Old Dominican Republic, People And Places

[AlterEgo]

We’ve had threads in the past where we posted old images of DR, but many of the photo links are broken.

Anything posted should include location and approximate year, let’s consider “old” as prior to about 1980. These should be your own photos (if they are not, be sure to include attribution). Feel free to post old family photos, the clothes and environs will be interesting too.

 

[AlterEgo]

Birthday party, Santo Domingo, circa 1955 (one of these kids is Mr AE)

Puerto Plata, 1977-78

 

[AlterEgo]

La Feria Santo Domingo 1956

 

[AlterEgo]

Take a look at these two photos!

First one is La Feria in 1959. Jimenez Moya just stops and becomes a dirt path; Churchill didn’t exist yet. That one building at the back is the Embajador Hotel. Below the hotel used to be a military shooting range, Mr AE’s parents built their home there in 1960s; they found old bullet casings in the ground for years. As an aside, the entire Féria grounds used to be his grandparents farm, and he was born there.

Now compare the second photo. Wow!

 

[colmcb]

Wow! Incredible.

 

[JD Jones]

I often wonder what Santo Domingo would be like today if they had enforced zoning rules.

 

[NALs]

The biggest problems of SD are the 3 major ones.

First, the streets tend to be narrow.

Too many streets that are two-way when they should be one way with one lane for traffic on the left and one for parallel parking in the right. every avenue should had been as wide as the Churchill -now Churchill ends at 27 de Febrero and from there down is Jiménez Moya, but original it was all Churchill, you still run into people that say Churchill when they are referring to Jiménez Moya-. That would had eliminated the need to make the Luperón as wide as it’s. The Defilló is basically the complete opposite of Luperón. Sone avenues are extremely short like Presidente Vicini Burgos (originally Presidente Trujillo) which basically ends almost as soon it begins. That one should had reached the Isabela River and perhaps a bridge to cross it and then continued with another name to Villa Mella. It would had been a parallel avenue, though much separated, to Máximo Gómez with that one simply being wider with three lanes in each side and a wide medin in the middle. Even Camino Chiquito and upwards into Cuesta Hermosa area should had been a wide avenue. The malecón in its estire length from the Ozama River to where it meets Luperón should had been 3 lanes in each direction with a median in the middle.

The same with the avenues east-west 27 de Febrero and Kennedy wouldn’t had to be so wide if every major east-west avenue was two-way and wider than they are. Some avenues are also too short, such as the Reyes Católicos. That one should had been as wide as Churchil and extending from the Ozama River (with perhaps a bridge connecting to Los Mina) all the way in a straight-ish line to intersect with the Duarte.The Duarte itself should had been an expressway with no developments facing the road on either side from 9 Kilometer to 25 Kilometer. A fully controlled access road. That road should had been basically like is the New England Thruway in NY.


Second, there is no rationality with the direction of some one way streets. In the US you will go through places with several oneway streets parallel to each other, but the direction of traffic alternates from one street to the other. Best example is Manhattan, no two neighborings one way go in the same direction. In SD there isn’t much rationality to this.


Third, no requirements of an X amount of parking spaces given Y amount of commercial space. Now the city is full of businesses and for most of them there is too few parking spaces. Many don’t even have parking.

 

[NALs]

Then there is the issue that it’s obvious the city, especially the modern part, wasn’t planned by actual urbanist ho aside from functionality, they would had focused on some psychological tricks meant to make the city seem grander. The Central Bank complex is in a neighborhood full of narrow and leafy streets when such a structure should had been in a major intersection corner in one of the avenues with one of its plazas opening to such corner. The National Palace is looking at a narrow street when that too should had been in a major avenue with the facade actually looking to the main avenue. The Post Office Palace is in another side street when it should had been in a major avenue. Many buildings that would had better defined the image of the city were built in the wrong place. The issue is not even with the buildings themselves.

SD is a very badly designed city. Houston, TX developed with not much zoning either and even their you will find areas that give a more grand feeling that SD, despite SD is a major city. SD gives an air of being a big town more than a big city and that is entirely due to how the city is designed. No mind was given to create a sense of grandeur at least in the main parts of the modern side.

The kicker is that they want to turn SD into a major tourist destination. You can attract as many tourists as you like, but the city needs to show at least in touristic areas that it’s touristic. Horrible sidewalks as soom you step out of the Jaragua Hotel property unto Independencia, A malecón that basically looks like two-face with a very nice side facing the sea and the other side is not nice, not even the street lights are the same.