North Coast vs. Santiago

[Escott]

I know plenty about Santiago Hillbilly. I have been there 100 times at least and probably more. I have been with AZB to all of his hangouts plus I have shopped in all the stores looking for stuff to renovate condos. I have seen you in the Bank and in the street there often enough for you to know this.

I just think it is an old dirty city. If it was NY I would call it a slum. I think that Santo Domingo is also a unattractive and a place I wouldn't live but do go there for business purposes also when needed and enjoy the opportunity to visit with friends when I am there. Puerto Plata is even worse than Santiago and Santo Domingo in every way.

If I wanted to live in a city my choices would be San Fransisco, San Diego or Boston which are first world cities with class and things to do. I want to live in the Caribbean but don't want to live in a dirty, crowded city so I live at the beach. Last thing I would ever consider is living in a City. My last home in the states had 75 acres of land in the States and I didn't choose to live in a city while I lived there.

Of course the difference between AZB and myself is that I don't need to make money since I retired so we choose different places to suit what we need. He makes Santiago out to be Godly which of course it absolutely isn't.

My only beef is that AZB says all the women in Sosua are Ugly Black Hookers which is untrue. AZB says that everyong belongs in Santiago and NOT Sosua which is as big a bunch of BS as I have ever heard. Every time someone says that they didn't like Santiago he says "stay away" and same for the other "Don Juans" who think that they should be written about in books because they get laid there.

There are more hookers in Santiago than in Sosua. There are more Screw Cabanas in Santiago than in Sosua also. You will find Fugly women in every part of the DR and good looking women in every part of the DRl.

Personally I don't give a rats patutie since I have not just been released from JAIL like some of the others that do nothing else in the DR other than run, chase and Conquer all the women every day and can't live with out this activity for even a half hour.

What can I say? There isn't much in Santiago I can't have that I want that will take more than one day out of my life. I am glad it is there and glad it is just over an hour away and no further. If Puerto Plata had reasonable prices on merchandise instead of inflated prices I would go to Santiago less.

Oh and finding Kindred souls is way more easy on the North Coast in Sosua and Cabarete than it is in Santiago. Anyone can wander onto the beach or into just about any restaurant in either town and hear many languages spoken unlike Santiago where they have to go to the HB Palace to find this.

Scott

 

[Robert]

Guys, you can kick this about forever, it all comes down to individual lifestyle choices, it's not about us and them. Santiago suits AZB and Sosua Scott, it's that simple.

I personally could not live in either, I like big smelly, dirty cities. I enjoy visiting Sosua as I have friends and clients, plus it has a very vibrant expat community. To me, Santiago is a smaller version of SD, that's it.

At the end of the day, they are only a couple of hours drive away from each other, it's easy to enjoy both. Plus it's more fun than living in New York, Atlanta or London

 

[BushBaby]

I suppose that as this thread was started so that three or four of us would have a go at each other, I ought to put my fourpennarth in. Sorry to dissappoint you Larry, but I DON'T intend getting into any arguments, just to state simply my feelings on Santiago & the North Coast.

I am ALWAYS happy to pay a visit to Santiago .... because I know I shall be travelling home again that night. On the various times I have visited, I have found the Santiago people hospitable, generally more intelligent & certainly better at SPANISH than the PuertoPlatanians. THEIR Spanish is more correct than the North Coast, easier to understand (maybe because they speak more clearly) but STILL not as good as the Santo Domingo Spanish! It is quite obvious to anyone studying the two areas, that Santiagarians are more educated due to the better education facilities there.

Santiago has some lovely shops, a LOT of history & is the hub of the northern area for business & commerce. As such, it is a working town with the problems of refuse asociated with City life. It is NO worse than Sosua, Puerto Plata & cabarete however. The main thorofares are better then it's counterparts up north whilst the Barrio areas are perhaps as dirty & unkempt as the north coast towns. YES, Santiago has more traffic than Sosua & Puerto Plata (one of the reasons I prefer the north coast) but all told, the traffic keeps moving since the bypasses have been built & passing THROUGH Santiago is nothing like the hassle it used to be 8 years ago!!

I have met some WONDERFUL businessmen in Santiago (thanks to Hillbilly & the golf club there) but due to not wanting to spend NIGHTS there (I prefer my own bed & comforts of MY home) think that I shall be unable to socialise with them & get to know them better. That is MY decision, not their off-handedness, this is CERTAINLY not their style, in fact the opposite is the case!!

I am truly happy with the pace & life of Puerto Plata. Having experienced the husstle & busstle of city life in England, the endless traffic jams going too & from work, the ease of travel here meets my needs admirably. I ahve a "Comfort Level" here that has evolved over the years, getting to know the locals (street cleaners, police, local businessmen & town officials) & that comfort level is not experienced in Sosua or Santiago. That is NOT to say that these are not as good - it is only as it feels to ME!! Those who live in Sosua & Santiago are not idiots - they live where THEY have the comfort feeling too!! But that is THEIR comfort feeling & they are just as right to do that as those of us that prefer Puerto Plata.

Sorry if that doesn't produce the heated argument you were looking for Larry, it is just the way I see things. By the way Gringo, AZB didn't get me in a twist or wind me up, he didn't even get to first base on that squire. enjoy any forthcoming battle - just don't expect to see me taking part!!

 

[NALs]

And The Truth Is...

Santiago is home to about 500,000 to 800,000 peoples, depend on the sources.

Sosua is only a few thousand.

No futher explanation needed.

and for comparison sake, Santo Domingo is home to around 3 million people. Its the fastest growing city in the Caribbean and one of the fastest growing in the hemisphere. Since the 1970s, the city has gotten into a habit of growing by 1 million people every decade! Soon, it will be a megalopolis encompasiing everything from San Cristobal to Boca Chica and from the coast up to villa Altagracia!

When that day comes, I'm moving out, but for now, SDQ is my place of choice.

BTW, Santiago is also expanding and could further engulf the Central cibao area. Thank goodness that trade winds blow from east to west and the valley is parallel on a east to west direction, otherwise the air pollution would just sit on town and be worst than Los Angeles! The samething applies to SDQ btw.

The North coast will also become a sprawl spanning from Luperon all the way to Cabarete. With all of those resorts, attractions, and gated communities being developed in the middle of sugar cane fields, forest, and countryside, it will soon be as crowded as the places all you folks left!

Maybe we should invest in a plot of land in Barahona, there is a place that needs more people! And its absolutely beautiful along the coast, some areas resemble the Amalfi coast of Italy with mountains tumbling straight down into the ocean!

 

[Hillbilly]

Funny thing happened today

We have a small group of young professional people that meet under a big ol' tree in the parking lot at De La Salle school. Since I have to pick up may grandson there every day at 1:15, I've gotten into the habit of arriving a little before one o' clock and we sort of shoot the bull. In fact,we have a little group that will be getting together a coupple of times between now and Christmas outside of the school area. We talk about politics, scandals in society, sports, generally sort of "guy talk" but the odd mother shows up and we let her talk, too.

Today I mentioned this thread, and I was surprised at the fact that three of our guys were in Sos?a over the weekend. One had rented out his house to a German woman and her sankie boyfriend for some nice dollars, and the others had gone there for the day. All were appaled at how dirty the town was and especially the beach. In fact, one commented that he was not letting his children bathe at the beach anymore since they all got skin rashes after bathing there. But the big comment was the garbage at the beach, and they were not talking about AZB and his UBHs...in fact there were no comments about any of that.

I know that Scott has been here, and I realize that he knows a little about Santiago. I must emphasize "little"....I wish he'd stop by the hovel for a few cold ones some day...

HB