Puerto Plata Versus Santo Domingo (COL etc..)

Mattinnorfolk

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Dec 15, 2013
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Hello, and Happy Holidays to everyone. Numbeo has living in Puerto Plata about 30% cheaper then living in Santo Domingo. Does that sound about right to everyone, and the goal is can a 63 year old single man, live a western standards middle class lifestyle there on $2,500 a month in a location suitable to walking to many places, and just using moto's, uber etc. and not buying a car. I am just looking for a clean studio, or 1 Br, 1 Bath kind of place with A/C. Any suggested rental areas would be great as well. Thank you, and have a Merry Christmas!!
 

rfp

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Its apples to oranges. Puerto Plata is a 3rd world city with terrible infrastructure but on a beach in a very scenic part of the country. Santo Domingo is (in parts) a modern first world enclave. Your money will go further in Puerto Plata but you will also feel like you stepped back 20 years in human development. 2500 should be enough for a single person if you are not into drugs or other vice but I wouldnt say that youd be living the "high life" in other spot.

Once you are there for a couple months you will settle down and learn how to spread that budget out ...

In Santo Domingo my hood of la Julia or Gazcue Piantani Naco are your best bets for getting around without a car. There are other great areas but you would want a car. In Puerto Plata a lot of the money youd save in rent etc would get eaten up in extra transit costs if you didnt drive.
 

alexw

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I live in Evaristo Morales in Santo Domingo and I spend around $4000 per month. But I live like a king in a luxury apartment for that price. I have friends here who barely spend 2k a month. They all live in Gascue. I own a car but i never drive it here during the day. I use Uber and Cabify and its really cheap. I spend like $150 a month using those. Food isnt that expensive when youre living alone, the key is to eat things that arent imported. Plus you can go to places like plaza central and eat full dinners for less than two bucks. When I look at my budget, the majority of it, like $1500 per month, goes to partying and entertainment. So yes you can live great for $2500.
 

karmatourer

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Nov 15, 2018
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Its apples to oranges. Puerto Plata is a 3rd world city with terrible infrastructure but on a beach in a very scenic part of the country. Santo Domingo is (in parts) a modern first world enclave. Your money will go further in Puerto Plata but you will also feel like you stepped back 20 years in human development. 2500 should be enough for a single person if you are not into drugs or other vice but I wouldnt say that youd be living the "high life" in other spot.

Once you are there for a couple months you will settle down and learn how to spread that budget out ...

In Santo Domingo my hood of la Julia or Gazcue Piantani Naco are your best bets for getting around without a car. There are other great areas but you would want a car. In Puerto Plata a lot of the money youd save in rent etc would get eaten up in extra transit costs if you didnt drive.

"2500 should be enough for a single person if you are not into drugs or other vice but I wouldnt say that youd be living the "high life" in other spot".
Which city are you referring to and "should" is important too. Thanks.
 

windeguy

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Jul 10, 2004
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The choice for me between Puerto Plata and Santo Domingo is like the old choice between airline food and hospital food.
Yes Puerto Plata is cheaper, but I wouldn't want to live there. I really dislike Santo Domingo.

As for being single and having $2,500 US each month, you can do OK on that and it will be easier to do so in Puerto Plata than in Santo Domingo. Use great caution when interacting with people, eat local food, don't drink too much and use public transport after you found a safe place to live. Single guys certainly do that in Cabarete and Sosua as well.
 

bigbird

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@OP, only you can make that decision between Puerto Plata and Santo Domingo. Some move to la rep dom to become a beach bum with sand on their feet everyday and others come for wanting the same USA comforts here on the island. I could never, ever live in Puerto Plato or anywhere on the north coast. I don't need the beach everyday. I prefer having my 24/7 electric, being able to walk to a supermarket that has a huge selection. I love the idea of picking a movie theater out of a dozen choices or more. If you want to be around a bunch of expats than the north coast would be for you. If you don't mind not seeing gringos everywhere you turn than Santo Domingo is the place. North coasters get excited when they hear a McDonalds or Pizza Hut is coming to town. These places are everywhere in SD.

The absolute worst thing with Santo Domingo is the traffic. After awhile you learn the better times to be on the road. Better yet if you have an apartment near the Metro subway you can travel underground.

