That’s the title of a great article in Politico by Ethan Epstein. There’s so much interesting in there:
1. How forward-looking San Diegans figured out how to get a better airport without using a military base–and why. (On the latter, try flying into San Diego’s one-runway airport. I’ve done it many times and it’s cool–you are almost at eye level with tall buildings as you land–but the location and the one runway are a tight constraint.)
Excerpt:
Around the same time, a new idea began being seriously discussed by Mexican and American authorities and business leaders. Rather than build a runway on the northern side of the border, what if San Diego simply constructed a new terminal, which would provide access to the Tijuana side of the border? That would provide all of the benefits of a binational airport, but without the headaches of runways and taxiways crossing international borders. And better yet–what if the project could be completed using private funds? That made the idea particularly appealing in a traditionally tightwad, conservative area like San Diego.
Clearly, by “tightwad” the author means that they don’t like taxes, which is very different.
And:
The elegant simplicity of the idea is apparent when one visits. The firm that built the CBX [Cross Border Xpress] explains it this way: “Passengers departing from the U.S. park on CBX property, enter the building, check in, walk over the border using the new bridge, and literally descend into [Tijuana airport] to reach their flights. Returning passengers land at [Tijuana], take the bridge across the border, enter the U.S. through the new [U.S. Customs and Border Patrol] facility, and emerge from the CBX to take their preferred form of transportation.” Passengers pay a fee–usually around $16–to use the facility. (That’s how the private investors make their money.) And one has to possess a valid boarding pass to use it.
2. How the various players are figuring out how to relieve the congestion at the San Ysidro crossing. It’s called tolls.
Excerpt:
The project has also provided an opportunity for enhanced cross-border cooperation. Given that Mexico also has to build new roads to the crossing on the southern side, the idea is that the toll revenues on the American side will be shared with the Mexicans. And because the toll is technically only for the access roads, not the crossing itself, the feds don’t need to get involved. “If we pull this off, this is a new model,” Ducheny says.
3. How to pronounce Tijuana. I now know.
Signs of integration abound. You can hear it in the impeccable Mexican-Spanish pronunciation that even many Anglo San Diegans possess; the city to their south is named “Tee-hwana,” not “Tee-a-wanna,” they remind visitors.
But none of these excerpts does justice to the article. I found the whole piece spiritually uplifting. Ethan Epstein has a real flair.
HT2 Tyler Cowen.
READER COMMENTS
AMW
Feb 21 2017 at 11:57pm
In Orange County we don’t pronounce it “Tee-hwana” or “Tee-a-wana.” Around here we just call it “TJ.”
AlanG
Feb 22 2017 at 9:04am
I was born and raised in San Diego as was my late mom. While Lindbergh Field is quaint and certainly convenient, it is regarded by most airline pilots as one of the 10 most problematic airports to land in because of the proximity of all the office buildings. The noise of landings and take offs is pretty annoying to those who live in the flight path (the take off path was about four miles from our home so we didn’t get as much noise but our high school was pretty much right under it).
Replacements for Lindbergh Field have been discussed ever since I can remember. Around 1960 or so there was talk of enlarging Brown Airfield for the new municipal airport. IIRC there were two issues, it was far from downtown and surface transportation was slow (no freeway yet) and that flights would have to go over Mexican airspace (I can’t remember whey that was an issue only that it was). The field still exists and there is now adequate surface transportation but I suspect there is not a lot of push for it. The best choice for a new airport would be the Miramar Air Station (Top Gun fans salute!) but that’s used by the Marines.
Regarding the pronunciation, as AMW writes we just called it TJ. It was a favorite drinking spot for high school students as you could cross the border and nobody was carded. The Long Bar was our hangout!
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