living in DR

The Dominican Republic is a big place. If I was moving to the country for the first time I would look into what I was looking for before making such a huge decision. If you need the city and ease of official help, offices and that suited your client base then Santo Domingo is a no brainer, but the colonial Zone is not a nice place to live IMO, I get down there 2 or 3 times a week for a bite to eat or whatever, but I'd hate to live there. I don't think much of Gazcue for the prices they want, it is very expensive for what you get. Santo domingo is a big city and you would be well advised to search out other areas before making a choice and signing any long term contracts.
If however you are not needing to be amongst the hectic city scene then I see absolutely no reason to llive in the city, it really is a boring place to live if you don't have a business to run from there, it isn't relaxing it is very noisey and probably has the least Caribbean feel of anywhere in the country.
If you are looking to relax and enjoy the country then you have an abundance of choices around the country, many love the North, some are claiming it is dangerous these days but I think these are scare mongerers with little else to do with thier day. Caribbean countries have always been dangerous if you mix with the wrong people, and every Caribbean country is pretty much the same in that respect, play with sh1t, expect it to get messy.
It sounds as though you don't have much experience in the country so I'd advise taking it easy and not putting all your eggs in one basket. Don't commit to a long term contract anywhere until you have been around a while and seen what it on offer and suits you best.
As far as transport goes, anywhere in the city is easy to get to on public transport so I wouldn't allow that to play so much on making your mind up.
Good luck.

Anastacio said:

The Dominican Republic is a big place. If I was moving to the country for the first time I would look into what I was looking for before making such a huge decision. If you need the city and ease of official help, offices and that suited your client base then Santo Domingo is a no brainer, but the colonial Zone is not a nice place to live IMO, I get down there 2 or 3 times a week for a bite to eat or whatever, but I'd hate to live there. I don't think much of Gazcue for the prices they want, it is very expensive for what you get. Santo domingo is a big city and you would be well advised to search out other areas before making a choice and signing any long term contracts.
If however you are not needing to be amongst the hectic city scene then I see absolutely no reason to llive in the city, it really is a boring place to live if you don't have a business to run from there, it isn't relaxing it is very noisey and probably has the least Caribbean feel of anywhere in the country.
If you are looking to relax and enjoy the country then you have an abundance of choices around the country, many love the North, some are claiming it is dangerous these days but I think these are scare mongerers with little else to do with thier day. Caribbean countries have always been dangerous if you mix with the wrong people, and every Caribbean country is pretty much the same in that respect, play with sh1t, expect it to get messy.
It sounds as though you don't have much experience in the country so I'd advise taking it easy and not putting all your eggs in one basket. Don't commit to a long term contract anywhere until you have been around a while and seen what it on offer and suits you best.
As far as transport goes, anywhere in the city is easy to get to on public transport so I wouldn't allow that to play so much on making your mind up.
Good luck.

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I agree with the fact that Santo Domingo lacks Caribbean feel. The capital can be hectic, fast paced and noisy. These aspects would normally be expected from the big city of any country. What really takes away from the Caribbean feel of Santo Domingo is, unfortunately, its formality. Bars and clubs are very strict with their dress code and people do not walk around with shorts, tank tops or flip flops. I love visiting beach towns and going to bars in flip flops. In Santo Domingo, this does not happen.

I disagree with the fact that Santo Domingo is boring. The capital has by far the most options in the country for dining, nightlife, cultural events and services. Nowhere on this island compares to the capital in this sense.

I agree with TJ. You want to see boring go to one of these small cities where people do nothing but wait for the electricity to come back on. Where the men sit on a old log all day talking about women they want to do. Where the women spend all day in the kitchen gossiping about nothing in particular or interesting, yet seem to spend all day doing it. Then on a Saturday night you can go to the town square and watch the young men fight for some woman who is playing them both only to run off with the 1st American that she meets. That s boring.

If you have no business or work during the day in the city, it is mind blowingly boring. Once you've looked around which takes no time there is really very little to do while everyone else is at work.
Nightlife is a different matter, personally it isn't my thing on Caribbean living, I would prefer the days to be occupied and relax in the evening, maybe 2 or 3 nights out during the week, max and usually all people can afford.
I stand by my comment that unless you have business/work in Santo Domingo you are really avoiding the point of living in a CAribbean destination.

Anastacio said:

If you have no business or work during the day in the city, it is mind blowingly boring. Once you've looked around which takes no time there is really very little to do while everyone else is at work.
Nightlife is a different matter, personally it isn't my thing on Caribbean living, I would prefer the days to be occupied and relax in the evening, maybe 2 or 3 nights out during the week, max and usually all people can afford.
I stand by my comment that unless you have business/work in Santo Domingo you are really avoiding the point of living in a CAribbean destination.

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Question: If you don't have a business to tend to in Cabarete, Santiago, Las Terrenas, Sosua, for example, what do you do during the day that is so interesting?

In some of these locations you can at least go to the beach, miander around and have general chit chat with others in a similar situation. Enjoy the sun, have a swim etc etc etc.
In the city you can do none of these, it isn't nice to walk around as it is so dirty, noisey and polluted. If you want a swim most have to go to a hotel pool, and well there is no beach.
These coastal towns of Cabarete, Sosua and such like have a completely different offering and you can get by just hovering around and being part of the community.

Anastacio said:

In some of these locations you can at least go to the beach, miander around and have general chit chat with others in a similar situation. Enjoy the sun, have a swim etc etc etc.
In the city you can do none of these, it isn't nice to walk around as it is so dirty, noisey and polluted. If you want a swim most have to go to a hotel pool, and well there is no beach.
These coastal towns of Cabarete, Sosua and such like have a completely different offering and you can get by just hovering around and being part of the community.

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I live in the capital and I am going to surf, at the beach, right now. It's a 35 minute drive to get there but it can done. How many times can you go to the beach before you desire something a bit different?

You're right, we do not have a beach directly in front of Santo Domingo. Our closest beaches are 25-40 minutes away but they can easily be reached. Besides that, I'll run down some other things I can do. I can go to the largest zoo in the Caribbean, walk around our Botanical Garden, meander the streets of the Colonial Zone and have the same general chit chat you might have in another city. While I'm meandering, I can visit the first street, church, university, monastery, hospital, and stone home of the new world. Maybe pop into the Amber Museum, Larimar Museum, Diego Col?n's house or even the Museum of the Casas Reales.

Outside the Colonial Zone I can stop by the Plaza de La Cultura for the Museum of the Dominican Man, Museum of Modern Art or the Natural History Museum. These cannot be compared to museum's in the first world, but they exist here.

If I feel like shopping I have several malls to choose from: Acropolis, Plaza Central, Bella Vista, Coral Mall, Diamond Mall, soon to come (Blue Mall). If I feel like eating, it's not a decision of what restaurant, it's a decision of what cuisine I want. This is a huge difference.

In all honesty, I don't feel like getting into an argument about how there is more to do in Santo Domingo than anywhere else on the island, although I believe that. I have my gripes with the capital as well. The bottom line is the preference of the individual. For some, they would go crazy with the capital's traffic and fast paced life, others love it. Some may be content simply chilling at the beach everyday, some would be bored out of their mind.

The simple fact is that there are more options in Santo Domingo. Back to the OP's question, you just have to ask yourself what you want out of the place you live.

Definately food for thought and serious thought that we are all expecting very very different things out of this country and have very very different lines of attraction and interests, and so in no way can all the people be happy all the time in any one place. It is good the country is so diverse in its offerings, makes living so much easier for many.