Vizcaíno mapped the coast of the Californias. Baja California was explored by successive religious groups proceeding the initial discovery of the region including the Jesuits in 1683, the Franciscans in 1768, and the Dominicans in the 1770s. What would become America's Finest City, San Diego, was founded in the year 1769 by Junípero Serra
Junípero Serra
Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...
, during which the first of the California missions – Mission San Diego de Alcalá
Mission San Diego de Alcalá
Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá, in San Diego, California, was the first Franciscan mission in the Las Californias Province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was founded in 1769 by Spanish friar Junípero Serra in an area long inhabited by the Kumeyaay Indians...
– was also constructed. The Valley of Tijuana was explored the same year by Juan Crespí
Juan Crespi
Father Juan Crespí was a Majorcan missionary and explorer of Las Californias. He entered the Franciscan order at the age of seventeen. He came to America in 1749, and accompanied explorers Francisco Palóu and Junípero Serra. In 1767 he went to the Baja Peninsula and was placed in charge of the...
. However, not until 1889 was Tijuana officially founded when descendants of Santiago Argüello
Santiago Argüello
-Life:Santiago Argüello was born in Monterey, California, the son of José Darío Argüello, a soldier, and María Ignacia Moraga, a niece of the acting governor of Alta California. Argüello was tall and stout. His fair complexion and black hair, along with his reserved manner gave him a regal...
and Agustin Olvera
Agustin Olvera
Agustin Olvera was a pioneer of Los Angeles, California and was active in the turbulent political affairs of the time.-Biography:...
would enter an agreement to develop the city; though, Santiago Argüello had already obtainedt the ranch known as Rancho Tía Juana in the area in 1829.
The metropolitan region was historically united as part of the province of Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
under the Viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1821 Mexico won its independence from the Spanish crown and kept the area under the jurisdiction of Alta California. In 1846 the Mexican-American war began as the United States sought to control more land under the doctrine of Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
. In 1848 the war ended with the Fall of Mexico City and boundaries were redrawn that created a border between San Diego and Tijuana, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port adjacent to San Diego, California. It is 12 mi/19 km long, 1 mi/1.6 km–3 mi/4.8 km wide...
. 1919 saw the implementation of Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
and the rapid development of Tijuana tourism. Americans flocked to the city to drink and the construction of the Agua Caliente Tourist Complex spurred the rise of hotels and overall growth in the city.
Urban landscape
San Diego–Tijuana consists of heavy urban development with the highest population densities located in the northern reaches of the Tijuana metropolitan area. Highly developed affluent areas reach the coast in North County, CoronadoCoronado, California
Coronado, also known as Coronado Island, is an affluent resort city located in San Diego County, California, 5.2 miles from downtown San Diego. Its population was 24,697 at the 2010 census, up from 24,100 at the 2000 census. U.S. News and World Report lists Coronado as one of the most expensive...
, Playas de Tijuana, and in some places, Rosarito Beach. The urban area stretches from the farthest northern regions of Camp Pendleton South
Camp Pendleton South, California
Camp Pendleton South is a census-designated place in San Diego County, California, located at the southwest corner of the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton...
to the south of Rosarito, with the populace ending shortly before the Ensenada Municipality border. The urban area of San Diego–Tijuana is the 72nd largest in the world and 11th largest in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, with a population of 4,360,000. While the San Diego metropolitan area is relatively isolated from the other South Coast urban centers of Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, Santa Ana
Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States....
, and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, in terms of continuous urban development by Camp Pendleton (with only 40,000 commuters entering the county in 2000), the development between San Diego and the Baja California Gold Coast, in contrast, is so great that 300,000 visitors cross daily into Tijuana daily from Greater San Diego.
As far as United States Office of Management and Budget
United States Office of Management and Budget
The Office of Management and Budget is a Cabinet-level office, and is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States .The current OMB Director is Jacob Lew.-History:...
(OMB) definitions are concerned, the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area is likened unto a combined statistical area
Combined Statistical Area
The United States Office of Management and Budget defines micropolitan and metropolitan statistical areas. Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas consist of one or more counties...
with two separate metropolitan statistical areas. San Diego–Tijuana consists of an aggregation of two core based statistical areas linked strongly by commuter ties where the commuting population is daily over 300,000 people. The region also consists of four total counties and municipalities. In this regard it is similar to the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA CSA. If San Diego–Tijuana were a United States combined statistical area
Combined Statistical Area
The United States Office of Management and Budget defines micropolitan and metropolitan statistical areas. Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas consist of one or more counties...
, it would rank 12th - smaller than Metro Detroit
Metro Detroit
The Detroit metropolitan area, often referred to as Metro Detroit, is the metropolitan area located in Southeast Michigan centered on the city of Detroit which shares an international border with Windsor, Ontario. The Detroit metropolitan area is the second largest U.S. metropolitan area...
but larger than the Puget Sound area
Seattle metropolitan area
The Seattle metropolitan area in the US state of Washington includes the city of Seattle, King County, Snohomish County, and Pierce County within the Puget Sound region. The U.S...
. While San Diego–Tijuana fits the standards of the CSA definition, the OMB does not included foreign populations in its definitions, however, in Mexico it is recognized by The National Population Council.
Geography
The metropolitan region is situated along the Pacific CoastPacific Coast
A country's Pacific coast is the part of its coast bordering the Pacific Ocean.-The Americas:Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western border.* Geography of Canada* Geography of Chile* Geography of Colombia...
, on the border between the United States and Mexico. The region lies just south of Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, west of Imperial County, and shares borders with Greater Los Angeles
Greater Los Angeles Area
The Greater Los Angeles Area, or the Southland, is a term used for the Combined Statistical Area sprawled over five counties in the southern part of California, namely Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County and Ventura County...
. The area has a varied topography with over seventy miles of coastline and snow-capped mountains that rise to the northeast, in San Diego County. The terrain includes flood plains, canyons, steep hills, and mesas. The region has its eastern terminus in the Colorado Desert
Colorado Desert
California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert, which extends across southwest North America. The Colorado Desert region encompasses approximately , reaching from the Mexican border in the south to the higher-elevation Mojave Desert in the north and from the Colorado River in...
and Imperial Valley
Imperial Valley
The Imperial Valley is an agricultural area of Southern California's Imperial County. It is located in southeastern Southern California, centered around the city of El Centro. Locally, the terms "Imperial Valley" and "Imperial County" are used synonymously. The Valley is bordered between the...
regions, where another conurbation – Mexicali–Calexico – is formed. The urbanized area where San Diego and Tijuana meet is known as San Ysidro on the American side of the border and Colonia Federal/Colonia Libertad on the Mexican side. East from the coast ten miles, the Tijuanense boroughs of Mesa de Otay
Mesa de Otay
Mesa de Otay is a borough of the municipality of Tijuana, located in the northwest of Baja California.-Geography:Mesa de Otay is located in the north part of Tijuana, and adjacent to the San Diego County census designated place of the same name, Otay Mesa. The Centro borough is to the west, to the...
and Centenario are heavy urbanized whereas the corresponding American area of Otay Mesa is composed of primarily dispersed industrial and distribution facilities. At the Pacific Ocean region of the border, the border is urbanized on the Mexican side while the adjacent American side is a estuarine preserve, and thus not urbanized.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the San Diego County has a total area of 4526 square miles (11,722.3 km²), of that 4200 square miles (10,878 km²) of it is land and 326 square miles (844.3 km²) of it (7.20%) is water. The area of Tijuana Municipality is 339.5 square miles (879.3 km²); the municipality includes part of the Coronado Islands
Coronado Islands
The Coronado Islands are a group of four islands off the northwest coast of the Mexican state of Baja California. Battered by the wind and waves, they are largely infertile and uninhabited except for a small military detachment and a few lighthouse keepers...
, located off the coast of the municipality in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. This combined area, with the additional areas of Tecate, 1188.8 square miles (3,079 km²), and Rosarito Beach, 198.2 square miles (513.3 km²), place the area of San Diego–Tijuana at 6252.5 square miles (16,193.9 km²).
San Diego is by far the most populated county though population density is much higher in the immediate border area adjacent to the south in Baja California than it is in San Diego County. Urban growth is currently developing regions to the east of Tijuana Municipality and south of Rosarito Beach, where developers are building many new residential communities while in San Diego it is observed to the northeast along the Interstate 15
Interstate 15 in California
In the U.S. state of California, Interstate 15 is a major north–south route through the San Bernardino, Riverside, and San Diego Counties, and it has a length of in the state. It is a major thoroughfare for traffic between Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as points beyond...
corridor to Temecula
Temecula, California
Temecula is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States with a population of 100,097 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it the lowest populated American city over 100,000 population. It was incorporated on December 1, 1989...
and Murrieta
Murrieta, California
Murrieta has a Mediterranean climate or Dry-Summer Subtropical . Murrieta has plenty of sunshine throughout the year, with an average of 263 sunshine days and 35 days with measurable precipitation annually....
.
Ensenada
Ensenada, Baja California
Ensenada is a coastal city in Mexico and the third-largest city in Baja California. It is located south of San Diego on the Baja California Peninsula. The city is locally referred to as La Cenicienta del Pacífico, or, The Cinderella of the Pacific...
is sometimes considered part of the region, though it is ninety and seventy-four miles from San Diego and Tijuana respectively. However, recent develops have occurred between the port city and Rosarito that include more upscale, Americanized, developments such as Punta Azul, Baja Mar
Baja Mar
Baja Mar, alternatively Bajamar, is a seaside resort community in Ensenada Municipality, Baja California twenty minutes north of Ensenada and forty minutes south of Greater San Diego–Tijuana...
, and La Salina
La Salina
La Salina is a town and municipality in the Department of Casanare, Colombia....
. These developing projects along the scenic tollway between Tijuana allow a corridor of urban growth and in essence provide more reason for inclusion into San Diego–Tijuana.
Climate
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
and Semi-arid climate area. The Mediterranean climate is characterized by generally warm, dry summers on the near coastal regions while the with a slight temperature increase westward, and relatively cool, mild, wet winters; this is the climate that dominates northern San Diego–Tijuana. In southern San Diego–Tijuana the Semi-arid climate is observed, though characteristics of the Dry-Summer Subtropical Mediterranean climate are present, with most of the annual precipitation falling in the winter. The Peninsular Ranges
Peninsular Ranges
The Peninsular Ranges are a group of mountain ranges, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, which stretch from southern California in the United States to the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges that run along the Pacific coast from Alaska...
assist in containing moisture to the coastal areas and create a rain shadow
Rain shadow
A rain shadow is a dry area on the lee side of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems, casting a "shadow" of dryness behind them. As shown by the diagram to the right, the warm moist air is "pulled" by the prevailing winds over a mountain...
to the east as they are west facing mountains.
The climate of the area often varies significantly due to the abundance of microclimate
Microclimate
A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet or as large as many square miles...
s characterizing the region. San Diego–Tijuana's topography, bays, coastal hills, mountains, canyons and gorges maintain their own climates while being relatively near to each other. During the May gray and June gloom
June Gloom
June Gloom is a southern California term for a weather pattern that results in cloudy, overcast skies with cool temperatures during the late spring and early summer. June Gloom in southern California is caused by the marine layer effect common to the West Coast, and is enhanced by the Catalina eddy...
seasons, a dense cloak of coastal clouds, known as marine layer
Marine layer
A marine layer is an air mass which develops over the surface of a large body of water such as the ocean or large lake in the presence of a temperature inversion. The inversion itself is usually initiated by the cooling effect of the water on the surface layer of an otherwise warm air mass...
, cover the coastal areas keeping the area cool and moist to up to 5 – inland. This coastal cloud cover is frequently observed reaching as far inland as Poway
Poway, California
Poway is a city in San Diego County, California. Originally an unincorporated community in San Diego County, Poway officially became a city in December 1980. Even though Poway lies geographically in the middle of San Diego County, most consider its relative location as north county inland...
and in some cases, San Diego Country Estates
San Diego Country Estates, California
San Diego Country Estates, commonly referred to as the Estates, is an affluent valley resort populace composed of several neighborhoods associated with the unincorporated community of Ramona, California. The Estates are a census-designated place in the North County region of San Diego County,...
. Yet once outside this cloud, the weather in sharp contrast can be warm and sunny. In some cases June gloom lasts into July creating cloudy skies over the coastal regions for entire days.
An example of the regional temperature fluctuations are shown in the varying averages of downtown San Diego, averaging January lows of 50°F and August highs of 78°F; El Cajon
El Cajon, California
-History:El Cajon is located on the Rancho El Cajon Mexican land grant made in 1845 to María Antonia Estudillo, wife of Miguel Pedrorena. In 1876 Amaziah Lord Knox , a New Englander who had recently moved to California, established a hotel there to serve the growing number of people traveling...
, just 10 miles (16.1 km) northeast of downtown San Diego, averaging January lows of 42°F and August highs of 88°F; Tijuana averaging January lows of 45°F and August highs of 78°F. The differences are even more observed in North County, where coastal Oceanside
Oceanside, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Oceanside had a population of 167,086. The population density was 3,961.8 people per square mile...
maintains an average January low of 45°F and August highs of 73°F, while inland Escondido
Escondido, California
Escondido is a city occupying a shallow valley ringed by rocky hills, just north of the city of San Diego, California. Founded in 1888, it is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. The city had a population of 143,911 at the 2010 census. Its municipal government set itself an operating...
maintains average January lows of 42°F and August highs of 89°F.
San Diego–Tijuana is also subject to El Niño weather events. In extreme cases, the overwhelming fall of rain
Rain
Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...
creates mudslides and greatly increases the flow of urban rivers. This sudden influx of water has the potential to flood populated places and drown out wetland habitat; measures have been taken to reduce this potential negative affect while simultaneously restoring the rivers and their watersheds to a pristine and natural state.
