Featured Apartment:
San Diego -
NO FEE - Clean quiet building in solid early San Diego
design. Studio, one and two bedroom apartments with newer refrigerators, 40 inch
gas range, tile counter tops, built in ironing board, walk-in closet and lots of
cabinet space. The buildings facilities include a large on site laundry room
with newer machines, gated front entrance and (available for small monthly fee)
reserved covered parking in gated area. Its central midtown location is 5 blocks
to light rail, post office, bank, grocer, co-op, hospital and many restaurants.
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Renting an Apartment in San Ysidro
What You Should Know
San Ysidro is a community within the city of San
Diego, California. It was annexed by the city of San
Diego in 1957. It is located in the southernmost part of
San Diego County, California, immediately north of the
international border with Mexico.
San Ysidro is named for San Ysidro Labrador (Saint
Isidore), patron saint of farmers.
Border Crossing
San Ysidro is home to the world's busiest land border
crossing, where U.S. Interstate 5 crosses into Mexico at
Tijuana. Each year over 14 million vehicles and 40
million people enter the U.S. at the San Ysidro port of
entry. The great majority of these are workers (both of
Mexican and U.S. nationality) commuting from Tijuana to
jobs in the greater San Diego area and throughout
southern California. There is also a thriving reverse
traffic, both of workers traveling to maquiladoras in
Mexico and those purchasing services (vehicle repairs,
hair and beauty services, childcare, medical and dental)
or seeking entertainment in Tijuana. Crossing times are
notoriously slow at San Ysidro, particularly for those
entering the U.S. in cars. For this reason many cross on
foot, the line for which is frequently much faster than
the vehicle line. Some foot travelers own a car in each
country, and store them in one of the large parking lots
located near the border post, or use the respective
public transportation systems of both cities (both
systems have a bus station built solely to serve the
border crossing point).
Many people frequently visit the fence that separates
the beaches at the international border (known as Playas
de Tijuana in Mexico, and Border Field State Beach in
the United States). On Sundays in particular, people go
to speak to their friends and family members through the
rusty fence, all under the careful watchful eye of U.S.
Border Patrol personnel which watch with binoculars from
the hillside nearby.
Crime
San Ysidro is also believed to be among the busiest
sites for the importation of illegal drugs into the U.S.
Much of this is smuggled in cars or trucks, but some is
transported through one of the custom-built tunnels
constructed by narcotraffickers under the border.
Central to the Tijuana drug trade is the Tijuana Cartel,
also known as the Arellano-Felix Organization (AFO).
In 1984 a spree killing occurred at a McDonald's
restaurant in the city, when James Oliver Huberty killed
21 people before himself being shot and killed by police
officers (see McDonald's massacre).
On May 18, 2006, the border crossing was closed for nine
hours after federal authorities shot and killed the
driver of a car bound for Mexico, just 50 feet north of
the Port of Entry. The vehicle was reportedly seen
picking up illegal immigrants.