| While the CBA study highlighted
areas of common interest, it also pointed to areas where there is
a greater need for consensus and cross-border dialogue. In particular,
terrorism and homeland security
remain very high on the list of concerns among San Diegans but are
viewed as unimportant by Tijuanenses relative to other issues, such
as public safety, in spite of the direct impact that increased security
measures at the border will have on cross-border commerce, trade and
commuting delays. Urban sprawl was universally seen as the least important
issue of concern among San Diegans and Tijuanenses even though sprawl
is negatively impacting the quality of live of residents on both sides
of the border. While San Diegans and
Tijuanenses did not universally agree on all issues, there was consensus
that the border matters. According to CBA’s findings, 69%
of San Diego residents (English and Spanish speaking) and 68% of
Tijuana residents felt that the border had a positive impact on
their community. Less than 15% of San Diego residents and only 11%
of Tijuana residents felt that the border had a negative impact
on their community. Complementing a recent survey undertaken by
KPBS/Competitive Edge, CBA’s found that those San Diegans
of Mexican descent had a more positive perception of the border
than other residents. The study also found that among those Tijuanenses
surveyed, over 40% had family and relatives in the United States.
In this sense, the border is increasingly becoming blurred with
a growing number of trans-border and trans-national communities
in the San Diego-Tijuana region that are truly binational.
According to the US Census,
over 26.7% of San Diego County’s population was of Hispanic
origin in 2000, with 22% speaking Spanish at home. As Hispanics
are expected to be the majority in the County by the year 2040,1
the ties between San Diego and Tijuana will grow even stronger over
time, irrespective of the prevailing public opinion and perceptions
by San Diego County’s English only speaking population.
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In spite of San Diego’s growing
Hispanic population, Blurred Borders
highlights the present indifference in both San Diego and Tijuana
to the region’s emerging challenges due to the growing economic
disparities that exist not only between these two sister cities
but between the affluent and the poor within their respective communities.
These disparities are further exacerbated by four interlocking problems
impacting the San Diego-Tijuana border region, namely urban sprawl,
human migration, racial and socio-economic segregation and concentrated
urban and rural poverty.
In San Diego County, urban poverty is on the rise. In fact, according
to a recent Brookings Institution report, San Diego now ranks 6th
in the country in terms of metropolitan areas that have seen marked
increases in poverty among census tracts in their respective regions.2
A review of data from the Mexican Consulate--San Diego reveals a
direct correlation between those areas experiencing increases in
poverty with those that have high concentrations of Mexican migrant
workers.
In Tijuana, urban poverty is also rising in
disturbing proportions with half of all new residents living in
squatter communities without adequate infrastructure, limited or
no clean water, and the prevalence of water borne infectious disease
and other health risks. Left unattended, the consequences of these
disparities and the region’s growing pockets of poverty pose
a threat to the quality of life, economic prosperity and long-term
competitiveness of the San Diego-Tijuana region vis-à-vis
other metropolitan areas of North America.
Finally, in spite of the divisions and challenges
facing the San Diego-Tijuana border region, Blurred
Borders illustrates the tremendous
progress being made to build and strengthen the shared social capital
that exist between our two communities. The report also highlights
the shared assets in the San Diego-Tijuana region that are far too
often overlooked.
While binational collaboration in the region
needs to be expanded, there are a number of committed non-profit
organizations from both San Diego and Tijuana working together and
forging partnerships on a wide range of issues of importance to
the entire binational region including: affordable housing; health
education, particularly in the areas of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and
other preventable diseases; migrant youth and parental education;
drug and alcohol prevention; trans-boundary environmental impacts
to shared air and water, and cultural enrichment. If the San Diego-Tijuana
Region is to be successful in strengthening its social capital,
such binational collaboration needs to be further expanded.
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