Ecology
This regional climate supports a chaparral and woodlandsCalifornia chaparral and woodlands
The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of lower northern, central, and southern California and northwestern Baja California , located on the west coast of North America...
ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
that is further divided in three sub-regions where two are observed in San Diego–Tijuana. These are the coastal sage and chaparral
California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion
The California coastal sage and chaparral, a sub-ecoregion of the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, is found in southwestern California and northwestern Baja California in Mexico.-Location:...
and montane chaparral and woodlands
California montane chaparral and woodlands
The California montane chaparral and woodlands ecoregion covers , including the mountains of the Transverse, Peninsular, and Santa Lucia Ranges of California. It is part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers...
ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
s. In the montane region, fire serves a unique purpose as a medium of change, and while fire typically can threaten urban development, it is essential for the historically annual cleanse of the woodlands and reproduction of pyrophytes.
Southern coastal sage scrub
Coastal sage scrub
Coastal sage scrub is a low scrubland plant community found in the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of coastal California and northern Baja California. It is characterized by low-growing aromatic, and drought-deciduous shrubs adapted to the semi-arid Mediterranean climate of the...
is further observed on the coast. This is an ecoregion with extremely high levels biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
where its endemic species are endangered by human encroachment. In this terrestrial ecoregion, the coastal lowlands are within a semi, semi-arid Mediterranean climate; inhabited by low-growing aromatic, and drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
-deciduous
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
shrubs.
In the water, the Intertidal
Intertidal zone
The intertidal zone is the area that is above water at low tide and under water at high tide . This area can include many different types of habitats, with many types of animals like starfish, sea urchins, and some species of coral...
, Estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
and Kelp forest
Kelp forest
Kelp forests are underwater areas with a high density of kelp. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth. Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds....
biomes dominate the aquatic world; home to an equally diverse set of flora and fauna. The cool nutrient rich waters of the north Pacific are able to provide kelp forests with millions of plankton
Plankton
Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
- the base of the aquatic food chain
Food chain
A food web depicts feeding connections in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs...
- due to an upwelling of water from the deep sea in the stormy, winter months.
Flora and fauna
Scrub Oak
Scrub Oak is a general name for several species of small, shrubby oaks, including the following species:*California Scrub Oak *Leather Oak *Coastal Scrub Oak...
, manzanita
Manzanita
Manzanita is a common name for many species of the genus Arctostaphylos. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from southern British Columbia, Washington to California, Arizona and New Mexico in the United States, and...
, live oak
Live oak
Live oak , also known as the southern live oak, is a normally evergreen oak tree native to the southeastern United States...
, lodgepole pine
Lodgepole Pine
Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...
, black oak and closed-cone pine forests. Lowland shrubs included California sagebrush, black sage
Black Sage
Salvia mellifera is a small, highly aromatic, evergreen shrub of the genus Salvia native to California, and Baja California, Mexico. It is common in the coastal sage scrub of Southern California and northern Baja California...
, white sage
White sage
Salvia apiana is an evergreen perennial shrub that is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, found mainly in the coastal sage scrub habitat of Southern California and Baja California, on the western edges of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts.-Description :S...
, California buckwheat, as well as cacti
Cacti
-See also:* RRDtool The underlying software upon which Cacti is built* MRTG The original Multi Router Traffic Grapher from which RRDtool was "extracted".* Munin -External links:******...
and succulents.
Terrestrial mammals included the Mountain Lion, Bobcat
Bobcat
The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...
, Bighorn sheep
Bighorn Sheep
The bighorn sheep is a species of sheep in North America named for its large horns. These horns can weigh up to , while the sheep themselves weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates that there are three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: Ovis canadensis sierrae...
, Mule deer
Mule Deer
The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...
as well as a variety of rodents and lagomorphs including the California ground squirrel
California Ground Squirrel
The California ground squirrel , is a common and easily observed ground squirrel of the western United States and the Baja California peninsula; it is common in Oregon and California and its range has relatively recently extended into Washington and northwestern Nevada...
, San Diego Kangaroo Rat, and Brush Rabbit
Brush Rabbit
The Brush Rabbit , or Western Brush Rabbit, is a species of cottontail rabbit found in western coastal regions of North America, from the Columbia River in Oregon to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula...
. Black bear
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
s, Jaguars and Sea otters historically populated the area, but their range has been restricted by human encroachment and the Jaguar and the Sea Otter are now rarely, if ever, observed. Aquatic mammals included the Gray whale
Gray Whale
The gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of about , a weight of , and lives 50–70 years. The common name of the whale comes from the gray patches and white mottling on its dark skin. Gray whales were...
, a seasonal migratory animal, as well as the Bottlenose dolphin
Bottlenose Dolphin
Bottlenose dolphins, the genus Tursiops, are the most common and well-known members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Recent molecular studies show the genus contains two species, the common bottlenose dolphin and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin , instead of one...
, Killer whale, and California sea lion
California Sea Lion
The California sea lion is a coastal sea lion of western North America. Their numbers are abundant , and the population continues to expand about 5% annually. They are quite intelligent and can adapt to man-made environments...
and on rare occasion, Guadalupe fur seal
Guadalupe Fur Seal
The Guadalupe fur seal is one of six members of the fur seal genus Arctocephalus. Sealers reduced the population to just a few dozen by the late 19th century, but the species had recovered to 10,000 in number by the late 1990s...
. In recent times the region has seen the rebound of artiodactyls such as the Peninsular bighorn sheep, a distinct population segment
Distinct population segment
A distinct population segment is the smallest division of a taxonomic species permitted to be protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Species, as defined in the Act for listing purposes, is a taxonomic species or subspecies of plant or animal, or in the case of vertebrate species, a...
of the Desert Bighorn Sheep
Desert Bighorn Sheep
The Desert Bighorn Sheep is a subspecies of Bighorn Sheep that occurs in the desert Southwest regions of the United States and in the northern regions of Mexico. The trinomial of this species commemorates the American naturalist Edward William Nelson...
.
Reptiles include Olive ridley sea turtle, Western fence lizard
Western fence lizard
The western fence lizard is a common lizard of California and the surrounding area. Because the ventral abdomen of an adult is characteristically blue, it is also known as the blue-belly...
, various rattlesnake
Rattlesnake
Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus of the subfamily Crotalinae . There are 32 known species of rattlesnake, with between 65-70 subspecies, all native to the Americas, ranging from southern Alberta and southern British Columbia in Canada to Central...
species and species of blind snake and gopher snake. Amphibians included the Barred tiger salamander and California tree frog
California tree frog
The California tree frog is a cryptically colored species of frog, often resembling granitic stones. It is grey or light brown on its dorsum with darker blotches, and has a whitish venter. It is yellow on the undersides of its legs, groin and lower abdomen; males of the species have a dusky-yellow...
.
Bird species popular to the region are the California quail
California Quail
The California Quail, Callipepla californica, also known as the California Valley Quail or Valley Quail, is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family...
, California condor
California Condor
The California Condor is a New World vulture, the largest North American land bird. Currently, this condor inhabits only the Grand Canyon area, Zion National Park, and coastal mountains of central and southern California and northern Baja California...
, California least tern
California Least Tern
The Least Tern is a species of tern that breeds in North America and locally in northern South America. It is closely related to, and was formerly often considered conspecific with, the Little Tern of the Old World...
, Peregrine falcon
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
and Golden eagle
Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
. Introduced parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
species such as the Red-crowned Amazon parrot have also been found living and breeding in San Diego County and parts of Tijuana Metro.
The waters off of the coast of San Diego–Tijuana are densely populate by the denizens of the Kelp forest
Kelp forest
Kelp forests are underwater areas with a high density of kelp. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth. Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds....
s. Kelp forests are found to a great extent and are populated by Garibaldi, Leopard shark
Leopard shark
The leopard shark is a species of houndshark, family Triakidae, found along the Pacific coast of North America from the U.S. state of Oregon to Mazatlán in Mexico...
s, Gobies, Rockfish
Rockfish
Rockfish may refer to one of the following fishes:* One of several species in the Sebastes genus of the Sebastidae family, including the Shortraker rockfish, Rougheye rockfish, Blue rockfish, Yellow tail rockfish and many others....
, and Sculpins. Great White Shark
Great white shark
The great white shark, scientific name Carcharodon carcharias, also known as the great white, white pointer, white shark, or white death, is a large lamniform shark found in coastal surface waters in all major oceans. It is known for its size, with the largest individuals known to have approached...
s have been observed in the waters off the coast, while there are numerous documentations of their occurrence in the waters off Guadalupe Island
Guadalupe Island
Guadalupe Island, or Isla Guadalupe is a volcanic island located 241 kilometers off the west coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula and some 400 kilometers southwest of the city of Ensenada in Baja California state, in the Pacific Ocean...
. From the confines of the forests, ocean going species such as the Ocean sunfish
Ocean sunfish
The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, or common mola, is the heaviest known bony fish in the world. It has an average adult weight of . The species is native to tropical and temperate waters around the globe. It resembles a fish head with a tail, and its main body is flattened laterally...
are observed.
Geology
The land on which San Diego–Tijuana sits is due west of a major transform faultTransform fault
A transform fault or transform boundary, also known as conservative plate boundary since these faults neither create nor destroy lithosphere, is a type of fault whose relative motion is predominantly horizontal in either sinistral or dextral direction. Furthermore, transform faults end abruptly...
. The transform fault, known as the San Andreas Fault
San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental strike-slip fault that runs a length of roughly through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip...
was created during the Cenozoic Era by the movements of the Pacific Plate
Pacific Plate
The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At 103 million square kilometres, it is the largest tectonic plate....
and North American Plate
North American Plate
The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Greenland, Cuba, Bahamas, and parts of Siberia, Japan and Iceland. It extends eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Chersky Range in eastern Siberia. The plate includes both continental and oceanic crust...
. The region experiences earthquakes and felt the shocks of the 2009 Gulf of California earthquake
2009 Gulf of California earthquake
A 6.9 magnitude earthquake occurred in the Gulf of California, between the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California, on August 3, 2009, at 10:59:56 a.m. PDT ....
and 2010 Baja California earthquake
2010 Baja California earthquake
The 2010 Baja California earthquake was an earthquake of 7.2 magnitude on the moment magnitude scale. It started south of Guadalupe Victoria, Baja California, Mexico, at a depth of . It occurred at 3:40:41 p.m...
.
The main mountain ranges of the Peninsular Ranges
Peninsular Ranges
The Peninsular Ranges are a group of mountain ranges, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, which stretch from southern California in the United States to the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges that run along the Pacific coast from Alaska...
ridging eastern San Diego–Tijuana are the Palomar Mountain
Palomar Mountain
Palomar Mountain is a mountain in the Peninsular Ranges in northern San Diego County. It is famous as the location of the Palomar Observatory and Hale Telescope, and known for the Palomar Mountain State Park.-History:...
s, Laguna Mountains
Laguna Mountains
The Laguna Mountains are a section of the Peninsular Ranges in eastern San Diego County, California. The mountains run in a northwest/southeast alignment for approximately ....
, Sierra de Juárez
Sierra de Juárez
Sierra de Juárez is a mountain range on the Baja California Peninsula, of Baja California, Mexico. It is part of the Peninsular Ranges. The Laguna Mountains of California lie to the north and the Sierra San Pedro Mártir lies to the south....
, and the peaks of the Cuyumacas including Cuyamaca Peak
Cuyamaca Peak
Cuyamaca Peak is a mountain in San Diego County roughly from the Pacific Ocean, in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park east of San Diego and southwest of Julian...
. The highest points are located in the Lagunas at 6,378 feet (1,944 m) and in the Cuyumacas at 6,512 feet (1,985 m) while the highest is the peak of Hot Springs Mountain
Hot Springs Mountain
Hot Springs Mountain is a located in the Peninsular Ranges in California. The mountain rises to an elevation of and is the highest point in San Diego County. Some snow falls on the mountain peak during winter....
at 6,535 feet (1,992 m). These mountain ranges constitute part of the Salinian Block
Salinian Block
The Salinian Block or Salinian terrane is a geologic terrane which lies west of the main trace of the San Andreas Fault system in California. It is bounded on the south by the Big Pine Fault in Ventura County, and on the west by the Nacimiento Fault...
, a largely granitic terrane
Terrane
A terrane in geology is short-hand term for a tectonostratigraphic terrane, which is a fragment of crustal material formed on, or broken off from, one tectonic plate and accreted or "sutured" to crust lying on another plate...
dating back to the Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
era and thus explaining the abundance of such stone throughout the region. Once part of the North American Plate, the Salinian block broke off due to the formation of the San Andreas Fault and rift resulting in the Gulf of California
Gulf of California
The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...
and its extension of the Salton Trough.
The faults nearest the urban area are the Elsinore
Elsinore Fault Zone
The Elsinore Fault Zone is a large right-lateral strike-slip geological fault structure in Southern California. The fault is part of the trilateral split of the San Andreas fault system and is one of the largest, though quietest faults in Southern California....
and Laguna Salada fault
Laguna Salada Fault
The Laguna Salada Fault is a geological fault between the United States and Mexico. About to long, it straddles the Imperial County-California–Baja California border.-Earthquakes:...
s, both secondary to the San Andreas fault.
Major coastal water bodies
The region is set with many natural coastal harbors, estuaries, inlets, lagoons, and bays. These included the major water bodies known as:- Buena Vista LagoonBuena Vista LagoonBuena Vista Lagoon is a coastal inlet of the Pacific Ocean in the South Coast region of Southern California within North County, San Diego County.The lagoon covers 223 acres of wetland habitat and serves as a geographic border between Carlsbad and Oceanside...
