Anyone Live in San Pedro de Macorís

Hillbilly

Hillbilly

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The case for Santiago:
1. Like SPM we have the Aguilas baseball team (SPM has the 2018-2019 Champ Estrellas!! Yea!!!!)
2. Santiago is a real city, not a dependency of the sugar industry and Santo Domingo
3. Health care is very important for us kids, and Santiago has very good medical facilities.
4. Entertainment: there are tons of places to get into trouble.
5. You are less than an hour from pine forests and cool air, and a bit over an hour from dozens of beaches, with the best beaches in the country, I have to say.
6. I don't have any places in mind, but there are places that rent out for $400- $600 a month, and perhaps less, that are in safe neighborhoods, that are quiet, but not far from markets, entertainment, and health services.

I bought a house, downsizing a WHOLE lot, and our expenses for my wife, me, 4 dogs and a cat are pretty much as follows:
1500 Maintenance fee (gated community)
1200 Electricity (24/7) a bit more in summer and a bit less in the winter (No A/C used since October)
1000 Water/Sewage/garbage
6000 Cell phones, internet etc ( we use a Fire Stick for TV) I have 20 Mb of internet, a land line, two cell phones and a wifi gadget
30,000 for food (we eat out a lot
8-10,000 for gasoline (about 2000 a week most weeks. Nice, safe Subaru Outback..nothing fancy. Kia has cars that get 30kpg on propane
So that is about 50,000 a month. or $1000 US.

And there are other options: Jarabacoa, San José de las Matas are small towns with good access to major centers.
Beach options include Monticristi; Puerto Plata (Coastmbar area), Cabarete ( a bit hectic IMO), Gaspar Hernandez and Río San Juan....all of which are certainly doable on $2500 a month or less.

Hope this helps


HB
 
NALs

NALs

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Auryn said:
Taylor I agree with you 100%.

And yes, I absolutely meant to say historical. Edificio Morey has a plaque with the year 1915 or 1919? on it. A few centuries off from colonial, but the potential of its former beauty remains.
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San Pedro has so much potential, but it seems it never quite gets past that stage. If the historic center was restored (not just the building, but also cobblestone streets, historic looking light fixtures, beautifying the parks, etc) and tax incentives for the creation of businesses that would attract tourists or make their visits pleasant (nice restaurants, tourist shops, cafés, art galleries, museum of the city´s history, etc) it could easily become a major day-trip option for the millions of tourists that stay in PC, LR, JD, BC, and SD (and soon in Miches too). Additionally, it can also become one more Dominican port-of-call for cruiseships. The biggest irony of all of this is that hundreds of thousands of tourists skirt SP every year as they are zipped on the circunvalación on their way to SD and back to PC.

I´m somewhat surprised that tour operators aren´t uniting and putting pressure on the government to make SP tourist friendly. There´s so much money to be made off of SP once the conditions are created and this will translate to new jobs for the locals too, which I´m sure they definitely need them.
 
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RDKNIGHT

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Dr_Taylor said:
I respectfully disagree. While it is no Juan Dolio--as I said previously--this description represents an exaggeration. There exists neighborhoods in Santo Domingo Este, such as El Amirante, far worse than parts of SPM. Moreover, the area around Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church in SPM cannot be so described 24/7. Central Park is not a trash dump. It needs work, but it remains far from dirty or filthy.
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okay.... but my experience has not been good in SPM .....you could not pay me to live there....
 
Auryn

Auryn

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NALs said:
San Pedro has so much potential, but it seems it never quite gets past that stage. If the historic center was restored (not just the building, but also cobblestone streets, historic looking light fixtures, beautifying the parks, etc) and tax incentives for the creation of businesses that would attract tourists or make their visits pleasant (nice restaurants, tourist shops, cafés, art galleries, museum of the city´s history, etc) it could easily become a major day-trip option for the millions of tourists that stay in PC, LR, JD, BC, and SD (and soon in Miches too). Additionally, it can also become one more Dominican port-of-call for cruiseships. The biggest irony of all of this is that hundreds of thousands of tourists skirt SP every year as they are zipped on the circunvalación on their way to SD and back to PC.

