Understanding the Mexican Border

Images of the Crossing

A series of border crossing points throughout the US. Each crossing has the same issue congestion at the crossing point, due to the need to see identification on the return into the US.

San Ysidro Port of Entry- Interstate -5, San Ysidro, California –  Mexican Federal Highway 1, Tijuana, Baja California

El Paso- Bota Port of Entry - Interstate -110, El Paso, Texas – Avenida Abraham Lincoln,Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua 

Laredo-Juarez/Lincoln Port of Entry - Interstate -35(San Dario Ave.), Laredo Texas – Blvd. Leandro Valle, Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas

Calexico Port of Entry - State Route 111, Calexico, California – Calzada Adolfo López Mateos, Mexicali, Baja California

Calexico East Port of Entry - State Route 7, Calexico, California – Blvd. Abelardo L. Rodríguez, Mexicali, Baja California

San Luis Port of Entry - US Route 95, San Luis, Arizona – Calle 1, San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora

Solving the Problem of the Bad Border Image

           While waiting in line to return to the US from the Mexico via the Tijuana border crossing, once sits in the car for how ever long it takes to return. Sometimes this process can take an hour other time two to three hours.

The road is no different than a large parking lot in which we race between slow moving lines in hopes of getting through the checkpoint faster. However, it is bumper to bumper traffic, we are barely moving. The speed of the traffic is so slow that many Mexicans have setup little shops on the side to try and sell nick-knacks the tourists waiting in line, and in most cases vendors come straight up to the car windows to try and get you to buy.

We can use everything that is there to try an improve the current situation by creating an organizing system of vendors and place parks along the way to allow those in the back seat to get out and stretch their legs, or let the kids out and play instead of complaining ‘how long it is going to take?’ Why not, take the mini economic climate that is there that is poorly situated and make a specific place for the vendors to sell, and no only that but give an appealing place to do so. We can place a stronger, or better yet create an infrastructure that will take a parking lot into a series of strip parks and vending carousels and help to improve the economic circumstance at the border.

And this new infrastructure can help change the visual view of the border. The goal would be to try and rid the image of multiple lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic and add trees and color and interaction while waiting. This new view can help to save us from the dredge of needing to get back into the US from Mexico. There has already been some effort to improve the aesthetic of the area. California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has already thought about improving the boarder with the International Friendship Plaza but it did not go far enough. 

http://www.dot.ca.gov/ or 

http://images.enhancements.org/1-Ped-Bike-Facilities/International-Friendship-Plaza/9798459_DcGUG/1/665109156_Kp4FD#665109156_Kp4FD

The project is only a small plaza North of the actual crossing for cyclists. The idea of improving the border is here. Lets try hard enough to make an impact. Lets use our abilities to make a change within the urban fabric of the boarder, and change it from drab to charming. 

Which is more appealing to sit in traffic? 

Border Reflections

 So much representation of the board are these iconic images of the border with the fence within the landscape. The perception that these images create a one clip image of what the border is yet what is actually being seen is different. However, what one actually sees is completely different. The majority of what people actually see of the border is at the crossing. The Tijuana Boarder Crossing is a great example of one such border crossing.  On the way into Mexico one merely sees the border for seconds as they fly past the border. However, when returning back from Mexico into the US it can take hours to return. Within that tiresome wait in returning home is where one actually interacts with the boarder, as opposed to driving past with minimal care.

What is really the way we see the border. The first set of iconic images or the later images of crossing the border? Getting back into the US does not necessarily have to be this way does it?