City needs better overall planning

[chico bill]

The days for proactive planning are long gone. Right now, it's remedial planning. They've screwed the pooch in SD and there's not much they can do about it.

The title of this thread should have read:

"Complete lack of planning has paralyzed Santo Domingo".

Any charm the city has is way overshadowed by traffic snarls and impossible parking.

A first time visit to SD is a spoiled experience like a first date getting into your freshly cleaned car with fresh dog sh*t on her shoe.

 

[JD Jones]

We always plan our outings (shopping, etc..) by the time of day and how much traffic (we think) there will be.

This is how it's done. When I go to JUMBO Luperon, it's Sunday mornings at 7 am. No traffic coming, returning an hour later and it's on it's way to being a madhouse.
I haven't gone since they started the "Pinturas" work.
I also made the trip one Sunday using the circumvention to Autopista Duarte to "la 9" then down Luperon to JUMBO, and returning the same way.
Hardly any traffic, but what a drive!!

 

[Ecoman1949]

What’s being said about Santo Domingo is also being said about Santiago and other large DR population centres. Proper municipal planning is part of the problem, but its uncontrolled population growth that’s the major problem. Add to this the recent government/ bank plans to make more vehicles available to the public at cheaper rates and you see where all this is headed. Gridlock in Santo Domingo and other the large population centres on an increasing scale. As long as the government with the backing of the religious leaders keeps turning a blind eye towards unchecked population growth, the problem will keep getting worse.

 

[chico bill]

Heck even little ol Sosua is a traffic snarl every day and of course Dominicans make one lane into 3 to make it worse

 

[CristoRey]

What’s being said about Santo Domingo is also being said about Santiago and other large DR population centres.

Agreed.
Since Covid it's gotten ridiculous however our city gov is trying to stay ahead of it by adding new public transportation options such as the teleferico and the monorail system.

 

[Ecoman1949]

Agreed.
Since Covid it's gotten ridiculous however our city gov is trying to stay ahead of it by adding new public transportation options such as the teleferico and the monorail system.

Stop gap measures CR and chewing up more land to delay the inevitable gridlock. Mass transit systems are a good thing and effective to a point but they just move the masses along. The masses are still the masses and have to live somewhere. The better option might be limiting barrio spread and other forms of residential development. Not a popular measure but a necessary one where space has become a premium.

The DR is about 48,670 square kilometres with approximately 10,000,000 people. My province is 405,212-square kilometres with approximately 530,000 people. Love the DR but there are times I get peopled out coping with the DR masses. That’s why I head for the remote areas and beaches. Luperon closely matches the laid back lifestyle of my home town. Probably why I like it so much.

 

[CristoRey]

The better option might be limiting barrio spread and other forms of residential development.

Much like capping car imports. Wishful thinking.

 

[Joseph NY2STI]

As long as the government with the backing of the religious leaders keeps turning a blind eye towards unchecked population growth, the problem will keep getting worse.

Is it the Mormons or Hasidim who are to blame? 😂

 

[CG]

Continue reading...

Urban planner Angel Frias Sosa advocates for a change to proactive planning to stop chaos in Santo Domingo before it escalates.

HUH?... Where has this guy been?, living under a rock?.. It's TO LATE to be proactive, the escalation has already taken place.. Good grief!

 

[cavok]

Take a look at the public taxi in the photo in post #1. That pretty much explains a lot about how the government thinks in general.

 

[Ecoman1949]

Is it the Mormons or Hasidim who are to blame? 😂

Probably the whirling Dervishes because they resemble the government’s approach to most things. Going around in circles! 😂

 

[Ecoman1949]

Take a look at the public taxi in the photo in post #1. That pretty much explains a lot about how the government thinks in general.

Yep! Operating on a wing and a prayer.

 

[cavok]

Yep! Operating on a wing and a prayer.

You can't import a car more than 5 years because they only want nice cars, but a junkyard jalopy for public transport is fine!

 

[chico bill]

Much like capping car imports. Wishful thinking.

Or frigging Chinese motos. I see thousands of those coming in each month.
They are like a cancer

 

[CristoRey]

You can't import a car more than 5 years because they only want nice cars, but a junkyard jalopy for public transport is fine!

Drop in the ocean considering how many new cars they are allowing into the country every year. If we're not careful we will end up like Puerto Rico, a place where they now have more cars than people to drive them.

 

[Father Guido]

It is indeed a good idea to avoid S.D, unless you require an ounce of cultural exposure, have a desire to shop for anything other than crocs and cheap Hawaiin shirts, need to have a conversation other than " who has Da best wings and beer, happy hour" or want treatment for the basal cell carcinoma caused by sitting on the beach in one spot for 10 days straight days.

you're getting treated for cancer in the DR when the USA is 2 hours away?????????????????????????????????

 

[JD Jones]

You can't import a car more than 5 years because they only want nice cars, but a junkyard jalopy for public transport is fine!

One thing I've noticed is I've seen quite a few older vehicles with temporary tags on them lately. I'm guessing there's a new get around for importing vehicles over 5 years old.
Playacaribe, have you noticed that as well?

 

[Ecoman1949]

Or frigging Chinese motos. I see thousands of those coming in each month.
They are like a cancer

Chinese motorcycles are cheap, have a short life span, and are easy to fix. A panacea for the poor Chico. Deeply ingrained in DR life and the springboard on which bad DR driving skills are built and later worsened when they move on to driving cars. Thank god the bulk of their sales are in the 150 to 350 cc range. Can you imagine the increase in the carnage if the hyper bikes were sold on a large scale? I do see hyperbikes on the North Coast highway but they are rare and the drivers appear to be relatively sane. The KTM’s are popular in the DR for those that can afford them. The on road/ off road models are perfect for the DR road conditions. Austrian quality make them tough and dependable.

Abinader doesn’t have the option of reducing the number of Chinese bikes exported to the DR. He’d have a poor people’s revolution on his hands and China would frown on it.

 

[cavok]

Chinese bikes are cheap for a reason. They're made for hundreds of millions of poor Chinese that can't afford anything better either.

 

[Big]

you're getting treated for cancer in the DR when the USA is 2 hours away?????????????????????????????????

yea. and a heart and lung transplant.