Puerto Plata is great!
I have lived in Pto.Pta 15 years and I love it, We have a Malecon that is 5 miles long from end to end, the air is freash from the Ocean breeze, you see the girls cleaning the streets every morning.........Poor?
Just check out the jeepetas on the Malecon when you are here!
Costambar, take a drive by and see every third home has a for sale sign on it due to the crime in the area and the power problems.
In Pto.Pta everything is close by you don't need a car, just jump on the back of a moter concho and go around town.
I lived in Santo Domingo for a year and a half and found it to be very polluted, crowded, dirty and to hot in the summer.
Also Pto.Pta is a tourist area so if you are not independently wealthy there is a better chance of finding tourist related work here.
Good Luck
Gringo