# Cities on Borders **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 31, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418 "2009-03-31T13:17:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Orpington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cc9497/32.png) [@Orpington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orpington)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418/61 "2009-04-03T22:49:56Z")
> [@Rich\_Mann](#): > > Drive east from El Paso for a couple of hours and you come to a border checkpoint in the middle of nowhere. I was surprised, as I thought I was already in the U.S., but apparently the government has abandoned the whole border region to Mexico. I came from CA through AZ and NM, but despite my CA plates I was asked if I was coming from Mexico. I asked why they don’t do this at the actual border. The guy just said he gets asked that a lot, but didn’t answer. He seemed to be wondering about it himself. Surreal. Yeah, the same thing on the US highway between Big Bend National Park and Fort Stockton. I always assumed it was because the biggest border town anywhere nearby is in (fairly small) Presidio, and there is an awful lot of unpatrolled, extremely low-densely (if that’s a word) populated border land, all very sunny, hot & dry down there. There’s even a few “official” (as in legal) crossings in the Park that are nothing more than a guy with a boat and docks on either side (come to think of it, I’ve seen this in a park in Mission/McAllen/whatever in the LRG valley too…). (Actually, this may not be the case anymore; I haven’t been to South Texas since 9/11 and they may have tightened things up a little.) So does El Paso also have the “official” bridge with customs and everything? > [@](#): > > El Paso is the only place I’ve ever been that needs to post signs pointing out that horse-drawn vehicles don’t belong on the Interstate highway along with the cars going 70 mph. I don’t know but I’d imagine you might see those in the Lancaster PA area… ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418/62 "2009-04-04T01:26:19Z")
> [@Orpington](#): > > So does El Paso also have the “official” bridge with customs and everything? Yes, it does. I remember back in West Texas when a couple of buddies decided to make a tequila run to Juarez. Figuring on taking advantage of the lower prices in Mexico, they bought up something like two dozen bottles and hid them all inside the seats of the car. But one bottle broke while they were packing them in, so the car reeked of tequila. Then at the El Paso entry, they got pulled over for a spot customs check. But the officer did not find the bottles and amazingly made no remark about the smell! That tequila lasted quite a while. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418/63 "2009-04-04T02:19:20Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > El Paso/Juarez has been interesting over the years because while the drinking age is 21 in all US states, it’s still only 18 in Mexico, assuming they actually bother to check your ID. Same deal with places just outside Louisiana until they finally went with the rest of the country. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418/64 "2009-04-04T12:47:50Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > FWIW, you can find similar signs in London (joining the M11 from the North Circular, for anyone wondering). Irish motorways I think have something similar. Actually [it doesn’t explicitly say](http://www.drivingschoolireland.com/image/m2.gif) horses but rules out animals or slow vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418/65 "2009-04-04T17:52:08Z")
> [@Orpington](#): > > So does El Paso also have the “official” bridge with customs and everything? El Paso has 3 bridges–Paso del Norte, Bridge of the Americas, and Ysleta. There is another at Fabens, and a port of entry at Santa Teresa. It’s not a little town. El Paso itself has a population of 700k or so, not including the metropolitan area which includes Ciudad Juarez. The border patrol checkpoints tend to be a little ways inland. I recall one near White Sands/Alamogordo, NM, and another out towards Hueco Tanks, as well as another close to Van Horn on I-10. The one that comes to mind here in the Valley is at Falfurrias, which is about 60 miles or so north of here. There are others in various places, not just at the border. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418/66 "2009-04-04T23:10:16Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Irish motorways I think have something similar. Actually [it doesn’t explicitly say](http://www.drivingschoolireland.com/image/m2.gif) horses but rules out animals or slow vehicles. No, not just that - I mean a red circle sign, depicting a horse-and-cart silhouette. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418/67 "2009-04-05T02:25:04Z")
Never thought I’d see the Dillard House mentioned so many times in one thread. I’ve passed by it often, but never ate there. I’ve been to Texarkana, which is the border town that lies in both Texas and Arkansas. The only thing I can say about the place is that it was equally dead in both states. ---
**Author:** ![twit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twit)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418/68 "2009-04-06T01:11:23Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > LOL. Not in my experience, no. > > Once you nail down the place you are thinking of, be sure to let me know. I must check it out for myself. Could it be Lambert’s? [Lambert's Cafe - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert%27s_Cafe) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418/69 "2009-04-06T01:38:14Z")
Apropos of nothing, I like how if you go due south (well, SSW) from Vicente Guerrero (aka Algodones), Mexico, the first city you hit is San Luis, Arizona. [http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tab=wl](http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tab=wl) South of the border, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418/70 "2009-04-06T04:07:35Z")
