Could we turn back time and redo this city. Can it still be saved. In those pictures it looks like a village.
I want to turn back time and live in that era. Forget redoing anything. I would live in the era just prior to Trujillo asuming power. It would be from 1920-1930. Those ten years would be heavenly for me. I'd get to experience a DR much smaller in terms of population but way bigger in terms of land. I mean there wasn't that much infrastructure or buildings, bridges etc.
Yes that is true that the DR was more like an assemblage of villages. If the Carretera Duarte was a dirt road, imagine what the roads leading to a place like Constanza was like. I don't know but I think there wasn't any road linkage at all. I know Constanza was just a hamlet with a smattering of homes and the densely packed pine forest was a wonder to view.
Today, Constanza is a major metropolitan area so that village allure surrounded by pine forests and within a pine forest is totally gone. The pine forest has been severely decimated and you won't find even one pine tree within the city. When you look at the mountain range, you'll see many of the hilltops bald due to deforestation. It's just a matter of time before it is all gone. It's not as cold a city due to this. Heck, in the summer time you'll fry just as you do in SD.
I can only imagine the way folks thought of travel. I mean if you were leaving to travel a long distance you'd probably prepare as if you were going across the Atlantic. You'd probably have some food provisions at the least. It must have taken some days just to get from SD to STGO on that dirt road. I don't know.
What I do know is Constanza. Old time family members and old timers have told me that travel was across the hills and mountains on horseback and it took about two weeks to get to La Vega. Just imagine that. They rarely went to La Vega unless it was to stock up on food items not available in Constanza.
That feeling of separation, remoteness and isolation added to the mystery and romance of a DR long gone. Today's DR is easy accessible by a road system which has destroyed the romanticism of separation. Constanza just like any city within the DR is just a simple drive's away. The hassles are gone and time has sped up. That's another factor namely time.
Since traversing distances was time consuming, time was slower because it took longer to get anything done. There was more time to notice the beauty around you if you are of that spiritual-natural type. I could go on and on with this because it fascinates me like economics and science in general but I'll keep it short.