North Vs South Price Comparison?

manunut

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Nov 17, 2006
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would be intresting to compare the prices of accomadation,food and drink, eating out from people living on the nrth and south coasts to see if there is a difference in the cost of living.

for starter's:next to impossible to rent even a small studio in sosua/cabarete for less than $350us per month.

small beer:best price $50rd(in happy hrs)reg min $65rd-$110rd

anyone posting from the sth or nrth could they name the place where they are getting there prices from for any of above mentioned things.

i would really like to know if there is a much of a muchness or more value to be had on one or the other coast.

Thanks,in advance,
Zee,manunut.
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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POP - one bed apt close to malecon (tiny, only locals living there) - 4.500 pesos/month (water, electricity, cable included).
mega hamburger in gloria tipico (off malecon) - 100 pesos.

what strikes me is prices for cosmetics. in POP it's hard to get any stuff at all but lets say one of those cheap nail polish bottles - 38 pesos, the exact same in santiago - 25 pesos. creams, lotions, soaps - all the same, much more expensive in POP.
 

A.Hidalgo

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Apr 28, 2006
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what strikes me is prices for cosmetics. in POP it's hard to get any stuff at all but lets say one of those cheap nail polish bottles - 38 pesos, the exact same in santiago - 25 pesos. creams, lotions, soaps - all the same, much more expensive in POP.

Could it be because more beautiful expats live in POP than Santiago?:cheeky:
 

gringosabroso

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Oct 16, 2004
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Prices: POP vs. Santiago

I've been living in POP for 11 years; I visit Santiago @ every 3 - 5 weeks.
* In my experience, nearly everything costs 30 - 50% more in POP than it does in Santiago. Excluding food & gasoline.

* Santiago: fewer foreigners, less $, more competition.

*ex. I tried to buy some distilled water; I have 8 batteries in my inverter; in POP - sold by the liter only; in Santiago - every large hardware store sells it by the gallon. Why? More inverters, batteries, $, & Gringos in POP.
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
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South: Juan Dolio. In my colmado samll presidente 45RD$, large 65RD$. Big bottles water - 35rd$. Rental: studios 250us$, 2 bed older apts 350-450us$. Posh apts 700-1000 rd$.

Matilda
 

sweetdbt

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Sep 17, 2004
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I really don't thing North or South is a factor in cost of living. It is more a matter of tourist or non tourist areas. There are places like Nagua on the North coast where bargains can be had, but not as many as on the South coast. Probably the cheapest places to live would be small inland population centers; places like Cotui and Moca.
 

manunut

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Nov 17, 2006
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I really don't thing North or South is a factor in cost of living. It is more a matter of tourist or non tourist areas. There are places like Nagua on the North coast where bargains can be had, but not as many as on the South coast. Probably the cheapest places to live would be small inland population centers; places like Cotui and Moca.
sure,you are absolutley correct that there are MUCH cheaper places than the beutiful juan dolio,sosua,pop and cabarete.but i am not looking for the cost of living out in the boon docks.
i am more intrested in the places that attract ex pats to live.

thanks for the replies so far.
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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it's hard to compare such dump like POP to SD - there is less shops so obviously everything is more expensive.
one day i will take papi's truck and do big shopping in capital - still will be cheaper than POP...
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
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Omg!

I've been living in POP for 11 years; I visit Santiago @ every 3 - 5 weeks.
* In my experience, nearly everything costs 30 - 50% more in POP than it does in Santiago. Excluding food & gasoline.

* Santiago: fewer foreigners, less $, more competition.

*ex. I tried to buy some distilled water; I have 8 batteries in my inverter; in POP - sold by the liter only; in Santiago - every large hardware store sells it by the gallon. Why? More inverters, batteries, $, & Gringos in POP.
Less $ in Santiago than in Puerto Plata?

Are you serious?

Santiago has hypermarkets which take advantage of certain economies of scale due to the larger presence of a middle/upper class in the Santiago area than in Puerto Plata.

That's why Santiago has a Pricemart, a large Supermercado Nacional, large shopping malls geared towards the local market, etc while Puerto Plata doesn't have those large stores or a large mall that caters to the locals. The malls in Puerto Plata are on average small and geared more to tourists. Even the best supermarket in Puerto Plata pales in size compared to the supermarkets in Santiago.

Heck, even San Francisco de Macor?s has a sizable middle class to support a very large Multicentro La Sirena -- something that again, doesn't exist in Puerto Plata.

Economies of scale allows for more of a product to be sold for less, which explains why distilled water is sold by the gallon in Santiago vs. much smaller and less wealthy Puerto Plata where its sold by the litter.

Expatriates do dominate certain small regional economies within the country such as Cabarete, Sos?a, etc where expat owned and operate businesses are quite numerous and form a sizeable portion of the local economy. However, that is NOT the case in Santiago or Santo Domingo, the two cities which are home to nearly half the country's population, the bulk of the middle and upper classes, and where at least 70% to 80% of the country's economy revolves around.

I don't know how anyone can possibly believe that POP has more well off people than Santiago. The places are not even on the same level in infrastructural development and modernity.

Sometimes I get the feeling that some expatriates actually believe the DR's economy revolves around them... Newsflash, it doesnt! :ermm:

-NALs
 
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manunut

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Nov 17, 2006
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paid a visit to the sth coast last week and noticed the prices of just about every thing were quite a lot more expensive than on the nrth coast.
and that goes for prices in colmados($5-20rd more expensive for majorety of products) accomadations,eating and drinking out.
the quality of all these things were in NO WAY superior to same items sold(at a REASONABLE profit)up north.
im not looking to deliberitly put nrt or south side down in any way but i do think it is good information to know where one can find the best bang for one's buck.
 

MommC

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Mar 2, 2002
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Always has been that way manunut. I've never quite been able to figure out why as a denser population area should have lower prices....????!!!