You could just get by on $2500 a month in SD. A nice one bedroom where the building has a full emergency generator would run you about $750. Gated building, security day and night, washer/dryer, hot water, and A/C.

It really comes down to where you want to be and if giving up a lot of the creature comforts you could deal with.
 

bigbird

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One other thing for the OP. If you are serious you may want to look into getting medical insurance. It is much, much easier to get up to one month before you turn 65. I pay a little over $100 USD a month, not the best nor not the worst policy but a definite security blanket.
 

windeguy

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bigbird knows Santo Domingo and obviously found his own personal nirvana there.

To the OP, he answered your question well. You could just get by with $2,500 USD in Santo Domingo.
 

Cdn_Gringo

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It was important for me when I first arrived here to be able to lean on my new friends. My spoken Spanish was almost nonexistent, I had not lived in the developing world before, and took things like running water, electricity, common sense and bureaucratic sanity for granted. I assumed if I made a mistake and purchased the wrong plumbing part I would be able to take it back and exchange it for the correct one, or that the deposit I paid on water bottles would be cheerfully refunded when I returned the bottle...

In the beginning I feel it is most important to be able to access help, information and socialize in a language one understands. It is really hard to talk about technical details, contracts, and processes during the first year or so and pretty much impossible for the first few months unless Spanish comprehension is a strong point. Most people will need a significant amount of information as they adjust to a new way of living. It is easy to become isolated when you can't understand voices on the radio, TV, read signage. Resources like DR1 can be invaluable, but sooner or later you will have to stand in front of someone and ask for something. You need to be understood and you need to understand the response. Access to English is greater in parts of the North Coast.

If the OP is determined to live in the DR full time, they should pack up the stuff at home that they want here, make arrangements to have it stored and then shipped once their residency is finalized and they know where they wish to live. Arrive as light as you can to make moving and traveling from place to place as easy as possible.

I would suggest renting a place in or near Puerto Plata for 3-4 months, then relocating to SD for 3-4 months, then making their final decision. Who knows, maybe neither place is to their liking and Santiago or Las Terenas will appeal to them more. You can't choose where to live based on the opinions of others and how others choose to spend their money. You need to walk that mile in your own shoes. $2500/month for me, would be limiting. I think that with inflation $3000 is the minimum that a first-worlder would need to not feel like they are constantly compromising. Having a little $$$ left over at the end of every month is a good thing - hand to mouth here can be precarious if disaster strikes.
 

alexw

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I dont know why people are saying he'll just get by with $2500 a month in Santo Domingo. That's ridiculous and makes me wonder if you live here. I know people getting by on $1500 a month here. It's all dependent on where you decide to stay but $2500 you'll live just fine.
 

bigbird

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I dont know why people are saying he'll just get by with $2500 a month in Santo Domingo. That's ridiculous and makes me wonder if you live here. I know people getting by on $1500 a month here. It's all dependent on where you decide to stay but $2500 you'll live just fine.

Sure people get by on $1500 a month. Bars on every window and door, no A/C only ceiling fan, a two tub washer and hang your clothes on the window bars to dry. An inversor for when the lights go out. No security.

A gated apartment, 24 security, common areas get mopped every day, A/C, never worry bout lights going out I still say $2500 a month is entry level.

And YES i live here and on my third apartment.
 
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alexw

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Sure people get by on $1500 a month. Bars on every window and door, no A/C only ceiling fan, a two tub washer and hang your clothes on the window bars to dry. An iversor when when the lights go out. No security.

A gated apartment, 24 security, common areas get mopped every day, A/C, never worry bout lights going out I still say $2500 a month is entry level.

And YES i live here and on my third apartment.

