I am from San Diego and it is actually a little weird because you'd be driving along rocking out and routinely there is like a government propaganda style commercial from some agency in Mexico being read in English by someone with a faint Spanish accent in a way that was simultaneously enthusiastic but also clearly being read off of a page. It is usually about something like "don't worry we are making the government suck less especially if you vote for us" if I recall correctly.
I now live in Mexico. The burger place next door plays an American radio station and it seems to be one that never has those messages.
I too am in San Diego. Can confirm: 91X transmits from a tower in Tijuana, MX, and fairly frequently you hear political messaging. It may be propaganda, I don't know: maybe it is, maybe it isn't. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
For the American readers: Imagine a political candidate's radio or TV commercial. They usually go like this "[so-and-so] cares about [thing-and-such]. [yadda-yadda], Your right to [thingers] means [blah]. I'm [so-and-so] and I approve this message.". Replace the candidate's name with a political party and you get a sense for what the advertisements are like. Are they "propaganda" or simply "getting the word out" for a political cause? I'm not sure myself....
I agree with ilaksh - it is a "little weird" to be in the U.S., listening to main-stream U.S. music, and to have the only interruption be some political message about Mexico.
If anyone is interested, I can record some and post them -- not to push any agenda one way or the other; just to share.
Edit: Here's a youtube video that I found. This video sounds like a montage of commercials. It's representative of what you'd hear between songs in one single go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x_052zci7Y
It's a great deal for me right now since my startup isn't making money and my income is very low. Live on the beach instead of basically the ghetto in San Diego. Many people speak English in Playas and so my limited Spanish hasn't been a big problem. Work from home so don't have to commute over the border. Can afford medication here -- for example one that is $400 in the US is less than $40 here.
Overall cost of living is more than 65% lower (random guess, maybe more).
If I decide to move on from this startup and my income doubles (which would not necessarily be very hard since it's so low right now) then I will probably move back to San Diego or at least the US. Even though 95% of the time it's great, the occasions when they turn the water off to fix leaks in the aqueduct or there is an electricity blackout or there are bad smells, all of that adds up to being less than ideal. But again, since that only happens a small portion of the time, it is still a good option for me right now. The neighborhood I am in (max Mex-touristy Playas de Tijuana) seems safe by the way.
I had the opposite experience. Moved from Mexicali to San Diego. It’s expensive of course, etc, but in my case, I had three home robberies (one at gunpoint, I was 5). The best of living in the states was a sense of security. I know it can happen here too, but I don’t miss that.
Well San Diego is great and I would like to move back there when I can. My sister-in-law was born in Mexico and seems to not like to visit her original country much, and I think it is related to not feeling secure or something.
But as far as the home robberies, I am guessing it is a similar situation in Mexicali as it is in Tijuana or other places, in that security seems to depend on the neighborhood and also sometimes the particular building or location?
For example, my understanding is that there are many unsafe neighborhoods in Tijuana where crime is somewhat common. I also would like to believe that Playas is not one of those neighborhoods. Especially this particular neighborhood, it is a tourism area near the boardwalk, and there are a lot of restaurants around and multiple police cars normally patrolling the street (although not every single hour of every day). Also my building has several apartments and I am on the top floor.
It doesn't really seem unsafe in this particular location. However, I can imagine a quiet street away from everything, and a house with a yard that was not too close to neighbors, would be slightly more attractive for burglary. There are a lot of big fences and big dogs even in Playas so there must be a reason.
