| Over the years, the border has
divided the people of San Diego County and the municipality of Tijuana
over a wide range of differences attributed to language, culture,
national security, public safety and a host of other cross border
issues ranging from human migration to the environment. The ‘us’
versus ‘them’ mentality has become more pervasive following
the tragedy of September 11, 2001 with San Diegans focusing greater
attention on terrorism and homeland security and the need to re-think
immigration policy in the United States as a means of fortifying the
international border. Irrespective of how "secure" the border
ultimately does become, the fact remains that the border between San
Diego County and Tijuana is increasingly becoming blurred as the impacts
of globalization and human migration obscure political boundaries.
Across the San Diego-Tijuana border region, the trans-boundary impacts
and inter-connections of these two fast growing communities are ever
present. The ties that bind this binational
sister city region in the areas of cross-border trade, commerce,
and tourism are indisputable, and their combined comparative advantages
have contributed to job creation and economic opportunity as well
as increased cultural and ethnic diversity for the people and businesses
on both sides of the border. But the inter-dependencies go beyond
trade, commerce, tourism and recreation. Throughout the San Diego-Tijuana
border region there are growing inter-dependencies in the areas
of health, human services, education, the environment as well as
arts and culture that requires pro-active binational solutions,
greater investment and expanded cross-border civic participation
by the private, public and non-profit sectors. San Diego and Tijuana
are also inextricably tied through inter-personal and family ties
with a growing number of San Diegans now living south of the border
due to the high cost of housing in San Diego County. |
Blurred Borders
highlights the similarities, the inter-connections and the challenges
that San Diego and Tijuana share, addressing the wide range of community
based issues in what has become the largest binational metropolitan
area in North America. Of particular interest is how the proximity
of the border impacts the lives and livelihoods of poor and under-served
communities in both San Diego County and the municipality of Tijuana
as well as what can be done to address their growing needs.
Validating the growing importance of the border
to both San Diego and Tijuana, Blurred Borders
presents the findings of an unprecedented binational, bilingual
survey of San Diego and Tijuana residents undertaken by Cross Border
Business Associates (CBA) demonstrating the many shared and common
interests that exist between residents of both communities. In particular,
the survey found San Diegans and Tijuanenses have a lot in common,
as residents of both communities are generally transitory with the
majority being non-native. The two communities share a common
challenge in developing a sense of local pride amongst their respective
citizenry. Among residents of both San Diego and Tijuana,
the three top issues of importance were education &
schools, health care, and jobs & the economy.
In spite of these shared public sentiments, few collaborative programs
exist in the area of education and economic development/job creation,
and more can be done jointly to address common trans-boundary health
issues that impact residents on both sides of the border.
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