• In spite of regional prosperity, concentrated urban poverty is on the rise in San Diego and Tijuana. The economic disparities between the affluent and the poor are being exacerbated by urban sprawl, racial and socio-economic segregation.

• Deficiencies in public education threaten the region’s economic competitiveness.

• The region’s high cost of living and doing business is causing a growing number of companies on both sides of the border to relocate. Workers also struggle to make a living wage.

• Housing grows more unaffordable on both sides of the border and increasingly out of reach of area residents, threatening the region’s ability to attract and retain a quality work force.

• Traffic congestion and increased border waits are decreasing productivity, increasing the level of water and air pollution, and negatively impacting the region’s quality of life.

• Natural resources are becoming scarcer, requiring innovative binational solutions to address the region’s long-term water supply and energy needs and the protection of critical habitats before they are lost forever.

• San Diego’s Latino population is growing and by 2040 will represent a majority of the County’s total population. Area migrants of Hispanic descent are increasingly requiring linguistically and culturally competent health and social service providers to address the region’s wide- ranging problems such as diabetes, TB, obesity, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, depression, mental illness, sexually transmitted diseases, and child neglect and abuse.

• Increased in-migration from migrant sending regions is putting additional strains on the region’s social services network with growing ‘unfunded’ mandates, particularly in the areas of heath and education.

• Emerging trans-boundary threats require increased levels of binational collaboration as highlighted by recent regional challenges including the West Nile virus, HIV/AIDS, seasonal wildfires, and the threat to homeland security.