Living in Costa Rica Versus D.R.

Robert

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tomgallo said:
Which place is better or more civilized???

If you look at some older threads you will see this debate has come up a few times.

The search function is your friend :)
 

BigCity27

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Heres the thread: http://www.dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21037&highlight=costa+rica+dominican+republic

I've been to C.R. & here's my take:
-Presidente is better than Imperial.
-Dominican Rum is better than Centenario.
-Costa Ricans are lighter skinned.
-Costa Ricans can speak English better
-Less trash & garbage on the streets in Costa Rica
-Merengue & Bachata is better than Cumbia (even though it's Colombian)
-People are equally as friendly
-Beaches are better in DR (though I was only on Pacific Side in CR)

If I were to move to either, I would choose DR, but I did enjoy my time in CR
 

xxeonzz

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tomgallo said:
Which place is better or more civilized???

"Better" is subjective.. You will only hear opinions... Some will say DR, some will say CR...

HOWEVER, Costa Rica IS much more civilized and thats a fact!
 

Escott

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xxeonzz said:
"Better" is subjective.. You will only hear opinions... Some will say DR, some will say CR...

HOWEVER, Costa Rica IS much more civilized and thats a fact!
I totally agree. Costa Rica IS much more civilized and it doesn't have an army and very few police. You don't see the garbage thrown out of cars by Ticas, Ticas pissing on the side of the road, Dirty beaches after a Tica Weekend and a whole lot more. They have way more pride, self respect and respect for others.

I will still take the DR for the time being since CR has made residency a problem for foreigners in the last 5 years. Real Estate is 3 times as expensive and infrastructure *READY FOR THIS ONE* is much worse than the DR!

Escott
 

Snuffy

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The beaches here are much nicer. Costa Rica is more civilized. I thought the infrastructure was better in Costa Rica...but I could be wrong since I never lived there for a long period of time. It is a much cleaner country. They are much more focused on preserving the environment. It is a cooler climate in general. Some of that rain forest is amazing. Land is more expensive...but you can still find cheap land to purchase and build on. I found the people to be friendly.

You should live in both places for a spell and then make a decision.
 

Escott

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Snuffy said:
The beaches here are much nicer. Costa Rica is more civilized. I thought the infrastructure was better in Costa Rica...but I could be wrong since I never lived there for a long period of time.
If you think that the infrastructure was better in Costa Rica you have never been there so why lie?
 

Snuffy

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Escott said:
If you think that the infrastructure was better in Costa Rica you have never been there so why lie?

Escott...I don't know you and you don't know me. There is no need to label me a liar.

I did qualify my statement by saying that "I could be wrong...". Obviously there was no intention to mislead. It is difficult to compare since I have never lived in Costa Rica. I have only visited as a tourist for several months. I have lived here in the DR.

What do you consider relative infrastructure....blackouts, the Ozama river, cratered roads, contaminated water, stinking garbage lined roadways, the waste dump just west of Puerta Plata...don't you just love driving by that mess, wonderful postal service, excellent health care system here, doubly excellent education system here. There is a great public library in Santiago...problem is there are no books. But of course soon there will be the wonderful Metro and the Artificial Island.

Some interesting comparisons....

ITEM Costa Rica DR
Population: 3,956,507 8,833,634
Airports - with paved runways: 30 13
Airports - with unpaved runways: 119 18
Pipelines: 242 km 0 ZERO
Highways: 35,892 km 12,600 km
paved: 7,896 km 6,224 km
unpaved: 27,996 km (2000) 6,376 km (1999)
Railways: 950 km 1,743 km
Internet users: 800,000 (2002) 500,000 (2003)
Television broadcast stations: 20 25

Telephones - main lines in use: 1.132 million (2002) 901,800 (2003)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 528,047 (2002) 2,120,400 (2003)
Exports: $6.176 billion $5.524 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Electricity - production: 6.839 billion kWh (2001) 9.186 billion kWh (2001)
Public debt: 56.1% of GDP (2003) 59.4% of GDP (2003)
Unemployment rate: 6.7% (2003 est.) 16.5% (2003 est.)
Population below poverty line: 20.6% (2002 est.) 25%

Literacy Costa Rica
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 96%
male: 95.9%
female: 96.1% (2003 est.)

