As stated several, or maybe many times, tourist areas are relatively safe, as long as the tourists themselves don't do crazy sh*t. For the most part they don't, and whatever may occur can be said with any place in the world.
The difference is where expats choose to settle. Now that is a different story. We also need to seperate towns/municipalities/cities from the provinces. Yes, it does make a difference.
Before this SanPedroGringo was as such, he was a SanJuanGringo. I'd watch the Telemicro news every night, and they would have their San Juan segment speaking of all kinds of horrible acts. I had no clue as to where these places were, because I was in the "municipal" of San Juan....but the rest of the province was huge! Now, here in San Pedro, which I know like the back of my hand, there are times some atrocity is mentioned, and I haven't a clue as to where it is. Ya know, I guess the same could be said about my old hometown. Back OT, maybe Puerto Plata is just a really big province. Regardless, everybody should try to stay safe.