Nogales

I have been to quite a few towns on the Mexican border, but Nogales, Arizona is one of my favorite border towns. It's not as dirty as many border cities are and it's not as desperately poor as other border cities. The downtown business district, as might be expected, is located right next to the border fence. The downtown area has alot of signs in Spanish and alot of outdoor vendors. The outdoor vendors are most prevalent along Grand Avenue (the main street of Nogales) and Morley Avenue, one block farther east.
The border between the United States and Mexico is a big, ugly, black, steel fence about 20 feet high. The bottom part of the fence is opaque, which prevents people from looking through the fence into the country on the other side. To get a good view, one has to look higher up. This is best done by driving on sone of the residential streets in Nogales that climb up hills.
Dos Ambos Nogales is the Spanish name for the two cities of Nogales--Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, that face each other across the border fence. Nogales, Arizona has
26,267 people. Nogales, Mexico has about 175,000 people. I did not cross into Mexico for two reasons. First of all, I did not have a passport, which is a new requirement that took effect on January 1,2008 and also because Nogales, Sonora is one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico. It is one of the principal battlegrounds in Mexico's ongoing war with the ruthless drug cartels. While I was driving along
International Street, next to the border fence, I heard gunshots on the Mexican side. It sounded like it was only 2 or 3 blocks away. In December, in Nogales, Mexico, the chief of police was recently murdered by members of a Mexican drug cartel and his head was delivered to the police department.
Yet, the main border crossing at the south end of Grand Avenue is still one of the
busiest border crossings between the two countries. There is another crossing about 2 miles farther west, but it is mainly for trucks.
Nogales, Arizona has alot of trucking companies. The streets are literally congested with big trucks, most of which are involved in cross-border trade and shipments.
Both cities are very hilly with alot of steep streets. Nogales, Mexico is hillier than its American counterpart.
On the Arizona side, the old Santa Cruz County Courthouse sits on top of a steep hill just 3 blocks from the international border. It is a magnificent building with a silver dome and four splendid marble columns gracing the front entrance. It is now used as a museum, which is a good thing because it is a beautiful building that strikes a commanding presence from its hilltop location on Morley Avenue.
The front doors of the old courthouse are reached by climbing up 67 stairs! In addition to the 67 steps from the front lawn to the front entrance, there are also 19 steps leading from Morley Avenue to the beginning of the sidewalk in front of the building. That is a total of 86 steps to climb from the sidewalk that runs alongside the street! It would be a shame to see this building sitting vacant or, worse yet, to see it demolished. Many counties these days are using the old courthouse for court functions and have a newer, modern structure for the county administration. It would be nice to see the old courthouse still serving as a government building, but at least it is used as a museum and is still open to the public. The current county courthouse, which opened in 1988, is also on top a hill. For a modern building, it's not bad looking. Normally I am not a fan of modern architecture, but I think the new Santa Cruz County Courthouse has a pleasant design to it. The new courthouse sits a short distance east of Interstate 19 two miles from the border.
It sits virtually alone on its hilltop lair with a view of Nogales' commercial district on West Mariposa Road. This is where the majority of the city's fast food restaurants, convenience stores, supermarkets and other chain businesses are located.
"Nogales" is Spanish for "walnuts." it was named for the abundance of walnut trees that grow in the area.