living in tijuana and working in san diego

June 10, 2009 8:02 AM

San Diego/Tijuana question. Those of you that work in San Diego - how many of you have commuted from Tijuana or have workers that do? What are your experiences doing so?

I've lived abroad in Latin America, and have found the notion of living in Tijuana (lower cost of living, more vibrant city) but having a US salary in San Diego appealing.

Please, no comments from those who have visited Tijuana and found it not to their liking. I'd prefer to hear from people that actually do this commute day to day (or have colleagues that do). I know a number of people that live there and have been there a number of times myself, and i'm aware of the social issues, higher crime rate, etc - this question is not about that.

This question is anonymous because I'd prefer my current employer not to know about a potential relocation.

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (6 answers total)

You know the border wait times, right? I'll assume you're talking about a car commute and not a bus/trolley commute. By car, the wait time can be up to two hours or more at the main crossing. You might need to get up at 4am to be at work in San Diego by 8am.
posted by slow graffiti at 8:33 AM on June 10, 2009

(actually, that's going the other direction, INTO TJ in the morning. I assume the other direction has a substantial wait time, too, but maybe it's not as bad because there are more people living in San Diego who commute into TJ?)
posted by slow graffiti at 8:34 AM on June 10, 2009

I had a friend who did this, I have not been in contact with him in sometime though. He had to rearrange his entire schedule to deal with the border crossing. I believe he did get up at around 4AM, then left the office in the early afternoon, around 2-3PM. He was also worried about the border closing for a myriad of reasons (political, terrorist, etc.), even an hour delay due to increased security would kill your commute. He owned his own business and had no kids or family, he spent a lot of time telecommuting too. I was under the impression that if you didn't have a lot of freedom in this regard it would be really onerous. He did buy a fabulous house on the beach for like $300k.
posted by geoff. at 8:40 AM on June 10, 2009

You know the border wait times, right?

Presumably the OP would be using a SENTRI pass.
posted by vacapinta at 8:54 AM on June 10, 2009

It's fairly common around here. I recently spoke with someone who was living in TJ and commuting to work. He enjoyed living in TJ but was only doing so temporarily until his fiancee/wife's immigration status was all sorted out, and they were planning on moving to SD and buying a house, because they didn't enjoy living in TJ that much.

The biggest issue is the commute. This morning at about 9am there was a 2 hour wait (40 minutes in the SENTRI lanes) at the San Ysidro crossing. Depending on your work location/hours, plan on spending significant additional time behind the wheel both in the morning and afternoon. Unless you're lucky enough to work downtown (or south of it) the drive is going to suck.
posted by stefanie at 11:31 AM on June 10, 2009

follow-up from the OP

"Thanks! I was referring to commute times with the Sentri pass, as without it, it's almost a completeley unbearable by car normally. Its good to know that even with the pass, it could be a 40 minute wait.

Could any posters comment on pedestrian crossing/trolley commute? I've done the crossing on foot/trolley beforemany times, but never at peak times during the work day, and I was unsure how long this can potentially take. (with or without a Sentri pass) My potential job would be easily walkable from a trolley line stop.

posted by jessamyn at 2:05 PM on June 10, 2009