No guards - No gates?

Joah

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Feb 15, 2004
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Dear DR1 Friends.

How many of you are living in a gated or guarded community on the North Coast? Is it possible to enjoy life in the DR without so much security? I would like to talk to those who have chosen to live "outside" such communities.

Thanks,
Joah
 

Sandeep

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Jan 8, 2003
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We live in an area outside of a gated community. Everyone has 2 big dogs and people working around their house most of the time e.g. gardener etc. some people including ourselves employ a armed guard service. Is there a specific area in the DR that you are looking at?
 
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mountainfrog

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Dec 8, 2003
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Gates and Guards

Well, we have a fence and a gate.
We don?t have guards I hate their snoring.
Our two dogs like burglars ... not minced, however.
Oh, I forgot, it?s 00 buck shot we use on trespassers.
M?frog
 

quaqualita

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Feb 4, 2002
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I live "outside" a gated community and I'm very glad. Of course there is always a god side and a bad side, but I like the freedom and independency, I can basically do what ever I want on my property.

Bad side is that you have no administration/maintainance - you have to check yourself when your cableTV, power, internet.. doesn't work, or complain yourself at the garbige company when they 'forgot' to pick up your garbige, etc.
Security is for me not that much of a big issue. Most Dominicans know, that we don't have a lot anyway. And our six monster dogs do an excelltent job to convince everybody to stay far away. :knockedou

quaqualita
 

Joah

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Feb 15, 2004
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Sandeep said:
We live in an area outside of a gated community. Everyone has 2 big dogs and people working around their house most of the time e.g. gardener etc. some people including ourselves employ a armed guard service. Is there a specific area in the DR that you are looking at?

Thank you for your imput Sandeep. I'm happy that not everyone lives in a "self-imposed prison" in the DR. Sorry, please take no offence, I simply prefer more freedoms.

I have no specific North Coast area at this time. I will be looking at any area not inclosed by locked or guarded gates.

Joah
 

Joah

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Feb 15, 2004
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mountainfrog said:
Well, we have a fence and a gate.
We don?t have guards I hate their snoring.
Our two dogs like burglars ... not minced, however.
Oh, I forgot, it?s 00 buck shot we use on trespassers.
M?frog


Good show M'frog,

A fence with a gate could be deemed practical.
I just love dogs that aren't fussy about their fix'ins.
Oh, I remember, it's my Very pistol I used on those blam rascals... Sure helps brighten up the neighborhood too!

Joah ;) :rolleyes:
 

Joah

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Feb 15, 2004
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quaqualita said:
I live "outside" a gated community and I'm very glad. Of course there is always a god side and a bad side, but I like the freedom and independency, I can basically do what ever I want on my property.

Bad side is that you have no administration/maintainance - you have to check yourself when your cableTV, power, internet.. doesn't work, or complain yourself at the garbige company when they 'forgot' to pick up your garbige, etc.
Security is for me not that much of a big issue. Most Dominicans know, that we don't have a lot anyway. And our six monster dogs do an excelltent job to convince everybody to stay far away. :knockedou

quaqualita


Thank You Quaqualita,

I too have to check when something doesn't work. I find it a bit fustrating at times, but I can handle it. Just get me the yellow pages when all else fails and I'll manage to get it fixed somehow.

It is good to be independent and enjoy doing what you like on your property. I agree that it does bring you happiness.

As for your six monster dogs, I would stay far away too. I assume you have a lot of property or just love dogs.

I guess if I needed a helping-hand I could hire someone to help me.

Joah
 

AZB

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Jan 2, 2002
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North coast sucks!!!!!!

