San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Common name: San Diego-Tijuana |
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| Largest city Other cities |
 San Diego, CA
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| Population | Ranked 21 in the Americas |
| - Total | 5,043,350 (2008 calc.)[1] |
| - Density | 1020/sq. mi. 394/km² |
| Area | 4,825 sq. mi. 12,496 km² |
| Subdivision(s) | California -San Diego County
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| Time Zones(s) | UTC-8 |
The San Diego–Tijuana Metropolitan Area is the name of an urban agglomeration surrounding the cities of San Diego, California, United States and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The region consists of San Diego County in the United States and the municipalities of Tijuana, Playas de Rosarito, and Tecate in Mexico. The total population of the region has been estimated to be just over 5 million in 2008[1], making it the 21st largest metropolitan area in the Americas[2] and the largest bi-national metropolitan area that is shared between US and Mexico. The two cities together placed a bid to be the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics, and if the bid had not been withdrawn, the joint-cities could have been the first bi-national host of the olympics.[3]
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[edit] Geography
Both San Diego and Tijuana are situated along the Pacific Coast and on the border between United States and Mexico. The metropolitan area lies just south of Orange County, West of Imperial County, and shares borders with Greater Los Angeles. To the East of Tijuana, lies the large city of Mexicali who shares another cross-border metropolitan area with Imperial Valley Communities. To the South of Tijuana lies the cities of Playas de Rosarito and Ensenada. Ensenada is sometimes considered part of the Metropolitan area.
[edit] San Diego County
San Diego County, has a varied topography. On its western side is seventy miles of coastline. Snow-capped mountains rise to the northeast, with the Sonoran Desert to the far east. The Cleveland National Forest is in the northeast portion of the county. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 11,721 km² (4,526 mi²). 10,878 km² (4,200 mi²) of it is land and 843 km² (326 mi²) of it (7.20%) is water.
San Diego is located at , just north of Tijuana. San Diego has deep canyons separating its mesas, creating small pockets of natural parkland scattered throughout the city. Downtown San Diego is located on the San Diego Bay, It is surrounded by several dense urban communities and abruptly ends in Hillcrest to the north. The Coronado and Point Loma peninsulas separate San Diego Bay from the ocean. Ocean Beach is on the west side of Point Loma. Mission Beach and Pacific Beach lie between the ocean and Mission Bay, a man-made aquatic park. La Jolla lies north of Pacific Beach. Mountains rise to the east of the city, and beyond the mountains are desert areas. Numerous farms are found in the valleys northeast and southeast of the city. San Diego County has more endangered plant and animal species (as determined by United States Environmental Protection Agency) than any other county in the United States.
[edit] Urban Communities of San Diego County
San Diego County features many urban communities that are mainly situatued on the south side of Interstate 8.
[edit] Tijuana
Tijuana is located at , just south of San Diego. The city streches eastward from the intersection of the Mexico/U.S. border with the Pacific Ocean and follows the course of the Tijuana River Valley. The terrain is extremely varied, including flood plains, canyons, steep hills, and mesas. The adjacent city and formerly part of Tijuana is Playas de Rosarito, which became independent in 1995. The city is divided into nine administrative boroughs (delegaciones, in Spanish), which are in turn divided into colonias. These boroughs offer administrative services such as urban planning, civil registry, inspection, verification, public works and community development and are served by a delegado. Because Tijuana is more important in the Mexican urban hierarchy than San Diego is in the American urban hierarchy (and does not suffer from competition from a larger urban center as San Diego does from Los Angeles), Tijuana contains many foreign embassies and 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. Population density is much higher in the immediate border area in Mexico that it is in the United States. Urban growth is currently to the east and south of Tijuana where developers are building many new residential communities.
[edit] Major Cities
Municipality of Playa de Rosarito
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San Diego County Incorporated Cities (Complete Location list here)
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[edit] US-Mexico Border
The international border between the United States and Mexico runs from San Diego-Tijuana eastward towards The Gulf of Mexico. The border's total length is 1,951 miles (3,141 km) with over 350 million people crossing, legally, every year.
The San Ysidro border crossing (San Diego-Tijuana) is the busiest border crossing in the world; in 2005 alone, 41,417,164 people entered the U.S. through this port[4]. There are 24 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 purchasing services (vehicle repairs, hair and beauty services, childcare, medical and dental) that are generally more affordable or seeking entertainment in Tijuana. Crossing times are notoriously slow at San Ysidro, particularly for those entering the U.S. in cars. 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.
[edit] Transportation
[edit] Public Transportation
- Further information: Public transportation in San Diego County
In San Diego, the San Diego Trolley's Blue Line goes from the San Ysidro Border to old town through downtown. Passengers may transfer to an Orange line train in downtown or to a green line at oldtown. Also, the same company that operates the trolley also operates a highly advanced bus system.
In Tijuana there is currently no rail public system but there is a system of buses that operate in the area.
[edit] Road Network
In San Diego there is a major network of roads, freeways, and Interstates. Interstate 5 runs from the Canadian Border south and terminates at the San Ysidro International border where it becomes Mexican Federal Highway 1. Another major freeway is Interstate 8 that runs east to 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 and many new off ramps that are constructed are set up in an impractical method, such as requiring sharp and hard turns. When it comes to long distance travel through Baja California, many people use the toll roads that are well maintained and are at a standard comparable to that of U.S. roads.
[edit] Major Highways
San Diego:
Tijuana
Highways with a corresponding "D" at the end of the name mean it is an adjacent toll road.
