Basically, the gringos want it open and the Doms don't....guess whose country it is? Guess who won??
- Thread starter drescape24
- Start date
Pedro set to be open to traffic at night!
haha!
But its not just the motor. My Dominican friend won't go to PC at night now because he likes to leave his car where he can see it....not several blocks away!
So what about a Parking Lot, with a guard, near the restaurants .....
May be like (what looks like) the one they started to build there.
Was that to be a Parking Lot?
Is there a story???
Who (except in the DR) pours money in to something and then stops when it is almost done?
Tambo, I think you know why I trek over to Sosua a couple times a month. Its, of course, for the fabulous upscale shopping, the super luxurious, trendy little boutiques and the sexy new Bed and Breakfast spots.
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It just wasn't Dominicans who wanted the change. There were four bars who signed the petition to have the road opened. 1 Candian , 1 Italian, 1 Dominican, and I don't know the nationality of the owner of Manajuana.
But the truth is, like you said It's thier country for most of the signers.
What's sad to me is how these 4 bars didn't see the potential of having the road closed. The only bar that I can completely understand is Mananjuana. The best feature is that bar being off the street. the street being closed had to hurt them. Especially since they changed the theme away from a sports bar. When Ray & Ira owned that bar that was a great place to watch sports. That's why I believe the bar is slow now.
But all in all, don't let these 4 bars make you think they were hoodwinked with this petition. Nobody in thier right minds sign a petition they don't agree with. I would have respect for them if they just said " yes we signed it, I feel that's what's best for my business. " End of story. That is thier right to look out for thier intrest. Sometimes what you do after the fact is what sinks you.
I have enjoyed the street being closed. Could not a compromise be proposed to have the street open three nights and then closed for Thursday to Sunday. When the street was closed it definitely enhanced the atmosphere to become more relaxed for dining
As a tourist I liked the street closed. It's strange to me that places that had tables in the street are some of the ones that want it closed.
I think pedestrian streets increase tourism. A lot of resort cities have them. This seems like shooting yourself in the foot. I don't think they gave it much of chance. I don't think it even made it through one high season.
It seems there is an resort town identity crisis. Not willing to ignore the chicas and accept that label but also not willing to suffer through a transition.
I think I might just have to patron that Fraggle Rock bar next time I'm there because of its location. I walked past it a couple of months ago, read there board, and thought they had reasonable prices.
Also crossing the street is a dangerous activity that I have to engage in down there. My head is on swivel at intersections especially after a few cuba libre.
I think pedestrian streets increase tourism. A lot of resort cities have them. This seems like shooting yourself in the foot. I don't think they gave it much of chance. I don't think it even made it through one high season.
It seems there is an resort town identity crisis. Not willing to ignore the chicas and accept that label but also not willing to suffer through a transition.
I think I might just have to patron that Fraggle Rock bar next time I'm there because of its location. I walked past it a couple of months ago, read there board, and thought they had reasonable prices.
Also crossing the street is a dangerous activity that I have to engage in down there. My head is on swivel at intersections especially after a few cuba libre.
I too will never set foot into those signing establishments again. Too bad as the Jolly worked so hard to reopen with a lot of our support and Alberto's was nice place for dinner or a stop for an after dinner drink or two listening to the live music. Nope won't see me in those places anymore.
As to the camera guy he has sold me my last battery.
Bob K
As to the camera guy he has sold me my last battery.
Bob K
You have it wrong. It's the Dominican business owners (mostly) who signed the petition to have it opened...lead by Jose (a Dominican) at Imagen photo shop and signed by his Dominican business friends on PC. Jose is president of the council, lead by 7 people, mostly Dominicans.
I'm speculating but maybe it's what some people said on here. A family of four takes a table and spends 2000 on dinner for 4 as opposed to a guy taking a table and spending 4000 eating getting drunk with his selected chica. In that scenario, I could see an argument that they're losing money but that contradicts that efforts to control the girls.
I keep trying to apply logic to the notion that the learders of Sosua are trying to increase tourism but I think I am going to stop now.