I live in santiago, far far away from the self-imprisoned gringos in the north coast. This is the real dominican republic as opposed to sosua, cabarete. These places shouldn't be even called dominican republic as the majority of people there are foreigners. The dominicans who are found in such places are domestic workers, hookers and pimps. There isn't a decent dominican in site for miles. The prices are expensive for real estate and the restaurant charge as though they are still in miami. In simple terms you people are getting ripped off there. Many foreigners are acting like the puerto plata low life dominicans there, ex: if you want any information from them, you would have to buy them drinks, feed them in a restaurant first or bring them gifts from USA, canada before you get a word out of their mouths. Often times these foreigners have business plans for you that will benefit them first, without having to put in a penny from their side. There are alot of foreigners who act like sankies and leeches in the north coast area. Most ex-pats are old and drunks who spend time with hookers (or ex-hookers).
All in all, north coast is disgusting and should not be considered a part of DR. There is no dominican culture to be found there except for the hooker culture. Some people claim that the north coast is booming and that businesses are making money. I was there over the long weekend and saw no trace of that. Many restaurants / bars are empty even on weekends. I just don't know how they make ends meet. I was complaining in santiago, but it seems I make more money in a day than many bars make in a week there.
Does anyone ever consider living in Jarabacoa for a change? I mean, do you gringos ever get to leave cabarete or sosua for a while and see other places on this island? I don't mean going away to santo domingo to renew your residency; that doesn't count.
Have a nice day.
AZB
 

Robert

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Jan 2, 1999
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AZB - Obviously business is bad in Santiago right now.

Are you going for the record of most generalizations in one post?
 

mountainfrog

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Exaggerating Helps

Well, sometimes exaggerations are helpful in getting across the picture.
In other words, AZB hits them hard on the head ...
But isn?t this needed as an eye-opener for hard-headed non-believers?
M?frog
non-gated, dog-guarded
 

Criss Colon

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Jan 2, 2002
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Most Dominicans NEVER leave the house emplt!

It is kind of like the "Designated Driver Program",only someone is "volunteered" to stay in the house.If you leave your house empty on a regular basis ,sooner or later,you WILL be robbed! :bandit: :bandit: :bandit: CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
 

pati

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Feb 3, 2004
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Joah,
I know how you feel. I asked the same question on my last visit to DR. They did show me some place in Santo Dominigo but they were multi million dollar houses on some cliff. Way out of my league. There's plenty more places I haven't seen yet in DR so I can't say that a nice, safe, middle class, non gated, non guarded place doesn't exist but it looks doubtful.
 

lhtown

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Jan 8, 2002
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pati said:
Joah,
I know how you feel. I asked the same question on my last visit to DR. They did show me some place in Santo Dominigo but they were multi million dollar houses on some cliff. Way out of my league. There's plenty more places I haven't seen yet in DR so I can't say that a nice, safe, middle class, non gated, non guarded place doesn't exist but it looks doubtful.

There are plenty of them in SD. I happen to live in one.

Edited to clarify: I live in a middle class non gated non guarded place not the multi million dollar house on the cliff. Those are pretty scarce.
 

GlowWorm

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Nov 18, 2003
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AZB, you're right about the North Coast

Every time AZB is on the North Coast, it sucks... so stay in Santiago.


Glow:rolleyes:
 

pati

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Feb 3, 2004
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lhtown said:
There are plenty of them in SD. I happen to live in one.

Edited to clarify: I live in a middle class non gated non guarded place not the multi million dollar house on the cliff. Those are pretty scarce.

What area in SD is that, if that's not getting too personal?
 

lhtown

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Jan 8, 2002
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I live in the far northwest part of the city off Av. Republica de Colombia (5 minutes from the cemetery Cristo Redentor) in one of the new urbanizations that are being built there. As with so many areas, the community is non-gated and non-guarded but each house has its fence. I also have two dogs. We have a nice home in a middles class area. Usualy we have phone, cable and internet. Sometimes, we even have electricity and water! Actually, we always have them with our inverter and cistern and roof tank and generator for emergency use. Our rent is RD$11,000 per month which is probably a bit lower than you could rent the same house for now.

If you are looking for homes that are secure with no fence around them, there are indeed few and those are found within gated communities. However, there are innumerable areas where a gringo could live in SD that are not gated communities.

PM me if you want more info.
 

