Safe to go to Nogales, Mexico? (Phoenix, Tucson: school, live in, restaurants)

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by Boompa

About three years ago there were 25 people killed in a shootout in Cananea, a few miles futher in, including 5 Police Officers.

And everyone of them were tourists!

[iflyjetzzz]

Originally Posted by Boompa

About three years ago there were 25 people killed in a shootout in Cananea, a few miles futher in, including 5 Police Officers.

From what I've read, there were ~22 hit men from a 40-50 man hit squad that were killed along with some cops. News : 20 dead following shootout in Sonora; gang had earlier killed four police in Cananea : Sierra Vista, AZ
Millennium Ark: Hot News

While I'd recommend extreme caution for tourists/foreigners, I don't think the deaths of a bunch of hit men is relevent here unless you're a hit man. In fact, one could reasonably argue that the death of said hit men has made Mexico safer to travel to.

[Boompa]

Originally Posted by iflyjetzzz

From what I've read, there were ~22 hit men from a 40-50 man hit squad that were killed along with some cops. News : 20 dead following shootout in Sonora; gang had earlier killed four police in Cananea : Sierra Vista, AZ
Millennium Ark: Hot News

While I'd recommend extreme caution for tourists/foreigners, I don't think the deaths of a bunch of hit men is relevent here unless you're a hit man. In fact, one could reasonably argue that the death of said hit men has made Mexico safer to travel to.

I thought that was what I said, but I live here. There is nothing in Nogalez important enough to take me there.

[Boompa]

Originally Posted by tijlover

And everyone of them were tourists!

I didn't say that, I doubt if there were 25 tourists in Cananea, it's a mining town and none were Americans. It's about 30 miles from my house

[keninaz]

Originally Posted by Boompa

I thought that was what I said, but I live here. There is nothing in Nogalez important enough to take me there.

Then stay home, it's that simple.

[Boompa]

Originally Posted by keninaz

Then stay home, it's that simple.

I'm not the OP who posed the question.......focus

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by Bummer

I never quite understood the attraction years ago so one visit was enough but now it is definitely not worth the risk.

Simply put . . . NO WAY.

I'm planning to retire in Tucson in a year or two, and believe it or not, my main reason for choosing Tucson is the proximity to Nogales. When I lived in Phoenix I looked forward to my adventures in Nogales.

I just hope the majority of Tucson residents feel like you do because I'm a completely selfish individual, I looking foward to having Nogales all to my selfish self. Just like my many trips to Tijuana, I enjoy going there because you never have to make a reservation for a motel, always a wide choice of accomodations.

Always plenty of choices in the red-light district, can walk into a Doctor's or Dentist's office without an appointment. I love that! And let's not forget the open-air swap meets in the border towns where I can stock up on $1 CD's and DVD's!

Being that Nogales is 10-15 degrees cooler there in summer, I look forward to my cool-off trips there with some cold Tecate and some hot latin music emanating fromt the jukebox.

I will never disappoint our Founding Fathers who coined the phrase for this country: Home of the Brave!

[Tex?Il?]

I went to Nogales back in 2005. I have family in the Phoenix/Mesa area and just decided to see what bordertowns were like. Just to add Mexico on to the countries I set foot in. I basically had lunch and shopped around some open air markets. I felt safe. A lot of people trying to sell me things, like in any border area. People looking for handouts. I gave me leftover burrito that I didn't finish to a woman and her daughter. At worse I guy tried to sell me some prostituion service.

I don't think I would do this today. It was better in 2005. Unless the drug wars have improved in the last year, I would avoid the border until things settle down again.

[tijlover]

I was in Nogales Thursday afternoon, walking around town, taking the crowded city bus (Route 15) to the south of town to bid good-bye to my roommate who was going to Guadalajara, and I found nothing amiss since my trips down there when I lived in Phoenix in the mid-90's. I felt as safe as ever.

Talked to a couple senior women crossing the border who had gone down for dental work, saw some elderly seniors, mostly, sitting in some of the restaurants enjoying a meal and passing thru the handicraft markets.

Nothing has changed, IMO. I bought some drugs at the pharmacy, no problem bringing them across, you only need a prescrip for controlled substances.

Talked to one man in line to cross back who doesn't have a passport, and he just uses his driver's license for identification to pass through. No different than crossing in Tijuana. They'll never, ever be able to enforce that, needing a passport to exit/enter Mexico.

I just love those steep hills on both sides of the border, with those houses plastered precariously to the hills. It all has a San Francisco flavor to it, which I love!

By the way, if you're planning on going south of Nogales to Hermosillo or Guaymas, right across the border is a bus stop, hop on a bus marked Route 15 and it will deliver you to the long-distance bus station about 3-4 south of Centro. All it costs is 50 cents!

[2farsouth]

Having lived in Sinaloa, Mx for 5 yrs (explains my name), I have no problem going to Nogales. I go for meds and just to hang out some. Like in many US cities, I keep an eye open for bad looking situations and areas an avoid them. I'm not sure about the "hot Latin Music" though. I don't really like Banda. It sounds like Mexican polkas to me. lol The Yucatan has much better music an food. imo