- Agua Hedionda LagoonAgua Hedionda LagoonThe Agua Hedionda Lagoon is a lagoon in Carlsbad, California, that is fed by the Agua Hedionda Creek. Stewardship of much of the lagoon is held by the Encina Power Station and its owner NRG Energy...
- Batiquitos LagoonBatiquitos LagoonThe Batiquitos Lagoon is a coastal wetland in southern Carlsbad, California. It is run by the California Department of Fish and Game as a nature reserve....
- San Elijo LagoonSan Elijo LagoonSan Elijo Lagoon is one of the largest coastal wetlands in San Diego County, California, USA. It is the location of the San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve....
- Mission Bay
- San Diego BaySan Diego BaySan Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port adjacent to San Diego, California. It is 12 mi/19 km long, 1 mi/1.6 km–3 mi/4.8 km wide...
- Tijuana River EstuaryTijuana River EstuaryThe Tijuana River Estuary is an intertidal coastal wetland in San Diego County, California, USA bordering Tijuana, Baja California. It is the location of the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve. The estuary is a shallow water habitat...
Populace
The populace of the San Diego–Tijuana is cosmopolitanCosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism is the ideology that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality. This is contrasted with communitarian and particularistic theories, especially the ideas of patriotism and nationalism...
in that many cultures and ethnic groups are present. A large transitory population exists due to Tijuana's border proximity to the United States. This location draws many Latin Americans
Latin Americans
Latin Americans are the citizens of the Latin American countries and dependencies. Latin American countries are multi-ethnic, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds. As a result, some Latin Americans don't take their nationality as an ethnicity, but identify themselves with...
, including Argentines, Cubans
Cubans
Cubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
, Guatemalans, and Andean nationalities, as well as Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
, Korean
Korean people
The Korean people are an ethnic group originating in the Korean peninsula and Manchuria. Koreans are one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogeneous groups in the world.-Names:...
, and Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
people; Italian, French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
and Lebanese
Lebanese people
The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
also reside in the region. With a population of approximately five million people, the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area accounts for 40% of the United States - Mexico border population. The metropolitan area experiences the largest rates of growth in an urban area that stretches from Los Angeles to Tijuana. County age groups are different in that on the San Diegan side of the border, the populace is older while the Tijuanan side maintains a younger populace. The Tijuanan border side also maintains a population largely composed of people born outside of Baja California.
The 2010 United States Census reported the population of San Diego County to be 3,095,313 making it the fifth-most populated county in the nation. In San Diego County the racial makeup was 1,981,442 (64.0%) White, 158,213 (5.1%) African American, 26,340 (0.9%) Native American, 336,091 (10.9%) Asian, 15,337 (0.5%) Pacific Islander, 419,465 (13.6%) from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 158,425 (5.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 991,348 persons (32.0%). The Tijuana metropolitan area, comprising Tijuana and Rosarito Beach municipalities, was reported to have a population of 1,752,302 by the 2010 INEG Census - also the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Mexico. According to the 2010 census, Tecate Municipality was reported to have a population of 101,079.
Cities
San Diego & TijuanaSan Diego is located at 32°42′N 117°09′W, just north of Tijuana. The city is divided into eight districts by the municipal government of the City of San Diego in accordance with policing and community service areas. The city lies south of North County, and east of East County
East County, San Diego
East County is a region of San Diego County, California. It is east of the city of San Diego.-Geography:East County does not have an official geographic definition. It commonly includes the four cities east of San Diego and South Bay—El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee, and Lemon Grove—as well as suburban...
, while also being north of parts of South Bay
South Bay, San Diego
South Bay is a region in southwestern San Diego County, California consisting of the communities and cities of Bonita, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, Lincoln Acres, National City, and South San Diego....
. Though the city boundaries grace Tijuana's, Centre City lies approximately 18 miles (29 km) north of Tijuana. San Diego has deep canyons separating its mesas, creating small pockets of natural parkland scattered throughout the city. This makes San Diego a hilly city. The Coronado
Coronado, California
Coronado, also known as Coronado Island, is an affluent resort city located in San Diego County, California, 5.2 miles from downtown San Diego. Its population was 24,697 at the 2010 census, up from 24,100 at the 2000 census. U.S. News and World Report lists Coronado as one of the most expensive...
and Point Loma peninsulas separate San Diego Bay from the ocean.
Tijuana is located at 32°31′N 117°01′W, just south of San Diego. The city is divided into nine administrative boroughs, which are in turn divided into neighborhoods
Colonia (Mexico)
In general, colonias are neighborhoods in Mexican cities, which have no jurisdictional autonomy or representation. It is plausible that the name, which literally means colony, arose in the late 19th, early 20th centuries, when one of the first urban developments outside Mexico City's core was...
. These boroughs offer administrative services such as urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
, civil registry
Civil registry
Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events of its citizens and residents. The resulting repository or database is called civil register or registry, or population registry. The primary purpose of civil registration is to create legal documents that are used to...
, inspection, verification, public works and community development, served by a delegate. As Tijuana ranks higher in the Mexican urban hierarchy
Urban hierarchy
Urban hierarchy a term that relates the structure of towns within an area. It can typically be illustrated by dividing towns into four categories:* 1st-order towns* 2nd-order towns* 3rd-order towns* 4th-order towns...
than San Diego does in the American urban hierarchy, Tijuana contains many foreign consulates
Consul (representative)
The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...
including those of China, Korea, Finland, the United States, Germany, Spain, Honduras, France, Austria, Gambia, the United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Israel, Canada, and the Czech Republic. Tijuana does not receive competition from a larger urban center as San Diego does from Los Angeles. However, with Mexicali
Mexicali
Mexicali is the capital of the State of Baja California, seat of the Municipality of Mexicali, and 2nd largest city in Baja California. The City of Mexicali has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the population of the entire metropolitan area reaches 936,826.The city...
growing rapidly, a possible canal project planned and Silicon Border
Silicon Border
Silicon Border is a development tailored to the specific needs of high-technology manufacturing and is situated in Mexicali, along the western border of the United States of America and Mexico. The aim of the manufacturing park, which began in 2004, is to transform Mexicali into the world's next...
development under way, Tijuana will soon face similar competition.
Major cities – 100,000+ inhabitants
- San Diego - 1,307,402
- TijuanaTijuanaTijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
- 1,300,983 - Chula VistaChula Vista, CaliforniaChula Vista is the second largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fourteenth largest city in the State of California, and the seventy seventh largest city in the U.S....
- 243,916 - OceansideOceanside, California-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Oceanside had a population of 167,086. The population density was 3,961.8 people per square mile...
- 167,086 - EscondidoEscondido, CaliforniaEscondido is a city occupying a shallow valley ringed by rocky hills, just north of the city of San Diego, California. Founded in 1888, it is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. The city had a population of 143,911 at the 2010 census. Its municipal government set itself an operating...
- 143,911 - CarlsbadCarlsbad, California-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Carlsbad had a population of 105,328. The population density was 2,693.1 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Carlsbad was 87,205 White, 1,379 African American, 514 Native American, 7,460 Asian, 198 Pacific Islander, 4,189 from other...
- 105,328
Other cities – 40,000+ inhabitants
- El Cajon - 99,478
- VistaVista, CaliforniaVista is a city in north San Diego County, California. It was incorporated January 28, 1963 and became a charter city on June 13, 2007. Located just seven miles inland from the Pacific Ocean in northern San Diego County, the City of Vista has a Mediterranean climate...
- 93,834 - Rosarito Beach - 90,022
- San MarcosSan Marcos, CaliforniaSan Marcos is a suburb of San Diego in the North County section of San Diego County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 83,781. Outside the San Diego region, it is best known as the home of California State University, San Marcos...
- 83,781 - TecateTecateTecate is a small city in Baja California, Mexico and the municipal seat of Tecate Municipality. It is located on the border with Tecate, California, United States in the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. There is a small port of entry betwixt the sister cities that serves as a calmer...
- 64,764 - Encinitas - 59,518
- National CityNational City, CaliforniaNational City is a city in San Diego County, California. The population was 58,582 at the 2010 census, up from 54,260 at the 2000 census. National City is the second oldest city in San Diego County and has a historic past.-History:...
- 58,582 - La MesaLa Mesa, CaliforniaLa Mesa is a city in San Diego County, California. The population was 57,065 at the 2010 census, up from 54,749 at the 2000 census. It was founded in 1869 and officially incorporated as a city on February 16, 1912. Its official flower is the bougainvillea....
- 57,065 - SanteeSantee, CaliforniaSantee is a suburban city in San Diego County, California with a population of 53,413 at the 2010 census. Although it is a part of the East County region, Santee is located just from the Pacific Ocean. The city is connected to the coastline by State Route 52, a six-lane freeway that runs from...
- 53,413 - Poway - 47,811
Cities with under 40,000 inhabitants
- El RefugioEl Refugio, Baja CaliforniaEl Refugio – The Refuge – is a city in Baja California in Tijuana Municipality. The city had a population of 36,400 as of 2010.-External links:...
- 36,400 - Pórticos de San Antonio - 34,234
- Imperial BeachImperial Beach, CaliforniaImperial Beach is a residential beach city in San Diego County, California, with a population of 26,324 at the 2010 census. The city is the most southern beach city in Southern California and the West Coast of the United States...
- 26,324 - Lemon Grove - 25,320
- CoronadoCoronado, CaliforniaCoronado, also known as Coronado Island, is an affluent resort city located in San Diego County, California, 5.2 miles from downtown San Diego. Its population was 24,697 at the 2010 census, up from 24,100 at the 2000 census. U.S. News and World Report lists Coronado as one of the most expensive...
- 24,697 - La JoyaLa Joya, Baja CaliforniaLa Joya is a city in Baja California in the Tijuana Municipality. The city had a population of 26,860 as of 2010. Its urban area links Tijuana with Rosarito Beach.-External links:...
- 22,126 - Terrazas del Valle - 20,421
- Las Delicias - 15,486
- Villa del CampoVilla del Campo, Baja CaliforniaVilla del Campo – Town of the Country – is a city in Baja California in Tijuana Municipality. The city had a population of 13,906 as of 2010.-External links:...
- 13,906 - Solana Beach - 12,867
- Villa del PradoVilla del Prado, Baja CaliforniaVilla del Prado is a city in Baja California in Tijuana Municipality. The city had a population of 12,303 as of 2010.-External links:...
- 12,303 - Del MarDel Mar, CaliforniaDel Mar is an upscale beach town in San Diego County, California. The population was 4,161 at the 2010 census, down from 4,389 at the 2000 census. The San Diego County Fair is hosted on the Del Mar Fairgrounds every summer. Del Mar is Spanish for "of the sea" or "by the sea", because it is located...
- 4,161
Mexico - United States border
The international border between the United States and Mexico runs from San Diego–Tijuana eastward towards the Gulf of MexicoGulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
. The border's total length is 1951 miles (3,140 km). The border was established at its present location (except in Arizona) in accordance with the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War of 1846. The Arizona section of the border was adjusted in 1853 by the Gadsden Purchase
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that was purchased by the United States in a treaty signed by James Gadsden, the American ambassador to Mexico at the time, on December 30, 1853. It was then ratified, with changes, by the U.S...
. The Pacific Ocean terminus of the border was defined as a line passing from the confluence of the Colorado
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
and Gila
Gila River
The Gila River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 650 miles long, in the southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona.-Description:...
rivers (now the southeastern corner of the U.S. State of California) to the Pacific Ocean such that it would pass one Spanish league south of the southern end of San Diego Bay. This ensured that the United States received the excellent natural harbor at San Diego.
The San Ysidro border crossing (San Diego–Tijuana) is the busiest border crossing
Border checkpoint
A border checkpoint is a place, generally between two countries, where travellers and/or goods are inspected. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. Access-controlled borders often have a limited number of checkpoints where they can be crossed without legal...
in the world; in 2005 alone, 41,417,164 people entered the U.S. through this port. There are maximum 30 vehicle border crossing lanes at the San Ysidro Port of Entry into the United States and 6 or 8 lanes into Mexico from San Ysidro. The great majority of border crossers into the United States are workers (both of Mexican and U.S. nationality) commuting from Tijuana to jobs in the Greater San Diego area and throughout Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. There is also a thriving reverse traffic for those seeking entertainment in Tijuana, or purchasing services (vehicle repairs, hair and beauty services, childcare, medical and dental) that are generally more affordable there. Crossing times are notoriously slow at San Ysidro, particularly for those entering the U.S. in cars. Crossing into Mexico also has many delays, especially in the evenings. 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
San Diego Trolley
The San Diego Trolley is a light rail system operating in the metropolitan area of San Diego. The operator, San Diego Trolley, Inc. , is a subsidiary of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System ...
runs from downtown San Diego to the border crossing). Currently, the San Ysidro port of entry serves non-commercial traffic while Otay Mesa handles both industrial and non-commercial traffic.
Economy
The North American Free Trade AgreementNorth American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
has a large influence on the San Diego–Tijuana Economy. Of all the goods that travel through the ports of entry, about 20% of goods transported in through to San Diego are destined to San Diego; while of the remaining 80%, 60% heads to other California counties, and the remaining 20% is destined out of state. In 2002 San Diego and Tijuana had a gross regional product
Gross Regional Product
A metropolitan area's gross regional product, i.e. GMP or GRP, is one of several measures of the size of its economy. Similar to GDP, GRP is defined as the market value of all final goods and services produced within a metropolitan area in a given period of time.-See also:*List of European...
of $136.3 Billion; and in 2007 this figure increased to $176 Billion. San Diego has a primarily knowledge-based economy and trends show its economic development further developing in this direction; Tijuana relies on the manufacture of tangible items and its economic manufacturing base is becoming increasingly diversified. The leading industries of San Diego–Tijuana are trade, services, electronics, tourism, life sciences, high-tech and defense sectors. Leading private employers to the metropolitan region are Qualcomm
Qualcomm
Qualcomm is an American global telecommunication corporation that designs, manufactures and markets digital wireless telecommunications products and services based on its code division multiple access technology and other technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA...
