The capital has one drawback...too many damn capitaleños...lol..just kidding folks.

you forgot one thing ............The shopping SUX and is much better in San Juan or St Thomas or St Martin

beat you to it goulet...youth trumps age once again..lol

Curses !

I agree, but a lot of work has to be done. Maybe when all 6 lines of the Metro and an Amtrak from Punta Cana to La Capital are completed the D.N. can become the "Caribbean's most important destination"

The project sansouci under construction in the Capital will attract a lot of tourists to the city but still there is a long way to walk before SD becomes the Caribbean’s most important destination.

when the Castros and the old fossils go in Havana it is not difficult to know which will be the most important city in the Caribbean the same one that was the most important until Castro turned it into a city in need of a lot of work and restoration .....anyone who thinks otherwise is talking with their heart

It took ROME centuries to become the greatest city in the mediterrenean....
It shouldn't take us more than a decade with Leonel incharge!

are you F@#$% kidding me? LOL, i was born in this wonderful city called Santo Domingo and I'm proud it is the first European settlement in the "new world"! :))

Puerto Rican and other Caribbean neighbors are extremely jealous at us!! LOL!!

Santo domingo not a good destination for shopping?? common! that is BS

hey, neon genesis; as much as GC ticks me off at times, it is pretty presumptious of you to challenge him regarding his assertations about the relative merits of the caribbean destinations. you are not in a position to go heads up with this guy on this subject, so quit while you are behind. GC will eat your lunch on these matters.

They need to find a new place for the ladies of the evening that work down the street from the Malecon center. Or is that what he means by the 'most important"

"Written by: cibaeño75, 8 Jan 2009 3:46 PM
The capital has one drawback...too many damn capitaleños...lol..just kidding folks."

At least they are better than the Chopos from the Cibao!!!
Santiago...The cure for insomnia!

He said the City Council works hard to recover the entire coastline along the Capital’s Malecon, aimed at making it more attractive and increase the number of foreigners who visit.

I've always loved the turqoise/emerald, sometimes baby blue color of the ocean at El Malecon. If you haven't seen a sunrise, or a sunset there, you haven't seen how beautiful it really is. And the seaspray on a cool evening; forget about it! Pura vida! The Caribbean Sea is all that, and then some. La Avenida George Washington from the Monument to La Feria has always lived on my mind as one of the prettiest places anywhere. Dining at El Restaurant Vesuvio overlooking the Ocean at night is simply marvelous. Que belleza es Quisqueya!
Guibia la playa de la Capital....Cuantos buenos recuerdos!
Let's show the whole world what a scenic city it really is. El Mirador is another delightful panoramic site to see. El Jaragua, El Embajador, Agua y Luz......Now, El Faro a Colon?
3 out of four ain't bad!

San Juan and Santo Domingo and Havana are three beautiful stories of the Caribbean similar but seasoned differently ...to know them is to be privileged and blessed

From a historical perspective and size, Santo Domingo has indeed great potential to become the most important Caribbean destination. In terms of sophistication, it could be argued that San Juan is more advanced. In terms of price, particularly liquor and jewelry, I suppose Saint Maarten beats them both.

Everything, however, could change when the commies are gone from Cuba, as Havana has been less spoiled and influenced by outside cultures, a fact that could make it infinitely more interesting than the balance of the Caribbean.

No question Sto Dgo has an impressive list of historical first, but it is up for some competition.
And I agree, Old San Juan is very charming and impressive as well as St Thomas. If we compete it must be on another level. Otherwise the allure woud be minimal. It must be some thing that is uniquely Dominican not found in other islands. How about our very own Dominican China town?
Now that is some thing you don't see everyday. Mangu con arroz frito.

guillermone you are correct about China town it is unique ....and it has a new Chinese/Jewish restaurant that just opened .....It is called " SO SOO ME "

That is funny goulet, I liked that ..LOL

" and if you win try and collect "..that what Bernie Madoff said

And wait til Lie-onel builds the Artifical Island?

When I speak of the beauty of S. Do., I speak about where I was born and raised.

When you compare my town to other venues in the region keep in mind;
A litlle bit of trivia for the connoisseurs of facts:

Havana Cuba is on entrance to the Gulf of Mexico!
San Juan Puert Rico is on the cusp of the Atlantic Ocean!

Not, to sound redundant or sophmorish, but, my city is more beautiful to me. Keep your St. Barts, and your Sandal's Mo' Bay, or Aruba, or even Banda Ache.
It's like the old sayingDon't like it, don't eat it!