XanaduRanch

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Sep 15, 2002
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That's Really the Key

Criss Colon said:
It is kind of like the "Designated Driver Program",only someone is "volunteered" to stay in the house.If you leave your house empty on a regular basis ,sooner or later,you WILL be robbed.
I now have a minimum of two guys who work for me here at all times. One prowls the grounds at night, the other is here during the day. They both have two-way radios, a machete, and cans of pepper spray. I keep the shotgun. Anyone drops by univited by climbing the fence, and I mean anyone they have orders to hold them, and if they don't stop they will be pepper sprayed and sat on until the police get there. Which here in the hinterlands could be a little while!

I actually have more trouble with stupid Gringos than with any Dominicans oddly enough. Some people are just hard-headed.

Both these guys have their own rooms at opposite ends of the house to be able to hear things in different places. We haven't got good dogs yet, but we have one mid-sized and four little ones who are quite vocal. We also set up some very simple alarms. Motion sensor lights in parallel tied to howling 300 peso 12V car alarms. Lights are active all day. We have a switch to throw the siren in line at night.

But nothing, and I mean nothing, beats a couple pairs of eyes walking around the property. Most would be burglars see that and just move on to the next place.

Tom aka XR Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.
 

Joah

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Feb 15, 2004
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AZB said:
I live in santiago, far far away from the self-imprisoned gringos in the north coast. This is the real dominican republic as opposed to sosua, cabarete. These places shouldn't be even called dominican republic as the majority of people there are foreigners. The dominicans who are found in such places are domestic workers, hookers and pimps. There isn't a decent dominican in site for miles. The prices are expensive for real estate and the restaurant charge as though they are still in miami. In simple terms you people are getting ripped off there. Many foreigners are acting like the puerto plata low life dominicans there, ex: if you want any information from them, you would have to buy them drinks, feed them in a restaurant first or bring them gifts from USA, canada before you get a word out of their mouths. Often times these foreigners have business plans for you that will benefit them first, without having to put in a penny from their side. There are alot of foreigners who act like sankies and leeches in the north coast area. Most ex-pats are old and drunks who spend time with hookers (or ex-hookers).
All in all, north coast is disgusting and should not be considered a part of DR. There is no dominican culture to be found there except for the hooker culture. Some people claim that the north coast is booming and that businesses are making money. I was there over the long weekend and saw no trace of that. Many restaurants / bars are empty even on weekends. I just don't know how they make ends meet. I was complaining in santiago, but it seems I make more money in a day than many bars make in a week there.
Does anyone ever consider living in Jarabacoa for a change? I mean, do you gringos ever get to leave cabarete or sosua for a while and see other places on this island? I don't mean going away to santo domingo to renew your residency; that doesn't count.
Have a nice day.
AZB


Dear AZB,

What you have written sounds so.....familiar. I am currently residing in Las Vegas, NV. I live on a ridge away from the famous Las Vegas Strip. I can say I live in the "real" Las Vegas where there are family homes, green parks, schools, and a scattering of horse ranches.
Visitors rarely leave the Casino & Hotel areas. They come for the "Street of Dreams".
All that you have written in your descriptive narrative applies to the Adult Disneyland aka Metro Las Vegas - "The Strip" many times over. Just substitute las vegan for dominican.

I have gone snook fishing on the beautiful Altos de Chavon River, and have seen some of the south coast aside from Ste. Domingo.

To be honest, there is good and bad, likes and dislikes everywhere in this world. We are all humans, but unique in our differences. That is fact and that will not change.

I am glad that you vented your feelings and I really hope you feel better. If you don't, I suggest an enema both ways.

Hummm....Jarabacoa

Joah :bunny:
 

Joah

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Feb 15, 2004
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:rolleyes:
Criss Colon said:
It is kind of like the "Designated Driver Program",only someone is "volunteered" to stay in the house.If you leave your house empty on a regular basis ,sooner or later,you WILL be robbed! :bandit: :bandit: :bandit: CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC


Dear Criss,

If I leave my house empty....what's there to take????? :rolleyes: