"Don’t be haters, it will look awesome!”

Tijuana’s National Chamber of Commerce has unveiled its plan to build a Tijuana sign on the hill of Cerro Colorado similar to the famed Hollywood sign in Los Angeles. The proposed sign will be similar in height, design, and plain white color. The only difference is that the letters will be illuminated by solar-powered randomly colored lamps.

Cerro Colorado — without the sign

Photo by Matthew Suárez

“What we are proposing is to encourage hiking, another motive to feel pride for our city, and for people to form the habit of taking a picture with the Tijuana letters,” said the president of the chamber Mario Escobedo Carignan to newspaper El Universal. “We are in talks for the authorization of the project on the ejido, in which we hope we can start soon.”

Ejido is an area of communal land. The project will cost four million pesos which is roughly $218,760. The chamber of commerce is expecting the funds from local businesses and the local government. They expect to build the sign three months after obtaining the funds.

The city mayor says he supports the project but that no public funds will be allocated for its construction.

The project has mostly been criticized in social media as a waste of money and lack of originality. Most commenters say money should go to fixing potholes or broken traffic signals and to respond to the insecurity the city has been suffering for over a year. Only a few comments out of hundreds deem it as a positive tourism incentive.

“It will be all tagged (graffiti) and I guarantee someone will steal a letter,” comments Angel Álvarez on my feed.

“Horrible idea, no originality in a city with so much talent. Waste of money when we have other priorities at hand like green and recreational spaces, schools, and hospitals,” comments Gilberto Herrera.

“Why is everyone getting mad that in Tijuana we put a sign that says TIJUANA? We are in Tijuana, aren’t we? Don’t be haters, it will look awesome!” comments Sebastian Farrugia.

This is not the first project Tijuana imitates from Hollywood. In 2014, the city was presented with El Paseo de las Estrellas, an imitation of Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. The project sought to cover all of Avenida Revolución’s sidewalk with stars. This project was not well received and is currently abandoned. The stars that were placed in front of Caesar’s Restaurant and Praga Cafe have been removed.