LA CAPITAL has some nice places, but in general it is an ugly and uninspiring city. SORRY guys. Salcedo has to be kidding me. We would need at least 10 more streets like El Conde. We would need more beautiful renaissance buildings and more beautiful churches. We would need more nice terrasses. We would need a nice view to look at from our river Ozama's banks. We would need a complete demolition of the sectors :

Villa Juana, Villas Agricolas, Villa Consuelo, Villa Maria Auxiliadora etc. These places should make room for social housing buildings for the working class and some upper class buildings.

Buenoha,
Villa Juana, Villas Agricolas, Villa Consuelo, Villa Maria Auxiliadora etc. These places should make room for social housing buildings for the working class and some upper class buildings.

Bueno, yo soy de Villa. I agree some of the places you mentioned are a bit run down; But, what I find worse is when I see a "pulperia" in places like Naco, o Piantini. Where's the building code? In the midst of impressive homes, an un-finished 5 story rat hole.
You're partially right about demolishing some of the ugly areas....I was born en La Benito Gonzalez, It looks horrible now! Isn't it ironic that when Maria Auxilidora was first inaugurated my family and I would visit some friends there, then it was beautiful, now 50 years later you say that it has to go.....This is the question will they replace it with projects like in PR, or Miami's Overtown, or like the South Bronx's Casitas? Como quiera que chula es mi ciudad!

There is an art in taking advantage of the run down. Marseilles must be champion followed by Havana. Tunis is also interesting. Paintwork must be faded, Humphrey Bogart makde it big time in Casablanca, followed by Passage to Marseilles. SD could have more son et lumiere performances to bring the history to life.
Interesting comments on Haiti.
http://planetcompas.com/Art.html
S.

Can be, but the crime is too high, insecurity, corruption, no electricity, garbage every where, and the city is over populated. The best place to be in the DR is the east coast. Probably if the government invest more money in education all of these problems can would be solved.

The DR as a whole has lots of potential, but its leaders are wasting too much time. Soon (I hope) the Castro regime will end or Cuba will copy the Chinese model and leave us behind. The DR should take advantage now.

Mr. Mayor this "great" capital city of yours does it have a Free Public Library System?

And if so what is the ratio of libraries per resident?

And how many volumes do you have on hand that are accessible for the general public?

And where are the locations of these neighborhood libraries?

After all your "genius" Presidente wants to turn Santo Dominingo into a "Nueva Yol chiquito!"

It is true our Dominican leaders have distorted priorities. How can they even think about developing a world class destination when they barely have been able to solved the most basic needs of the people. The roads are atrocious, trafic is in caos, garbage all over the place, energy issues, an over burdened public health system, lack of affordable housing, water shortages and public education one of the worse. Though our people are nice, friendly and hospitable, they lack manners, courtesy and general civility. I know a subway system was a good thing for Sto Dgo, but there are so many other overwhelming issues that a metro is pathetic. It reminds me of my neighbor, she knocked on my door desperate to borrow cash to pay for her water bill that was cut off. She used the money instead to pay for a manicure, pedicure and for an expensive hair style and tint . She was going to a wedding that weekend, needed to buy a gift and to look good. Certainly a distorted sense of priorities indeed

guillermone, after a posting like that, nothing more needs to be said on the subject. nada!

"Written by: dreadlocks, 10 Jan 2009 2:51 PM
From: United States
guillermone, after a posting like that, nothing more needs to be said on the subject. nada!"

gentlemen,

I second that motion! Hearing no nays the resolution is passed unanimously!

the resolution is carried. next item on the agenda, please.

dread,

The only thing I am not ignorant about, is about how ignorant I am.

So please give some information if you have it on the Free Public Libary System in DR.

Thanks!

Public libraries are obsoolete. One Per Child mass computers are the way forward!
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_28367.shtml
S.

more genius from ABC. sure , ABC, i am sure that everyone in the DR can afford a laptop. i tell you, this is not a first world, G20 country, so stop with the European solutions. try to figure the economic realities before you give us your scintillating insights.

every now and then the wanker staggers over to his computer and states the position of the lunatic fringe

correction, GC. lunatic fringe, you say? do you consider a person who prescribes ballet troupes as a stimulant for the DR economy to be on a fringe of any kind? this guy is front and center!

josean, i have no information regarding free public libraries. truthfully, i am yet to see one, though i guess they exist.

You guys sure haven't been vistied by the sugar plum fairy! You are behaving as Cinderellas that will miss out when the Ministry of Culture organises the first performances of a Ballet Company.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQemvyyJ--g
Cultural nihilists all!
http://paulb.com/nbcuba.htm#
S.

easy on the pipe, ABC. a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Perhaps the government has more culture than you and believes in creating employment - from today's DR!.
RD$1.6 billion for Bellas Artes
The Fernandez administration now admits it spent RD$1.6 billion to remodel the Palacio de Bellas Artes. The government originally reported that the renovation had cost RD$700 million. Journalist Alicia Ortega had revealed the discrepancies in the actual cost and the published cost in a TV documentary. According to El Caribe, project supervisor Alejandro Lugo confirmed that the government had spent RD$800 million on the parking areas alone.
S.

you should get a job with this government; your ideas are equally loony. i am sure that the 800 million spent on parking spaces will generate a ton of revenues! you are in a state of mental meltdown. do you really believe that the intent of this renovation is to "stimulate the economy"?you are getting sillier by the moment. are you posting all this crap on a lark? are you pulling our legs?

