Going back and forth between El Paso and Juarez in the past (Point: crime, live in)

[curiousgeorge5]

Several years ago I read a book that mentioned in the past El Paso and Juarez was like one big city with people coming and going all the time. Is that true? Have people heard stories about that? It must have been fun to go back and forth when safe to do so.

[Rich Cabeza]

I think this book mentions that. Been a while since I read it.https://www.amazon.com/Ringside-Seat...7152484&sr=8-1

[curiousgeorge5]

Originally Posted by Rich Cabeza

I think this book mentions that. Been a while since I read it.https://www.amazon.com/Ringside-Seat...7152484&sr=8-1

That era was a long time ago. I was thinking more recent times. Maybe as recent as a generation ago. I knew a fellow who is about 60 years old now. He used to visit south of the border when a young man but he didn't mention where.

[SW Desert Dweller]

Pre-9/11 the border was still quite fluid. It was easy to drive across the border to Juarez for dinner at an upscale restaurant or attend a live cultural performance and effortlessly return to El Paso. Everyone had their favorite bars, night clubs, restaurants, furniture stores, curio shops, building materials centers, etc. to frequent. Many of those commercial establishments are no longer exist. Some are still in business, but they rely more on domestic (Mexican) clientele rather than cross-border (US) customers. Once the cartel violence kicked in, many Juarez business people set up satellite enterprises on the US side, and began to spend most of their time in the US.

[NeedWarm]

It's still that way. More so with folks from Juarez crossing. I live in El Paso and my girlfriend lives in Jrz. I cross multiple times a week. Right now things are different because of Covid-19.

[joqua]

Originally Posted by SW Desert Dweller

Pre-9/11 the border was still quite fluid. .

The advent of NAFTA in 1994 played a huge part in changing the dynamics of cross border travel. The rise of the cartels was even a larger factor in stopping the flow of tourists and shoppers from north of the border into Juarez.

[curiousgeorge5]

Originally Posted by joqua

The advent of NAFTA in 1994 played a huge part in changing the dynamics of cross border travel. The rise of the cartels was even a larger factor in stopping the flow of tourists and shoppers from north of the border into Juarez.

If safety didn't decline, I would have visited already.

[roodd279]

Right - it's not like it was, for sure - but (pre COVID) going into MX is sometimes a matter of ... just driving in. Getting back to El Paso - global entry is what you want.


But when I'm working there - I go back and forth every day - so this type of thing is still happening. Maybe not the "run to the Mall" type of convenience it was years ago - but still do-able, if that's your thing.

[NewTexico76]

I'd say as late as around 1994 it had that feel. But it was not quite equally open- going from El Paso to Juarez was very seamless until then. Returning involved a line, but the actual checkpoint usually required only a verbal declaration of citizenship - no ID required if one seemed sufficiently 'American.'


I can remember when it would not be unusual to have a business or work lunch across the border or going to one side or the other for better deals or casual shopping. Juarez was always more dangerous than El Paso, but the gap was not as wide - El Paso had higher crime in the 1980s and early 1990s too.

[TxIdeas]

When I was growing up we went back and forth all the time. Food shopping, dining, getting our nails done. Later, when I first got married and gas prices were so high, my husband drove a diesel car. He would swing over the bridge to Juarez to get gas on his way to work, driving from the westside to the Five Points area. Took no time.