Friday, February 10, 2012

Tijuana On The Up(For The New York Times)

I'm finally beginning to get assigned stories about how Mexico is becoming a little safer for tourists after about a 4 year drug war stint in which Tens of Thousands were killed due to turf wars between the cartels. It's been sad to see Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada, all once popular hang-outs with Americans who wanted to just let loose and get shit-faced and have a good time. The streets over the last few years have been empty, tour buses no longer make the journey down, and even some folks who have family members don't venture over the border anymore. What I've noticed over the years, while everyone was staying away, was that TJ is fast becoming a cool, hip and modern city with lots of ritzy, expensive restaurants and shopping centers as well as a vibrant art scene. Yeah, it'll always be a great place for underage kids to go booze it up and get lap dances and/or a donkey show, but there is just so much more now.
This story also focused on the Las Ochos police station/prison which for many years was where you'd go to dry-out if you'd had a little too much to drink or if you had to pay-off a bribe for a police ticket(I knew it well). It was just torn down and was a symbol of the older, more corrupt Tijuana.

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