[edit] Airports
[edit] Commercial Airports
[edit] San Diego
- San Diego International Airport (Lindbergh Field International Airport)
- McClellan-Palomar Airport
[edit] Tijuana
- Tijuana International Airport (General Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport)
[edit] El Tigre International Airport
- See Ensenada Airport
It is reported that in 2008, construction will begin on El Tigre International Airport along the Tijuana-Ensenada Scenic Tollway. This airport will serve San Diego, Tijuana and Ensenada. It will have a 12,000-foot (3,700 m) runway, and will be capable of serving Boeing 747s and Airbus A380s. Service is being planned to Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai, Frankfurt, Bogota, and other large transit hubs.
[edit] Communication
[edit] Telephone
- Further information: Telephone numbering in the Americas
For communication between San Diego and Tijuana via telephone, you must place an international call. To call out of the United States you must first dial "011" (US international call prefix) then Mexico's country calling code, "52", the area code then the seven digit number. For example, to call the number (664) 555-1234 in Tijuana from a US telephone you must dial 011-52-664-555-1234.
For communication between Tijuana and San Diego you must as well place an international call. To call out of Mexico you must dial "00" (ITU international call prefix) then the North American Numbering Plan calling code, "1", the area code then the seven digit number. For example, to call the number (619) 555-4321 in San Diego from a Mexican phone you must dial 00-1-619-555-4321.
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San Diego County Area Codes
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Tijuana Area Codes
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[edit] Economy
[edit] San Diego
Several areas of San Diego are home to offices and research facilities for numerous biotechnology companies and pharmaceutical companies. The presence of University of California, San Diego and other research institutions helped fuel biotechnology growth. In June 2004, San Diego was ranked the top biotech cluster in the U.S. by the Milken Institute.[5]
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.[6]
The economy of San Diego is influenced by its port, which includes the only major submarine and shipbuilding yards on the West Coast, as well as the largest naval fleet in the world. The cruise ship industry, which is the second largest in California, generates an estimated $2 million annually from the purchase of food, fuel, supplies, and maintenance services.[7]
Due to San Diego's military influence, major national defense contractors, such as General Atomics and Science Applications International Corporation, are headquartered in San Diego.
Tourism is also a major industry, owing much to the city's climate. Major tourist destinations include Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo, Seaworld, nearby Wild Animal Park and Legoland, the city's beaches, and golf tournaments hosted in the region, such as the Buick Invitational.
[edit] Tijuana
Due to Tijuana's proximity to Southern California and the US border and its largely diverse population, it is sometimes an attractive city for foreign companies to establish industrial parks. There are however a number of assembly plants that are called maquiladoras, even more so than other cities in the US-Mexican border zone, taking advantage of NAFTA and cheap labor to export products. Foreign and domestic companies employ thousands of employees in these plants, usually in assembly related labor. Such jobs are demanding but offer high pay for Mexican standards. Companies that have set up 'maquiladoras' in Tijuana include Sony, Toyota, Samsung, Kodak, Matsushita/Panasonic, Nabisco, Philips, Pioneer, Plantronics, Pall Medical, Tara and Sanyo.
Tijuana is also home to many businesses selling products and services at a much cheaper rate than in the United States. Such businesses as auto detailing, medical services, dentistry and plastic surgery are heavily marketed and located near the city's border with the US. In addition there are also some high-tech firms and telemarketing companies making their way into the city drawing skilled people with technical trades and college degrees to Tijuana.
Tijuana also relies on tourism as a major revenue. About 300,000 visitors cross by foot or car from the San Ysidro point of entry in the United States, to Tijuana, every day. Restaurants, taco stands, bars and dance clubs are part of the draw for the city's tourists. Many shops and stalls selling Mexican crafts and souvenirs are also located in walking distance from the border. Mexico's drinking age of 18 (vs. United States' 21) make it a common weekend destination for many high school and college aged Southern Californians . Tijuana is also home to several pharmacies marketed toward visitors from the United States. These pharmacies sell pharmaceutical drugs without prescriptions and at much lower costs than pharmacies in the US. In addition Tijuana has a legal "red-light" district known as the Zona Norte which also adds significant revenue to it economy.
[edit] Currency exchange
In San Diego as in the rest of the United States the official currency is the US dollar. In Tijuana as in the rest of Mexico the official currency is the Mexican peso. The exchange rate varies, and as of December 2007, 1 US dollar equals approximately 10 Mexican pesos. In Tijuana, where many people from the US visit, the US dollar is widely accepted. Some stores in tourist-centric parts of Tijuana display the price in US dollars and in Mexican pesos. A very small number of businesses on the United States-side of the border accept Mexican pesos, usually at highly unfavorable rates. The toll roads in Mexico also display the price in pesos and dollars. In addition, many signs and advertisements in Tijuana are displayed in English. Spanish is heavily used in San Diego in advertising.
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[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b World Gazetteer – San Diego-Tijuana
- ^ World Gazetteer – Metropolitan Areas of America
- ^ SanDiegometro.com The World's First Binational Olympics Proposed For Tijuana And San Diego.
- ^ [1] - 2005 border crossing data on number of people entering in to the United States through San Diego-Tijuana port of entry.(2006 data is incomplete and is not up-to-date).
- ^ MilkenInstitute.org. America's Biotech and Life Science Clusters: San Diego's Position and Economic Contributions. Retrieved on 2006-12-10.
- ^ SD Daily Transcript. Largest employers in San Diego County. Retrieved on 2006-05-20.
- ^ Connie Lewis. "Cruise Ships Face Stiffer Anti-Pollution Policies", Proquest: San Diego Business Journal. "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 dockings are estimated to have an economic impact of more than $2 million on the local economy from the purchase of food, supplies and fuel,, as well as maintenance services."
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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