Best neighborhood in Santo Domingo

Too Much Traffic In Both Those Areas!!!!!

Give me Arroyo Hondo ANYDAY!!!!!
I hardly ever cross "La Kennedy",and virtually never,"La 27 de Feb."!
Thank GOD!

Los Pinos

Los Pinos is extremely nice (in my opinion the best), but also extremely expensinve.

Los Cacicazgos

Criss Colon said:

Give me Arroyo Hondo ANYDAY!!!!!
I hardly ever cross "La Kennedy",and virtually never,"La 27 de Feb."!
Thank GOD!

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Hehe even if you tried you might die in the elephant size potholes before getting out of Arroyo Hondo.

Los Cacicazgos and Piantini are far and above ANYTHING in the city. Arroyo Hondo has some decent areas, but it's mostly inhabited so densely because the land is dirt cheap......the condition of the streets/infrastructure out there is so poor I'd avoid it....

Surely this is completely subjective? I could name at least five neighbourhoods that are all very different yet qualify in different categories.

Zona Colonial for its nightlife, character and history.
Gazcue for shady streets and relative pedestrian-friendliness.
Ciudad Nueva for location and cool architecture.
Mirador Sur and Bella Vista for location and proximity to park.
Any of the upscale neighbourhoods north of 27 for location, luxury apartments, restaurants and shopping.

etc.

All of these have strong disadvantages as well: it really depends on what you like and what your needs are.

I Think I Made a Mistake!!! Who Me???

After re-reading Robert Rules for this "BEST OF" Forum,I think we are NOT supposed to post ouR "Mine Is Bigger/Better Than Yours"! comments after someones post,But Make out own "Best Of" post!
Please tell us "Oh Great One",for we are not worthy!!!
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Criss Colon said:

After re-reading Robert Rules for this "BEST OF" Forum,I think we are NOT supposed to post ouR "Mine Is Bigger/Better Than Yours"! comments after someones post,But Make out own "Best Of" post!
Please tell us "Oh Great One",for we are not worthy!!!
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Well , I disagree. That means that if I want to find out what's the best turkey bath in town I would have to read 10 zillion threads. Why not put everything in just one?

Of course, now I'll probably get my post deleted.

Pib said:

Well , I disagree. That means that if I want to find out what's the best turkey bath in town I would have to read 10 zillion threads. Why not put everything in just one?

Of course, now I'll probably get my post deleted.

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Simple, threads will end up like this.

I would rather have 10 zillion threads that stay on topic and only deal with the business or place established in the first post, than a 100 threads that ramble on and it takes you forever to work out what's what.

If you think the Zona Colonial is the best part of town, start the thread and people can post in that thread why the "Colonial Zone" is the best.

This forum is a few hours old, it's going to take time to bash out the bumps

Piantini vs. all else

Piantini has many advantages but one huge disadvantage - - it is a flood plain. During heavy rains it becomes a lake district. Many residents live in high rises - - but their cars don't. Traffic and proximity to things like the Acropolis and its two-story, one half block size generator are not pluses either. The poster whos said this is very subjective is right and of course any one block in Arroyo Hondo, Los Prados, Los Rios, or El Millon can be much better or worse than any one block in those or any other neighborhoods. I am enjoying the many opinions, keep them coming.

I See What You Mean!

But I think that the ONLY way you are going to get One Post per Customer,is to have the post "Self Close" after each "Best Of:" is posted.You are asking too much of "US"!

Criss Colon said:

But I think that the ONLY way you are going to get One Post per Customer,is to have the post "Self Close" after each "Best Of:" is posted.You are asking too much of "US"!

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Don't worry, it will evolve over time

The best neighborhood is a category that, besides the fact that people can always argue about what they LIKE, has its own "rules". What makes the best neighborhood? It has to be clean, quiet, in a good location (near of important places) and stuff like that. In my opinion, Piantini is a nice place, with beautiful, expensive buildings. But since its in the center of the city (the "poligono central"), it has the worse traffic of the D. N. Just think of Churchill, Kennedy, Lincoln and 27, every morning at 7:30-8:30 and 5:30-7:30 at noon, and you'll agree with me.

Arroyo Hondo is, THE neighborhood for rich people in the DR. It has that fame. It has to be the place with the highest income per cap in this country. Or at least it was before Cacicazgos came along. AH hasn't too many buildings, but has most of the biggest houses around here. But as someone said here before me, the condition of the streets/infrastructure out there is poor. Some of the areas are pretty much isolated(?) and it can be pretty scary to drive, dont even mention walk, at night. Besides, it has not many commerce areas.

Gazcue is a memory from the past. It was the neighborhood of wealthy people during the tirany of Trujillo. Has some of the best architechture of the city, with many trees and pedestrian-friendly streets. But its a boring place to live. Its also partialy unsafe.

