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Retired human services, on SSA, income about 1k/mo. Can work in my field part time,but rather not. Looking at MX border towns for low costs. Ensenada,Juarez,Nogales. On straight medicare-medical is important. May need food stamps,etc. Many reports of US Citizens having problems with idiot Customs crossing the border-how to neutralize this since I will be crossing often, sometimes for medical. No car now,prefer not to drive. Which city would you choose and specifically why? Thanks for any good replies.
You can't get food stamps if you live in Mexico. If you're going to be crossing often get a Sentri pass, otherwise, you could be in line for a while, even walking. How often do you plan to cross the border? That will make a difference on where you live. You can live on your income of $1K in Mexico very easily.
There is no right answer to your question. No border town is safe. Period. Ensenada is less dangerous than Tijuana, Nogales, Tecate, Mexicali, C. Morelos (Yuma), or Juarez. The town/area that I would recommend is Puerto Penasco, Sonora, about 60 miles from the border with Arizona. PP much safer than living on the border, a fishing/port town (shrimp boats), with bus service to the border town of Sonoyta.
If you plan to cross often, I recommend living closer than Ensenada. You can easily live on $1k in Mexico. There's no reason for you to have problems with Customs, if all of your documents are in order when you cross the border. I recommend Rosarito or Tijuana for being close to the border, and like I said in my first post, you can't get food stamps living in Mexico.
OP has NO car (his choice) so TJ would be the border town here while Rosarito would be a 19 mile walk for him or to take the Route Taxi (reasonable but time consuming)(been there) Ensenada about a 60 mile ABC bus ride.
Not sure about the other places mentioned having had NO experience there.
Medicare/Medical/Food stamps need a US physical address. As for any VA needs, I cross over when needed. (Korea Vet)
Many US RX items can be purchased over the counter at a Mexico Pharmacy.....while some things do need a Mexican Dr prescription.
US BP secondary has a list of prohibited RX items (been there).
Ok, I guess I have more experience than any of the repliers, but thanks anyways for the replies.
I've been to most of the border towns mentioned, some several times and some not mentioned. The the original post asked about overall differences between the cities, not just safety. I guess no one here has lived or spent time in all the places mentioned as I have. Was hoping to extend and compare notes with someone who has either lived in several towns or visited there frequently. The border towns tend to reflect the atmosphere on the other side of the border, i.e. they reflect SCal, TX, AZ. I have not been to Ensenada or Rosarita. The costs I think would be cheaper in Juarez and Nogales compared to Tijuana. TJ is really a bad place imo. But I am guessing the jerks I dealt with in Nogales (BP agents) are worse than the ones in Juarez/El Paso or TJ, but I could be wrong. Most of them are ok, but many are corrupt and gestapo like in their behavior and attitudes.
Last edited by miczmehandl; 05-16-2016 at 04:39 AM..
Reason: grammar
Steve Bagu lives in Rosarito, and I have lived in Tijuana. Both cities are safe. If you plan to cross the border often, you're going to need to live close to it, and get a SENTRI pass before you move. Otherwise, you could be standing in line to cross the border all day, unless you leave around 2-3am, because people start lining up to go to work after 3. If you don't try to cause any problems when you cross the border, you won't have any. because CBP has plenty of work to do, without you.
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i guess no one has been to all
