Should there be a new San Diego Airport along the US-Mexico border, accessible from both countries?

[delnote76]

Originally Posted by oddstray

Yeah, this idea had been floated previous to 9/11. And even before 9/11 some folx went "eek!" at the notion.

France and Switzerland are now both members of the EU. The US "norte" is not yet a co-member with the US "de Mexico" under any sort of institution. (Hey, guys ... Europe has a good idea ... can we frikken learn something from them?!?!?)

What's "good" for Europe is not necessarily good for America.

[iskray917]

Originally Posted by Surfer619

No. The one that San Diego has already (Lindburgh Field) is perfectly fine. Besides, Tijuana already has an international airport right next to the border and a smaller airport (Brown Field) is near the border as well in San Ysidro.

Of course, the airport is in an absolutely perfect location.

[jhawktx]

Originally Posted by Vicman

If an airport has strong security, I'm not sure that the border-jumping illegals would want to cross there. The airport would be like any other official US/Mexico border crosspoint. Also security (such as fencing to block people from accessing the runways) is a given at airports.

Instead of the yellow caution signs along I-5 showing families running across the freeway they would have to put the same signs along the runways at the airport.

[Oerdin]

Brown field does have enough room to build a large new airport but it is so close to the border that it literally would have to be a binational airport as the flight paths and even the landing pattern would be spread out over both San Diego and Tijuana. That said brown field is a very unpopular location for people in North County who don't want to drive all the way down to the border to get a flight.

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by jhawktx

Instead of the yellow caution signs along I-5 showing families running across the freeway they would have to put the same signs along the runways at the airport.

Earlier in the thread I stated that it would be highly unlikely that an illegal would go through a heavily secured airport property just to try to jump the border.

Brown field does have enough room to build a large new airport but it is so close to the border that it literally would have to be a binational airport as the flight paths and even the landing pattern would be spread out over both San Diego and Tijuana. That said brown field is a very unpopular location for people in North County who don't want to drive all the way down to the border to get a flight.

I, like the guys on a.net, think the offshore airport idea is not realistic at all. From what I have read, I conclude that Brown Field is far closer to a solution than the offshore proposal. In regards to Brown Field, as stated elsewhere in the discussion, it takes political will to relocate to Brown Field and it may take a long, long time for SD-area voters and politicians to assemble their efforts. The city already owns Brown Field - Even if there are NIMBYs, the city can do an eminent domain on any properties that it has to get rid of while preparing the airport for commercial service. However earlier in the thread users stated that there is no political will to do so and that the city has not done what it needed to do to receive funding for such a venture.

In regards to iskray917, the current airport is very convenient to Downtown SD, which is why many people around there like it. That doesn't necessarily mean that a larger airport in the outskirts won't work, but there is a possibility that it may not. I would suggest that San Diegans study the cases of the following:
* Mirabel and Dorval Airports in Montreal
* Dulles and National/Reagan airports by Washington, DC
* Dallas/Fort Worth and Dallas/Love Airports in the DFW area
* Stapleton Airport and Denver Int'l in Denver
Different cases where large airports were built in the outskirts had different outcomes. The City of Denver closed Stapleton to force everyone to go to Denver Int'l. Dallas/Love was kept open, and it still serves as a niche airport. National is still open too. In the case of Mirabel and Dorval, Mirabel is now a cargo only airport and never became the int'l airport that it was supposed to be.

[iskray917]

Originally Posted by Vicman

In regards to iskray917, the current airport is very convenient to Downtown SD, which is why many people around there like it. That doesn't necessarily mean that a larger airport in the outskirts won't work, but there is a possibility that it may not. I would suggest that San Diegans study the cases of the following:
* Mirabel and Dorval Airports in Montreal
* Dulles and National/Reagan airports by Washington, DC
* Dallas/Fort Worth and Dallas/Love Airports in the DFW area
* Stapleton Airport and Denver Int'l in Denver
Different cases where large airports were built in the outskirts had different outcomes. The City of Denver closed Stapleton to force everyone to go to Denver Int'l. Dallas/Love was kept open, and it still serves as a niche airport. National is still open too. In the case of Mirabel and Dorval, Mirabel is now a cargo only airport and never became the int'l airport that it was supposed to be.

I don't like the idea of moving an airport from an absolutely central location to some godawful place 20-30 miles away. It just makes no sense to me at all.