Ironwork on Dominican Homes

Tom0910

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Sep 28, 2015
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I agree , too much misinformation.
I came here to RD in early 1980's ... Even then it was not as dangerous as living in the James Bay area of Quebec.
Things have improved here ,substantially, since then.. and for the better.
Russ
You are comparing an entire country to a specific area of a country,an unfair comparison. I love living in the DR but to say that it is as safe or safer than either the U.S. or Canada in general s ridiculous IMHO. I have traveled through most of the U.S. and visited a few places in Canada and I have never had to lock my doors or felt the need to have bars on my doors and windows. Just ask yourself if the DR is so safe why does every house and business have bars on every single window and door yet that is not generally the case in the U.S. or Canada?? 
 

bob saunders

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You are comparing an entire country to a specific area of a country,an unfair comparison. I love living in the DR but to say that it is as safe or safer than either the U.S. or Canada in general s ridiculous IMHO. I have traveled through most of the U.S. and visited a few places in Canada and I have never had to lock my doors or felt the need to have bars on my doors and windows. Just ask yourself if the DR is so safe why does every house and business have bars on every single window and door yet that is not generally the case in the U.S. or Canada?? 
There are numwrous places in the DR without bars on windows or doors but yes the DR is more dangerous than before due to drugs and general disregard for life. It is still safer than Winnipeg and parts of most major cities in the USA or Canada.
 

Tom0910

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Sep 28, 2015
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It is still safer than Winnipeg and parts of most major cities in the USA or Canada.
Again,comparing a specific city to an entire country. Generally,people don't have bars on their windows and doors in the U.S. or Canada yet generally,in the DR they do,there is a reason for that and the reason is generally the DR is much less safe than the U.S. and Canada.
 

lifeisgreat

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May 7, 2016
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Reason we have bars is when we're gone less of chance for breakin ... ladrones are everywhere any country....**** happens no matter where you are... you just have to learn different street smarts here then in motherland...
 

zoomzx11

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Jan 21, 2006
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You are comparing an entire country to a specific area of a country,an unfair comparison. I love living in the DR but to say that it is as safe or safer than either the U.S. or Canada in general s ridiculous IMHO. I have traveled through most of the U.S. and visited a few places in Canada and I have never had to lock my doors or felt the need to have bars on my doors and windows. Just ask yourself if the DR is so safe why does every house and business have bars on every single window and door yet that is not generally the case in the U.S. or Canada?? 

Its my understanding that the wrought iron work on homes in the DR is a decoration. Any Dominican thief worth his salt can open the bars in under a minute using his Toyota scissor jack. Dominicans think they look nice on a home. All I know is what my wife told me. She added them to our house and I thought the same, good protection.
 

sanpedrogringo

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Sep 2, 2011
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You are comparing an entire country to a specific area of a country,an unfair comparison. I love living in the DR but to say that it is as safe or safer than either the U.S. or Canada in general s ridiculous IMHO. I have traveled through most of the U.S. and visited a few places in Canada and I have never had to lock my doors or felt the need to have bars on my doors and windows. Just ask yourself if the DR is so safe why does every house and business have bars on every single window and door yet that is not generally the case in the U.S. or Canada?? 

There are many residential communities within New York City that have had bars on their doors and windows for over 30 years. Most of the communities are occupied by immigrants from Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica, and various Central and South American countries. They are not for decoration.
 

cobraboy

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There are many residential communities within New York City that have had bars on their doors and windows for over 30 years. Most of the communities are occupied by immigrants from Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica, and various Central and South American countries. They are not for decoration.
I know it's thread drift, but from what I understand the bars---at least in much of the DR---have morphed from a security measure to a decorative device.

They have been part of the cultural fabric for so long that they've become an architectural idiom.

Certainly they DO seve a security purpose, no doubt. But they become more than just safety. Like guilt for not wearing a seat belt when a drive just across a parking lot, locals can't imagine a house without them...just because.
 

bob saunders

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Again,comparing a specific city to an entire country. Generally,people don't have bars on their windows and doors in the U.S. or Canada yet generally,in the DR they do,there is a reason for that and the reason is generally the DR is much less safe than the U.S. and Canada.

Seems you haven't been to many places in the DR. In the southwest part of the DR many of the houses and businesses are of wood construction. Some have bars but most don't. Even in Jarabacoa many of the older structure have no bars. When my wife was a kid only the rich locked their doors.
 

Mauricio

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Nov 18, 2002
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Its my understanding that the wrought iron work on homes in the DR is a decoration. Any Dominican thief worth his salt can open the bars in under a minute using his Toyota scissor jack. Dominicans think they look nice on a home. All I know is what my wife told me. She added them to our house and I thought the same, good protection.



What nonsense. Yes, they can be rather easy opened but it slows down the thief. No bars is like leaving the door wide open. Bars is at least making it a bit an effort to get in. 

