Nothing is ever as black or white as loud people with power and caché would lead you to believe. I love Tijuana. Great food, great people, great prices on healthcare and dentistry. Sure it definitely can be dangerous but like everywhere it is mostly wonderful.

At least 2,297,000 people have been to Tijuana on the account of living there. I hope we have some of them here on Lemmy to confirm/deny what's the current situation there.

Cartel violence is no fucking joke but it rarely makes it's way into tourist centers where the death of foreign nationals can cause serious crackdowns and economic interests want to keep the foreign money flowing in.

One of my coworkers was born in Tijuana and goes back there from time to time, once even inviting me to go with him. He has said it’s a nice place to visit. I’ve had family members and friends say similarly about it. My uncle always talks about how good the tacos were when he was stationed in San Diego in the US Navy.

It’s also a big spot for college students to go for spring break.

If anywhere in Mexico is safe, Tijuana is one of the safer places to be.

It has its issues as any big city does, but not to the extent of the other areas that deal with lots of cartel violence. Part of that has to do with tourism and it being so close to the border with the US. A lot of cartels are also very aware of tourism and how it negatively impacts them if they make trouble for tourists with negative publicity and heightened risks from both the Mexican and US governments, at least to US citizens touring there.

I went there in the 90s

Walking around after dark was a little sketchy.

My buddy and I almost got mugged but thankfully the guy thought we were Marines and we told him our other buddies were right behind us.

Otherwise it was a fun adventure.

The bars would give you free drinks left and right when you payed in US cash.