Tijuana EDC and MEDevice San Diego Offer Free Tour of Baja Medical Manufacturing Facilities

By: MEDevice San Diego

Source: www.heraldonline.com


the Tijuana Economic Development Corporation and MEDevice San Diego will host a free guided bus tour of two medical manufacturing facilities in Baja California. The trip, which shows how medical manufacturers are taking advantage of cross-border manufacturing opportunities, includes tours of Greatbatch Medical and Fisher & Paykel. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. The bus trip departs from San Diego the morning of September 18, 2012, arriving at the first facility at 11:00 a.m. The bus leaves Baja at 3:30 p.m., returning to San Diego at around 5:30 p.m. The tour is free for all registered attendees of MEDevice Forum San Diego. After registering for MEDevice, visit the Calibaja Manufacturing Facility Tour Page and sign up for the tour.

Border Week: Bizet's Carmen in Tijuana rodeo

By: Sandra Dibble

Source: www.utsandiego.com

TIJUANA — A rodeo in Playas de Tijuana will be the setting for a production of the Georges Bizet four-act opera "Carmen" sponsored by Tijuana's Municipal Institute of Art and Culture (IMAC) and Mexico’s National Council for Culture and the Arts

The opera brings together accomplished musicians with international experience. Some first honed their skills in Tijuana, including music director Armando Pesqueira, head of the Chihuahua State Philharmonic Orchestra, stage director José Medina, artistic director of the Tijuana Opera, and soprano Monica Abrego, currently based in New York City.

Foreign correspondence: Mexico offers everything from pyramids and ecotourism to tequila

By: John Bordsen

Source: www.sacbee.com

What's it like to live in a far-off place most of us see only on a vacation? Foreign Correspondence is an interview with someone who lives in a spot you may want to visit.

Gloria Guevara, 44, is Mexico's Minister of Tourism. The graduate of Northwestern University and Mexico City's Universidad Anahuac was formerly an executive with Sabre, the travel technology corporation.

Budget Travel: Mexico's Next “It” Destinations

By: Julie Schwietert Collazo

Source: latino.foxnews.com

Though the resort towns of Mexico's Pacific and Caribbean coasts are frequently visited by Americans, most of the country's interior—all 1,220,610 square miles of it—is barely on travelers' radar screens. Lack of awareness about Mexico's vastness and its diverse geography are two of the most persistent challenges the country faces with respect to tourism.

In recent years, tourism officials have tried to respond to those challenges in many ways, from emphasizing overlooked destinations in its “Mexico: The Place You Thought You Knew” ad campaign to meeting with US Department of State officials to advocate for greater geographic specificity and political context in its travel alerts about Mexico.

Mexico Recognized as “Tourism Board of The Year” by Virtuoso Luxury Travel Network

By: Susie Albin-Najera

Source: themexicoreport.com

LAS VEGAS – The Mexico Tourism Board was honored by renowned luxury travel network, Virtuoso, with the first-ever “Virtuoso Tourism Board of the Year” award.  Mexico was bestowed the award for its bold diversification and promotion strategy, creative advertising campaigns, and robust industry partnerships.

Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism, Gloria Guevara, accompanied by Mexico Tourism Board Chief Operating Officer, Rodolfo Lopez-Negrete, accepted the award at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas yesterday evening. The ceremony formed the centerpiece of “Virtuoso Travel Week”, a major luxury travel trade fair attended by more than four thousand industry experts from 85 countries hosting approximately 350,000 business meetings, representing the largest attendance at this event in the past 24 years.

Google Mexico offers virtual visits to archaeological sites

By: Fox News Latino

Source: latino.foxnews.com

Cybernauts will be able to take virtual strolls through 30 Mexican archaeological sites using Google Mexico's Street View platform, Mexican cultural authorities said.

The 360-degree virtual view of these archaeological sites, which include Teotihuacan, Xochicalco, Monte Alban, Chichen Itza, Tulum, Palenque, Tula and Paquime, allows them to be explored down to the last corner.

Mexico: 3 Names to Know in an Ignored Emerging Market

By: Charles Sizemore

Source: www.investorplace.com

Mexico gets no love. It’s not quite a developed market, but being next door to the U.S., it’s not quite remote or exotic enough to be an alluring emerging market, either. And starting with the letter “M,” it doesn’t fit into any popular acronyms.