I haven't heard any Dominican saying they like bars on their windows.
 

sanpedrogringo

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Seems you haven't been to many places in the DR. In the southwest part of the DR many of the houses and businesses are of wood construction. Some have bars but most don't. Even in Jarabacoa many of the older structure have no bars. When my wife was a kid only the rich locked their doors.

Many of the houses in my old neighborhood of Villa Ofelia in San Juan de la Maguana didn't have bars on the doors and windows. A 6 foot sliding gate for the driveway for most, but that was it. Not totally enclosed like a Supermax prison. The neighborhood was also 99% Dominican.
 

AlterEgo

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Jan 9, 2009
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South Coast
Seems you haven't been to many places in the DR. In the southwest part of the DR many of the houses and businesses are of wood construction. Some have bars but most don't. Even in Jarabacoa many of the older structure have no bars. When my wife was a kid only the rich locked their doors.



My inlaws' house is in Santo Domingo.  Largish, five bedrooms.  When I first got married and stayed there, I was pretty surprised to find out no one had house keys because the doors were never locked. They rarely even closed the front door. As a New Yorker, I was a little unnerved. Four of six kids still lived home, big house, and there was usually a college kid from Cibao living there too.  They came in all hours of the night and day, so why lock it???  

I'm not sure when that changed, but it did, probably when the sons all married. Today....bars and locks.
 

ExDR

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Jul 31, 2014
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Its my understanding that the wrought iron work on homes in the DR is a decoration. Any Dominican thief worth his salt can open the bars in under a minute using his Toyota scissor jack. Dominicans think they look nice on a home. All I know is what my wife told me. She added them to our house and I thought the same, good protection.

What you say has some truth to it, but the bars are put up for security. If not, they would break in when you are asleep, beat you to tell them where the money is and take all you have. Yes, they will use a bottle jack to remove the bars from the doors and windows, but only when you leave the house for an extended period of time. It's usually one of your neighbors that sets it up. That's the reason why DR's will always leave someone in the house to house sit.
 

Matilda

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Sep 13, 2006
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No one at all has bars on windows and doors where I live. The most might be a padlock on the gate but that is it. It all depends how much crime there is in the area. Zero crime - zero need for bars.

Matilda
 

frank12

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Sep 6, 2011
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Many of the houses in my old neighborhood of Villa Ofelia in San Juan de la Maguana didn't have bars on the doors and windows. A 6 foot sliding gate for the driveway for most, but that was it. Not totally enclosed like a Supermax prison. The neighborhood was also 99% Dominican.

I drove through San Juan de la Maguana a few years ago, you can briefly see it in a video i made called "Haitian Border Trip." I only show the inside of a colmado, but before i get to San Juan de la Maguana, i stop and take a video of the sign 11km from town from either Las Matas de Fartan or Pedro Corto. That's in the middle of no where. How did you end up there?

Frank
 

2dlight

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Jun 3, 2004
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Missing words

I took a day trip to La Vega, met a cousin there then went to Jarabacoa(beautiful town)for the Festival de Las Flores. The one cousin living there is renting what I'd call a mansion and is building his own multi story mansion on a hill in Altos de...some name I forgot. His rental has ornate wrought iron "decoration" everywhere an uninvited individual could gain access downstairs or up. His new house is also going have the same decor but more of it. I personally find it unattractive except in churches, old forts, jails, and antiquated zoos where that type of containment is still used. I don't, nor do I want, to live in fear and that may severely limit where I can settle down here. I also don't like gated communities and HMO; guess I'm screwed.������
 

cbmitch9

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Nov 3, 2010
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I know it's thread drift, but from what I understand the bars---at least in much of the DR---have morphed from a security measure to a decorative device.

They have been part of the cultural fabric for so long that they've become an architectural idiom.

Certainly they DO seve a security purpose, no doubt. But they become more than just safety. Like guilt for not wearing a seat belt when a drive just across a parking lot, locals can't imagine a house without them...just because.

I agree with you 100%. Just like the DR, most people in other Caribbean natins use them as decoration then it morphed into a security and a status symbol.
 

cobraboy

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Jul 24, 2004
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I agree with you 100%. Just like the DR, most people in other Caribbean natins use them as decoration then it morphed into a security and a status symbol.
I think it's the other way around, security--->decoration.
 

windeguy

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Jul 10, 2004
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Its my understanding that the wrought iron work on homes in the DR is a decoration. Any Dominican thief worth his salt can open the bars in under a minute using his Toyota scissor jack. Dominicans think they look nice on a home. All I know is what my wife told me. She added them to our house and I thought the same, good protection.

Decoration? No it is not decoration. That is simple not true that it is decoration. They may be done decoratively, but the primary goal is a false sense of security.
 
Oct 11, 2010
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. . . Generally, people don't have bars on their windows and doors in the U.S. or Canada, yet generally in the DR they do, there is a reason for that . . .

Exactly.

The references to iron bars being used as decoration instead of a necessary security measure or there being no need for iron bars obtrusively covering every window and door on houses and buildings in certain areas are anecdotal, nothing more, just like the quality of healthcare narrative.