Santiago vs. North Coast

Chris_NJ

Bronze
Dec 17, 2003
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In the back of my mind I am thinking of relocating to DR (I have spent some time in Sosua and in Santiago). From my experiences, I would prefer to live in Santiago. I find it more friendly, better social scene, more inexpensive, and more of a Dominican middle class (Sosua etc, seem to have a contrast of European/American/Canadian ex-pats and mostly poorer Dominicans).

2 Questions:
Does anyone else feel this way?
As a 25 yr old accountant with ok Spanish which area would have a better job market?
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
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One of the great things about the DR is the diversity. If Santiago appeals to you more than the North Coast, then that is where you should locate. Nevermind what others think.

Hillbilly and AZB live in Santiago, and I'm sure others do, too. But there are other dr1ers who are established there and may be able to assist you.
 

XanaduRanch

*** Sin Bin ***
Sep 15, 2002
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Right on the Money (not Persos) Ken ...

Ken said:
One of the great things about the DR is the diversity.
One main reason I chose to retire here was knowing that I wouldn't be living on some sand-speck in the sea with a max elevation of like 10 feet. This is a BIG place. It has fresh water, agriculture, could be self-sufficient if the idiot government would get out of the way of the people, and it takes more than 12 hours to walk completely around the island. There are deserts, and rain forests, and cities, and farms, and everything imaginable in between from a lake 200 feet below sea-level (Death Valley anyone?) to a mountain 10,000 feet above it! It's a small planet all wrapped up into one not-so-little island.

If you need to earn money here to live, good luck. Normally I'd say that a larger population base (Santiago) offers more opportunities for that. On the other hand, the case could be made that the richer population base, ie ex-pats on the North Coast, might prove to be more lucrative despite being less plentiful.

Either way, they are both great places. I live mostly at Xanadu in the hills above Cabarete, but keep a house in southwest Santiago as well.

Cheers!

Tom (aka XR)
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
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Santiago, but a word

If you are loooking to work as an accountant here, unless you are a CPA in the States, I would imagine that you would have a problem. Unless you can find an American company that is doing work here that would like to have an American accountant doing the books for them.

Dominican accounting is one of those 'who you know' professions. You have to be extremely talented at double and triple entries...you know, one set for me, one for the government and one for my partners???

Think about that, and if you can resolve that issue, you are in like Flynn...

HB
 
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Eddy

Silver
Jan 1, 2002
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He He That's a good one HB. Come on Eddy tell the truth, that's the best one. Lucky thing for my partners, I don't have any.