In the wee hours of the morning, hundreds if not thousands of workers from Tijuana, Mexico trade the comfort of their beds for restless sleep in cars parked near U.S. border inspection stations.
"This snoozer of a commute is one of the unwelcome byproducts of a booming metropolitan area sliced by an international border." Students, construction crews, delivery truck drivers, stock clerks, and other lower income workers queue up as early as 1:15 am to avoid a possible two hour wait to cross the border into San Diego. "The commuter crush has grown steadily worse at all times of day, creating a 24-hour traffic nightmare."
"Either U.S. citizens or Mexican nationals who are legal U.S. residents, many have moved to Tijuana after being forced out of San Diego's pricey housing market."
The economic cost of the congestion to the U. S. and Mexican economies is staggering: "an estimated $6.0 billion in 2005 in such areas as lost wages and spending."
Thanks to D. A. Varnado, AICP
FULL STORY: For this commute, set it on snooze control
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.
Can We Please Give Communities the Design They Deserve?
Often an afterthought, graphic design impacts everything from how we navigate a city to how we feel about it. One designer argues: the people deserve better.
Engineers Gave America's Roads an Almost Failing Grade — Why Aren't We Fixing Them?
With over a trillion dollars spent on roads that are still falling apart, advocates propose a new “fix it first” framework.
The European Cities That Love E-Scooters — And Those That Don’t
Where they're working, where they're banned, and where they're just as annoying the tourists that use them.
Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Borough of Carlisle
Smith Gee Studio
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)