Puerto Plata is a sh!t hole and not at all representative of the DR or the Dominicanos. I am so thankful I lived in the Campo, and in a real Dominican town when we first moved here. Puerto Plata, Sosua, and Cabarete are so heavily based on tourism and expats that it attracts the slimiest of people. The motoconchos are just nasty, the vendors, and people just 'hanging out' are only their to **** you over. It is part of the culture on the North Coast.
If you go inland, just a little bit, it is completely different. An entirely different breed of person. When we were in Imbert, we could go out and no one hassled us, motoconchos didn't scream "change" at you. They were curious, but that is it. People were friendly, interested in getting to know us, and weren't looking to get money from us. A group of guy stopped their dominoes game to physically lift my wife's broken car out of the mud, and change the tire. Just to help, or maybe for something to do. I've been invited into homes for dinner, homes of people who hardly had four standing walls.
Any place the tourists and expats DON'T go, is where you find the normal Dominicans. They still like their booze, dominoes, and sex... But, they don't treat foreigners like cash cows.