On the southern edge of Arizona, nestled among the steep hills, lies a town that is often misunderstood. It is Nogales, population about 22,000. Most people have the perception that Nogales is a violent town, a dangerous place to visit, but that is not true. The town gets a bad rap because it is on the border with Mexico, and for this reason people also believe that cities such as El Paso and Laredo, Texas are dangerous as well, but they are not. Nogales, along with other towns on the Mexican border, does have some unique issues due to the thriving drug trade, but it is by no means a dangerous place. The Mexican border has always been a dangerous place even before the days of the drug cartels because Mexico has always been a volatile land. Most American border towns have buildings near the border with bullet holes in them, due to bullets flying across the border at various times in the past, particularly the Mexican Revolution a century ago.
Nogales does have drug smuggling tunnels that have been found underneath the border fence, but I have been to Nogales many times and have spent the night there several times and have never had any problems. No one has ever harassed me or threatened me. In fact, I have met alot of friendly people in Nogales.
Nogales is not a desert town, though it is near the desert. It is about 1,500 feet higher than Tucson, an hour to the north. There are no saguaro cactuses growing in the Nogales area, just a few prickly pear and the occasional cholla. Nogales is located in a deciduous forest with several different types of trees, including the walnut tree, for which the town is named. The Nogales area is still an arid climate, but is is wetter and cooler than the nearby Sonoran Desert. The average low temperature in Nogales in the winter months is slightly below freezing, about 30 degrees, but temperatures have been known to drop into the teens and low twenties. On two occasions, I have spent the night in Nogales in January and, on both occasions, I had to scrape ice off of my windshield. Summers are hot, but not like the nearby desert that routinely sees temperatures surpass 110 degrees. Nogales is usually in the mid to upper 90s. The average yearly rainfall is 18 inches, which is still dry, but not as dry as a desert.
Nogales is a very hilly town as well, with some very steep streets, but, as hilly as Nogales is, its counterpart across the border, Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, is even hillier. The border fence in this area is very undulating because it goes up one slope and down another, crossing canyons and ravines. In most places, a person can look up to to see residential areas, businesses and shantytowns in Nogales, Mexico because the hills are higher and steeper south of the border.
