Like most places
It has two sides. There are the obviously drug related monied folks, with no class and tons of money to burn, and who put up the god-forsaken ugly pieces of concrete to impress their former neighbors.
Then there are the really nice people that are family oriented, go to the better schools and lead more or less normal lives.
SFM is either the fourth of fifth largest city in the DR, and might even be the third largest.. It has excellent communication with the rest of the country and internationally well connected, too.
There is not a whole lot to do there. Entertainment is limited to winter league baseball, local sports activities, dances at different locales according to taste.
Family is important, and so are "connections." The mentality is small town USA. Everyone sticks their nose into your business-mostly out of curiosity..
HB