, SAIC
SAIC
The acronym SAIC can stand for:*Science Applications International Corporation*School of the Art Institute of Chicago*Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation*Shanghai Aviation Industrial Company*Special Agent in Charge, acronym used by some U.S...
, Sempra Energy
Sempra Energy
Sempra Energy is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego, California. It divides its interests into two broad categories: Sempra Utilities, including Pacific Enterprises/Southern California Gas Company and San Diego Gas & Electric; and Sempra Global, a holding company for...
, Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, Kyocera
Kyocera
is a multinational manufacturer based in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded as in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori and renamed in 1982. The company has diversified its founding technology in ceramic materials through internal development as well as strategic mergers and acquisitions...
, Pfizer Global Research & Development, Callaway Golf
Callaway Golf
Callaway Golf Company is a global sporting goods company that designs, manufactures, markets and sells golf equipment, golf accessories and golf lifestyle-related products in more than 70 countries worldwide...
, Sharp Healthcare
Sharp Healthcare
Sharp HealthCare is a not-for-profit integrated regional health care delivery system located in San Diego. Sharp includes four acute-care hospitals, three specialty hospitals, two affiliated medical groups and a health plan...
, Scripps Health
Scripps Health
Scripps Health is a nonprofit health care system based in San Diego, California. The system includes four hospitals and 19 outpatient facilities, and treats a half-million patients annually through 2,600 affiliated physicians....
, Sanyo
Sanyo
is a major electronics company and member of the Fortune 500 whose headquarters is located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo targets the middle of the market and has over 230 Subsidiaries and Affiliates....
, Hitachi
Hitachi
Hitachi is a multinational corporation specializing in high-technology.Hitachi may also refer to:*Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan*Hitachi province, former province of Japan*Prince Hitachi and Princess Hitachi, members of the Japanese imperial family...
, Matsushita
Matsushita
Matsushita is a Japanese place name and surname which means "below the pine tree" and may refer to:-Companies:*Matsushita Electric Industrial, now Panasonic Corporation, a multinational electronics corporation based in Kadoma, Japan...
, Samsung
Samsung
The Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
, Hyundai
Hyundai
Hyundai ) is a global conglomerate company, part of the Korean chaebol, that was founded in South Korea by one of the most famous businessmen in Korean history: Chung Ju-yung...
, Mattel
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
, Honeywell
Honeywell
Honeywell International, Inc. is a major conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments....
, Pioneer Corporation
Pioneer Corporation
is a multinational corporation that specializes in digital entertainment products, based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. The company was founded in 1938 in Tokyo as a radio and speaker repair shop...
, Maxell
Maxell
, commonly known as Maxell, is a Japanese company which manufactures consumer electronics. The company's notable products are batteries -- the company's name is a contraction of "maximum capacity dry cell" -- and recording media, including audio cassettes and blank VHS tapes, and recordable optical...
, Douglas Furniture, and International Rectifier
International Rectifier
International Rectifier Corp. is a manufacturer of power semiconductors , located in El Segundo, California, USA...
.
San Pedro Bay (California)
San Pedro Bay is an inlet on the Pacific Ocean coast of southern California, United States. It is the site of the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, which together form the fifth-busiest port facility in the world and easily the busiest in the Western Hemisphere...
since they were the primary docking point of Asian vessels shipping containers. Containers moving between Asia and industrial parks in San Diego–Tijuana had to pass through these ports. 1999 saw the transfer of automotive shipments from the twin ports to the Port of San Diego.
The economy of the region is largely influenced by the Port of San Diego
Port of San Diego
The Port of San Diego is a self-supporting public benefit corporation established in 1962 by an act of the California State Legislature. In 2007, The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics ranked the Port of San Diego as one of America's top 30 U.S. containership ports bringing in nearly of...
and mild climate of the region. In San Diego particularly, the maritime
Sea
A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...
influence is strong; it has the only major submarine and shipbuilding yards on the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, as well as the largest naval fleet
Naval fleet
A fleet, or naval fleet, is a large formation of warships, and the largest formation in any navy. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land....
in the world. The port waters, including the surrounding blue
Blue-water navy
The term blue-water navy is a colloquialism used to describe a maritime force capable of operating across the deep waters of open oceans. While what actually constitutes such a force remains undefined, there is a requirement for the ability to exercise sea control at wide ranges...
and littoral
Littoral (military)
Littoral combat is a term in military and naval warfare. It refers to operations in and around the littoral zone, within a certain distance of shore, including surveillance, mine-clearing and support for landing operations and other types of combat shifting from water to ground, and back.The...
waters, have become the new testing grounds of the Littoral Surface Craft-Experimental LSC(X) vessel dubbed Sea Fighter, developed by the Office of Naval Research
Office of Naval Research
The Office of Naval Research , headquartered in Arlington, Virginia , is the office within the United States Department of the Navy that coordinates, executes, and promotes the science and technology programs of the U.S...
, which will test new technologies; and will also provide a platform for minimum manned concepts on future naval ships operating surface waters. 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. The Port of San Diego is the state's fastest-growing port in terms of cruise ship dockings, and the second largest behind the Port of Los Angeles
Port of Los Angeles
The Port of Los Angeles, also called Los Angeles Harbor and WORLDPORT L.A, is a port complex that occupies of land and water along of waterfront. The port is located on San Pedro Bay in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, approximately south of downtown...
. The economic impact of the dockings is estimated to have an impact of more than two million dollars on the local economy from the purchase of food, supplies, fuel, and maintenance services.
Manufacturing accounts for a large part of the regional economy, though it is more-so observed in Tijuana. The focus of manufacturing in the region is on both soft and hard
Hardware
Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....
technological products. While in metropolitan Tijuana, manufacturing has historically allotted for a large sector of the economy, San Diego County's economy has become increasingly more focused on manufacturing and in 2002 allotted for $25 billion of the county's economic income. The 2000's saw Tijuana overtake the Twin Cities
Twin cities
Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are founded in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time...
as medical device
Medical device
A medical device is a product which is used for medical purposes in patients, in diagnosis, therapy or surgery . Whereas medicinal products achieve their principal action by pharmacological, metabolic or immunological means. Medical devices act by other means like physical, mechanical, thermal,...
manufacture capital of North America. The amount of diverse and numerous manufacture companies in the area have made the metropolitan region one of the worlds largest concentrated manufacturing areas.
Several areas of San Diego are home to offices and research facilities for numerous biotechnology companies and pharmaceutical companies. Among American metropolitan areas
Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas
thumb|An enlargeable map of the 942 [[Core Based Statistical Area]]s of the [[United States]]. The 367 [[Metropolitan Statistical Area]]s are shown in red....
, metropolitan San Diego is the third largest concentrated area of high technology and biotechnology businesses. The presence of University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
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
Milken Institute
The Milken Institute is an independent economic think tank based in Santa Monica, California that publishes research and hosts conferences that apply market-based principles and financial innovations to a variety of societal issues in the US and internationally.The mission of the Institute, founded...
. 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. Due to San Diego's military influence, major national defense contractors, such as General Atomics
General Atomics
General Atomics is a nuclear physics and defense contractor headquartered in San Diego, California. General Atomics’ research into fission and fusion matured into competencies in related technologies, allowing the company to expand into other fields of research...
and Science Applications International Corporation
Science Applications International Corporation
SAIC is a FORTUNE 500 scientific, engineering and technology applications company headquartered in the United States with numerous federal, state, and private sector clients...
(SAIC), are or have been headquartered in San Diego.
Major business districts
The largest, and arguably central business district is Downtown San Diego. The region is the home of other business districts that serve as regional anchors within the metropolitan area. The Rio Zone is the primary business district on the Baja California side of San Diego–Tijuana. North County has a cluster of business districts, most notable being Rancho Bernardo, La Jolla, downtown Carlsbad, Carmel Valley, Del Mar Heights, Mission Valley, Sorrento MesaSorrento Mesa, San Diego
Sorrento Mesa is a neighborhood of San Diego, California. It is located in the northern part of the city, east of Interstate 805, on the mesa overlooking Sorrento Valley. University City lies to the south, the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve to the north, and Mira Mesa to the east...
, and University City. The Zona Río is one of the largest financial centers in San Diego–Tijuana and the fourth-largest in Mexico. Notability among business districts extends to Rancho Bernardo being the site of the Corporate Headquarters of Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
US.
Tourism
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
. Major tourist destinations in the San Diego metropolitan area
San Diego metropolitan area
The San Diego Metropolitan Area, also known as Greater San Diego and officially the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area, is a metropolitan area on the United States Pacific Coast. The U.S. Census of the Bureau defines the San Diego metropolitan area as encompassing all of...
include Balboa Park
Balboa Park (San Diego)
Balboa Park is a urban cultural park in San Diego, California. The park is named after the Spanish maritime explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa...
, the San Diego Zoo
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, is one of the most progressive zoos in the world, with over 4,000 animals of more than 800 species...
, Seaworld
SeaWorld
SeaWorld is a United States chain of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, and animal theme parks owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The parks feature captive orca, sea lion, and dolphin shows and zoological displays featuring various other marine animals. There are operations in Orlando,...
, the Wild Animal Park
San Diego Wild Animal Park
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park, formerly known as the San Diego Wild Animal Park, is a zoo in the San Pasqual Valley area of San Diego, California, near Escondido. It is one of the largest tourist attractions in San Diego County. The Park houses a large array of wild and endangered animals including...
, Legoland
Legoland
Legoland is a chain of Lego-themed theme parks. They are not fully owned by Lego Group itself; rather they are owned and operated by the British theme park company Merlin Entertainment.The chain currently consists of:* Legoland Billund...
, the city's beaches
Beaches in San Diego, California
Beaches in San Diego, California, USA *Torrey Pines State Beach*Black's Beach*La Jolla Shores*La Jolla Cove*Children's Pool Beach *Windansea Beach*Marine Street Beach*North Pacific Beach*Pacific Beach*Mission Bay Beaches...
, and golf tournaments hosted in the region, such as the Farmers Insurance Open. The Baja California municipalities of the metropolitan region also rely on tourism as a major revenue. Tijuana is the most visited city in the Western Hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
, second only to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. 50,000,000 people visit the city each year and about 300,000 visitors cross by foot or car from the San Ysidro point of entry, 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
Red-light district
A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...
known as the Zona Norte which also adds significant revenue to its economy.
Popular attractions in the region include:
|
Birch Aquarium Birch Aquarium at Scripps is the public exploration center for the world-renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego... San Diego Zoo The San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, is one of the most progressive zoos in the world, with over 4,000 animals of more than 800 species... SeaWorld San Diego SeaWorld San Diego is an animal theme park, oceanarium, and marine mammal park, located in San Diego, California, United States. The park is owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, a division of The Blackstone Group.... |
Belmont Park (San Diego) Belmont Park is a historic oceanfront amusement park located in the Mission Bay area of San Diego, California. The park was developed by sugar magnate John D. Spreckels and opened on July 4, 1925 as the Mission Beach Amusement Center. In addition to providing recreation and amusement it also was... Knott's Soak City Knott's Soak City is a chain of three seasonal water parks owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company and located in Southern California.Soak City U.S.A in Orange County opened in 1999. Located East across Beach Blvd... Legoland Legoland is a chain of Lego-themed theme parks. They are not fully owned by Lego Group itself; rather they are owned and operated by the British theme park company Merlin Entertainment.The chain currently consists of:* Legoland Billund... |
Many large luxury hotels line the San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port adjacent to San Diego, California. It is 12 mi/19 km long, 1 mi/1.6 km–3 mi/4.8 km wide...
and coast at Playas de Tijuana
Playas de Tijuana
Playas de Tijuana is the westernmost borough of the municipality of Tijuana, Baja California.-Location:The borough of Playas de Tijuana is located in the city of Tijuana, bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west, the United States to the north, the municipality of Playas de Rosarito to the south...
. The Bay and its marinas are surrounded by more than fifteen hotels while historic buildings such as the Hotel del Coronado
Hotel del Coronado
Hotel del Coronado is a beachfront luxury hotel in the city of Coronado, just across the San Diego Bay from San Diego, California. It is one of the few surviving examples of an American architectural genre: the wooden Victorian beach resort...
and Rosarito Beach Hotel lie on the Coronado Peninsula and Rosarito coast. In Playas, Baja Mar
Baja Mar
Baja Mar, alternatively Bajamar, is a seaside resort community in Ensenada Municipality, Baja California twenty minutes north of Ensenada and forty minutes south of Greater San Diego–Tijuana...
, and Baja Malibu
Baja Malibu
Baja Malibu is a beach and resort in Playas de Rosarito Municipality, Baja California named after the beach town Malibu of Los Angeles County. The beach is a popular tourist area in the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan region and draws surfers from all over Southern California.-Recreation:There are...
, several luxury hotels and condominiums can be found lining the coast in customary beach resort fashion, including Park Towers and AQUA condominiums. While there were plans to build Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico
Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico
Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico was a failed luxury condominium-hotel resort located in the Playas de Tijuana borough of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, just 30 minutes south of downtown San Diego....
in Playas de Tijuana, the project was cancelled due to fiscal collapse and internal project issues.
NAFTA
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
megaregion: Tijuana appears as an attractive city for foreign companies and investors to establish industrial park
Industrial park
An industrial park is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development...
s; taking advantage of the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
(NAFTA) and cheap labor to export products.