Lest you think I’m joking, the four BRIC countries — Brazil, Russia, India and China — have nothing in common other than the fact that their first letters make a word that sounds good in marketing literature. Mexico, Turkey and Indonesia would all have been better choices than Russia because all three are promising emerging markets, whereas Russia is a decrepit petrostate on the decline. But it’s hard to form an acronym with their first letters.

Mexico Shares Are on a Roll

By: Laurence Ilif and Georgia Wells

Source: online.wjs.com

Earlier this year, Mexican shares were driven higher largely by investors cheering the July election of incoming President Enrique Peña Nieto and the promise of market-friendly changes. Now the rally is showing more staying power as investors zero in on manufacturing-driven economic growth, the widening regional footprint of some Mexican companies and expectations of an expansion of consumer credit—even though Mexico's close ties to the U.S. economy remain a concern, many investors and analysts say.

Ensenada Wine Valley Explodes!

Source: www.bajabound.com

The wine producing regions of Baja, like wine itself, have gotten better with age. In the past few years there has been an explosion of creative juices flowing south of the border as new and exciting wineries and wines are popping up seemingly overnight. Some have called it the 'renaissance of Baja's wine country' and the excitement is growing.

Vino Mexico!
Head to Valle de Guadalupe for upscale wineries, chic hotels and a south-of-the-border answer to the French Laundry

By Katie McLaughlin | The Wall Street Journal TRAVEL

WE WERE WATCHING the kids swim in his backyard pool in Los Angeles when my friend Juan Carlos, who grew up in Tijuana, began raving about a life-altering bowl of chicken soup he'd recently eaten.

"It was at the Mexican version of the French Laundry," he said. "You know—a fancy, farm-to-table place in the middle of Mexican wine country."

I had no idea, I sheepishly admitted, there was wine country in Mexico, nor anything resembling the French Laundry. But Valle de Guadalupe is a Mediterranean microclimate in Baja California where wine has been produced for more than a century, and it's in the midst of the kind of winemaking and tourism renaissance that Napa Valley experienced in the 1970s.

For Baja California Winemakers, It’s Fiesta Time

By Maya Kroth | KPBS

While driving to Ensenada one recent Saturday, I passed billboards advertising no fewer than five foodie festivals: The festival of cheese and bread; the festival of seafood and shellfish—even a festival devoted entirely to salads and salad dressings. But it’s a paella competition that brings me south of the border today.

“If we win we get to go to the big contest in Valle de Guadalupe in the last weekend of August,” said Montserrat Vildósola, an architect from Mexico City and amateur paella chef. “There’s a contest where 100 paelleros go, and this is the contest you have to win in order to be able to contest there.”


Guadalupe Valley aims for domestic, international wine prominence

By Loic Hostetter | UT San Diego

ENSENADA — Guadalupe Valley, the most famous wine-producing area in Mexico, plays host to vintners of every stripe — from establishments turning out millions of bottles a year to those making just a few hundred.

Those products are being widely circulated, and sampled, this month as visitors hit the Baja “wine route” and nearby Ensenada during the annual Vendimia (wine harvest) festival. The 17-day event, which ends Sunday, is expected to draw more than 50,000 people, according to the Baja California tourism secretary.


Wine Country: Valle De Guadalupe

By Crossing South

In this episode, we’ll visit the famous wine country of Baja. Valle de Guadalupe is just North of Ensenada and is the Napa Valley of Mexico. Visit the harvest festival, wine taste, get to know the wine owners, and learn about the Russian history behind it all.

DaMarcus Beasley: I encourage more Americans to play in Mexico

By: Eric Gomez

Source: sports.yahoo.com

TIJUANA -- It only took an ill-timed slide and just 20 minutes on the Estadio Caliente's artificial turf for DaMarcus Beasley's tendinitis to flare up again. That was a month ago, and thankfully for Club Puebla and Beasley, the injury did not keep the American winger out for long. Despite the limited appearance in Tijuana last July, Beasley got a good look at Xolos de Tijuana and its American stars, mainly midfielder Joe Corona, who Beasley can now call his teammate after both players were penciled in by Jurgen Klinsmann for Wednesday's friendly against Mexico at the Estadio Azteca.