I´m somewhat surprised that tour operators aren´t uniting and putting pressure on the government to make SP tourist friendly. There´s so much money to be made off of SP once the conditions are created and this will translate to new jobs for the locals too, which I´m sure they definitely need them.
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There are also these huge apartments farther toward the malecon from Iglesia Bautista Evangelica, with the intricate metal balconies and huge shuttered mahogany doors. Some of the original entry ways have been axed out and the metal work is rusted but intact. If I were wealthy, I would restore that building and a few others along that stretch from Catedral San Pedro up to the malecon. I was told that cruise ships did dock along there at one time, which I thought to be true because of the beautiful old buildings.

And also, somewhere on a side street to the south of the Astrapu bus station, there is this dilapidated old house with tires in the yard, shuttered mahogany doors hanging on hinges, and a large staircase leading up to the main entrance. It would have never been a sprawling mansion, but I would describe it as a large, sort of a Caribbean style plantation house.

It's from another time and seems so out of place in the hustle and bustle of the rest of the city. It would be so beautiful with some effort. Whoever owns it possibly uses it as a garage, I'm not sure. It must have survived longer than many historical buildings do, I think. It's on a large lot with no other buildings except on the side closest to the main street.
 
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mido

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Auryn said:
There are also these huge apartments farther toward the malecon from Iglesia Bautista Evangelica, with the intricate metal balconies and huge shuttered mahogany doors. Some of the original entry ways have been axed out and the metal work is rusted but intact. If I were wealthy, I would restore that building and a few others along that stretch from Catedral San Pedro up to the malecon. I was told that cruise ships did dock along there at one time, which I thought to be true because of the beautiful old buildings.
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That used to be an airport for the PANAM Clippers long time ago.

https://sabr.org/research/spring-training-pioneers-flying-southern-clipper-cincinnati-reds
 
AlterEgo

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Today we went flea marketing, and came across a huge amount of school supplies, which we bought for Lindsey Kauffman’s Strength for the Journey school. While we were packing it all up, a guy named Carlos introduced himself, born and raised in San Pedro. We chatted for about 15 minutes, and he was visibly surprised when this gringa knew about their baseball championship.

Small world.
 
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Hillbilly

Hillbilly

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As a historian, I found that article very interesting. As an old man of 80, I recognized almost all of those names in the piece!

What a wonderful note.

AlterEgo: Glad you made the contact!! Good to know who won the championship,,,,You weren't born when they last won it!!

HB
 
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tht

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San Pedro can be crowded, but there's at least a supermarket (Jumbo) there. I know there's a supermarket being built (in progress, under construction) in Juan Dolio, last time I was in JD a couple of months back the cement structure was painted, and a couple of windows installed. It may be finished one day, some time in the distant future. The reclusive STEVE G from the now defunct Juan Dolio booster club thread should be able to provide some insight on that.

La Romana is just 15 - 20 min drive east. And BTW locals in San Pedro go to their local Playa Vicini in Guayacanes. There are some reasonably good restaurants from there along the road over to Playa Pescador.
 
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Mattinnorfolk

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Thanks HB, this is exactly the information that I needed, and I will definitely give Santiago a look. I heard it can also be a little cooler there.
 
franco1111

franco1111

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NALs said:
San Pedro has so much potential, but it seems it never quite gets past that stage. If the historic center was restored (not just the building, but also cobblestone streets, historic looking light fixtures, beautifying the parks, etc) and tax incentives for the creation of businesses that would attract tourists or make their visits pleasant (nice restaurants, tourist shops, cafés, art galleries, museum of the city´s history, etc) it could easily become a major day-trip option for the millions of tourists that stay in PC, LR, JD, BC, and SD (and soon in Miches too). Additionally, it can also become one more Dominican port-of-call for cruiseships. The biggest irony of all of this is that hundreds of thousands of tourists skirt SP every year as they are zipped on the circunvalación on their way to SD and back to PC.

I´m somewhat surprised that tour operators aren´t uniting and putting pressure on the government to make SP tourist friendly. There´s so much money to be made off of SP once the conditions are created and this will translate to new jobs for the locals too, which I´m sure they definitely need them.
Click to expand...

