Tell me why we should ditch Santo Domingo and move to Santiago?

caribmike

Gold
Jul 9, 2009
6,808
202
63
Besides that 1000 USD gets you a mediocre place in Santo Domingo and a house with garden and pool in Santiago?

Come on, give me some more reasons please!!! :D

Why?

The remnants of Beryl brought enough water to flood my car (it will be fixed after all) because these damn idiots from ayuntamento do not get it to do proper maintenance in our area our parking ground is getting flooded with every bit of rain. Fed up with thta we started to look for a new place and only found Santo Domingo rental prices are just ridiculous nowadays.

Anyways I like what SD has to offer but I am ready to part for the sake of living in a better, more affordable place for the sake of our kids.

So, please give me some input, what are the best and most central places to live in Santiago what have Internet Fibra Optica available? La Zurza? Villa Olga? What else? I can look that up in Maps but firsthand information from people living there is much preferred!

Thank you! :)
 

Birdman

Active member
Jan 29, 2013
238
33
28
We just bought an apt at the furthest reaches of the fibra optica which is the border of Tamboril on 27th. My wife uses Claro to work in the States and I use Altice which is pretty good but not as stable as Claro. I have my wifi unit which works well when we go to Cabarete at the weekends.
 

caribmike

Gold
Jul 9, 2009
6,808
202
63
What about these parts:

Rincon Largo, La Rosaleda, Quintas de Pontezuela, Los Alamos, Los Girasoles, Residencial Los Samanes, any good?
 
Jan 9, 2004
10,897
2,224
113
What about these parts:

Rincon Largo, La Rosaleda, Quintas de Pontezuela, Los Alamos, Los Girasoles, Residencial Los Samanes, any good?

My wife has family in Quintas de Pontezuela.......not sure if there are rentals there.........but judging by my visits to one house.......the homes are......very very pricey.

Santo Domingo versus Santiago makes for interesting comparisons.

Santiago is not the equal to Santo Domingo..........but you could call it SD Light.

There are good hospitals, schools, social life activities........albeit on a smaller scale.

The big advantage is in traffic/commuting. While I know you work from home and traffic may not be a big issue........it is the number one reason why I would choose Santiago over Santo Domingo.

You might want to send a PM to Hillbilly, he is well versed on all aspects of the city.

Good luck....wherever you go.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
 

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
7
38
What about Europe..?..:p

Best thing I ever did was going back. I realized in 8 years I had been taken things for granted I shouldn’t, especially when related to the children.

(Ofcourse the weather we’re having since April helps)
 

caribmike

Gold
Jul 9, 2009
6,808
202
63
Well, I guess at least in Santiago I would be like 150 km closer to Europe... Who knows, maybe one day we will make it there. :D
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,329
113
We just bought an apt at the furthest reaches of the fibra optica which is the border of Tamboril on 27th. My wife uses Claro to work in the States and I use Altice which is pretty good but not as stable as Claro. I have my wifi unit which works well when we go to Cabarete at the weekends.

Are you leaving The Aerie, BB ??

Or just moving closer to your dentist ??
haha
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
113
I would leave Santo Domingo because it is Santo Domingo. I would never consider being there in the first place so that I would never face the issue of leaving it. But that is just me.
 

Fulano2

Bronze
Jun 5, 2011
3,287
621
113
Europe
What about Europe..?..:p

Best thing I ever did was going back. I realized in 8 years I had been taken things for granted I shouldn’t, especially when related to the children.

(Ofcourse the weather we’re having since April helps)

We are back now since january and frankly...life is to good here in northern Europe. I should go back next month for my residency, but I doubt it. We were in Tenerife last month. Better climate, an island that belongs to europe for half the price of RD.
 

USA DOC

Bronze
Feb 20, 2016
3,162
757
113
......From a resident of La Zurza, Santiago......Do yourself and family a favor, move here........Doc..........
 

caribmike

Gold
Jul 9, 2009
6,808
202
63
How is the power in the good parts of Santiago?

I mean, after all, it is EDENorte country...
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
The three reasons that StoDgo would not be where I'd want to live are:
  1. The biggie: traffic. It was bad 20 years ago but now is among the worst on the planet.
  2. The cost. StoDgo is a costly place to live, even by most first-world standards.
  3. The constant hustle by ne'er-do-wells. Too many rats in the cage.
But I do understand why connected Dominicans and business people prefer Santo Domingo: It's where the Big Money is.