CONTINUE READING AT YAHOO SPORTS.....

Vino Mexico!

By: Katy McLaughlin

Source: online.wsj.org

WE WERE WATCHING the kids swim in his backyard pool in Los Angeles when my friend Juan Carlos, who grew up in Tijuana, began raving about a life-altering bowl of chicken soup he'd recently eaten.

"It was at the Mexican version of the French Laundry," he said. "You know—a fancy, farm-to-table place in the middle of Mexican wine country."

I had no idea, I sheepishly admitted, there was wine country in Mexico, nor anything resembling the French Laundry. But Valle de Guadalupe is a Mediterranean microclimate in Baja California where wine has been produced for more than a century, and it's in the midst of the kind of winemaking and tourism renaissance that Napa Valley experienced in the 1970s.

A decade ago, the area was mostly known in the wine scene for being home to L.A. Cetto, a huge maker of mid-market wines—the Mexican version of E. & J. Gallo. Today Valle de Guadalupe boasts scores of artisanal wineries; the region's wine has improved and become trendy enough to be served in fashionable Mexico City restaurants. Top chefs are opening eateries in the area, and several stylish boutique hotels have been built in the past few years.

It sounded irresistible, so a few months later, I found myself caravanning, with Juan Carlos, his wife and my husband in one car, another couple of friends in theirs, across the Mexican border and south on the Tijuana-Ensenada Cuota toward Valle de Guadalupe, a 3½-hour ride from L.A.

We ditched our plan to drive directly to the valley when Juan Carlos pointed out Bar Villa Ortega, his favorite spot in Puerto Nuevo, for Pacific lobster, placemat-size flour tortillas and micheladas—pressed lemon over ice with beer in a salt-rimmed glass. We sat on a spacious covered patio built on a bluff, making us feel like we were eating on the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

For Baja California Winemakers, It’s Fiesta Time

By: Talea Miller

Source: www.pbs.org

While driving to Ensenada one recent Saturday, I passed billboards advertising no fewer than five foodie festivals: The festival of cheese and bread; the festival of seafood and shellfish—even a festival devoted entirely to salads and salad dressings. But it’s a paella competition that brings me south of the border today.

“If we win we get to go to the big contest in Valle de Guadalupe in the last weekend of August,” said Montserrat Vildósola, an architect from Mexico City and amateur paella chef. “There’s a contest where 100 paelleros go, and this is the contest you have to win in order to be able to contest there.”

Vildósola’s team is one of about a dozen competing today for a spot in the big paella contest that closes out the grandaddy of all Baja gastronomic festivals: the Fiestas de la Vendimia. That’s Spanish for harvest parties, and they’re happening now in Ensenada’s lush Guadalupe Valley wine country, a bucolic place where horses graze amid scenic vineyards surrounded by majestic purple mountains.

“Baja produces about 90 percent of the wine from Mexico,” said Joaquín Prieto, current president of Provino, the coalition of winemakers that coordinates the Vendimia. “Climate is the prime thing. We have the Pacific cold and the heat of the valley so it creates a microclimate.”

Take the plunge into Mexico's underwater museum

By: Hello Magazine

Source: www.hellomagazine.com 

It's not just flurries of brightly coloured fish that you'll spot whilst swimming the warm, turquoise waters off the coast of Cancun. 

Just a short kick of the flippers away from Mexico's famous diving spot, Manchones Reef, you'll find a collection of over 400 underwater statues that comprise one of the world's most unusual museums, the Cancun Underwater Museum.

Despite being an artistic project, the park has conservation at is core. It is an attempt to ease some of the swimming traffic away from the reefs suffering under the strain of tourism.  

The permanent collection of life-size sculptures features a range of scenes, from everyday life above water to iconic events such as the Last Supper. Other more artistic scenes include the Phoenix – the museum's first kinetic structure of a woman with purple coral wings. 

You don't need to be a deep sea diving expert to enjoy the museum. There are two galleries – one deep and one shallow – and the latter exclusively welcomes snorkelers. If you don't fancy taking the plunge, you can take a ride in a glass bottomed boat and catch all the action from the surface. 