Please stop with all your gross generalizations. I know several gated communities in zona colonial where the one bedroom apartments are $550 a month and furnished. Dominicans cant afford that and there arent enough expats in the capital so most are vacant. I have no idea what you guys are talking about but youre clueless. Hell in my neighborhood im surrounded by major wealth and i pay only $1300 for rent. The problem is that you guys dont explore enough and you dont talk to Dominicans. Its that expat curse. But anyway, anyone saying you cant live comfortably on $2500 a month in the capital has no idea what theyre talking about.
 

bigbird

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I know several gated communities in zona colonial where the one bedroom apartments are $550 a month and furnished. Dominicans cant afford that and there arent enough expats in the capital so most are vacant. I have no idea what you guys are talking about but youre clueless. Hell in my neighborhood im surrounded by major wealth and i pay only $1300 for rent. The problem is that you guys dont explore enough and you dont talk to Dominicans. Its that expat curse. But anyway, anyone saying you cant live comfortably on $2500 a month in the capital has no idea what theyre talking about.

I did NOT say you can't live comfortably on $2500. I said you are entry level living comfortable on $2500. I have had two apartments in Gazcue, now in Parasio boderline Piantini ten minute walk to Agora.

When you try to live on $1500 a month you must sacrifice quite a few of the creature comforts. Why aren't you living on $1500 a month?
 

alexw

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I did NOT say you can't live comfortably on $2500. I said you are entry level living comfortable on $2500. I have had two apartments in Gazcue, now in Parasio boderline Piantini ten minute walk to Agora.

When you try to live on $1500 a month you must sacrifice quite a few of the creature comforts. Why aren't you living on $1500 a month?

No you made gross generalizations on subject of which you have no knowledge. I simply know to many people living in one and two bedroom apartments for less than $700 a month in the capital and theyre live good. Hell when I think about it, when I first moved here i lived in Torre Vizcomi. I had air conditioning in every room, 3 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, my own parking spot, a doorman, etc. and Maximo Gomez was literally a 30 sec walk to McDonalds, the supermarket, the college, and other stuff. That was $800 a month which included the electricity. As for why im not living on the $1500, stop trying to change the narrative. This was a discussion on 2500 a month which is more than adequate in the capital. Sometimes its fine to say i dont know without making yourself look clueless.
 

Tom0910

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I dont know why people are saying he'll just get by with $2500 a month in Santo Domingo. That's ridiculous and makes me wonder if you live here. I know people getting by on $1500 a month here. It's all dependent on where you decide to stay but $2500 you'll live just fine.
If you read the OP carefully you will see that he asked about living by western standards,not "getting by" as you referred to. $2500. goes quick here if one wants to live by western standards here. You yourself said that you spend $4000.
 

bigbird

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If you read the OP carefully you will see that he asked about living by western standards,not "getting by" as you referred to. $2500. goes quick here if one wants to live by western standards here. You yourself said that you spend $4000.

Thanks Tom, some people are so quick to start an argument they are the actually ones who don't know what they are talking about. Western standards sure isn't no A/C, se fue la luz and let me hang my clothes on window bars after hand washing them.
 

alexw

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If you read the OP carefully you will see that he asked about living by western standards,not "getting by" as you referred to. $2500. goes quick here if one wants to live by western standards here. You yourself said that you spend $4000.

I read the OP very carefully and what ive described throughout my posts are western standards. Please tell me what more than you need as a single man than a good 1 bedroom apartment, air conditioning, and a generator here? That is easily covered for less than $800 a month. He now has $1700 left to pay the electricity(which is only bad in the summer...but its awful), internet, etc. There is no way to tell me he cant live by "western standards." Please!
 

bigbird

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....................... I simply know to many people living in one and two bedroom apartments for less than $700 a month in the capital and theyre live good......

Now on a $1500 a month budget that leaves $800 and no way you will be living by western standards. Jack that budget up to $2500 and you are entry level living comfortable in SD.
 

keepcoming

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We have lived in SD for over 20 years. $2500.00 a month is doable however it will depend on what area you want to live. Also how "comfortable" you want to be. SD is expensive, more so than the North Coast. I have always said there is a learning curve when you first come so you may go over budget. Come, look around and get a better idea for yourself.
 

alexw

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Now on a $1500 a month budget that leaves $800 and no way you will be living by western standards. Jack that budget up to $2500 and you are entry level living comfortable in SD.

Why do you keep mentioning $1500 a month? The OP clearly says he has $2500 a month. I never made an argument for living here on $1500 a month, what i did say is that I know several people who do. Comprehension matters, Big Bird.