Mexican Border City Going High-Rise

"Rising higher by the day just south of the San Ysidro border crossing, the towers known as New City would draw little notice in Manhattan or Mexico City or downtown San Diego. But amid the small and tightly packed houses that hug the border, they're a surprising sight.

After years of growing outward, Tijuana is beginning to grow upward as well. As higher land prices drive up costs, business and residential buildings are rising and changing the skyline of this sprawling city of more than 1.5 million people.

Developers tout the security of condominium life to crime-weary middle-and upper-income buyers who can't – or don't want to – move across the border to San Diego. And Mexico's falling interest rates are making mortgages appealing to growing numbers of potential buyers.

Sales agents say their clients range from retirees looking to simplify their lives, to cross-border businessmen searching for a pied-à-terre, to young families starting out, to anyone who can afford units selling from $150,000 to nearly $800,000. San Diegans looking to lower their housing costs have also been buying."