The waters off the coast of Cancun are some of the best in the world. Jason Decaires Taylor, the artist behind the project, designed the sculptures from ph neutral clay in order to stimulate the growth of coral reef and marine life.

Sun, Beach and Relaxation

By: VisitMexico

Source: www.visitmexico.com

Mexico industry output grows at fastest pace in 9 months

By: Reuters

Source: in.reuters.com

Mexico 4, Brazil 2: Football and economics

By: The Economist

Source: www.chicagotribune.com

Does Mexico's victory over Brazil in Olympic football foreshadow the two countries' economic futures?

Congratulations are due to Mexico, which on August 11th won its first gold medal in the London Olympics, beating Brazil in the men's football final. After 93 frantic minutes, the final score was 2-1 to Mexico. Mass celebrations followed in Mexico City.

This blogs headline isn't a misprint, but a reference to the score in a longer-term competition: economic growth. In recent years Brazil has outplayed Mexico, growing at 6% or more as Mexico bumped along in the slow lane. But lately that has changed. Last year Mexico grew by 4% and Brazil by 2.7%. This year Mexico is expected to get close to 4% again, whereas some economists reckon that Brazil's rate could dip below 2%. A recent report by Nomura predicted that Mexico's economy, currently half the size of Brazils, could end up the bigger of the two within the next decade.

One reason for the turnaround is China. Its growth has been a boon to Brazilian commodity exporters (who have made a fortune feeding the Chinese economy) and a headache for Mexican manufacturers (who face stiffer competition from Chinese companies in the United States). But with China slowing down, the tables are turned. Demand for Brazilian commodities is cooling, and Mexico is regaining an edge in its main market. The gradual recovery of the American economy will help Mexico further.

Cross-border pollution pact to be signed

By: Gary Martin

Source: www.mysanantonio.com/news

WASHINGTON — An eight-year environmental pact to reduce air, water and chemical pollution along the U.S.-Mexico border will be signed by dignitaries from both countries, Environmental Protection Agency officials said Tuesday.

The pact, "Border 2020: U.S.-Mexico Environmental Program," will be officially unveiled by EPA Director Lisa Jackson and Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, Mexico's secretary of environmental and natural resources, at a Wednesday news conference in Tijuana.

The signing of the pact was applauded by U.S. officials who have worked over a year to develop the agreement.

"We must ensure we provide a clean, safe and healthy environment to people on both sides of the border," said Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas.

Officials from all 10 U.S. and Mexican states sharing the 1,969-mile international border, as well as the leaders from indigenous tribes, took part in developing the environmental plan, an EPA spokeswoman said.

The eight-year program is a bi-national agreement that calls for significant reductions in air and water pollution, and improvements in children's health, in the border region, according to the EPA.

A Visit To The ‘Fiestas De La Vendimia’

By: Alisa Barba

Source: www.fronterasdesk.org

SAN DIEGO — There was a time when San Diegans like myself would regularly go down for dinner in TJ, as Tijuana is known here, to take in a bullfight, search out carnitas, drive down the blue sparkling coast for golf or some luscious Mexican lobsters at La Fonda.

But that was a decade ago, before post-Sept. 11 border security created multi-hour border wait times for the return; before grisly cartel violence dominated the headlines, and certainly, for me, before kids and their activities sucked up all the spare time it took to travel south. Still, I’ve been dying to check out the emerging wine and food scene in Baja, and finally had a chance this past weekend.

The excuse: the Fiestas de la Vendimia, Baja California’s 22nd annual wine harvest festival. Conjured up by tourism officials and some of the some nearly 70 local wineries around Ensenada, the festival is a two-week-long celebration of wine and food, with events including concerts, wine tastings, and art exhibitions scattered among the seven beautiful wine-producing valleys between Ensenada and Tecate.

This year’s festival -– which runs from Aug. 3-19 -- officially began with the inauguration by Mexican President Felipe Calderon of the spectacular Museo del la Vid Y El Vino (Museum of Vine and Wine), located on the Ruta del Vino road that connects Ensenada with Tecate.

