Job Discussion Forums

[M@tt]

good luck if you move to veracruz, it's so mellow there. i can't imagine ever wanting to live anywhere near the border, but then i don't know the border... and i suppose it would be wonderful to live near san diego without paying california prices for everything.

personally i think there are horror stories for all parts of mexico, not just the border. depending on where you are, the horror stories could be portrayed as standard fare in that area (the way all mexicans talk about DF) or as the exception (like in Fortin, which was relatively safe but one local woman was murdered very gruesomely a few years before i moved there). personally i would probably say bring the car and just be careful.

[Sgt Killjoy]

I have been through just about every border town, had so many pictures of every town, both sides of the border. I was planning a book on it. You know how plans go. I should have put it all on the web.

These are the Mexican bordertowns that I have experience with:
Matamoros, Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo, Piedras Negras, Acuna, Ojinaja, Juarez, Palomas, Agua Prieta, Nogales, San Luis, Algodones, Mexicali, and Tijuana. In all of these places, I have never been shaked down for anything. No matter if I accidentally blew a stop sign or whatever. I was never shook down and in the border towns, I was NEVER even stopped by a cop.

In fact the only time I ever got stopped was in Baja. I was cruising along at about 80mph on this two lane highway and the cops stopped me. They told that I was speeding and they said the speed limit was 80km/hr. I was incredulous and said, I was only go 80 miles/hr. With a chuckle, they sent me on my way with knowledge that the speed limit was 80 km/hr.

Hey, shakedowns can happen in Mexico, but they happen all the time in the US. Yeah, the shakedown that occurs when the cops pulls you over for supposedly speeding and sticks you with a high traffic fine and increased insurance rates over the period of several years.

[samiam]