There are a number of assembly plants in these industrial parks that are referred to as maquiladora
Maquiladora
A maquiladora or maquila is a concept often referred to as an operation that involves manufacturing in a country that is not the client's and as such has an interesting duty or tariff treatment...
s. Foreign and domestic companies employ thousands of employees in these plants, usually in assembly related labor. Such jobs are demanding but offer high pay in comparison to Mexican standards. Companies that have set up facilities in Tijuana include Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, Toyota, Samsung
Samsung
The Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
, Kodak, Matsushita
Matsushita
Matsushita is a Japanese place name and surname which means "below the pine tree" and may refer to:-Companies:*Matsushita Electric Industrial, now Panasonic Corporation, a multinational electronics corporation based in Kadoma, Japan...
/Panasonic
Panasonic
Panasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...
, Nabisco
Nabisco
Nabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...
, Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
, Pioneer
Pioneer Corporation
is a multinational corporation that specializes in digital entertainment products, based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. The company was founded in 1938 in Tokyo as a radio and speaker repair shop...
, Plantronics
Plantronics
Plantronics is an electronics company producing audio communications equipment for business and consumers. Its' products provide unified communications, mobile use, gaming and music...
, Pall Corporation, Tara Labs
Tara Labs
TARA Labs is a manufacturer of a high-end audio cables from Ashland, Oregon. It's led by president Merrill Bergs...
, and Sanyo
Sanyo
is a major electronics company and member of the Fortune 500 whose headquarters is located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo targets the middle of the market and has over 230 Subsidiaries and Affiliates....
, while San Diego supports the expansion of its own industrial parks in Otay Mesa. Companies with parks, such as Samsung, in Tijuana have begun to source the development of items locally benefiting the local economy greatly.
Even prior to the implementation of NAFTA, Tijuana was home to many businesses selling products and services at a lower rate than in the United States. Today businesses such as auto detailing
Auto detailing
Auto detailing , is the performance of an extremely thorough cleaning, polishing and waxing of an automobile, both inside and out, to produce a show-quality level of detail. Besides improving appearance, detailing helps to preserve resale value of a car.Today, the United States may have more than...
, medical services, dentistry
Dentistry
Dentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
and plastic surgery
Plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand...
are heavily marketed and located near Tijuana's border with San Diego. In addition, there are high-tech firms and telemarketing
Telemarketing
Telemarketing is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products or services, either over the phone or through a subsequent face to face or Web conferencing appointment scheduled during the call.Telemarketing can also include recorded sales pitches...
companies, including Medtronic Inc., making their way into the city. This influx of companies is drawing skilled people from the United States with technical trades and college degrees to Tijuana slowly transforming the city economy into a knowledge-based one.
Currency
In San Diego as in the rest of the United States the official currency is the United States dollarUnited States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
. In Tijuana as in the rest of Mexico the official currency is the Mexican peso
Mexican peso
The peso is the currency of Mexico. Modern peso and dollar currencies have a common origin in the 15th–19th century Spanish dollar, most continuing to use its sign, "$". The Mexican peso is the 12th most traded currency in the world, the third most traded in the Americas, and by far the most...
. In Tijuana, where many people from Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
, and the United States in general visit, the US dollar is widely accepted. Some stores in tourist-centric parts of Tijuana display the price in US$ and in MXN$. A very small number of businesses on the United States-side of the border accept Mexican pesos. The toll roads in Mexico also display the price in pesos and dollars. In addition, many signs and advertisements in Tijuana are displayed in both Spanish and English.
Many businesses located near the border crossing offer currency exchange services.
Transportation
Public transportation
In San Diego, the San Diego TrolleySan Diego Trolley
The San Diego Trolley is a light rail system operating in the metropolitan area of San Diego. The operator, San Diego Trolley, Inc. , is a subsidiary of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System ...
's Blue Line goes from the San Ysidro Border Crossing, roughly along Interstate 5 to Downtown and Old Town. As the trolley travels it also serves as a means of transportation for the southern suburbs
South Bay, San Diego
South Bay is a region in southwestern San Diego County, California consisting of the communities and cities of Bonita, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, Lincoln Acres, National City, and South San Diego....
. Passengers may transfer at the 12th & Imperial station to an Orange Line trolley, serving the eastern suburbs
East County, San Diego
East County is a region of San Diego County, California. It is east of the city of San Diego.-Geography:East County does not have an official geographic definition. It commonly includes the four cities east of San Diego and South Bay—El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee, and Lemon Grove—as well as suburban...
. Another option is to transfer at the Old Town Trolley Station to a Green Line trolley serving Mission Valley and the campus of San Diego State University
San Diego State University
San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...
.
Free parking is available in plenty at the Qualcomm Stadium
Qualcomm Stadium
Qualcomm Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in San Diego, California, in the Mission Valley area....
station on days when the stadium is not hosting events. All trolley stations also provied connection points to MTS bus services, as MTS has designed the trolley to be the backbone of the local public transit system.
In Tijuana there is currently no public rail system, although, there is a system of buses that operate in the area. However, it was reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune that San Diego officials desired that the California High Speed Rail be extended to Tijuana and South Bay
South Bay, San Diego
South Bay is a region in southwestern San Diego County, California consisting of the communities and cities of Bonita, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, Lincoln Acres, National City, and South San Diego....
in order to capitalize on the potential economic benefits.
Many businesses in South Bay offer Mexican car insurance on a short-term, prepaid basis. Most large car rental companies in San Diego do permit their vehicles to be taken across the border but generally require a hefty fee, sometimes costing more than the rental, for Mexican insurance. Visitors to the region should note that automobile insurance does not travel across the international border. Vehicles registered in Mexico may also require separate insurance for use in the United States. In California Automobile insurance is required by the State.
Major highways
San Diego–Tijuana is at the junction of major interstates, state routes and federal highways. The region is at the terminus of ten major InterstateInterstate
An Interstate is a type of high-speed, limited-access highway in the United StatesInterstate may also refer to:-Media:*Interstate 60 , a metaphysical comedy/drama road film...
s and Federal Highway
Mexican Federal Highway
Mexican Federal Highways, are roads maintained and built by the federal government of Mexico, through the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation ....
s. Radiating to the east and south are connections to the Arizona Sun Corridor
Arizona Sun Corridor
The Arizona Sun Corridor, shortened Sun Corridor, is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of Arizona. The Sun Corridor is equivalent to Indiana in size and population; unlike Indiana, it will add another Indiana's worth of residents by 2040...
, Imperial Valley
Imperial Valley
The Imperial Valley is an agricultural area of Southern California's Imperial County. It is located in southeastern Southern California, centered around the city of El Centro. Locally, the terms "Imperial Valley" and "Imperial County" are used synonymously. The Valley is bordered between the...
and Mexicali Valley via Interstate 8
Interstate 8
Interstate 8 is an Interstate Highway in the southwestern United States. It runs from the southern edge of Mission Bay at Sunset Cliffs Blvd, in San Diego, California, almost at the Pacific Ocean, to the junction with Interstate 10, just southeast of Casa Grande, Arizona...
, the Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
and metropolitan area
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
and Salt Lake City via Interstate 15
Interstate 15
Interstate 15 is the fourth-longest north–south Interstate Highway in the United States, traveling through the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, and Montana from San Diego to the Canadian border...
; and to the Greater Ensenada area via Federal Highway 1D
Mexican Federal Highway 1D
Mexico's Federal Highway 1D is a mostly tolled federal highway in the state of Baja California. It is precisely long. Between Avenida Mar Báltico and the northern terminus, it is locally known as Segunda Benito Juárez. The rest of Highway 1D is locally known as tolled Autopista Escenica...
. To the north and west the area is connected to Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
, Upstate California
Upstate California
Upstate California is a region of California consisting of its northernmost 20 counties, most of which are rural. Generally, this area consists of all territory within California north of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento areas....
, and Cascadia
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
via Interstate 15
Interstate 15
Interstate 15 is the fourth-longest north–south Interstate Highway in the United States, traveling through the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, and Montana from San Diego to the Canadian border...
. Interstate 5
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 is the main Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific Ocean coastline from Canada to Mexico . It serves some of the largest cities on the U.S...
and Federal Highway 1
Mexican Federal Highway 1
Mexican Federal Highway No. 1 follows the length of the Baja California Peninsula from Cabo San Lucas , at the southern end to Tijuana in the north...
are critical highways for commercial and international trade due to their junction at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, linking major industrial regions along the British Columbia Coast
British Columbia Coast
The British Columbia Coast or BC Coast is Canada's western continental coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The usage is synonymous with the term West Coast of Canada....
, West Coast of the United States
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, and the Gold Coast of Baja California at the busiest port of entry in the world. The metropolitan area is linked by Federal Highway 2 and State Route 111
California State Route 111
State Route 111 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It is the main north/south state highway and retail corridor through the Coachella Valley, a part of the Colorado Desert in the southeastern corner of the state and famous as a resort destination...
to Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
cities.
Within the metropolitan region, there are many transportation routes via highway
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
. These included Interstate 805
Interstate 805
Interstate 805 is a major north–south Interstate Highway in Southern California. It is a bypass of Interstate 5, running along the eastern areas of the Greater San Diego area from San Ysidro near the Mexico–U.S...
, connecting Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
to Del Mar
Del Mar, California
Del Mar is an upscale beach town in San Diego County, California. The population was 4,161 at the 2010 census, down from 4,389 at the 2000 census. The San Diego County Fair is hosted on the Del Mar Fairgrounds every summer. Del Mar is Spanish for "of the sea" or "by the sea", because it is located...
. Many highways have a terminus in South Bay and run north and west towards other agglomerations such as the Inland Empire
Inland Empire (California)
The Inland Empire is a region in Southern California. The region sits directly east of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Inland Empire most commonly is used in reference to the U.S. Census Bureau's federally-defined Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area, which covers more than...
and Los Angeles metropolitan area
Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
The Los Angeles metropolitan area, also known as Metropolitan Los Angeles or the Southland, is the 13th largest metropolitan area in the world and the second-largest metropolitan area in the United States....
. State Routes that link to these urban areas include California State Route 79
California State Route 79
State Route 79 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. The route goes from Interstate 10 in Riverside County to Interstate 8 in San Diego County.-Route description:...
and California State Route 78
California State Route 78
State Route 78 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California in the United States that runs from Oceanside east to Blythe, traversing nearly the entire width of the state. Its western terminus is at Interstate 5 in San Diego County and its eastern terminus is at I-10 in Riverside County...
. San Diego–Tijuana is linked to Ensenada by various ways as well; including Federal Highway 3 and Federal Highway 1 and 1D, running from the border cities of Tijuana and Tecate to the Cinderella of the Pacific.
In addition to the extensive highway system, the cities and regions within San Diego–Tijuana are interconnected by many state routes as well. California State Route 52
California State Route 52
State Route 52 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California in San Diego County, that extends from La Jolla Parkway at Interstate 5 in La Jolla to Route 67 in Santee. Route 52 is a freeway for its entire length...
connects communities in northern San Diego, California State Route 905
California State Route 905
State Route 905 is a state highway in San Diego, California that connects Interstate 5 and Interstate 805 in San Ysidro to the United States – Mexico border at Otay Mesa. The portions of the route from I-5 to I-805 and from Britannia Boulevard to the International border are freeway...
connects the Otay Mesa Port of Entry with South Bay cities, California State Route 125
California State Route 125
State Route 125 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that currently runs from State Route 905 in Otay Mesa near the U.S.–Mexico border to State Route 52 in Santee....
connects South Bay with East County
East County, San Diego
East County is a region of San Diego County, California. It is east of the city of San Diego.-Geography:East County does not have an official geographic definition. It commonly includes the four cities east of San Diego and South Bay—El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee, and Lemon Grove—as well as suburban...
, California State Route 94
California State Route 94
State Route 94 in the U.S. state of California is the Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway from Interstate 5 in Downtown San Diego to the end of the freeway portion past Route 125 in Spring Valley; the non-freeway segment of SR 94 is Campo Road....
connects South Bay with the Mountain Empire
Mountain Empire, San Diego
The Mountain Empire is a rural area in southeastern San Diego County, California. The Mountain Empire subregion consists of the backcountry communities in southeastern San Diego County...
, and California State Route 78
California State Route 78
State Route 78 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California in the United States that runs from Oceanside east to Blythe, traversing nearly the entire width of the state. Its western terminus is at Interstate 5 in San Diego County and its eastern terminus is at I-10 in Riverside County...
connects North County Coastal with North County Inland, as well as to the mountain communities of the San Diego County Peninsular Ranges.
San Diego has a major network of roads, predominantly free Highways with several toll roads, and Interstates. Interstate 5 runs south from the Canadian near-border city of Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and terminates at the San Ysidro International border where it becomes Mexican Federal Highway 1
Mexican Federal Highway 1
Mexican Federal Highway No. 1 follows the length of the Baja California Peninsula from Cabo San Lucas , at the southern end to Tijuana in the north...
. Another major freeway is Interstate 8 that runs east to the Arizona Sun Corridor
Arizona Sun Corridor
The Arizona Sun Corridor, shortened Sun Corridor, is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of Arizona. The Sun Corridor is equivalent to Indiana in size and population; unlike Indiana, it will add another Indiana's worth of residents by 2040...
at Casa Grande, Arizona
Casa Grande, Arizona
Casa Grande is a city in Pinal County, approximately halfway between Phoenix and Tucson in the U.S. state of Arizona. According to 2010 Census, the population of the city is 48,571...
. 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 with many newly constructed off ramps being set up in an impractical method often requiring sharp and hard turns. When it comes to long distance travel through Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, many people use the toll roads that are well maintained and are at a standard comparable to that of U.S. roads.
