Opinion: Why do I love living in Tijuana? Let me count the ways.

Cilley is the founder and president of the Film Consortium San Diego, and an adjunct professor at San Diego City College. She lives in Tijuana.

I’ve always felt like Tijuana is San Diego’s best kept secret.

When I first moved to Playas de Tijuana in 2004, people would ask me fear-filled questions like “Isn’t it dangerous?” My family would constantly ask “When are you moving back?” The most common question was also my personal favorite: “Are you insane???” After each incredulous question, I would do my best to briefly explain my logic for living in a city unfairly known for its dark side. Sometimes my explanation worked, sometimes it didn’t. Often it would end with an adamant but ultimately empty promise to “visit soon.”

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It’s a subject worth exploring: Why would a güera from rural Vermont think it was safe enough to move to Tijuana, Mexico, and then stay for so many years?

After exclusively living in San Diego from 2010-2018, I moved back to Tijuana with a friend, and I’m still here. I still get the same questions, but with a little less shock. A new question has emerged in the last few years: “It’s a lot cheaper, isn’t it?” And yes it is! But the reason this gringa is living in Tijuana isn’t that simple. Like most things in life, it is far more complex and nuanced than one might think.

Here are a few of the reasons I moved to Tijuana, and many of the reasons I stay here.

I live in Tijuana because, strangely, it’s comfortable and familiar. I grew up in a working class, poor family in Vermont, spending time between government subsidized housing and the family farm. I fondly remember playing in the dirt, catching bugs, and examining all the run-down farm vehicles and buildings. I grew up around people who worked hard, fixed things when they were broken, and valued food and family above all things. Tijuana reminds me of that time and those people, and once you look past the rough exterior of the city, the people within it shine bright.

I live in Tijuana because I’m a filmmaker, and Tijuana is a visual paradise. Sometimes I walk around the city and imagine what could be filmed in each location. From abandoned lots to DIY decorated bars to high-end restaurants to burnt down buildings, the locations in this city are out of this world. Stories here are on another level, too. The complexity of the issues Tijuanenses and Mexicans face cannot be understated and therefore it’s people have many stories to tell.

I live in Tijuana because it’s a food and entertainment paradise! I’ve been visiting restaurants like Caesar’s for years, eating its famous salad while transported to another time through the historical photos and paintings on the walls. Bars like Dandy’s Del Sur and Nelson’s have been there for me with great music, fun ambiance and just history oozing from the walls. Restaurant options have radically diversified since I originally moved here, but chefs are constantly pushing the envelope with experimental gourmet options that offer new combinations of flavors, genres and styles.

I live in Tijuana because I’m not rich. For a gabacha living south of the border, housing, food, entertainment, essential services, transportation, medication, health care and more are all significantly more affordable. With the cost of living in California skyrocketing and the prices of most goods and services steadily rising, lessening that burden certainly improved my quality of life.

I live in Tijuana because I’m a traveler. Traveling teaches me about all the different ways there are to see and to live in this world and living in Tijuana is like traveling every day, without the $600 plane ticket. My senses are always heightened by the smells, colors and music pervading the streets.

I live in Tijuana because I feel safe here. I try hard not to put myself in a position that would put me at risk. I follow basic common sense to keep myself safe, and it works. In fact, the U.S. scares me more. With a mental health crisis that is out of control and an epidemic of mass shootings, I’m far more scared and paranoid of getting attacked at an American movie theater by some crazy guy than possibly getting snuffed out by the cartel.

I live in Tijuana because it’s soo close to the U.S., yet just far enough away.

I live in Tijuana because I can afford living on the beach.

I live in Tijuana because I can see a doctor in less than 15 minutes for under $5.

I live in Tijuana because, simply put, Tijuana makes me happy, and happiness is important.

Looking at Tijuana through the media or through anecdotal stories told by your college buddies about that trip to TJ in 2001 only gives a very superficial and skewed view on the city, but there are many aspects to this city that are familiar and not as scary as public opinion suggests. The truth is Tijuana is an incredible city with plenty to offer those willing to give it a chance. I almost didn’t write this because I think Tijuana is San Diego’s best kept secret, and I wasn’t sure I should be the one to spill it.