La Zona Colonial: some thoughts

Caribbeandreamto

Advertiser
Mar 26, 2011
461
16
18
caribbeandreamto.net
Recently, it was announced that Santo Domingo?s Colonial Zone will get a 30 million dollar facelift. These funds will be dispersed by the Dominican Ministry of Tourism along with the Inter-American Development Bank and will go mainly to improving the streets, plazas and other public spaces, underground power lines and surveillance, as well as restoring the neighborhood?s attractions. Basically, the city is scrambling to prepare for a large influx of Punta Cana tourists with the now completed Coral Highway. Whether any of these improvements take place remains to be seen but I am always hopeful for la Zona Colonial.

This week I took our tour to the Capital from Punta Cana with a group of about 20 individuals. I sometimes take the excursions we sell, incognito, to ensure our clients are receiving the quality my company expects. Since I no longer live in the capital and visit maybe a couple times every few months, I was able to enjoy the tour of the Colonial Zone as just another tourist. On this day, much of how I felt about the Zona was solidified.

We all know the Zona Colonial is in dire need of this proposed facelift. There?s trash everywhere, lighting is an issue, safety is a concern, the buildings need to be refurbished or painted, there are horrible smells, lack of tourist information, etc, etc. We can bad mouth the Colonial Zone as much as we want but there is one thing the Zona Colonial has that no one can deny; the Zona has character. Those 16 square blocks ooze with character and local customs like nowhere else in the Dominican Republic. If you want a true example of Dominican culture, all you have to do is stroll the streets of the Zona where you?ll find a genuine slice of what life is like in the Dominican Republic: men discussing politics in a local barbershop, women discussing other people in a salon, families enjoying time together, colmados blasting merengue and bachata, children playing hula-hoop, shoe shine boys hungry for business, the night workers and the guys who sit on El Conde who only visit to solicit night workers, the hawkers, the tourists, the guy who sells fruit, the guy who asks you for money, the stray dogs, the crumbling edifices with clothing left to dry on the balcony, the modern apartments and expensive hotels, the comedores where everyone is enjoying their ?plato del d?a?, the pastry shops who churn out Dominican sweets, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, someone peeing on the street, someone throwing trash on the street, romantic ambar-colored street lights, stolen man-hole covers, nightlife spots that range from preppy, to bohemian, to homosexual and a narrative of half a millennium as the one place where all modern history in the Western Hemisphere can be traced back to.

Santo Domingo?s Colonial Zone is everything we love and hate about the Dominican Republic. It?s how I respond to all our clients when I get the common question: ?Where can I go to experience the real Dominican Republic.? Answer: the Colonial Zone.

Only on this day, as our tour group walked down Calle El Conde and I gave that same answer to a young woman from Romania, she looked around and said: ?But it?s so dirty?. To which I responded: ?And we wouldn?t have it any other way.?
 

LTSteve

Gold
Jul 9, 2010
5,449
23
38
Hi:

I live in the DR for about half the year and love to come to the Zona Colonial for a night or two. I love the old streets and architecture. You can feel a vibe here of history past fighting off present day Santo Domingo. I usually stay at the El Conde Hotel with its' balcony rooms that overlook El Conde and Columbus Square and its'wonderful outdoor cafe. The colonial zone is living history and a window into the past. It is a must for locals and tourists alike.
 

beastwood

New member
Jun 30, 2011
295
0
0
Only on this day, as our tour group walked down Calle El Conde and I gave that same answer to a young woman from Romania, she looked around and said: ?But it?s so dirty?. To which I responded: ?And we wouldn?t have it any other way.?[/QUOTE]

Written with affection no doubt...BUT You miss one little slice of dominican life...this dirt you laud, is proudly and daily cleaned from even the most humble of Dominican homes...the filth of the zona is not representitive of the typical dominican...the barrio calle perhaps...but not the individual. and FURTHER the filth only contributes to keeping the zona from being the world class destination dominicans deserve to have in their capitol. This is indeed a magic place, with a vibrant culture resting on what should be known as the soil from which the modern Americas were born.

We all (north, central and south Americans) deserve to have this jewel dusted off just a bit...as if there was a ounce or two of pride among the corrupt business and tourist officials who in any other potential money maker, (given the importance of Santo Domingo), would have been sent out of town on a rail long ago. Domincans that I know are a proud and entrepenurial people, but their leaders are not even smart enough to feign pride by replacing worn out lighting on the front walkway so that at least passers by come in for a look and buy a fria.

