What comes to your mind when you picture a "typical" Mexican border city?  Tijuana?  Cd. Juarez?  Cd. Miguel Aleman?  What kind of dwellings come to your mind?  Mansions?  Makeshift cardboard or plywood shanties perched on a hillside?  Burgler bars?  If you're visiting Mexicali, change your mind.

Sure, Mexicali has it's "low rent" districts, just like cities such as Sacramento, Omaha or Regina have.  However, to quell your stereotypes of a Mexican border city, I paid a visit to one of Mexicali's many upscale residential districts and found the place, simply, beautiful.  

Photos:  Beautiful residental district on Av. Avadado Obregon, east of Calle E.

So you want to see a beautiful part of Mexicali?  When you cross the border from Calexico, head straight onto Calzada Lopez Mateos; as you cross the border and you'll see a huge green traffic sign, typical of the kinds of prominent traffic signs that you see in Mexico. Take the immediate right turn to the south; the sign, and an arrow will say "TIJUANA."  Head three blocks south, and turn left, or directionally east, onto Av. Alvarado Obregon. Continue east, past the busy intersection of Obregon and Calle L.  After you pass that intersection, you'll notice that traffic disappears and you've entered a pleasant, upscale residential district.

Left:  Beautiful, well-kept houses, with plenty of trees.  Right:  Av. Obregon and Calle E.  The black line behind the SUV in the extreme left of the photo is the U.S. border fence.

Unlike California and many other cities in the U.S., Mexicali doesn't sport tracts of houses.  Just like Mexicali is surveyed similar as a city in the U.S., it differs as housing tracts are non-existent.  Instead, the city sports neighborhoods that feature custom-built, well-kept homes that could be considered mansions.  Picture this: Well-trimmed lawns, tree-lined streets, tree-trimmers, and friendly people.

Photos:  Pride of ownership shows in this neighborhood, near the corner of Av. Obregon and Calle E.

Travel past the businesses and tourists on Av. Obregon, head east past Calle E, and you'll find some of the prettiest houses in Mexico, or for that matter, Canada or the U.S.  Check out the residential areas of Mexicali to gain a whole different prospective on this interesting city.

Left:  Well, not all of Mexicali is upscale.  This residence, complete with a decorated fence, is located near the intersection of Av. Reforma and Calle A.  Right:  These houses are located in an alley off Calle A, between Avs. Reforma and Obregon.