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By Sal Osio, JD

From the Publisher's Corner

June 2, 2009

Old Tijuana

By Sal Osio, JD

     I have referred to the central district of Tijuana, along Revolucion Ave., as ‘Old’ Tijuana to distinguish this district from the ‘New’ Tijuana , the modern, affluent and trendy high rent district which is the home of several luxury hotels, world class restaurants, upscale retail shops and the night life that features the best disco clubs in the San Diego/Tijuana Metropolitan area. The population of Tijuana (“TJ”) exceeds 1.7 million, officially. Unofficially it exceeds 2 million. This compares to San Diego’s 1.5 million inhabitants. Together, the border crossing is the busiest in the world accounting for some 40 million crossings per year.

As much as I relish the new TJ, it is the old TJ that brings memories to me. I first became acquainted with TJ in the 50’s. The new TJ did not evolve until the late 70’s. My fiends and I would make the ‘Baja Run’ during our college years at USC and enjoyed  many affordable holidays in the area. Our principal attraction was the fiesta de toros in the old downtown bull ring in the vicinity of the race track, Agua Caliente, also one of our favorite venues. The other lure to us was the Jai-Alai (‘Fronton’) on Revolucion housed in a beautiful palace. When attending the bullfights we would stay at the Hotel La Sierra, next to the bullring. There we would drink and dance all night and meet famous Hollywood movie stars such as Ruth Roman, still beautiful and glamorous in her 40’s. True, we also enjoyed the night clubs and exhilarating night life of Revolucion. At that time nothing in Los Angeles compared to TJ for my generation on a student’s budget. The population f LA was 1 million compared to 100,000 in TJ.

How things change. Now TJ is a metropolis. No more Jai-Alai, the bull fights have all but disappeared and Agua Caliente race track is history. Youngsters discovered the Old TJ and the lure of the disco and affordable liquor. More recently the whole region has been hijacked by the narcotics cartels – bent on destroying Mexico and all its traditions in order to ply their trade. A walk down Revolucion, once a merry and vibrant adventure, is now a march in a mortuary setting, absent of life and vitality. The tourists have disappeared. The merchants have closed their doors. The ones remaining are pall bearers. At night the discos blast their rhythms without dancers. The few visitors who dare trek on the Old Tijuana look over their shoulder, afraid of their shadow. The main reason why they are there is the affordability of medical and dental care and the availability of medical drugs – all at a small fraction of their cost in the U.S. In short, U.S. visitors take the risk, despite all the bad publicity and travel advisories, because they have little choice. Tijuana is the only realistic alternative to Americans without insurance coverage who desperately need medial care – affordable medical care.

My wife and I stayed overnight in Old Tijuana over the Memorial Holiday. We stayed in a clean, secure and charming $30/night hotel off Revolucion. There is a plethora of small pensions, B&B’s, and boutique economy accommodations ranging in price from $25 to $40 per night. For those seeking a four star luxury hotel in the area there is the Hotel Ticuan (an old name for Tijuana in the native language meaning next to the sea). Their rates average $70 night. My purpose was to visit an old friend, our family dentist of many years, who is located two blocks from the hotel we selected. After a life long neglect of dental health I am now paying the price, albeit at reduced rates over Southern California dental care. In fact, I pay an average of 33% over the rates quoted me by the more reasonable dentists that I have consulted. My daughter, cynically and humorously, is fond of telling me “I hope you don’t get what you paid for.”

Our stay was otherwise uneventful. Gone were the old days of the Jai-Alai, the horse races, the bull fights. We spent a quiet holiday in the vieux district enjoying coffee or a margarita along the Revolucion sidewalk terrazas watching the Tijuaneses hurrying by and an occasional tourist who waved at us with the look of “Aren’t we brave to be here?” And, of course, we splurged on the Alta Cocina Mexicana – the nuveau-haut cuisine of Mexico – five course meals with beverage for  $25 pp.

As I enjoyed an havano cigar (Cuban products are legal in Mexico) sipping my espresso at a sidewalk café, in a beautiful sunny day, watching the pedestrians walking by and lamenting the plight of the merchants, I came to the realization that Tijuana would survive this economic meltdown and criminal threat to its security because, at the end of the day, they had superbly qualified medical providers, dentists, eye doctors and pharmaceutical medical drugs at the most affordable prices in the Southern California metropolis of 20+ million people. And, with a small fraction of the savings also enjoying affordable accommodations, gourmet meals, cocktails and havanos – what else can one ask for?!

What is really needed is a trustworthy service that can recommend competent professional doctors and dentists, reliable pharmacies, clean and secure accommodations – all affordable - and some kind of a reliable help line to an English language ombudsman to guide the medical tourist.

 Sal Osio, JD is the Publisher of HispanicVista.com. Contact at SPOsio@aol.com