Literacy DR
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 84.7%
male: 84.6%
female: 84.8% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 12,000 (2003 est.) 88,000 (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 10.26 deaths/1,000 live births 33.28 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: 76.63 years 67.63 years
Population: 3,956,507 8,833,634
 

tomgallo

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Snuffy said:
Escott...I don't know you and you don't know me. There is no need to label me a liar.

I did qualify my statement by saying that "I could be wrong...". Obviously there was no intention to mislead. It is difficult to compare since I have never lived in Costa Rica. I have only visited as a tourist for several months. I have lived here in the DR.

What do you consider relative infrastructure....blackouts, the Ozama river, cratered roads, contaminated water, stinking garbage lined roadways, the waste dump just west of Puerta Plata...don't you just love driving by that mess, wonderful postal service, excellent health care system here, doubly excellent education system here. There is a great public library in Santiago...problem is there are no books. But of course soon there will be the wonderful Metro and the Artificial Island.

Some interesting comparisons....

ITEM Costa Rica DR
Population: 3,956,507 8,833,634
Airports - with paved runways: 30 13
Airports - with unpaved runways: 119 18
Pipelines: 242 km 0 ZERO
Highways: 35,892 km 12,600 km
paved: 7,896 km 6,224 km
unpaved: 27,996 km (2000) 6,376 km (1999)
Railways: 950 km 1,743 km
Internet users: 800,000 (2002) 500,000 (2003)
Television broadcast stations: 20 25

Telephones - main lines in use: 1.132 million (2002) 901,800 (2003)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 528,047 (2002) 2,120,400 (2003)
Exports: $6.176 billion $5.524 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Electricity - production: 6.839 billion kWh (2001) 9.186 billion kWh (2001)
Public debt: 56.1% of GDP (2003) 59.4% of GDP (2003)
Unemployment rate: 6.7% (2003 est.) 16.5% (2003 est.)
Population below poverty line: 20.6% (2002 est.) 25%

Literacy Costa Rica
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 96%
male: 95.9%
female: 96.1% (2003 est.)

Literacy DR
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 84.7%
male: 84.6%
female: 84.8% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 12,000 (2003 est.) 88,000 (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 10.26 deaths/1,000 live births 33.28 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: 76.63 years 67.63 years
Population: 3,956,507 8,833,634
......

Good info!!

Human development index 2004 :

CR ....................... # 45
DR........................ # 98

In CR :

- no sankies
- electricity 24/7 365/year
- anywhere you go you do not stand out; enough white people to melt with
- Better screening and more selective of who qualifies as a resident
- Better message board and forum. No time for sankie related topics = more class
- Better weather
- Tico's are less consumer oriented, more inclined to better quality of life.
- Less number of Mcdonald's franchises
- Tico's lack inferiority complex versus gringos
 

Robert

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Escott said:
If you think that the infrastructure was better in Costa Rica you have never been there so why lie?

And how long did you live in Costa Rica?

I think you need to re-read the post before putting your foot in your mouth.

I thought the infrastructure was better in Costa Rica...but I could be wrong since I never lived there for a long period of time.
 

Robert

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Jan 2, 1999
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tomgallo said:
- Better message board and forum. No time for sankie related topics = more class

Maybe we should adopt better screening and be more selective of who qualifies as a poster?
I guess you just had your application turned down.

A little tip, don't click on a thread that is posted in the "Mars & Venus" forum.
Then at least some of your obvious problems will be solved.
 
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Escott

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Snuffy said:
Escott...I don't know you and you don't know me. There is no need to label me a liar.