I'm going back to my normal mode of where I think of the world solely as entertainment, shrug and mumble a lot, and just drink beer.
I keep trying to apply logic to the notion that the learders of Sosua are trying to increase tourism but I think I am going to stop now.
I'm going back to my normal mode of where I think of the world solely as entertainment, shrug and mumble a lot, and just drink beer.
i was skeptical about the closure of pc at first. then i saw the improvements & was in favour of it.
had dinner there the other night - i didnt realise how much nicer & quieter it was without traffic until i had to shout across the table to my fellow diners because of the f**kin moto with the motor running.
a definite retrograde step for the town!
had dinner there the other night - i didnt realise how much nicer & quieter it was without traffic until i had to shout across the table to my fellow diners because of the f**kin moto with the motor running.
a definite retrograde step for the town!
Totally agree. I was skeptical that it would make much difference for the businesses but found myself enjoying it and I "think" the businesses that were doing good like Brit before the closing did better after the closing. Basically it appeared to me that the same businesses that were good before (Brit, Elefante, etc.) were good after and the ones that were bad before (Las Flores, Mamajuana) were still bad after.
I always liked Jose at the camera shop but he is way off the mark here. Being able to park cars on the street is not going to help him. He has been trying to sell his businesses for a long time now, since before the closing because business has not been good. The closing of the street did not ruin his business and he knows it.
I'm surprised by Alberto. Their business seemed to still be doing good after the closing. It didn't seem to hurt them. If anything is hurting them it might be the new business behind them with the girls screaming massage right in front of their tables. Lots of guys are looking for that but lots of families aren't looking for it at dinner time and lunch time.
My wife knows the people running Las Flores and even she has told them they need to change. They were empty before the closing and no surprise were empty during the closing and I'll bet will stay empty. When Manny used to be there it was always doing good. Since then it has taken a dive. They have TVs but don't put on sports most of the time and instead put on Dominican News. And they only play bachata. That is great if you are a business in the middle of Charamicos catering to Dominican customers but on PC if you want to bring in tourists you need to do what tourists want.
Mamajuana started out good but has dropped off significantly after the first couple of weeks it was open and that was also apparent before the street closing. So I go back to say that the closing didn't seem to hurt any of these businesses because they were not doing good before the closing.
Jolly Roger is an odd one. They were always full before the fire. I have never been a fan of theirs but I do pass by a lot walking around. If I recall correctly they were doing good after the closing but before the fire. But since the reopening it hasn't been as good. But if they were good before the fire which was after the closing then the closing doesn't seem to be impacting them. It took them a long time to reopen after the fire. Maybe that is what hurt them. Maybe their group of regulars just found something else to do during that time and aren't returning in droves.
It is easy to open a business here. It isn't easy to succeed but it is easy to start. A lot of the people running businesses here have no business sense at all and that goes for Dominicans and foreigners. So I think a lot of people don't always understand why their business is failing when others are succeeding and just look for any excuse to latch on to and maybe this is just a little bit of that. A lot of people may think if they change this then they can hope it will impact their business without really understanding the reasons they are failing.
Also there may be a bit of jealousy involved. If places like the Brit did improve after the closing but other places didn't see any change then the ones who didn't change might be jealous of the Brit and ones who got better and think that they don't want to see anyone else doing better if they aren't going to benefit from the same.
So sorry for Ray who did so much to try to make this work. It would have been nice if it did. Maybe it will change back some time in the future but if it does I think we are just going to continue to see it seesaw back and forth and never get anything permanent. Oh well, I'm just waiting to leave Sosua anyway and will never be back. Been here longer than I wanted to be already but hope to be relocating to Santo Domingo within the next year or two. Of course that will be a whole different set of challenges but I think a lot more fun and certainly a lot more going on.
CJP great post and all true. We as consumers can also vote with our feet and help these folks who are not doing well and signed on to reopen the street continue to not do well and NEVER use their services, food, bar etc again.
I for one will never darken their door step in the future and try to influence my friends to do the same.
Bob K
I for one will never darken their door step in the future and try to influence my friends to do the same.
Bob K