That said, if we didn't live in Jarabacoa, we'd live in Santiago because it's like a big small town. And who knows? Maybe that's in the cards in our post-MotoCaribe days.
 

caribmike

Gold
Jul 9, 2009
6,808
202
63
"The cost. StoDgo is a costly place to live, even by most first-world standards."

The traffic. Yes, thank god I do not have to commute! :D

The costs for daily living are not that bad. What is expensive is rentals. When I see what you get for 1000 USD in Santiago and what mediocre crappy places you get for the same in Santo Domingo I cannot believe it.

A decent house with yard I did not see below 2500 USD.
 

caribmike

Gold
Jul 9, 2009
6,808
202
63
That said, which of the many good parts of Santiago would be the best to find a house with yard (maybe pool), no apartment, close to the center and fiber optic internet? La Zurza = best bet?
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
That said, which of the many good parts of Santiago would be the best to find a house with yard (maybe pool), no apartment, close to the center and fiber optic internet? La Zurza = best bet?
I don't know what your budget is, but we have a family member with a 700m+ house in La Zura sitting empty. He may consider a rental. It's a HUGE house.
 

USA DOC

Bronze
Feb 20, 2016
3,162
757
113
How is the power in the good parts of Santiago?

I mean, after all, it is EDENorte country...

...I checked before I moved to La Zurza, all the neighbors said the same....1 will have maybe 2 times a year a outage of about 40 minutes and thats what it is....I dont have have a generator or battries, and only a few of my neighbors do..the thing I have grown to like is my area is all Dominican...and in this suburb you can get a new 5 bedroom house for about $400 usd a month.......Doc.........
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
514
113
Santiago:
Personally, I would go someplace else rather than La Zurza. The houses are too close together. But that is just my take on it.

The OP asked what does Santiago offer over Sto Dgg, so here goes:
1. Nicer people
2. Good affordable schools
3. Very good health csre
4. Enough entertainment opportunities to keep you occupied
5. You are never going to be "Island Crazy": You have Mountains north and south; you have beaches and swimming holes close by, so you never should get tired of seeing the same thing day in and day out.
6. Very affordable housing. If I read Birdman right, he and I are quite close together. We live in a gated community about 3/4 of a kilometer from the arch that announces Tamboril. Unlike toney places such as Quintas de Pontezuela, it does not flood or stink, like Los Samanes....they say this will be fixed, but I hesitate to visit my son over there, just because of the smell.

Prices: One of the biggest places near me is supposedly RD$32K a month. Another I see a block away is RD$30K and has two Kiosks.
Internet: Claro and Altice are both available
Water: Santiago is suffering from over-expansion and water is "iffy" in many places. In our case, we have city water 3 days a week (usually) and we can get Coraasan to send a water truck (free) if service is bad. A truckload of water is between RD$1600 and RD$2000. All the houses have cisterns and pumps.
Electricity: WE are on a 24/7 circuit. I no longer have a huge gen-set like before. I might get some solar panels and such for a JIC situation.
Neighbors: All Dominicans with a few retirees from New York. Currently, I do not have any neighbors, with vacant lots to the front and side (it is Heavenly)...
Services: Pharmacies are nearby. Bravo, Pricesmart, Nacional, La Sirena are all 15-20 minutes away. Local markets are three minutes in any direction and have delivery services.
Health services: HOMS, Union Medico, Centro Medico are the same as the supermarkets.

Other stuff:
There are social clubs like Amaprosan, Centro Español ( quite pricy), Santiago CC (formerly Gurabito CC) and Las Aromas Golf Club. There are two historic Masonic Lodges, Rotary and other such things.
Movies at two or three places

Why I live out here (not really all that "out here"); we have 4 dogs and a cat and rescue others. I walk two dogs and the cat follows us every morning and evening. Nobody bothers us. You can walk around the whole place and not see a single car moving around. IT IS QUIET! I hear birds singing, cocks crowing every now and then. I can have friends over for dominoes and they can stay for hours and hours--nobody minds. Things like that.

Obviously I like where we are....

HB
 
  • Like
Reactions: colmcb

caribmike

Gold
Jul 9, 2009
6,808
202
63
Wow, good to know. :D

For sure I do not want to be in a place with a certain smell and from being flooded I sure have enough!

Not to have sufficient water is not so good though...

Wifi from Claro and Altice I hope it is the fiber optic one since I do need this because we are working from home.

Prices for rental sound very good.

Sent you a PM.