[quote=lifeisgood]I disagree. This is exactly what I’m talking about. These poorer people are the people buying fancy clothes and diaper bags for their babies. Again, most people on this forum do not fall into this category. You have to admit that this city and many other have a keeping up with the Jones’ mentality. We CAN raise our children cheaper, without keeping them from growing mentally and physically, if we really wanted to.[/quote]
lifeisgood, I’m not sure where you go to the beach but visiting Mexicans use nearly all the beaches in SD County for their family parties …. notably Coronado and major San Diego and South County parks.
If you have ever visited a mall in South County during a 4-8 hr Macy’s sale (we have two Macy’s), you will see hundreds of Mexican license plates and hundreds of customers from across the border snapping up designer goods of all types by the dozens. A typical shoe order in these sales is 8-12 prs at one time. The fine jewelry and fine handbag counters are flooded three deep. The children’s departments have long lines. It’s like a fire-sale or garage sale in there with everything on the floor by 2:00 pm. I’ve also seen hundreds of them in Fashion Valley on a weekend (which has many stores selling designer goods).
These customers are paying in cash. The vast majority do not have US-based addresses to get American credit cards. How can they do this, you ask?? They have the best of both worlds. One or more adults from their household are working in SD County and they live in Mexico, crossing the border daily with Sentry passes for work and leisure.
You have to understand that a typical SFR rent or mortgage in MX is $275 – $675 month. And that is only for the 50% or so portion that DON’T own their houses outright. Depending on where they live, they often don’t have homeowners insurance or property taxes. They pay for medical care at a much lower cash price or forego it altogether (no insurance premiums). They don’t have fibre optic in the streets and access to 500 channels to pay for like we do. The law in MX only requires them to carry $3000 in liability insurance on their vehicles (total of property damage and medical pymts). They bring these limits of liability with them into the US nearly every day.
Do these millions of shoppers have discretionary income and are they influenced by American trends and fashion shown on television and in magazines? Yes and yes.
Remember that Mexicans come in all shades of caucasian! It’s impossible to tell visiting Mexicans from Americans. You might just be seeing a cultural phenomenon that is easily explained by where SD lies on the map!
I believe that in many ways they have it better than us.
