Actually I've never heard an American says any such thing about the DR. Certain areas of the the DR are like that, they are almost, not quite though, as bad as many American inner cities or other slums. Every year my wife takes her teachers and their families to a resort for a weekend, usually around 50-60 people in total. Not once has anyone suggested that she take them to Sosua, and most of these are people who like to dance and party. Sosua doesn't have an appeal to a great deal of Dominicans although I'm not sure of the reasons.
The power stays on for an uninterrupted 24/7 (as long as you pay the electric bills) in "American inner cities or other slums" and you can drink water right out of the tap 24/7 without dying a crappy death. Hell you can even flush the toilet paper (remember that?) after wiping your butt and not have it laying in the trash can for all to enjoy.
I could fill the page with the differences but I guess there's no point, is there? This type of misinformed commentary is just as bad as the Americans (and there are quite a few of these geniuses) who refer the Dominican Republic as a "Nation of Whores". I can't believe what comes out of people's minds sometimes.
Sosua has no appeal to me either but there are those who love it the way it was before the crackdown and I can empathize with them but if the Mayor thinks it's her mandate to change it, for whatever reason then that's the way it's going to be.
Think what's happening in Sosua is radical? Check out what's going on in Rio right now with their clean up effort. It makes this Sosua thing laughable by comparison.