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My Baja Coast : How dangerous is Mexico? Despite drug war, it's less deadly than it was a decade ago

"...tourists as well as locals may be safer than many believe. Mexico City's homicide rate today is about on par with Los Angeles and is less than a third of that for Washington, D.C.

Yet many Americans are leery of visiting Mexico at all...

...we are like those women who aren't overweight but when they look in the mirror, they think they're fat," said Luis de la Barreda, director of the Citizens' Institute. "We are an unsafe country, but we think we are much more unsafe that we really are."..."

Probably as dangerous as going to a school event in Colorado.

My Baja Coast
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When I read that, I just don't want to read any more.

Dennis, you are a man with battle scars and the stripes to match...

I stopped and clicked off at the Re/Max balloon!

The article wasn't written by REMAX....byline was: ALEXANDRA OLSON - Associated Press Writer

But the author isn't knowledgeable about BCS...."But in many parts of Mexico, villages are more tranquil than ever - a fact that retired nurse Marilyn Wells struggles to drive home with her American friends back home in LeMars, Iowa. We're OK, there's no problem,'" Wells said she tells friends about the home she bought four years ago in Cabo San Lucas on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. "I don't feel any less safe down here than I did before."

IMO, Cabo hasn't been a "tranquil village" for years!!

While...."....La Paz, a vacation city at the tip of the Baja California peninsula."

On the bright side, she got La Paz & Baja California Peninsula right! I'd argue with the vacation city....& we're really +/-135 miles from the "tip" of the peninsula!

But that's fine if nobody knows where La Paz is! We're letting Soulpatch & BajaBass in & then we're shutting the gate!

The rest of the spin that the media puts on the violence & crime is so biased towards who/what/wherever the source or their real goal, that it'd be borderline laughable if not for the real tragedy of all the innocent lives lost. If it were cartel killing cartel....that'd be an acceptable level of violence to me, but it's not, no matter how the powers that be try to put that spin on it!

And despite the recent arrests made in La Paz, I don't lose sleep over feeling unsafe here....but I personally wouldn't ever have wanted to live in a border town, even 20 years ago.

Originally Posted by longlegsinlapaz

...We're letting Soulpatch & BajaBass in & then we're shutting the gate!...

Not even if we and ???

Originally Posted by Marty Cortez;F9097

Not even if we and ???

Marty, ESPECIALLY not crybabies, druggies, 'ers & people who play 's!!

Originally Posted by longlegsinlapaz

Marty, ESPECIALLY not crybabies, druggies, 'ers & people who play 's!!

I'm down with all that!
At least the obtuse can still get in.

There is a risk to traveling in some of the border areas of Mexico as there is risk to when I travel in the bay area, LA or other large cities. Once I make it past Ensenada any concerns I had fade away and by the time I make it home to Erendira I really don't even think about it anymore.

Having said that, I don't think that Baja / Mexico is doing itself a favor by trying to restrict the reporting of the crime events though. A particular news article probably won't be the deciding factor for most on whether or not to come to Mexico but it may help them to alter their itinerary and/or behavior so to keep themselves safe based on what is happening.

That just seems like common sense to me.

Hey all! Woooosh is on an information crusade, again. (and like a pitbull- I'm not letting go of this one.)

I'm trying to figure out what happened to all the security cameras that were pole-mounted on the via rapida between San Ysidro and the Rosarito toll road? They were put up before the military arrived in TJ- specifically to protect the tourists driving route. From what I can tell it worked. Now they are all gone- just wires left.

Mexico is complaining about the recent USA warnings to American travelers which included a caution for tourists driving in border towns (including TJ). So why did they let these cameras disappear if they have genuine concern for tourist safety? And don't you think they should have put up dummy cameras at least if they couldn't afford the real ones again?

Originally Posted by Woooosh

Hey all! Woooosh is on an information crusade, again. (and like a pitbull- I'm not letting go of this one.)

I'm trying to figure out what happened to all the security cameras that were pole-mounted on the via rapida between San Ysidro and the Rosarito toll road? They were put up before the military arrived in TJ- specifically to protect the tourists driving route. From what I can tell it worked. Now they are all gone- just wires left.

Mexico is complaining about the recent USA warnings to American travelers which included a caution for tourists driving in border towns (including TJ). So why did they let these cameras disappear if they have genuine concern for tourist safety? And don't you think they should have put up dummy cameras at least if they couldn't afford the real ones again?

Where does it say they weren't empty boxes to begin with? I know you saw the picture of monitors on Nomad, but they could have been for anything. When did you start believing all you read and see?

Anyway, cameras are useless. Are those solar operated phones still here and there on the toll road? I haven't noticed.

Originally Posted by DENNIS

Where does it say they weren't empty boxes to begin with? I know you saw the picture of monitors on Nomad, but they could have been for anything. When did you start believing all you read and see?

Anyway, cameras are useless. Are those solar operated phones still here and there on the toll road? I haven't noticed.

Nope- haven't seen those solar emergency phones on the cuota lately either... must not have had a camera watching them.

Whoooosh, they aren't in La Paz, I'm pretty sure.

Something tells me that you're not going to get an answer to your question of what happened to them....there are simply too many likely culprits to choose between....virtually anyone doing something they'd rather not be caught on film doing.

In all honesty, I think dummy cameras would be a total waste of time & resources. If the Mexican government is truly concerned with the well-being of visitors & citizens alike & they want to reestablish any level of trust in their efforts to regain tourist business, then they need to make genuine visible & constructive efforts....as opposed to voicing hollow platitudes about how they've improved safety for all. Actions speak louder than words....or dummy cameras!

Originally Posted by longlegsinlapaz

Whoooosh, they aren't in La Paz, I'm pretty sure.

Something tells me that you're not going to get an answer to your question of what happened to them....there are simply too many likely culprits to choose between....virtually anyone doing something they'd rather not be caught on film doing.

In all honesty, I think dummy cameras would be a total waste of time & resources. If the Mexican government is truly concerned with the well-being of visitors & citizens alike & they want to reestablish any level of trust in their efforts to regain tourist business, then they need to make genuine visible & constructive efforts....as opposed to voicing hollow platitudes about how they've improved safety for all. Actions speak louder than words....or dummy cameras!

Can't argue those good points. thanks. Dennis too.

A quick aside... My nephew and his girlfriend were on the seawall out front, she put her cell phone down on the wall next to her while they were cuddling (and why do Mexicans cuddle in public so much). Next thing she knew her phone was gone. She asked the couple a few meters away from them if they had seen it- they said no. My Nephew came into the house and reviewed the tapes and - yup, the girl took it. By the time he got back outside the people were gone. So cameras only tell you who did the crime at best, not help in preventing it. It's always nice to know the ending of a small mystery like that though. She would have been digging through the sand looking for it all night...

I hope they gave the thieving little POS a parting phone call.

Originally Posted by DENNIS

I hope they gave the thieving little POS a parting phone call.

Nephew says his girlfriend tried that, but she didn't answer. I think once they pop in their own Simm (sp?) card it changes the phone number and everything else on it too.

http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/new...14cameras.html

Looks like the whole camera thing (not just the border to Playas) was a Hank idea that TJ failed to continue on with. Don't blame them- they got brutally hosed on a no-bid contract. Nice system though. More likely the cameras and all were repossessed, not stolen.

The camera mounting poles and wiring back to the C4 command post are still there though- and that's the hard part. They might want to re-invent this idea, add 15 cameras on the via rapida for $25K total and generate some positive press to counter the recent Security Alert. Nah...

That's a good idea... think they would listen.. maybe from someone else... for sure