So Let the bachata blair, the shoe shine boy hussle for his 10 pesos, and the sun beat down on Colon's weathered head, but domincans and tourists DO deserve better. I too tuely love the zone, but the steets could be lined with perhaps not quite gold...but a alot more revenue...real basic stuff....seriously...2 hrs from dade, 3 from ny, and most non latinos barely know the place exists. Real dopey biz acumen here I am afraid...and yes a little upkeep AND MAINTENANCE would go a long way.

Otherwise your praise of the charm and importance of this place is spot on.
 

RonS

Bronze
Oct 18, 2004
1,457
65
48
Great posts. This is the reason that on my many visits to the DR over the past dozen year, I begin and end them in the Zona, grit and all, and recommend to every first time traveler, that they get out of the Punta Cana AI's, at least for a day, and visit this historic, wonderful, place. It will be interesting to see if, when, and how, these proposed upgrades take place.
 

JohnnyBoy

Bronze
Jun 17, 2012
1,448
0
0
Great Posts. But if the Dominicans cared about the Colonial Zone they would clean it up.
Why clean for a bunch of hustlers and tourists ?
If you dont like it dont go there
 

beastwood

New member
Jun 30, 2011
295
0
0
Great Posts. But if the Dominicans cared about the Colonial Zone they would clean it up.
Why clean for a bunch of hustlers and tourists ?
If you dont like it dont go there

Because tourists generate revenue, and sd's proximity (and historical importance) to the states and even europe make it a prime candidate for tourism, but short sighted administrative pinheads who should be looking at the big pic for dinero, instead take the easy corrupt path, which hurts everybody, including keeping tourism and revenue muted. Even said ministry of tourism pinhead stands to make a lot more money personally...love to see these folks get on Dr1 and defend their incompetence...
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
Dominicans have no pride in the Colonial Zone, maybe because it's falling apart.
This is in stark contrast to the Colonial Zone in Cartagena Colombia.
Colombians are proud of their Colonial Zone and want to show you around.
It also helps that it is absolutely stunning!
 

RG84

Bronze
May 21, 2010
640
0
16
I like the Colonial Zone and wish it was more attractive. I look at some of the buildings and wonder how hard would it be to wash down some of them. I don't know when that ugly surface was put down on El Conde, but it reminds me of all the bad design decisions from the 70's. I've seen them scrub that Calle but it never looks clean. It doesn't have to be pristine but if they change anything I hope it's that pavement.

I remember my first trip to Santiago and thought how they are doing it right. The monument area which is a main tourist area is nice and inviting.
 
Last edited:

JMB773

Silver
Nov 4, 2011
2,625
0
0
I like the Colonial Zone and wish it was more attractive. I look at some of the buildings and wonder how hard would it be to wash down some of them. I don't know when that ugly surface was put down on El Conde, but it reminds me of all the bad design decisions from the 70's. I've seen them scrub that Calle but it never looks clean. It doesn't have to be pristine but if they change anything I hope it's that pavement.

I remember my first trip to Santiago and thought how they are doing it right. The monument area which is a main tourist area is nice and inviting.

The Colonial Zone is similar to Old San Juan in PR and Casco Viejo in Panama City etc. You cannot compare the Colonial Zone to the monument area in Santiago. It is a lot of good things about the Colonial Zone like between the hours of 7:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M is wonderful, no sun or heat, not as many people, children playing in the parks.

I have been all over the DR and there is no place like CZ. The people that call the Colonial Zone home are some of the luckiest people IMO.

What you call dirt on the wall, I call life on the wall.
 
Dec 26, 2011
8,071
0
0
Dominicans have no pride in the Colonial Zone, maybe because it's falling apart.
This is in stark contrast to the Colonial Zone in Cartagena Colombia.
Colombians are proud of their Colonial Zone and want to show you around.
It also helps that it is absolutely stunning!

Colombians, rich and poor, have a sense of cultura. They use the word. It means something to them.
 

JMB773

Silver
Nov 4, 2011
2,625
0
0
The Colonial Zone is similar to Old San Juan in PR and Casco Viejo in Panama City etc. You cannot compare the Colonial Zone to the monument area in Santiago. It is a lot of good things about the Colonial Zone like between the hours of 7:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M is wonderful, no sun or heat, not as many people, children playing in the parks.

