Los Algodones

i recently visited and was impressed at the easy access to a border town.  A large parking lot is adjacent to the border crossing and is well suited to crossing the border on foot.  Parking is owned by an Indian Tribe which has no competition.  $6/day for supervised (and presumably 'safe")  IS reasonable, though.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Algodones

As the article probably says, the town is popular with USA citizens seeking low cost medical care.  The plastic surgery, dental, eye care, and prescription drugs are good examples of business thriving there.

I was shopping for prescription drugs.  During COVID, I had trouble seeing my doctor in order to renew prescriptions.  So, I made several trips, over a year or so, to buy in Mexico.  One of my four blood pressure drugs was hard to find on the other side of the Texas border.  A pharmacy in Los Algodones was able to supply that drug.  Total time in doing the Los Algodones crossing was less than two hours.  Los Algondes has the reputation of being one of the safest of the border towns.  My observation supports that.  When I went, a year or so ago, to Matamoros (across from Brownsville), I was astonished at the business stagnation.  Rumors are that the town is mostly controlled by Mexican criminals.  To a lesser extent, that seems true about many other Texas border towns.  Nuevo Laredo is still a very nice place to walk across but the tourist business is very poor.  I intend to visit Reynosa in the next year or so.

If a reader knows the meaning of "Algodones", please comment.