Port
San Diego–Tijuana's only deepwater port is both a container port and cruise shipCruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
destination. The Port of San Diego
Port of San Diego
The Port of San Diego is a self-supporting public benefit corporation established in 1962 by an act of the California State Legislature. In 2007, The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics ranked the Port of San Diego as one of America's top 30 U.S. containership ports bringing in nearly of...
has recreation terminals and docked ships at the Maritime Museum of San Diego
Maritime Museum of San Diego
The Maritime Museum of San Diego, established in 1948, preserves one of the largest collections of historic sea vessels in the United States. Located in the San Diego Bay, the centerpiece of the museum's collection is the Star of India, an 1863 iron bark. The museum maintains the MacMullen Library...
, which is located at the Embarcadero. The port is serviced by nine cruise lines including Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean International is a Norwegian and American cruise line brand based in Miami, Florida and owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.. With 42 ships in service under 5 different brands and one more under construction, it controls a 25.6% share of the world cruise market...
. A new cruise terminal was recently constructed at the Port to compensate for the increased levels of maritime tourism.
Cargo and container terminals are located to the south of the Embarcadero where two marine cargo facilities are administered. The Port of San Diego was ranked by the United States' Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics , as part of the United States Department of Transportation, compiles, analyzes, and makes accessible information on the nation's transportation systems; collects information on intermodal transportation and other areas as needed; and improves the quality and...
as one of America's top 30 U.S. container ship
Container ship
Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport.-History:...
ports in 2007. The Port also serves as the primary port of entry for larger car corporations including Honda
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
, Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
, and Nissan into the United States of America. The nearby Port of Ensenada
Port of Ensenada
The Port of Ensenada is a marine freight and cruise terminal in Ensenada, Baja California. This deepwater port lies in Bahia de Todos Santos and in 2010 brought in 3,592,891 metric tons of cargo. Ships arrive to the port from major ports in Asia, North America, and South America. The ports...
also serves as a transport point where cruise ships arrive and depart from Southern Californian, European, and Central American ports. Cargo arriving at the Port of Ensenada is also transported to the metropolitan region via the Tijuana-Ensenada Freeway.
The Port of Punta Colonet is being planned as an alternative port to the West Coast ports of the United States and Canada; though the port is not without its negative environmental impacts. 150 miles (241.4 km) south of Tijuana, the port is intended to compete with the twin ports of Long Beach
Port of Long Beach
The Port of Long Beach, also known as Long Beach’s Harbor Department, is the 2nd busiest container port in the USA. It adjoins the separate Port of Los Angeles. Acting as a major gateway for U.S.-Asian trade, the port occupies of land with of waterfront in the city of Long Beach, California...
and Los Angeles
Port of Los Angeles
The Port of Los Angeles, also called Los Angeles Harbor and WORLDPORT L.A, is a port complex that occupies of land and water along of waterfront. The port is located on San Pedro Bay in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, approximately south of downtown...
, Once completed the port would serve as the primary dock for Asian vessels unloading shipping containers. and would have a 200 miles (321.9 km) rail line to San Diego–Tijuana.
Airports
San Diego–Tijuana is the home base of three major international airportInternational airport
An international airport is any airport that can accommodate flights from other countries and are typically equipped with customs and immigration facilities to handle these flights to and from other countries...
s. These are the San Diego International Airport
San Diego International Airport
San Diego International Airport , sometimes referred to as Lindbergh Field, is a public airport located northwest of the central business district of San Diego, California and from the Mexico – United States border at Tijuana, Mexico...
(Lindbergh Field), Tijuana International Airport (General Abelardo L. Rodríguez) and McClellan-Palomar Airport
McClellan-Palomar Airport
McClellan-Palomar Airport , known to locals as Palomar Airport, is a public airport located three miles southeast of the central business district of Carlsbad, a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is owned by the County of San Diego and serves the northern part of the county...
(Carlsbad). Thoughts of creating a binational terminal have also been brought up. In 2008 the intention to build a U.S.-Mexico terminal which would relieve high levels of congestion at San Diego International Airport
San Diego International Airport
San Diego International Airport , sometimes referred to as Lindbergh Field, is a public airport located northwest of the central business district of San Diego, California and from the Mexico – United States border at Tijuana, Mexico...
was expressed. Approved by Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
Hillary Clinton, the project is slated to be completed by 2012.
San Diego International Airport is located 3 mi (4.8 km) northwest of Centre City and 20 mi (32.2 km) from Tijuana. Operated by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, the San Diego International airport is the busiest single-runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
commercial airport in the world, second only to London Gatwick. SAN has approximately 600 departures and arrivals, carrying 50,000 passengers, each day. As of October, 2010, San Diego International Airport is served by 20 passenger airlines. In 2010 the Tijuana International Airport served 3,649,500 passengers. It is the fifth busiest airport in Mexico and serves as the focus city for Aeroméxico
Aeroméxico
Airways of Mexico, SA de CV , operating as Aeroméxico, is the flag carrier airline of Mexico based in Colonia Cuauhtémoc, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City. It operates scheduled domestic and international services to North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia...
, an airline with flights to Asian market cities such as Tokyo-Narita
Narita International Airport
is an international airport serving the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is located east of Tokyo Station and east-southeast of Narita Station in the city of Narita, and the adjacent town of Shibayama....
. McClellan-Palomar Airport is located near the central business district of Carlsbad, serving North County. It is slated to be the home base for California Pacific Airlines
California Pacific Airlines
California Pacific Airlines is a planned airline that is headquartered on the grounds of McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, California.-History:In 2009, 89-year old Ted Vallas proposed starting a new airline out of Palomar Airport...
.
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
with 618,000 passengers, Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
with 571,000 passengers, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with approximately 408,000 passengers, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
with 402,000 passengers, Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
with 394,000 passengers, Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
with 382,429, Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
with 380,000 passengers, Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
with 375,000 passengers, and Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
with 358,241.
In 2008 it was reported that construction will begin on El Tigre International Airport along the Tijuana-Ensenada Scenic Tollway
Mexican Federal Highway 1D
Mexico's Federal Highway 1D is a mostly tolled federal highway in the state of Baja California. It is precisely long. Between Avenida Mar Báltico and the northern terminus, it is locally known as Segunda Benito Juárez. The rest of Highway 1D is locally known as tolled Autopista Escenica...
. Also referred to as Airport Ensenada, this airport will serve the cities of metropolitan region and Ensenada. Further developing the area between Rosarito and Ensenada, it will have a 12000 feet (3,657.6 m) runway and will be capable of serving Boeing 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
s and Airbus A380
Airbus A380
The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS. It is the largest passenger airliner in the world. Due to its size, many airports had to modify and improve facilities to accommodate it...
s. Service is being planned to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Bogota
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, and other large transit hubs. The bankers group of investors for Airport Ensenada are from all over the globe maintaining residency in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the United States and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. In addition to serving as a new domestic transportation hub, the main customer for the new international airport is going to be the air package delivery company DHL
DHL
DHL Express is a division of the German logistics company Deutsche Post providing international express mail services. DHL is a world market leader in sea and air mail....
.
Ports of Entry
In 2002, according to the San Diego Association of GovernmentsSan Diego Association of Governments
The San Diego Association of Governments is an association of local San Diego County governments. It is the metropolitan planning organization for the County, with policy makers consisting of mayors, councilmembers, and a County Supervisors, and also has capital planning and fare setting powers...
(SANDAG), the amount of trucks driving north through the Otay Mesa Port of Entry numbered over 725,710, representing approximately $20 billion dollars worth of freight. Over time congestion has increased as the population of the region has grown at a high rate. San Diego and Tijuana have both begun collaborative renovation plans in order to ease border congestion. The San Ysidro Land Port of Entry Expansion Project
San Ysidro Land Port of Entry Expansion Project
The San Ysidro Port of Entry is the largest land border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana, and the busiest land border crossing in the world...
involves adding an additional ten lanes to the San Ysidro border crossing and the creation of the El Chapparal Port of Entry. Another plan includes adding an extra border crossing to the east of Otay Mesa with completion estimated for the year 2015. Projects such as these will attempt to reduce the loss of millions of dollars per day due to waiting at the border.
There are currently three ports of entry serving the metropolitan region. Once the San Ysidro Expansion project is completed, the addition of the El Chapparal Port of Entry will make that number four. The most trafficked port of entry is the San Ysidro Port of Entry -- the busiest international crossing in the world. It serves as the primary entry point for the commuting populace of the metropolitan region. To the east, the Otay Mesa Port of Entry
Otay Mesa Port of Entry
The Otay Mesa Port of Entry is one three ports of entry in the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan region. The port is primarily commercial in function and trucks are generally instructed to cross there as opposed to the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Commercial crossing through the port accounts for...
deals with high volumes of commercial traffic as it is located in the manufacturing zone of the region. The Otay Mesa Port accounts for billions of dollars worth of product. The farthest east, the Tecate Port of Entry
Tecate Port of Entry
The Tecate Port of Entry is one three ports of entry in the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan region. The land port is located between San Diego County's Mountain Empire and Tecate Municipality. It is a minor port in comparison to the larger San Ysidro Port of Entry and Otay Mesa Port of Entry...
is the smallest port of entry and is not designed for dealing with large volumes of traffic as it follows a long winding road through the Mountain Empire
Mountain Empire, San Diego
The Mountain Empire is a rural area in southeastern San Diego County, California. The Mountain Empire subregion consists of the backcountry communities in southeastern San Diego County...
.
Higher education
The region is home to over twenty higher education schools including numerous universities, private, and state colleges and maintains an excellent educational infrastructure. Tijuana is home to high ranked national colleges and universities and San Diego is ninth most educated city in the United States.Notable schools included the Autonomous University of Baja California, Tijuana
Autonomous University of Baja California, Tijuana
The Autonomous University of Baja California, Tijuana is a public research university campus located in the Mesa de Otay borough of Tijuana, Baja California. The branch under the Autonomous University of Baja California maintains three sub-campus' in Tecate, Rosarito Beach, and Palm Valley....
, Ibero-American University, Tijuana, CETYS University, Tijuana
Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior
The Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior is a Mexican private university commonly referred to as CETYS Universidad.This institution was founded on February 17, 1961 with Fernando Macías Rendón as first president in Mexicali, Baja California...
, San Diego State University
San Diego State University
San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...
, University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
(UCSD), California Western School of Law
California Western School of Law
California Western School of Law, founded in 1924, is a private, non-profit law school located in San Diego, California. It is popularly known as California Western or Cal Western and formerly California Western University. The school was approved by the American Bar Association in 1962 and became...
, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Thomas Jefferson School of Law, or TJSL, is an independent law school in San Diego, California. It offers a Juris Doctor, and three Master of Laws programs, including one that is exclusively online, as well as a combined J.D./M.B.A. with San Diego State University...
, and UCSD School of Medicine. Of the colleges in San Diego–Tijuana, UCSD is the highest ranked college; ranking as 14th best university in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities
Academic Ranking of World Universities
The Academic Ranking of World Universities , commonly known as the Shanghai ranking, is a publication that was founded and compiled by the Shanghai Jiaotong University to rank universities globally. The rankings have been conducted since 2003 and updated annually...
and in 2010 ranking as the top university in the United States by The Washington Monthly
The Washington Monthly
The Washington Monthly is a bimonthly nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C.The magazine's founder is Charles Peters, who started the magazine in 1969 and continues to write the "Tilting at Windmills" column in each issue. Paul Glastris, former...
.
Telephone
Telephonic communication between the two cities requires international callInternational call
International telephone calls are those made between different countries. These telephone calls are processed by international gateway exchanges . Charges for these calls were high initially but declined greatly during the 20th century due to advances in technology and liberalization. Originally...
ing. To call Tijuana from the United States, "011" (the US international call prefix) must be dialed followed by Mexico's country calling code "52"; to call San Diego from Mexico, "00" (the ITU prefix) must be dialed followed by "1" (the North American Numbering Plan
North American Numbering Plan
The North American Numbering Plan is an integrated telephone numbering plan administered by Neustar which encompasses 24 countries and territories, including the United States and its territories, Canada, Bermuda, and 16 nations of the Caribbean...
calling code). Then the caller will in both cases proceed to dial the area code and the local number.
San Diego County Area Codes
- +1-619Area code 619North American area code 619 is a California telephone area code which was split from area code 714 on November 5, 1982. This area code currently covers the southern half of the city of San Diego and its eastern and southern suburbs....
- +1-858Area code 858North American area code 858 is an area code that is located in San Diego County, California. It covers some northern suburbs of San Diego, California and the northern half of the city proper, including the areas of Del Mar, Poway, La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Clairemont and MCAS Miramar...
- +1-760Area code 760Image:Area_code_442.svg|right|Map of California area codes in blue with 442/760 in redrect 65 82 92 100 Area code 916rect 220 242 245 256 Area code 909rect 243 274 265 287 Area code 951rect 136 323 160 338 Area code 858...
- +1-442
Tijuana Metro Area Codes
- +52-665
- +52-664
- +52-661
Broadcasting
BroadcastingBroadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
is shared between the two cities as necessary, as is the case along both land U.S. borders. Frequency coordination
Frequency coordination
Frequency Coordination is a technical and regulatory process which is intended to remove or mitigate radio-frequency interference between different radio systems which utilize the same operational frequency....
means that all broadcast station
Broadcast station
A broadcast station may be:*a radio station*a television stationIt does not include radio networks or television networks.-See also:*Broadcasting*Broadcast network*Station...
s must be approved by both countries before making any major changes. In this case, approval is required by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) in the U.S. and Federal Commission of Telecommunications (CoFeTel) (under the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation) in Mexico. Additionally, the FCC requires a permit to supply programming to a foreign broadcaster for transmission back into the U.S.
