Border Metro Areas: Buffalo/Toronto VERSUS Detroit/Windsor VERSUS El Paso/Cuidad Juarez VERSUS San Diego/Tijuana (people, south)
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One interesting thing about these border cities is that the US has some of the biggest and most impressive border cities in the world--I didn't realize this. The only others I can think of in this league are Kinshasa/Brazzaville (Congos), Singapore/Johor Bahru, and the Hong Kong/Shenzhen area. Perhaps my geography brain just isn't functioning properly this morning; I've gotta be missing something obvious. But for America to have three cities that are on the list is impressive.
Maybe Asuncion/Clorinda in South America? Jerusalem? N'Djamena? Cucuta? Bujumbura/Uvira? Buenos Aires/Montevideo could be in the club, depending on how you define it.
My definition is cities whose downtown areas are directly oriented towards an international border (or really close), and another city, hopefully a substantial one, lies on the other side, with its downtown area also oriented towards the international border. The area should ideally look like a more or less continuous urban city with a border running through it (sometime "no man's land" areas mess this up, esp in Africa).
My definition excludes Buffalo/Toronto, as well as things like Calcutta or Bratislava/Vienna. (On the other hand, Buffalo alone has an argument for being on the list.) These are places that just happened to be near a border and grow towards the border over time.
Using that metric, than Buffalo/Toronto should be remov ed from this list... That would be like saying Los Angeles and Tijuana are neighboring cities which they are not. In fact LA to Tijuana is a similar distance to Buffalo and Toronto.
El Paso and Juarez directly touch each other and their downtown are very close... Close enough to see one downtown from the other... Same with Windsor/Detroit where the two downtowns are literally separated by a 1 mile wide river and nothing else. San Diego and Tijuana's downtowns do not touch though... Do you think San Diego and Tijuana should be on this list?
Toronto - art galleries, con is the weather, its not america so you have almost no chance of getting a work visa, and its a pretty religious city as a whole.
Looking at the liquor laws in Toronto, I could see someone thinking it was a socially conservative place. Yes, Windsor is also in Ontario, but since the Ontario Legislature is in Toronto those laws are made there.
As well, Windsor has a major casino (a Caesars at that) where Toronto has no casino, even though it could easily support a few major ones.
Using that metric, than Buffalo/Toronto should be remov ed from this list... That would be like saying Los Angeles and Tijuana are neighboring cities which they are not. In fact LA to Tijuana is a similar distance to Buffalo and Toronto.
El Paso and Juarez directly touch each other and their downtown are very close... Close enough to see one downtown from the other... Same with Windsor/Detroit where the two downtowns are literally separated by a 1 mile wide river and nothing else. San Diego and Tijuana's downtowns do not touch though... Do you think San Diego and Tijuana should be on this list?
Yeah, Buffalo/Toronto should definitely be removed, but I think SD/Tijuana should remain. There is just such a ridiculous amount of commerce and trade between the two city centers, and the center of Tijuana actually is huddled against the border.
Originally Posted by DANNYY Yeah, its the only major city on the border with Canada that looks South to Canada at any given point, I believe. It's like a mind mess when you think about technically for a minute right before actually crossing the border itself.
Another geographic similarity it has with two other major cities would be with Houston & Philadelphia;
Detroit- Southeast, MI
Houston- Southeast, TX
Philadelphia- Southeast, PA
The traffic between Juarez and El Paso mainly flows from Juarez into El Paso, and then back out. Due to the violence, the number of trips to Juarez by El Paso residents has fallen quite a bit. Much of the activity at the crossings involves Juarez residents who enter El Paso for schooling or shopping or other functions before they return home.
In that sense, border integration has fallen over the years along that particular border. People do still cross into Juarez to visit family or dentists or even the occasional sports game/festival, but it's nothing like it used to be, with throngs of people crossing on-foot at night to visit restaurants and bars.
One interesting aspect, though, is that the volume of trade is pretty much indifferent to the violence. Trucks don't stop for anyone, or anything. It's the same in Laredo/Nuevo Laredo. Even when violence spiked in NL, and even when cartels began to extort trucking companies, it still made business sense to use that port of entry, and it still does today.
Which of these seem to offer the most opportunity?
SD-TJ
- Which one has overall the best collection of places to go and see?
San Diego-Tijuana. It's the southern anchor of an urban area composed of 24 million people.
- Which one of these places offer distinct culture and something unique?
San Diego-Tijuana. Surf culture is prevalent throughout the metropolitan region. If one throws in Ensenada, you have two major seaports and tons of cruise ships docking. That colonial Spanish influence throughout the region is classy in a sense. Not to mention the region is a stones throw from Greater L.A. and the great entertainment centers of Southern California.
How are the shopping, dining, theater, and travel experiences in all these places?
I would say shopping in San Diego and Toronto. Theater in Detroit and Toronto. Travel experiences trump in San Diego-Tijuana, flights from San Diego get you most anywhere in Canada and the U.S. and you can get direct flights to China and Japan from TJ.
- What are some pros and some cons for these areas as a whole and what would you want to take the opportunity to do or avoid there?
San Diego - Southern California.
Toronto - Culture.
Detroit - Its on a river? It's a sad city.
El Paso - They have a huge horse statue there.
- Where if you had to would you live in, which one of these Metropolitan Areas is the best choice for you personally?
San Diego-Tijuana. I already live in northwestern San Diego.
The montage on the Wiki article also portrays SD-TJ in a pretty accurate way.
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