Introduction to Tijuana

17 miles S of San Diego

First things first: The city's name is pronounced -- at least in gringoized Spanish -- "Tee-wanna," not "Tee-uh-wanna." And despite her presence in the wax museum, there was no kindly rancho matriarch named Tía (aunt) Juana for whom the city was named. Tijuana derives its name from "tycuan," an indigenous word meaning "near the water," a reference to a broad, shallow river that is now little more than a trickle (except during storms) running down a concrete wash.

Vibrant, chaotic, colorful, and confounding, Tijuana has a population of more than two million people, making it Mexico's fourth-largest city (and the second largest on the West Coast -- only Los Angeles is bigger). Although the majority of San Diegans are basically estranged from our neighbor to the south, the history of the two cities is inextricably linked -- Tijuana exists because of San Diego. T.J., as San Diegans refer to it, was little more than a village at the turn of the 20th century. It grew explosively in response to the needs of San Diego and the rest of California, providing a workforce for factories and fields, especially during World War II. It also offered succor, becoming a decadent playground for Americans deprived of booze and gambling by Prohibition and moral reformers. The city's economic engine is now driven by free-trade policies that gave rise to the maquiladoras -- foreign-owned factories where appliances, furniture, and other goods are assembled by young, poorly paid workers, with little environmental or labor oversight.

Architecturally, little remains of Tijuana's boomtown days. Most of the city is of a more modern vintage, and some structures are quite striking; but for the most part this is, sorry to say, not an attractive urban landscape. Tijuana's beauty lies within. The city has fabulous restaurants and a burgeoning art and music scene; yet many still visit solely for the two-for-one drink specials or photo ops with a zebra-striped burro. If you want to find the real treasures of Tijuana, you'll have to venture out of the main tourist zone of Avenida Revolución.