Now enter Cacicazgos. It's a breathtaking place to be. It has some of the biggest, most beautiful houses of the city, along with many of the coolest residencial buildings of the area. But it's for two special things the cacicazgos is, for me, the nicest place to be: The Mirador and the Anacaona Ave. I mean, just driving everyday trhough the Anacaona is an experience itself. The view of the mirador at one hand, and a batch of coolest buildings at the other, with most of the embassies located here, its an exclusive experience in Santo Domingo. Cacicazgos is minutes away from SD Country Club, the herrera intnl airport, bella vista mall, and places like that. It is quiet, clean, safe, near of everything, but not so near that you have to face heavy traffic to get in or out, and stuff like that.

Cacicazgos is THE best neighborhood of SD. It is middle upper/high class neighborhood. Not to remote or difficult to access on peak heavy traffic hours as Arroyo Hondo or Los Pinos, Piantini, Naco, Vergel, etc...,near the beautiful Parque Mirador Sur, and also very quiet, away from the noise and daily scum of the city, beautiful luxury houses and buildings.

Oche said:

Cacicazgos is THE best neighborhood of SD. It is middle upper/high class neighborhood. Not to remote or difficult to access on peak heavy traffic hours as Arroyo Hondo or Los Pinos, Piantini, Naco, Vergel, etc...,near the beautiful Parque Mirador Sur, and also very quiet, away from the noise and daily scum of the city, beautiful luxury houses and buildings.

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Yep Cacicazgos best by far for families in the DR. Piantini best by far for young couples or singles by far.

And the entire country becomes a lake when it rains, I suggest you TRY to get through 70% of Arroyo Hondo after a hard rain. It's CRAZY unless you have a LandCruiser. If you don't have the huge potholes memorized you may end up in a 4 foot deep pot hole/lake.

I have a bunch of friends who live/used to live in Arroyo Hondo and getting to their houses was a horrific experience after it rained........and usually I made them come to my place.

THE neighborhood in Santo Domingo...not Caz, AH, or Piantini...

GilbertArenas said:

Yep Cacicazgos best by far for families in the DR. Piantini best by far for young couples or singles by far.

And the entire country becomes a lake when it rains, I suggest you TRY to get through 70% of Arroyo Hondo after a hard rain. It's CRAZY unless you have a LandCruiser. If you don't have the huge potholes memorized you may end up in a 4 foot deep pot hole/lake.

I have a bunch of friends who live/used to live in Arroyo Hondo and getting to their houses was a horrific experience after it rained........and usually I made them come to my place.

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My opinion on this subject is based on the fact the neighborhood I most prefer has the best of what is mentioned as positives in this thread: large houses, trees, good infrastructure, tranquility, absence of traffic, and convenient location, and very few of the negatives mentioned: noise, traffic, potholes, scary streets, overpopulation. My choice: Los Rios.

I will leave it to the experts to debate the relative merits of my position...

I have lived in the "Naco" section,And Have friends in Piantini & "Los CasiCAGO"!

I prefer my neighborhood,"Las Colinas" de Arroyo Hondo.No cars,no trucks,no "motores" or "publicos" where I live.I have 650 sq meters of land,fruit and shade trees.I have the Zoo as one neighbor,and "La Puya" for another!!! I like being near to the "La Puya Orchard"! Lots of fresh young "Fruit" to pick!!!!
As has been stated,"One man's trash,is another man's treasure! I am only 5 minutes from where I work.I go home for lunch and a "siesta" most days.With a "commute" time of 10 minutes back and forth.Who can say that?

"Arroyo Hondo" BEST,among equals!

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can anyone tell me is Prados del Este still exist? The last time I went to Santo Domingo it was next to the Airport Las Americas pass the tolls before the bridge, I am not familiar with the area but I bought a lot there about 20 years ago and want to know if the place still exist. Also La Caleta was nearby

My vote goes for Gazcue -- I would vote for the Colonial zone if I owned a Colonial era house, but that is not the case. I love Gazcue for its trees and shady avenues, its beautiful architecture, its proximity to everything, its history, its easy connection to the rest of the city (just step out on the Bolivar, and you catch a concho if you need to travel far, or just walk to places, practically everything you need is found nearby), and a host of other little advantages. I dont agree at all that it is boring -- well, it is residential (though converting quickly to offices), so the nightlife is not found here, but close enough so that you can walk. And unsafe? Not really. Piantini had a string of violent robbery/assaults just a few months ago, and in the Mirador park joggers were being mugged. We havent experienced anything like that -- but there have been burglaries, yes. Still I dont find it any unsafer than the other nabes listed here.

Chris Colon: your life sounds ideal! Reduce the commute, lunch/siesta at home. I pretty much have a similar routine. But the views out there near you are pretty fine!