Cooperative frequency coordination between both city regions is quite common; for example the local CW affiliate
Affiliate
An affiliate is a commercial entity with a relationship with a peer or a larger entity.- Corporate structure :A corporation may be referred to as an affiliate of another when it is related to it but not strictly controlled by it, as with a subsidiary relationship, or when it is desired to avoid...
is XETV
XETV
XETV is a television station licensed to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, serving as the CW Television Network affiliate for the San Diego, California area across the international border in the United States...
6, the K being replaced by the X as an indicator that it is a Mexican-licensed station. The two other such TV stations are MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
on XHDTV
XHDTV
XHDTV-TV, commonly identified on the air as XDTV, is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station in San Diego, California, United States. The station is licensed to Tecate, Baja California, Mexico; its studios are located in San Diego. The station is operated by Entravision Communications...
49, and Miami-based (and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-owned) Telemundo
Telemundo
Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
on XHAS-TV
XHAS-TV
XHAS-TV, channel 33, is the Telemundo-affiliated television station for San Diego, California, licensed to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, with studios and offices in San Diego, shared with KBNT-CA and XHDTV-TV...
33. These stations will not be required to shut-down their NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
analog TV operations in June 2009, as full-powered FCC-license
Broadcast license
A broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
d stations must. In 2007, a bill in the U.S. Congress called the DTV Border Fix Act
DTV Border Fix Act
The DTV Border Fix Act was a bill introduced to the U.S. Congress in 2007. It would have allowed all television stations within 80 kilometers of the Mexican border, in areas such as San Diego and the Rio Grande Valley, to keep their analog signals active for another five years. The bill passed the...
was introduced, which would have allowed all stations in San Diego, and all television stations within 80 kilometres (49.7 mi) of the Mexican border, to keep their analog signals active for another five years, delaying the television transition that the rest of the United States would be going through; while the bill passed the Senate, it did not pass the House.
On radio, relaying programming across the border is even more common, with stations like XHITZ-FM
XHITZ-FM
XHITZ-FM is a Contemporary Hit Radio station in San Diego-Tijuana broadcasting on 90.3 MHz. The station is owned by Local Media of America and...
90.3 and XHMORE-FM
XHMORE-FM
XHMORE-FM , or MORE FM 98.9 is a Rock En Español station serving the Tijuana-San Diego radio market. The station, whose city of license is Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico and broadcasts at 98.9 MHz with an ERP of 50,000 watts....
98.9 being programmed by U.S. broadcast groups, while being owned by Mexican companies (as required under Mexican law) and operating under Mexican broadcast law
Broadcast law
Broadcast law is the field of law which pertains to broadcasting. These laws and regulations pertain to radio stations and TV stations, and are also considered to include closely related services like cable TV and cable radio, as well as satellite TV and satellite radio...
. Other American stations relayed via Mexico through local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
s (LMAs) are XEPE AM 1700, XEPRS AM 1090 and simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
XHPRS-FM
XHPRS-FM
XHPRS-FM or 105.7 The Walrus is a commercial oldies radio station in Tecate, Baja California, broadcasting to the Tijuana-San Diego metropolitan area on 105.7 FM....
105.7, XESPN AM 800, XESURF AM 540, XETRA
XETRA-FM
XETRA-FM — branded 91X, and sometimes identified as XTRA-FM — is an English language, Mexican-owned modern rock music station broadcasting from Tijuana, Baja California on 91.1 MHz. The studios are located in the Mira Mesa area of San Diego...
FM 91.1, XHRM
XHRM-FM
XHRM-FM is an Urban Adult Contemporary radio format licensed in the Mexican state of Baja California, broadcasting at 92.5 MHz...
FM 92.5, XEWW-AM
XEWW-AM
XEWW-AM are the call letters of a border-blaster radio station licensed to the Tijuana / Rosarito area of Baja California, Mexico, with additional studio facilities in Burbank, California, United States. They are a high-power station, with their 77,500 watt signal sometimes reaching as far as the...
690, XHA-FM
XHA-FM
XHA-FM or La Invasora 94.5 is a Spanish radio station. It is programmed by San Diego-based Uniradio, Inc. that owns and programs various Spanish language radio stations. Its license and transmitter is owned by a Mexican company. The station plays Regional Mexican music...
94.5, XHFG-FM 107.3, XHGLX-FM 91.7, XHLNC-FM
XHLNC-FM
XHLNC-FM is a non-commercial radio station in Tecate, Baja California, Mexico, broadcasting on 104.9 MHz. It broadcasts in English and Spanish serving the Tijuana and San Diego, California, United States areas with studios in Chula Vista, California. The station was founded by...
104.9, and XHTY-FM 99.7. All of these stations are authorized by CoFeTel to simulcast digitally in HD Radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
, as are other stations within 320 kilometres (198.8 mi) of the U.S. border.
Because many stations in the reserved band (FM below 92 MHz) are used by Mexican stations, other specific allotments are reserved for non-commercial educational
Non-commercial educational
The term non-commercial educational applies to a radio station or TV station that does not accept on air advertisements , as defined in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission . NCE stations do not pay broadcast license fees for their non-profit uses of the radio spectrum...
(NCE) radio stations in the San Diego area. However, the lack of such allotments still leaves the area with no college radio stations available except via Internet radio
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
, cable radio
Cable radio
Cable radio or cable FM is a concept similar to that of cable television, bringing radio signals into homes and businesses via coaxial cable. It is generally used as cable TV was in its early days when it was "community antenna television", to enhance the quality of terrestrial radio signals that...
, LPAM, and TV SAP
Second audio program
Second audio program , also known as secondary audio programming, is an auxiliary audio channel for analog television that can be broadcast or transmitted both over the air and by cable TV.-Usage:...
. These are KCR from San Diego State University
San Diego State University
San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...
, and KSDT
KSDT Radio
KSDT is an online College radio station which refers to itself as "fiercely independent college radio." Its facilities are located on the campus of UCSD, the University of California San Diego, in La Jolla....
from University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
.
Other infrastructure
The metropolitan region has developed many utilities which have primary focus on energy and environmental health. A focal point of cross-border environmental relations is the care of the Tijuana River Estuary. The International Boundary Wastewater Treatment PlantInternational Boundary Wastewater Treatment Plant
The International Wastewater Treatment Plant is a plant developed by the International Boundary and Water Commission in the South Bay area of San Diego, California. Construction began on a 75-acre site, west of San Ysidro in the Tijuana River Valley...
(IWTP) was developed by the International Boundary and Water Commission
International Boundary and Water Commission
The International Boundary and Water Commission is an international body created in 1889 by the United States and Mexico to administer the many boundary and water-rights treaties and agreements between the two nations....
(IBWC) as a joint project between the USA and Mexico in the mid-1990s following substantial environmental studies regarding the polluting affects of the river system from run-off and untreated water on the Tijuana side of the border region. The facility now treats sewage flows exceeding the capacity of the present Tijuana sewage treatment system. The plant directly assists in the restoration of the Tijuana River Valley. Another collaborative effort between the two cities was the environmentally friendly
Environmentally friendly
Environmentally friendly are terms used to refer to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies claimed to inflict minimal or no harm on the environment....
development of paved roads - created by placing concrete blocks on dirt roads - in the San Bernardo neighborhood of northwestern Tijuana. Whilst being a good example for overall development of Tijuana, it served to retain water in the earth and prevented possible negative impacts from floodwater.
Water
San Diego–Tijuana relies heavily on water from the Colorado RiverColorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
. Approximately half of San Diego–Tijuana's fresh water is used for non-drinking purposes which includes landscape
Landscaping
Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including:# living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly referred to as gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal of creating a beautiful environment within the landscape.#...
irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
, commercial enterprise, and industrial processing. Methods such as saltwater desalination
Desalination
Desalination, desalinization, or desalinisation refers to any of several processes that remove some amount of salt and other minerals from saline water...
provides options for obtaining fresh water
Fresh Water
Fresh Water is the debut album by Australian rock and blues singer Alison McCallum, released in 1972. Rare for an Australian artist at the time, it came in a gatefold sleeve...
. Cities in the metropolitan region such as Carlsbad have begun desalination projects of their own, without a bi-national conference. The Carlsbad desalination plant
Carlsbad desalination plant
Carlsbad desalination plant is a desalination plant under construction in Carlsbad, California. It is scheduled to be the largest desalination plant in the United States...
is expected to be completed in the 2012-2013 range as the largest desalination plant in the United States and produce 50-million gallons a day; enough water to supply 10% of San Diego region residents with drinking water.
Energy
The policies shared between San Diego and Tijuana are addressed in a binational way as the effects of actions on one side of the border, with regard to infrastructure, are felt on the neighboring side. In the past decade San Diego–Tijuana has developed new cooperative strategies to make energy consumption more efficient and effectively supply energy. In 2000 Sempra EnergySempra Energy
Sempra Energy is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego, California. It divides its interests into two broad categories: Sempra Utilities, including Pacific Enterprises/Southern California Gas Company and San Diego Gas & Electric; and Sempra Global, a holding company for...
constructed a natural gas pipeline to provide energy to a thermal power plant in Rosarito; also the principle plant in Baja California. The region was able to reduce levels of air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
substantially when the conversion to a natural gas fired electrical generation facility was completed. In the Baja California subregions, unleaded gasoline has also replaced leaded fuel as means for transportation, helping regional air quality. The new strategies also included plans that worked with the nearby capital of Mexicali, where the pipeline shared between the two states was constructed to supply natural gas to its metropolitan area with energy supplied by Sempra and Proxima. Sempra Energy has been applauded for its initial development of this cross-border infrastructure.
In April 19, 2011 it was reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune that San Diego Gas and Electric signed a twenty-year deal with Sempra Generation to obtain power generated by the Energia Sierra Juarez Project, a wind farm of 450 wind turbines, taking up an area predominantly in the Tecate region of Baja California larger than Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Energia Sierra Juarez is slated for construction in 2012, though the deal has yet to be approved by the California Public Utilities Commission
California Public Utilities Commission
The California Public Utilities Commission is a regulatory agency which regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies...
.
Culture
The sister cities of the metropolitan region have a complex and rich cultural exchange. The binational art communities are the most progressive yet least funded when compared to other international communities.The cultural activities present on both sides of the border provide artists a benefited cultural activity sector. Art organizations on both sides of the border have binational programs. Mainly Mozart (Festival Binacional de Mozart) performs, for both cities of California and Baja California, with internationally known musicians and orchestras. In San Diego, the Opera's Ensemble tours the metropolitan region every year performing over 150 performances in the regions educational institutions, cultural centers, and concert venues. Additionally, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego , in San Diego, California, USA, is an art museum focused on the collection, preservation, exhibition, and interpretation of works of art from 1950 to the present.-History:...
actively promotes the binational arts culture in the area and has displayed exhibitions highlighting the border experience. In Tijuana the Cultural Centre anchors T.J. in its developing cultural scene and accommodates world class musical performances whose purpose is to perform solely in Tijuana, bypassing San Diego and encouraging its residents to cross the border to take advantage of the presented cultural opportunities.
San Diego–Tijuana's allure as a center for artistic attraction can be attributed to civic leaders who have promoted the international region as a place for ingenuity through a series of cross border exhibitions and displays. The metropolitan region has become a magnet for artists from abroad. Musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s and visual artists from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Mexico, and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
are now found in organizations such as the Orchestra of Baja California.
The cultural region is the home of many museums and landmarks. The regions cultural institutions and landmarks are in part comprised by the many institutions of Balboa Park
Balboa Park (San Diego)
Balboa Park is a urban cultural park in San Diego, California. The park is named after the Spanish maritime explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa...
, Tijuana Cultural Center, the Maritime Museum of San Diego
Maritime Museum of San Diego
The Maritime Museum of San Diego, established in 1948, preserves one of the largest collections of historic sea vessels in the United States. Located in the San Diego Bay, the centerpiece of the museum's collection is the Star of India, an 1863 iron bark. The museum maintains the MacMullen Library...
- a collection of large historic American vessels, Cabrillo National Monument
Cabrillo National Monument
Cabrillo National Monument is located at the southern tip of the Point Loma Peninsula in San Diego, California. It commemorates the landing of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo at San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542. This event marked the first time that a European expedition had set foot on what later...
, Christ of the Sacred Heart, Mission San Diego de Alcalá
Mission San Diego de Alcalá
Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá, in San Diego, California, was the first Franciscan mission in the Las Californias Province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was founded in 1769 by Spanish friar Junípero Serra in an area long inhabited by the Kumeyaay Indians...
, Mission San Luis Rey de Francia
Mission San Luis Rey de Francia
Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, also known as Mission San Luis Rey or San Luis Rey Mission Church, was founded on June 13, 1798 in coastal Las Californias, in the present day U.S. city of Oceanside in California. The local Quechnajuichom Native American tribe became known as the Luiseño 'Mission...
, Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, located in the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego, California, is a state protected historical park in San Diego. It commemorates the early days of the town of San Diego and includes many historic buildings from the period 1820 to 1870. The park was...
, and museum at San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park
San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park
San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park honors the soldiers who fought in the 1846 Battle of San Pasqual, the bloodiest battle in California during the Mexican-American War...
. Local beach culture is in part represented by the California Surf Museum
California Surf Museum
The California Surf Museum is a museum located at 312 Pier View Way in Oceanside, California, dedicated to archiving and displaying surfboards, surf art, memorabilia, surfing equipment, photographs, magazines, videos, and more. The California Surf Museum's permanent time line of surfboards...
.
Border influence
In a region where Mexican traditional cultureCulture of Mexico
Mexico has changed rapidly during the 20th century. In many ways, contemporary life in its cities has become similar to that in neighboring United States and Europe. Most Mexican villagers follow the older way of life more than the city people do. More than 45% of the people of Mexico live in...
and American contemporary culture
Culture of the United States
The Culture of the United States is a Western culture originally influenced by European cultures. It has been developing since long before the United States became a country with its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, cuisine, and folklore...
clash, native artists benefit from the manifested diverse cultural influences.