What do you consider relative infrastructure....blackouts, the Ozama river, cratered roads, contaminated water, stinking garbage lined roadways, the waste dump just west of Puerta Plata...don't you just love driving by that mess, wonderful postal service, excellent health care system here, doubly excellent education system here. There is a great public library in Santiago...problem is there are no books. But of course soon there will be the wonderful Metro and the Artificial Island.
Costa Rica DR
Population: 3,956,507 8,833,634
Airports - with paved runways: 30 13
Airports - with unpaved runways: 119 18
Pipelines: 242 km 0 ZERO
Highways: 35,892 km 12,600 km
paved: 7,896 km 6,224 km
unpaved: 27,996 km (2000) 6,376 km (1999)
ok, look at the relationship to paved vs. unpaved. Even though you give Costa Rica an Extra year the relationship in the DR is about half of the roads are paved and in Costa Rica only 1/7th of the roads are paved. Not only are these roads unpaved they are almost UNRoads. I have never been on roads that bad.

Their cellular infrastructure was so bad you couldn't get a cellular phone 2 years ago with out being on a 2 year waiting list. Unlike others I don't have a landline phone so this is important to me.

Transportation and communications infrastructure stick out like a sore thumb in my mind and unless things have changed drastically it will still be that way.

Electric? Just because the government doesn't pay their bills doesn't mean electric isn't in place. I remember one month recently that we ran our generator average of less than one hour a day. I bet that one hour a day had nothing to do with the ability to generate electric.

Escott
 

Snuffy

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Escott, everything is okay. I live here in the DR just like you. I like some things and I don't like others. But let us not deny where the problems are here. Describe the country but accurately. I remember the highways being good in Costa Rica. I didn't live there and did not try and order cell phone service. You are obviously correct about the cell phone infrastructure.

There are a few ways to looks at these stats. An infrastructure is set in place to serve the public. Compare the population to paved highways in both countries.

I simply believe that Costa Rica does a better job serving its population. But then I favor a more equal distribution of wealth. It is just my preferance.

Don't think that I don't want the best for the Dominican Republic and its people.
 

Narcosis

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Snuffy said:
Escott...I don't know you and you don't know me. There is no need to label me a liar.

I did qualify my statement by saying that "I could be wrong...". Obviously there was no intention to mislead. It is difficult to compare since I have never lived in Costa Rica. I have only visited as a tourist for several months. I have lived here in the DR.

What do you consider relative infrastructure....blackouts, the Ozama river, cratered roads, contaminated water, stinking garbage lined roadways, the waste dump just west of Puerta Plata...don't you just love driving by that mess, wonderful postal service, excellent health care system here, doubly excellent education system here. There is a great public library in Santiago...problem is there are no books. But of course soon there will be the wonderful Metro and the Artificial Island.

Some interesting comparisons....

ITEM Costa Rica DR
Population: 3,956,507 8,833,634
Airports - with paved runways: 30 13
Airports - with unpaved runways: 119 18
Pipelines: 242 km 0 ZERO
Highways: 35,892 km 12,600 km
paved: 7,896 km 6,224 km
unpaved: 27,996 km (2000) 6,376 km (1999)
Railways: 950 km 1,743 km
Internet users: 800,000 (2002) 500,000 (2003)
Television broadcast stations: 20 25

Telephones - main lines in use: 1.132 million (2002) 901,800 (2003)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 528,047 (2002) 2,120,400 (2003)
Exports: $6.176 billion $5.524 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Electricity - production: 6.839 billion kWh (2001) 9.186 billion kWh (2001)
Public debt: 56.1% of GDP (2003) 59.4% of GDP (2003)
Unemployment rate: 6.7% (2003 est.) 16.5% (2003 est.)
Population below poverty line: 20.6% (2002 est.) 25%

Literacy Costa Rica
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 96%
male: 95.9%
female: 96.1% (2003 est.)

Literacy DR
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 84.7%
male: 84.6%
female: 84.8% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 12,000 (2003 est.) 88,000 (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 10.26 deaths/1,000 live births 33.28 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: 76.63 years 67.63 years
Population: 3,956,507 8,833,634

I had to get involved in this because these stats are VERY misleading..Let me start by saying I was "forced" to live in CR for 2 long years for business reasons.

Airports...This is the most misleading point. CR has 2 international airports which both are terrible. San Jose (Juan Santamaria) and the second in Liberia which is very small and recieves a few charter flights. The rest are tiny airstrips used by small craft since the roads are useless to travel to 80% of the country. Compare that with DR, 5 modern international airports with regularly scheduled flights and a at least a 6th (Barahona) and 7th Herrera, and at least an 8th large international airport under construction.

