American teenagers once loved this border city's neon-lit, disco-infused nightclub strip - a lawless playground that served up tequila shots and all-you-can-drink specials, no matter your age.
These days, the party's coming to a sobering end.Public health advocates, together with police on both sides of the border, are celebrating the first anniversary of their crackdown on border binge drinking, dubbed Operation Safe Crossing.
While many San Diego-area college students - most too young to drink legally in California but old enough to get drunk in Mexico - still proclaim the Avenida Revolucion strip an ideal party destination, authorities are pleased with the progress they've made stopping high-schoolers.
Because of ID checks at the U.S. border, fewer would-be partiers are heading to Revolucion's 30-odd bars and discos, which translates into fewer fights and drunken drivers, officials say.
About 20 percent fewer Americans are going to Tijuana to drink this year than last year, said James Baker, executive director of the San Diego-based Institute for Health Advocacy, an organization studying the problem.
San Diego and state police have worked harder to enforce the law barring Americans under 18 from crossing the border without parental permission.
On Friday night, the start of Labor Day weekend this year, 99 minors were detained for trying to cross the border and letters were sent to their parents. On Saturday night, 140 minors were denied entrance to Mexico.