A multipurpose port is what San Pedro needs most

Santo Domingo.- The construction of the port for freight, passengers and tourists; the renovation of the historic center, a boost of the productive sector such as the free zone; and storm drainage are the most urgent needs of San Pedro de Macorís, according to its Provincial Development Council.
“The urban center has an immensity of works and projects that, in addition to being part of history, have a very unique beauty that other provinces don’t have, according to its directors.
“We proposed it to the president (Danilo Medina), that this port would not only be used for cargo, but could receive cruises, and even disembark tourists in the same urban area,” said opposition senator José Hazim Frappier.
Interviewed by Listin Diario the lawmaker noted that the organization was created in 2016 and since then works in a coordinated manner.

https://dominicantoday.com/dr/economy/2019/05/23/a-multipurpose-port-is-what-san-pedro-needs-most/
 
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Gadfly

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in san pedro you must go to central park and eat at amables across the street from the park, sit down in the a/c, order a pastel en hoja with a presidente, gaze out the windows & enjoy
 
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Joe Boots

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SKY said:
I have to agree with previous poster. Tons of Motos all over the City, accidents waiting to happen every minute. You can find a lot better inexpensive place to live.
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Same opinion, it is some caos on the streets.
 
NALs

NALs

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Auryn said:
The posters are sanpedrogringo and Riva_31 I believe. There are lots of much, much more beautiful places in the DR, but San Pedro isn't so bad. Baseball players and motos. The malecon at night is a huge, teeming, sea side night club, if you're into that kind of thing.

The beach in town is called "Playa del Muerto"; who names a beach that and expects there to be a draw is beyond me. The back story I was told is that bodies washed up on the shore during the Trujillo era, hence the name. It wasn't well kept at all, not worth going to, and had only been recently reopened at all. During the week, Juan Dolio and Guayacanes are minutes away and peaceful. Even on weekends, Juan Dolio isn't nearly as packed as Boca Chica. It isn't thriving, but there are still some nice spots to relax in the trade winds.

An hour to Punta Cana and an hour to SD, I can see the draw. Have you visited much? If the city would restore some of the beautiful old buildings along the shore and near the church, there are a couple of blocks that just might rival the feel of Zona Colonial. Likely never happening, and Edificio Morey is possibly one of the most unique colonial buildings in the country.

If you do visit, Apartahotel Guaraguao has fresh, clean, modern, A/C rooms at reasonable rates. Also check out Empanadas Reyes and Blondies Empanadas. We haven't been back in about year, but those are a couple of our go to places.
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San Pedro isn't a colonial city. In fact, none of the Caribbean coast was inhabited much during the 300 years or so of Spanish rule. Higüey and El Seibo is where the population concentrated and then in the 1700's the Spaniards founded Sabana de la Mar with Spanish families from the Canary Islands. The area of Higüey also received a boost with the arrival of more Spanish families from the Canary Islands and in 1805 there was a migration of settlers from the Cibao Valley (most of them descendants of Spaniards also from the Canary Islands) as a consequence of getting away from the destruction and deaths created there during Dessaline's invasion. There are tell tale signs of this migration in the name of several places around Higüey, such as Cerro Gordo de los Isleños (Isleños is one of the names with which the Canary Islanders were called in all of Spain).

San Pedro was not founded until the late 1800's well after the Dominican Republic was established as a country and this foundation corresponded to the establishment of the sugar industry, which until Trujillo rose to power most of the sugar plantations and mills were created and owned by Americans. All those old buildings in San Pedro date from the Danza de los Millones at the beginning of the 20th Century, the richest era of the city.
 
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Auryn

Auryn

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NALs said:
San Pedro isn't a colonial city. In fact, none of the Caribbean coast was inhabited much during the 300 years or so of Spanish rule. Higüey and El Seibo is where the population concentrated and then in the 1700's the Spaniards founded Sabana de la Mar with Spanish families from the Canary Islands. The area of Higüey also received a boost with the arrival of more Spanish families from the Canary Islands and in 1805 there was a migration of settlers from the Cibao Valley (most of them descendants of Spaniards also from the Canary Islands) as a consequence of getting away from the destruction and deaths created there during Dessaline's invasion. There are tell tale signs of this migration in the name of several places around Higüey, such as Cerro Gordo de los Isleños (Isleños is one of the names with which the Canary Islanders were called in all of Spain).

San Pedro was not founded until the late 1800's well after the Dominican Republic was established as a country and this foundation corresponded to the establishment of the sugar industry, which until Trujillo rose to power most of the sugar plantations and mills were created and owned by Americans. All those old buildings in San Pedro date from the Danza de los Millones at the beginning of the 20th Century, the richest era of the city.
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Yes, as you had clarified on post #10
(Page 1). I had responded that I meant historic rather than colonial on post #20 back in the beginning of this thread in 2019. 😉
 
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