As San Diego Metropolitan’s Best of Baja has evolved over the last year, it has become a must-read for much of the business community not only in San Diego but Baja. The quarterly section itself is an outgrowth of “The Connection,” which is celebrating its 11th year of publication.

Because the articles are written to inform and update the regional investment community, Baja businesses are learning, for the first time in some cases, about projects in their own back yard. They also are discovering fresh insight into what is important to their cross-border business communities, and then using that information to formulate business proposals or adapt existing strategies.

A clear example is the growth of title insurance from U.S.-based firms for property purchases by American buyers. This practice gained momentum in Baja and has since spread to the rest of Mexico. We first began to push the concept in a June 2001 article — “How to Buy in Mexico” — prior to the current Baja real estate boom. We discovered an audience hungry for information on the subject and came back at it several times.

Although U.S. title insurance companies already were offering coverage, Mexican real estate developers were not terribly interested. However, once noticing that U.S. buyers clamored for this service, developer resistance evaporated.

Our relationships in Baja are such that La Frontera, arguably the best and best-selling Spanish language newspaper in Baja, distributes the magazine as a Sunday insert to subscribers in Tijuana’s highest income residential neighborhoods. Those readers have in turn communicated ideas and suggestions to us.

Baja is in a state of change, one that will bring more prosperity to its citizens and provide many opportunities for businesses and individuals on both sides of the border.

This column will continue to report on Baja’s news and trends. We already are working on proposed developments such as El Tigre, where federal permits have been granted for the building of a cargo airport; and Punta Colonet, a major sea port that would comprise 1,851 acres, 18 1,300-foot berths, railroads to Mexicali, Nogales, Agua Prieta and Ciudad Juarez. Then there’s the new push to promote “medical tourism” in Tijuana along with senior assisted-living facilities in Tijuana and Rosarito Beach. News you can use, on both sides of the border, remains our priority and my personal commitment.

Patrick Osio Jr. can be reached at posiojr@sandiegometro.com. The veteran consultant also has issued The Mexican Perspective, an intensive primer on business culture and protocol. Copies are available at hispanicvista.com/sales/book_sale.htm.