Tijuana's adjacent location to San Diego fuels its intrigue for artists and art curators. A growing number of artists and musicians have begun challenging the sometimes negative stereotype of Tijuana through exhibitions displaying the city as a place of contingency and creativity. San Diego–Tijuana has been considered "one of the hottest interfaces between first and third worlds." Artists attraction to San Diego–Tijuana’s arts and culture scene was accredited by the Tucson Weekly
Tucson Weekly
The Tucson Weekly is an alternative newsweekly that was founded in 1984 by Douglas Biggers and Mark Goehring, and serves the Tucson, Arizona metropolitan area of about 900,000 residents. The paper is a member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies...
to the environment created by one of the richest and most developed cities - San Diego - border proximity to a once third world
Developing country
A developing country, also known as a less-developed country, is a nation with a low level of material well-being. Since no single definition of the term developing country is recognized internationally, the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries...
type city - Tijuana.
International recognition
The culture of San Diego–Tijuana is international and cosmopolitanCosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism is the ideology that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality. This is contrasted with communitarian and particularistic theories, especially the ideas of patriotism and nationalism...
, reflecting the values of each city. Tijuana's emerging vibrant culture scene plays and undeniable role in the art enrichment of its neighborhoods. The metropolitan regions southern anchor city, Tijuana, was identified by Newsweek International as one of the top eight creative cities in the world. It was recognized for its amalgamation of traditional Mexican Norteño
Norteño (music)
Norteño , also norteña or conjunto, is a genre of Mexican music. The accordion and the bajo sexto are norteño's most characteristic instruments. The norteño genre is popular in both Mexico and the United States, especially among the Mexican community...
music by cities as far away as Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Berlin's Haus der Kulturen der Welt
Haus der Kulturen der Welt
The Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin is Germany's national centre for contemporary non-European art. It presents art exhibitions, theater and dance performances, concerts, author readings, films and academic conferences on non-European Visual Art and culture...
attributed Tijuana as the "cradle of Mexican rock
Mexican rock
Mexican rock music, often referred to in Mexico as rock nacional , originated in the 1950s with covers of standards by Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and The Everly Brothers, among others, bands such as Los Rebeldes del Rock, Los Locos del Ritmo, Los Crazy Boys, Los Nómadas, and Javier Bátiz soon arose...
... where the music of the future is being born in Mexico." According to Britain’s Guardian Newspaper, "Tijuana is in the middle of an artistic flowering in which artists are re-examining the city's hybrid binational culture."
In the five years prior to 2004 Tijuana's visual arts were sought out by European exhibitions, and received notable focus from Germany. An international exhibition in Hamburg titled Unlikely Encounters in Urban Space portrayed the developed environment in Eastern Tijuana as well as in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, Mar de Plata, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Berlin, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, and Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
.
Sports
In the mid-2000s the Binational Organizing Committee (BiNOC) of San Diego–Tijuana made it known that the sister-cities were interested in making a bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, are a major international multi-sport event to be celebrated in the tradition of the Olympic Games, as governed by the International Olympic Committee...
. The proposed bid intentionally rivaled L.A.'s bid for the 2016 games. However, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) decided against the binational bid and made it clear San Diego would not receive the opportunity to host the Summer Games. Furthermore, USOC member Bob Ctvrtlik
Bob Ctvrtlik
Robert Jan Ctvrtlik born July 8, 1963 in Long Beach, California) is an American volleyball player, Olympic gold medalist, businessman and former member of the International Olympic Committee. Ctvrtlik is a 1985 graduate of Pepperdine University....
stated the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
has never been inclined to consider a dual-city Games.
San Diego–Tijuana is an avid sports community. Popular sports include soccer, football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, and to a lesser extent, bloodless bullfighting
Bullfighting
Bullfighting is a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, southern France and some Latin American countries , in which one or more bulls are baited in a bullring for sport and entertainment...
. The region has professional teams involved in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
, and National Professional Basketball League
Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional
The Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional is the top professional basketball league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 11 teams, expanding to 24 as of 2008...
. In a sign of binational friendship, San Diegans – Team USA – and Tijuanenses – Team Mexico – engaged in a friendly game of border volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
at Border Field State Park
Border Field State Park
Border Field State Park is a state park of California, USA, containing beach and coastal habitat on the Mexico – United States border. The park is located within the city limits of Imperial Beach in San Diego County, adjacent to the suburb of Playas de Tijuana in Mexico...
in which volleyballs were passed over the international border fence splitting the beach. This was the first game of international border volleyball and garnered attention from tourists and the media.
Watersports and boardsports also form a large part of San Diego–Tijuana sports culture. Sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
is a popular hobby in the San Diego Bay and Mission Bay areas. The San Diego–Ensenada International Yacht Race is hosted by the Southwestern Yacht Club of San Diego and takes place annually as over 100 contestants from Southern and Baja California race from San Diego Bay to Bahia de Todos Santos
Bahía de Todos Santos
Bahía Todos Santos, or Bay of All Saints, is a sheltered bay south of the similarly sized San Diego Bay. The bay is home to the deepwater busy international Port of Ensenada.-Flora and fauna:...
. The region is known for its avid surf
Surf
Surf is the wave activity in the area between the shoreline and outer limit of breakers. It may refer to a breaking wave in shallow water, upon the shore, or in the area in which waves breakSurf also may refer to:Commercial products...
scene. Surfers take to the water in the beaches of North County and Rosarito; well-known destinations include Swami's, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, and Baja Malibu
Baja Malibu
Baja Malibu is a beach and resort in Playas de Rosarito Municipality, Baja California named after the beach town Malibu of Los Angeles County. The beach is a popular tourist area in the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan region and draws surfers from all over Southern California.-Recreation:There are...
.
| Club | Sport | League | Stadium |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego Padres San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times... |
Baseball Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond... |
MLB Major League Baseball Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League... (National League) |
Petco Park PETCO Park Petco Park is an open-air ballpark in downtown San Diego, California, USA. It opened in 2004, replacing Qualcomm Stadium as the home park of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres. Before then, the Padres shared Qualcomm Stadium with the NFL's San Diego Chargers... |
| Tijuana Cimarrones | Baseball Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond... |
Golden Baseball League Golden Baseball League The Golden Baseball League, based in San Ramon, California, was an independent baseball league. It later merged with the Northern League and the United Baseball League to form the North American League in the western United States, western Canada and Mexico.... |
Estadio de Beisbol Calimax Estadio de Beisbol Calimax Estadio de Béisbol Calimax is a professional baseball stadium located in Tijuana, Baja California, in Mexico with a capacity of 18,500, all seated. It was built in 1976 and is named after a supermarket chain based in Baja California... |
| San Diego Chargers San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League... |
American Football American football American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by... |
AFL American Football League The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence... 1961–1969, NFL National Football League The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing... 1970–present |
Qualcomm Stadium Qualcomm Stadium Qualcomm Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in San Diego, California, in the Mission Valley area.... |
| San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers The San Diego Sockers were one of the most successful indoor soccer teams in the sport's short history. The team won ten championships in both the original Major Indoor Soccer League and the North American Soccer League.-History:... |
Association football | PASL-Pro | Del Mar Arena at Del Mar Fairgrounds Del Mar Fairgrounds The Del Mar Fairgrounds is a property that is the site of the annual San Diego County Fair . Its Del Mar Racetrack was built by the Thoroughbred Club in 1937 by founding members Bing Crosby and Pat O'Brien with Paramount Studios as corporate sponsor.The fairgrounds is owned by the State of... |
| San Diego WFC SeaLions San Diego WFC SeaLions San Diego WFC SeaLions is an American women’s soccer team, founded in 1988. The team is a member of the Women's Premier Soccer League, the third tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada... |
Association football | Women's Premier Soccer League Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League is a national women's soccer league in the United States and Puerto Rico, and is on the 2nd level of women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, alongside the W-League and below Women's Professional Soccer.... |
Cathedral Catholic High School Cathedral Catholic High School Cathedral Catholic High School is a private coeducational Catholic High School in San Diego, California. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, and was originally founded as the University of San Diego High School in 1957... |
| SD United | Association football | Women's Premier Soccer League Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League is a national women's soccer league in the United States and Puerto Rico, and is on the 2nd level of women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, alongside the W-League and below Women's Professional Soccer.... |
Torero Stadium Torero Stadium The Torero Stadium is a 6,000-seat stadium in San Diego, California that is primarily used for soccer and American football. It was built in 1961... |
| San Diego Boca FC San Diego Boca FC San Diego Boca FC is an American soccer team based in San Diego, California. Founded in 2009, the team plays in National Premier Soccer League , a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Northwest Division.... |
Association football | National Premier Soccer League National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League is a United States soccer league recognized by the United States Soccer Federation and FIFA as a Division IV league... |
Helix Soccer Stadium |
| San Diego Flash San Diego Flash San Diego Flash is an American soccer team based in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1998, the team returned to competitive play in 2011 when it made its debut in the Southwest Flight of the West Division of the National Premier Soccer League , the fourth tier of the American Soccer... |
Association football | National Premier Soccer League National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League is a United States soccer league recognized by the United States Soccer Federation and FIFA as a Division IV league... |
Balboa Stadium Balboa Stadium Balboa Stadium is a football and soccer stadium located in San Diego, California. The original stadium was built in 1914 as part of the many buildings erected for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition located in Balboa Park. Originally called City Stadium, and designed by the Quayle Brothers... |
| Club Tijuana Club Tijuana Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente is a Mexican football team from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Tijuana plays in the Primera División de México It was founded in January 2007. The colors that identify the club are red and black.-History:... |
Association football | Liga de Ascenso Liga de Ascenso The Liga de Ascenso is the second professional level of the Mexican football league system. The champion of the competition is promoted to the Primera División de México .... |
Estadio Caliente Estadio Caliente The Estadio Caliente, is a multi-use stadium in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, that is mostly used for football matches.The stadium hosts home matches for the Mexican professional football team Club Tijuana, who play in the Primera División de México, Mexico's First Division. -Stadium:The... |
| San Diego Surf San Diego Surf The San Diego Surf is a professional basketball team of the American Basketball Association based in San Diego, California which began play in 2009... |
Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... |
American Basketball Association American Basketball Association (2000–present) The American Basketball Association, often abbreviated as ABA, is a semi-professional men's basketball league that was founded in 1999. The current ABA has no affiliation with the original American Basketball Association that merged with the National Basketball Association in 1976... |
HourGlass Arena at Miramar College San Diego Miramar College San Diego Miramar College is two-year community college located in San Diego, CA, USA. It is administered by the San Diego Community College District.-History:... |
| Tijuana Galgos | Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... |
Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional The Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional is the top professional basketball league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 11 teams, expanding to 24 as of 2008... |
Auditorio Municipal "Fausto Gutierrez Moreno-CASAS GEO" |
| Tijuana Dragons Tijuana Dragons The Tijuana Dragons was an American Basketball Association team based in Tijuana, Mexico. The team began play in the fall of 2004. They finished the 2005 season with a 10-16 record and a 7th place finish in the Red Division... |
Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... |
American Basketball Association American Basketball Association (21st century) The American Basketball Association, often abbreviated as ABA, is a semi-professional men's basketball league that was founded in 1999. The current ABA has no affiliation with the original American Basketball Association that merged with the National Basketball Association in 1976... |
Auditorio Municipal "Fausto Gutierrez Moreno-CASAS GEO" |
| Tijuana Zonkeys | Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... |
Pacific Coast Basketball Circuit | Auditorio Municipal "Fausto Gutierrez Moreno-CASAS GEO" |
| San Diego Sting San Diego Sting The San Diego Sting is a women's professional football team of the Women's Football Alliance that started in 2010. Based in San Diego, California, the Sting plays its home games in nearby Carlsbad at Carlsbad High School.... |
American football American football American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by... |
Women's Football Alliance Women's Football Alliance The Women's Football Alliance is a full-contact Women's American football league which began play in the spring of 2009. They have now completed three full seasons and grew to over 60 teams slated for the 2011 season. The women play 11 person tackle football games with rules that basically mirror... |
John Landes Park in Oceanside Oceanside -Places:*Oceanside, New South Wales, Australia*Oceanside, British Columbia, Canada*Oceanside, California, United States*Oceanside, New York, United States*Oceanside, Oregon, United States-Other:... , California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... |
| So Cal Scorpions So Cal Scorpions The So Cal Scorpions were a semi-pro women's football team based in San Diego, California. In 2011, they played in the Women's Football Alliance after five seasons in the defunct Women's Professional Football League, followed by two seasons off and one season in the Independent Women's Football... |
American football American football American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by... |
Independent Women's Football League Independent Women's Football League The Independent Women's Football League was founded in 2000, and began play in 2001.IWFL founders began with the goal to establish a quality women's football league that would be respected as the top level of women's tackle football in the world.... |
La Jolla High School La Jolla High School La Jolla, CA 92037 Enrollment 1,650 Colors Black & Red██ Mascot Viking Rival Schools The Bishop's School, Cathedral Catholic High School, Mission Bay High School, University City High School Homepage... |
| Old Mission Beach Athletic Club RFC Old Mission Beach Athletic Club RFC Old Mission Beach Athletic Club Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in San Diego, California. OMBAC RFC is directly affiliated with the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club... |
Rugby Rugby football Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:... |
Southern California Rugby Football Union Southern California Rugby Football Union The Southern California Rugby Football Union , is the governing body of rugby in Southern California, and represents the union of clubs at the USA Rugby level... |
The Little Q Rugby Field |
See also
- California megapolitan areas
- List of California urban areas
- List of metropolitan areas in the Americas
External links
Organizations