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The Beach House Hotel is 5 miles south of downtown Ensenada, near Estero Beach. Built in 1995 the structure is made from block with wood framing. The roof is a composite roll roof that is covered with decorative broken red roof tiles. The entire structure is stucco finished. The foundation of the property is designed and built to carry three stories and the plans for expansion to 45 rooms total are available.

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Ensenada gymnast making Olympic history for Mexico

By: Mark Zeigler

Source: www.utsandiego.com

LONDON — Daniel Corral is a Mexican gymnast from a small gym in the dusty Baja California town of Ensenada, which immediately elicits the question: What in the name of the pommel horse is he doing in London for the Olympics?

“To be honest,” Corral says, “I still ask this question every day.”

He is the first Mexican male gymnast to qualify for an Olympics in two decades and could become the first Latin American athlete, male or female, to win a gymnastics medal when he goes in the parallel bars individual apparatus final Tuesday at O2 Arena.

Corral is not among the favorites, but only eight men qualified for the final and crazy things happen when you mix human beings with the crucible of competition with two long wooden bars set 17 inches apart and 6½ feet off the ground. And it’s not like Corral hasn’t beaten major odds already. He’s from Mexico. He’s a gymnast.

“In Mexico, gymnastics was gone for 20 years,” says Corral, 22. “Right now, my coach and I are the only team. We’re the (national) team. Sometimes it’s been us against all of Mexico, against the federation, against plenty of people. But the only thing that matters is what my coach and I think.

“This is the result of it, and I’m happy about it.”

Corral became a gymnast because his older sister was, training with Steve Butcher at the Mission Valley YMCA. He was a rambunctious kid and his mother figured it was better to drain his bottomless reservoirs of energy on the vault runway than, as he puts it, “doing some things at our house that moms are not very happy with.”

Eventually, Mexican coach Oscar Aguirre moved from the YMCA to the Ensenada gym and they have been together ever since, forging a new legacy in a sport that had vanished like chalk dust after Luis Lopez finished 57th in the individual all-around at the 1992 Olympics. Corral was 2.

Mexico Inaugurates Wine Museum, Wine Route Highway Upgrades

By: Mexidata

Source: www.mexidata.info

Presidency of the Republic

During the inauguration of the Baja California Vine and Wine Museum, Mexican President Felipe Calderón remarked that the museum will also operate as a convention center that will trigger further economic and cultural activity in the Ensenada-Valle de Guadalupe region. He hoped that both national and foreign tourists would visit it and discover the region's wine-making tradition, a deep source of pride for Mexico.

The new museum, built with $5.3 million in state and federal funds, is at the 81-kilometer marker of the road linking Tecate and Ensenada.

Calderón noted that the museum required the combined efforts of the federal government, CONACYT, the state government, and Casa Cetto, with a total investment of 76 million pesos.

The president said that in order to support the industry, the Program to Support the Wine Industry (Proviti) was implemented this year, which will have a 50 million peso fund. The program will provide wine makers with access to support or financing of between 250,000 and 500,000 pesos to invest in production, investment and training projects, studies and consultancy.

The president's visit coincided with Fiestas de la Vendimia, Baja California's annual harvest celebration that [is now taking place and] includes concerts, dinners and wine tastings at the different wineries.

Border week: Exhibit of Tijuana artist Benjamin Serrano

By: Sandra Dibble

Source: www.utsandiego.com

Long before the current generation of Tijuana artists began commanding international attention, there was Benjamin Serrano.

An exhibit of 55 pieces by the late Tijuana artist (1938-1988) opens on Friday at 7 p.m. the El Cubo Gallery of Tijuana's Cultural Center (Cecut). It includes sculptures and paintings never before on display in the city.

Serrano, who for a time studied in Paris, "is the first artist on the border that puts Tijuana in the international sphere," said curator olgaMargarita Davila.

The exhibit is scheduled through November. There is no admission charge to attend the inauguration. Normal entrance fees to El Cubo are $3.50.

Other notable events in the Baja California region from Monday, Aug. 6 through Sunday, Aug. 12th incude the following:

Thursday: The pioneering Tijuana punk rock band Mercado Negro performs at the old City Hall on Avenida Constitución and Second Street starting at 6 p.m. Free.

