There are only two cities, Santo Domingo and Santiago. The rest are towns with zillion motorcycles. Santiago is more of a town edging towards a city. I liked it when I visited Santiago, but not sure I'd want to live there. I would feel claustrophobic without the sea. I lived in Chicago, the only landlocked city I liked, but Lake Michigan's beaches and shipping gave a great false illusion of an ocean, something that Santiago lacks. The greatest cities in the world have a seaport/beaches, a major world class river or lake. That's why Bolivia is a freightening thought, a landlocked nation! Santiago is a nice town, but too small. As for crime, Santiago has nothing to envy Santo Domingo.