Well on the Tres Fronteras area of the Amazon there are the 3 towns of Tabatinga (Brazil), Leticia (Colombia) and Santa Rosa (Peru). I’ve been there! ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418/71 "2009-04-06T04:21:11Z")
From downtown Detroit, if you go straight south you hit Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418/72 "2009-04-06T04:28:54Z")
Well, we went to dinner at the Dillard House. All the meat was inedible, but the veggies were delicious. The ham was gamey, the beef was unchewable and the chicken was downright funky. I really, really liked the sweet vidalia relish though and the view was beautiful. And I got a Hello Kitty for my car there, so it wasn’t a total bust, but was rather suprising. We even brought a different type of the chicken we had home, just in case. I gave my daughter a bite and she immediately spit it out. This is a kid that eats everything. How the hell can ham be gamey? ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418/73 "2009-04-06T07:34:16Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > I’m surprised no one has mentioned Kansas City, which is generally considered to be in Missouri although Kansas City, KS, abuts it and may be the same city for all I know. Nah, I’ve lived in both. [Kansas City, Kansas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City,_Kansas) is smaller and more boring. It’s not even the biggest city in Kansas, it’s the 3rd biggest. Wichita is the biggest city in KS, and Overland Park, which, strangely enough, is considered a suburb of Kansas City, _Missouri_, is the 2nd biggest city in Kansas. But it really is just a 'burb. OVP has no downtown (edit to add, no “skyline” downtown), like KCK. [Kansas City, Missouri](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City,_Missouri) is the bigger and more famous one, the one that, if people say “Kansas City,” is the one they _always_ mean. Go figure. While the downtowns of Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO are completely separated by the convergence of the Kansas River and the Missouri River, just south of downtown is a road called State Line Rd. and it literally is. I worked on State Line Rd. on the Kansas side (I lived in Missouri at the time). Walk across the street to the gas station, and you’re in Missouri. Drive south, and you’re driving in Kansas. Drive north, and you’re driving in Missouri. It’s weird but I never thought about it at the time. The cops must have some sort of understanding. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418/74 "2009-04-06T15:39:23Z")
To branch off what Equipoise has said, I’d say that Kansas City being on a border has actually been a detriment to its growth. There are three VERY distinct areas of Kansas City. There’s KCMO (Kansas City Missouri) which is the central part of the city. There’s the Overland Park/Olathe area (Overlard Park is huge but Olathe is rapidly expanding to match it) in Kansas. You can call that the Johnson County Area. And there’s KCK (Kansas City, Kansas) which is effectively Wyandotte County. Just a few problems with this setup: The Johnson County area is where everyone who works downtown lives. So they travel across state lines, go to work, and then come home for the day in Kansas. It has left nighttime downtown KC a ghost town for decades until very recent redevelopments have started pulling people back in. So, you’ve got people moving South almost as fast as developments can build and they wake up one day at 151st street and say “holy crap. I don’t want to drive to 12th street every morning” and businesses start migrating South with their executives, leaving more Downtown empty and the rank and file to the pleasures of commuting, with no mass transportation. Speaking of mass transit, KC (any part of KC) has none. Three different tax bases and the governments do NOT play nicely with each other. We desperately need light rail or subways or…I dunno, Hovercrafts or something. We needed them back in the late '90s when it was originally proposed. Can you imagine friends coming into your city’s airport and the only options available to you are to drive 50 minutes to pick them up or have them spend approximately 1 billion dollars on cab fees? But any proposal for mass transit has been shot down in KCMO. And getting the same proposal to work in three different municipalities (and sharing the costs) may literally be impossible. Two stadiums, Kauffman and Arrowhead, live next to each other in KCMO. But the majority of fans who can afford to and choose to attend these games are overwhelmingly from Johnson County. Yet KCMO residents are expected to pay through tax dollars for any upkeep necessary on the stadiums. There are at least three fantastic Johnson County school districts. KCMO schools are unaccredited. And it’s amazing that it doesn’t even seem to be a priority to get them up to barely passing levels. Anyone who values their kids in KCMO (and can afford it) sends them to private school. I could go on, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418/75 "2009-04-08T05:25:03Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Speaking of mass transit, KC (any part of KC) has none. Three different tax bases and the governments do NOT play nicely with each other. We desperately need light rail or subways or…I dunno, Hovercrafts or something. We needed them back in the late '90s when it was originally proposed. Can you imagine friends coming into your city’s airport and the only options available to you are to drive 50 minutes to pick them up or have them spend approximately 1 billion dollars on cab fees? To be fair, there are vans that don’t cost that much. But it’s a log way from the convince of the CTA to O’Hare and Midway. > [@](#): > > But any proposal for mass transit has been shot down in KCMO. And getting the same proposal to work in three different municipalities (and sharing the costs) may literally be impossible. Even more bizarre is that the voters voted **for** a mass transit system in 2004, and the city overruled it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-on-borders/491418.md?page=3)