Thursday: Ensenada Street Art Festival celebrating young artists and groups that focus on unconventional art, including mimes, acrobats, performance artists, and painting on concrete. Includes performances by rock bands. Starts at 5 p.m. outside the Centro Estatal de las Artes. Free.

Friday: Festival featuring Baja California wines, local musical groups and food at Bodegas de Santo Tomás in Ensenada at Miramar 666, Zona Centro. Starting at 2 p.m. Free. (The event is part of the Fiestas de la Vendimia, a series of events celebrating the annual grape harvest. Through Aug. 19.)

Sanoviv is also a place for healthy people looking to stay healthy for the rest of their lives

By: Sanoviv

Source: www.sanoviv.com/medical-services/

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Mexico's Economy: Coming to Terms with China

By: Sean Goforth

Source: mexicotoday.org

Has China’s economic rise come at the expense of Mexico? To many casual observers and experts alike, the answer is yes. The International Economy, a trade journal, once concluded, “China is eating Mexico’s lunch.” “China competes with Mexico and buys from Brazil,” noted The New York Times on June 17. 

China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 marked the onset of a decade-long slowdown in Mexico, where economic growth averaged 1.8 percent annually. Foreign investment flocked to China, setting up factories where hourly wages were among the lowest in the world. Other factors supported China’s export-led growth model, including low fuel prices that allowed for profitable trans-Pacific shipment of manufactures. Seven years after NAFTA granted Mexico privileged access to the US market, Mexico’s position appeared undercut by China’s incorporation into the global economy. 

In some industries, such as clothing assembly, China certainly hurt Mexico. However, the impact has been more limited than widely supposed.  China and Mexico manufacture different classes of products, cheap baubles in the case of the former and heavy industrial goods in the case of the latter. Hence, as the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank put it in 2004: “There is little correlation between China’s gains and Mexico’s losses.”

The notion that Mexico simply lost out to a more productive China is even less persuasive as one moves toward present-day. From 2005-2010, the percentage of US imports from Mexico increased, from about 10 to 12 percent, as did China’s share, 14 to 17.5 percent. China’s gains accrued alongside Mexico’s gains, not at the expense of Mexico. (Over the same period, the percentage of US imports from Canada, Japan, Germany and Britain decreased.)

Instead, in this more recent period Mexico may have lost out by not having China as an investor. According to the UN Economic Commission on Latin America, China invested $1.1 billion in Mexican industry from 2003-2008, a sliver given the $25 billion it invested across Latin America in 2008 alone. In a list of China’s largest foreign investments in Latin America prior to 2009, Mexico is notably absent. 

Now, as the global economy shifts gears away from the commodity boom brought on by Asia’s rise, several trends behoove Mexico. China has absorbed most of its vast labor pool, driving up wages. Wages in southeastern China are increasing at 15 percent a year, and for the country as a whole worker pay is expected to double by 2015. Inflation is a worry as food prices and apartment rents shadow wage increases. As a result, the US Chamber of Commerce estimates that hourly wages in China are nearly on par with Mexico’s. 

Mexico's Stocks Open Higher, Peso Gains versus U.S. Dollar

By: Anthony Harrup

Source: online.wsj.com

MEXICO CITY--Mexico's stocks opened higher Monday in line with equities markets overseas, while the peso continued its recent positive run against the U.S. dollar.

The stock market's benchmark IPC index was up 0.2% at 41,071 points around 10:10 a.m. EDT, on volume of 18 million shares worth 485.7 million pesos ($37.2 million).

With the IPC near record levels in both nominal and dollar terms, upside potential is limited and the market remains vulnerable to renewed bouts of global volatility, Banco Santander said in a report.

The Mexican stock market has been one of the most defensive in the world, although the gains have also put it among the most expensive, Santander added.

Cement company Cemex (CEMEX.MX, CX) CPO shares were up 0.8% to MXN9.58, and retailer Wal-Mart de Mexico V shares were up 0.8% to MXN39.12. Brewer Modelo (GMODELO.MX, GPMCY) C shares were 0.9% lower at MXN118.51.

Mexico's peso continued to chalk up gains, after reaching its strongest close in three months following last Friday's better-than-expected U.S. payrolls report. The peso was trading in Mexico City at MXN13.0750 to the dollar, according to Infosel, compared with MXN13.1380 at the close Friday.

