As for home invasions or robberies.... I wonder if it's safer in a crowded area or safer in a more remote area. On the one hand you have safety in numbers, but also greater numbers of people drawn to the prosperity of the area, some good, some bad. On the other hand you have the remoteness of your area keeping many potential threats away becasue they are just passing it by to go to the 'tourist areas', but have little safety in numbers and a longer drive to the hospital or whatever.
I know Encuentro has a major problem facing it for example, because on the one hand it's close to Cabarete, but on the other it's just far enough away and secluded enough to become dangerous to homeowner. Most of the people I know there have at one point or another been burglarized, whether that be a home invasion or just an unfortunate homecoming one day.
On the good side, there are new projects underway there all the time and some beautiful homes dot the gentle slope to the beach. It really is a beautiful spot.
Intelligent home design without looking fortress like is key for anyone considering living in the area. There are ways to keep your residence totally secure, yet attractive.
Limiting entry points to one or two and using the residence walls as a 'wall' aqround the property thus creating an inner courtyard are just two simple ideas.
After the area has become built up, security will return.
People need to create 'juntas' with their neighbours and ultimately the entire neighbourhood in order to create order, security, harmony, and a little infrastructure like streetlighting and sidewalks wouldn't hurt either.
How far are people willing to go?
It's your community, steps need to be taken to get it back.
Just my two centavos.
: p.