Highways: That data is VERY questionable, anyone who knows CR will admit it has terrible and dangerous "highways" if you can call them that. In most cases they are 2 lane with head-on traffic. The interamerican highway the main one running North-South from Nicaragua to Panama is jam-packed with trucks from all over Central America passing at break-neck speeds. Streets in citys have no names, directions are given by referece to "well known" landmarks and with cardinal directions and distance in meters. (From the main crossway in Escazu go 300 meters West 200 meters South and 50 meters West!). Traffic lights are few and far in between.

Telecom: It is a state owned and operated monopoly, it is difficult to get a phone line whithout paying a bribe.

Weather: Since San Jose is located up in the mountains it is cooler than most cities in the DR it would be comparble to Consatnza or Jarabacoa. Once you come down from those mountains it is as hot and more humid than the DR. Central America in general has 2 seasons; rainy and dry, or how they call it, winter (April-Dec) Summer (Jan-Mar). During the rainy (winter) it rains everyday like clockwork from about 1 PM. You only see the sun in the morning for most of the rainy season, this can become very depresing (at least is was for me) For this type of weather why not stay in Seattle or London?

As far as Literacy rates and Heath Care, yes CR is far ahead of the DR as they are in the general "civility" of the country. Crime is rising at an alarming rate in CR nonetheless, as is an influx of dirt-poor Nicaraguans, making the unemployment stats a bit questionable as well.

I guess it all depends on your overall lifestyle in comparing the 2. If you want to live in a sunny paradise and have no children, the DR is the place for you, but if you are looking to raise a family and have limited funds, CR is a better choice.
 

Berzin

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Costa Rica is a different beast compared to the DR. I noticed when I was walking around San Jose-I did not stand out as I looked like any other young tico. So I felt that I could blend in Costa Rica, which made me feel less like a tourist and more like just anyone else. This changes the experience of visiting another country by a wide margin.

In the Dr, even when I have strayed away from the tourist places it never ceases to amaze me how/why some dominicans are so concerned with skin and eye color. When I showed a picture of one of my "friends" to my dominican neighbor she looked at the girl very strangely and called her ugly. Why? Because she was dark-skinned(she actually looks like a hindu indian) but that is my preference. If I wanted to chase white women around I would stay right where I am.
She then made another comment which I found very depressing-she asked me why I would want to do that to my children. Do what? Run the risk of having them born dark-skinned. Would'nt it be better to have my children come out "lavado"? As in white? Yes, the connotation is obvious. For her dark skin was dirty. And yes, she was dark-skinned herself. Go figure.
 

Escott

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What you said is similar to how I felt about the country. To expand on my thoughts a bit regarding airports I would like to add this. If you want to live by the beach it takes you two days to get in and two days to get out of Costa Rica. I live on the North Coast and I can be at the POP airport in 10 minutes and in NY in 3 hours and 20 minutes on a direct flight.

Thanks for reminding me, I almost forgot about the airport situation. When I first came to the DR I couldn't understand the need for all the International Airports but when you live here you get to appreciate it.

<-- The joys of the all powerfull delete and edit buttons -->
 
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Jon S.

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Rob and Scott, come on now......

<-- JonS, point taken. The thread has been cleaned up -->
 
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Narcosis

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Berzin said:
Costa Rica is a different beast compared to the DR. I noticed when I was walking around San Jose-I did not stand out as I looked like any other young tico. So I felt that I could blend in Costa Rica, which made me feel less like a tourist and more like just anyone else. This changes the experience of visiting another country by a wide margin.

I guess you did not go outside San Jose/Central valley region.

If you go to Limon on the Caribbean side you would think you are in Jamaica, or to the North-West in Guanacaste region where more native Central American population live.

At any rate why any ex-pat would want to retire in San Jose is beyond me..

If you are into scuba diving and fishing CR is excellent but living on the coasts can be very boring and secluded over time. Unless that is what you want, but it is always nice to be able to get to civilization and have it accesable.