Banorte-Ixe said the peso's current level, given the vulnerability of emerging market currencies to global risk aversion, makes dollar positions attractive in the near term. The bank predicted a trading range of MXN13.00 to MXN13.45 for this week.

Rental Market Still Tightening: Moody’s

By: Miguelsmexico

Source: www.mexintl.com/blog/beaches

With vacancies declining and rental prices rising, the climate in the housing industry is clearly warming up to rental properties. According to Moody’s Analytics, “weak income gains, favorable demographics, and the foreclosure crises” are all causing people to choose renting over buying, and demand for rent will remain solid over the next two years.

Between 2000 and 2008, real per capita income grew at an annualized rate of 2 percent compared to 0.8 percent in 2010 and 2011, according to the report. In addition, many households simply don’t have enough for a down payment, and until households gain more in terms of finances or confidence in the economy, fears of homeownership won’t be put aside.

A survey released by Integra Realty Resources reported 31 percent of respondents said a lack of a down payment was the main reason holding them back from making a purchase, 24 percent said it was the fear of making a bad investment, and 21 percent said the uncertainty of the economy was the main reason.

Another reason the rental market is booming is because of the emergence of a younger age group heading households. The younger age group are the least likely to own a home and more likely to rent, according to Moody’s.

While the overall rental rate is 35 percent, the renter rate for those between the ages of 25-29 is nearly 65 percent, and for those under 24 years old, it is 77 percent, according to the Census Bureau.

And, growth for those between the ages of 20-29 is not likely to slow down, either. The report stated that this group has been growing at an average pace of 0.9 percent from 2007-2011 and grew only 0.3 percent between 1990 and 2006.

Harnessing the power of the ocean

By: Selene Aparicion

Source: www.renewableenergymexico.com

In the eternal search for alternative sources of energy, scientists throughout the world have turned their attention to the planet’s most abundant natural resource: the ocean. Wave and tidal power technologies, as renewable energy sources, represent large areas of untapped energy potential. This is no surprise. After all, the ocean covers 71% of the Earth’s surface and contains 97% of the planet’s water.

The sea offers a vast source of power and the energy contained in waves has the potential to produce up to 80,000 TWh of electricity per year—sufficient to meet our global energy demand five times over. When it comes to generating energy from the ocean, two types of energy forms exist: tidal power and wave power.

Tidal power, as the name clearly states, is generated from oceanic tides where the rise and fall of the sea level can be utilized to produce electricity. Tidal power is usually exploited through the construction of dams across tidal basins where a channel allows the tide to flow into the basin and the elevated water is transformed into electricity through conventional hydro power technologies such as turbines.

Wave power, on the other hand, utilizes the kinetic energy present in the movement of the ocean’s waves and this energy is then used to power a turbine. Renewable energy analysts believe there is enough energy in the ocean waves to provide up to 2 terawatts of instantaneous electricity (1 terawatt = 1 trillion watts), which is twice the electric generating capacity currently available throughout the world.

At present, Mexico is known for its beaches with clear blue water and white sand; however, now the country has the possibility to gain a different type of reputation for its sea-side spots. After a two year period from when the idea was first suggested, last month the CFE confirmed its plans to construct a wave power station in Rosarito, Baja California with an investment cost of 71.6 million MXP. The power station will have a generation capacity of 3 MW and will be constructed in a five-month period by Mareomotrices de Energías Renovables (Marersa), Integragas Telcorz and Grupo Nuhe. Construction began on June 2nd and the project is due for completion on December 10th of the current year.

Mexican president to visit Ensenada on Friday

By: SanDeigoRed.com

Source: www.sandiegored.com

STAFF.- The President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, will visit the Guadalupe Valley, in Ensenada, next Friday according to the Social Communications Department of the State Government.

Calderón will inaugurate the Wine Museum as well as meeting with local authorities to tackle border issues.

This will be the President's second visit to Baja California this year; his last visit was back in January for the ceremonial inauguration of the El Chaparral Bridge in Tijuana and to announce the first stage of the Strategic Economic Zone (ZEE in Spanish), a new tax exemption system for the region.