I have been all over the DR and there is no place like CZ. The people that call the Colonial Zone home are some of the luckiest people IMO.

What you call dirt on the wall, I call life on the wall.

Just to add one thing about Colonial Zone. Many people that come off the cruise ships or a tour group from Punta Cana or any other place form an opinion on CZ after only the first encounter. The Colonial Zone is a place you have to get know slowly before you fall in love with her. To the untrained eye the CZ looks dirty and unattractive, but after you have spent time there you ask yourself," why haven't I came here sooner" Also if you love to WALK CZ is a paradise. When I used to rent in CZ my supermarket, barber, the place where I used the phone to call home, my favorite place eat, favorite bakery was all walking distance. Even when I wanted to go to other parts of DR the guaguas were steps away and they would take me to catch other buses on Duarte next to Plaza Lama.

If someone offered me an apartment and a brand new Toyota Prado in Piantini SD, or La Trinitaria in Santiago, over the Colonial Zone I would decline. There are many buildings in CZ if they were rehabbed like they are doing in Casco Viejo in Panama City,it would make Santo Domingo and the CZ a money making world class destination.

If investors would have only build one mall instead of two and used the money to invest in Colonial Zone it would have made more sense. Some of the apartment in Casco Viejo are beautiful inside, and if they rehab some of the building in CZ and sold them I what be 1st in line to purchase one.

Wasting all the money in Punta Cana does not make sense to me. There are a TRILLION Punta Canas all over the world and they all provide the same service beach, sun, drinks, food, and entertainment.
 

Kipling333

Bronze
Jan 12, 2010
2,528
829
113
I live in an old house in Zona Colonial which I restored ..it is not as grand as some but is very comfortable ..I have to park my car in the Jose Reyes car park every night and then have a 5 minute walk back just near la iglesa de san Miguel ,,I shop in Mella which , if you think of the old walls which are at each end of Mella as being the extremes of zona colonial and I often eat in Calle Billini so I see most of the zone weekly . The major 3 problems are firstly the refusal of owners to restore the grand homes they own and I think there has to be some tough action taken and then secondly the lack of sufficient car parks that blend into the zone and finally the appalling overhead wires with their accompanying posts .
I was recently in Candelaria , the zona colonial of Bogota , and saw how these historical zones can be a wonderful part of any major city ,,There was very little onstreet parking bur plenty of parking behind historic looking walls , no overhead wires and nearly every home of every size was painted in bright colours or had the old stones cleaned up ..I hope the council can force the owners to renovate in ZC , under some pretence or another
 

Kipling333

Bronze
Jan 12, 2010
2,528
829
113
I would love to have planted along the middle of Conde dozens of large shade trees and the same for Hostos which I would make a pedestrian mall and the same for Ave Mella diverting all the traffic onto Mexico ..then I think , with everyone working together , we would have a great ZC ,,But we live in the land of manana
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
The major 3 problems are firstly the refusal of owners to restore the grand homes they own

Many have no money. Plenty of homes have tenants that pay very little rent, its cheaper to let the building rot around them and hope they leave, rather than investing a getting minimal rent.

Most Dominican investors are not that long sighted, they are looking for easy returns in the shortest time possible.
The Colonial Zone in the DR will require a major culture change in order for it to be even close to Cartagena etc.
 

JohnnyBoy

Bronze
Jun 17, 2012
1,448
0
0
It is much more expensive to renovate than to build anew. Ive looked at properties in the Zona and almost pulled the trigger on a few. Then I remember how much aggravation a rehab is. Add questionable infrastructure and you are looking at a potential disaster. Or you could collect a few bucks a month.
I like the Zone. I agree it could be nicer but then it would take on the old looking mall theme ala new orleans or Key West.
a little seediness is part of the charm.
 

keepcoming

Moderator - Living & General Stuff
May 25, 2011
4,734
2,493
113
Was there yesterday and while it does have character I agree it needs some TLC. The problem is getting investors interested and the government motivated. I took my mom there who is visiting and she loves going there. She has not been there since 2007 - 2008 and she did remark that is looking alittle less desirable this time around. I throughly agree that many Dominicans have no pride and/or interest in the area, you can tell that just by the way they care for their property or business.