I was at a PLD rally when a new community / sports hall was being opened. Everyone was waving at the helicopter as it hovered overhead then gradually lowered into the adjacent field. Little old ladies waved flags and when the President came out everyone cheered. The last administration left many schools unfinished to rot away. Some have now been completed. I guess new arts facilities will be popular although I would agree that any new ballet theatre could be near a Metro station. Still think of the revenue from car parking.
S.

whaaa????

yes, ABC; i can just see it now. hordes of ballet fans, causing traffic jams in the parking lots. the GDP will skyrocket; the national costume will become the tutu. isn't art great?

I guess you would prefer DR people kept to traditional pastimes, playing the lottery, cockfighting, drinking rum, watching novellas, attending PLD rallies among other things. Refurbishing an arts centre - no way! But when they watch the Novellas the GDP goes down as people aspire to imported limos, new improted bikinis, cosmetic surgery and of course all the things they see on the advert breaks mostly imported.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm....individual&videoid=2046161539

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piw-ypjgoB4&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyX5szKHTAw
Still who am I to say?
S.

Knowing that abc is a supporter of Lie-onel and the PLD mafia is reason enough to be against them!

ABC, i am not here to say what i prefer. i am here to say that ballet troupes have no measurable impact on economic growth. it is as simple as that. if you must expound idiotic ideas, that is your right. it is my right to debunk your nonsense.

Perhaps hapiness index is more important. But I think the arts contribute to GDP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjZXWkn_Bp0
If DR had a King or Princess as well hapiness would soar. Beauty Queens seem popular.
But we know know that Josean, Dread, GC being steeped in DR tradition order thse favourite things as
1. Novellas
2. Cockfighting
3. Drinking rum
4. Attending PLD rallies.
999999. Going to see Nutcracker with a niece.
So be it.
Take a hapiness index survey!
When you go to the Opera order orange juice for the interval rather than Champagne ( real Dominican oranges ). Oh and the DR should ban the music of Yusuf Islam!
S.
.


S.

i had hoped that you would have slept off your hallucinogens, but it appears that you are back with a vengeance. ok, ABC, i will try to pass on to the authorities that they will avert the upcoming economic strictures by repeated performances of The Barber of Seville.

Yes, and instigate a search for a new Queen. The Spanish murdered Anacaona but to have a Queen is both a Spanish and Taino tradition.
If you are lucky I will send you a picture of the Cockfighting cockpit they build here.
I seem to have awoken the antideluvians such as GC.
S.

Reduce the GDP
Repeat after me -
…You Will be Frugal, and You Will Enjoy It

“Greed is out,” Suzan said last night as she surfed her news feeds on the Internet. “Frugality is in.”

Thanks to the global economic meltdown, every columnist in American seems to be hopping on the New Austerity bandwagon.

Their newfound concern over the moral health of the Western soul is almost funny. “How did America let greed and materialism become the unofficial national religion?” they write. “When did America’s motto become ‘Use It All Up and Let the Grandkids Sort It Out'”?

One columnist even came up with a new motto for America.

“Stop Being Stupid.”

from International Living

So there your are!

GC be frugal with your Sunday Caviar!

S.

"professional courtesy"

Professionalism and courtesy to things which are totally alien concepts to you!

"At least they are better than the Chopos from the Cibao!!!
Santiago...The cure for insomnia!"

You have no idea how happy it makes me to know that the cibao is not for you,Mr. C.

actually, cibaeno, the Earth is not for him. or, rather, he is not for Earth.

"i am here to say that ballet troupes have no measurable impact on economic growth. "

I'm still chuckling at this one.

cibaeno, we all have to concede that ABC can sometimes be a real source of humor.

Written by: cibaeño75, 11 Jan 2009 2:49 PM
From: United States, New York City
"At least they are better than the Chopos from the Cibao!!!
Santiago...The cure for insomnia!"

You have no idea how happy it makes me to know that the cibao is not for you,Mr. C.
--------------

Well, thank God for that.

GC someone spiced your caviar today huh. Sudden increase in bodily functions. Solution to the energy crisis when your cannot pay the electrictiy bill - release of a lot of gas!
S.

Dread - with time your could develop an understaning of economics!#
S.

GC like other people of your infantile nature you throw away your little gems - when of course you could have a wind powered composting toilet. Then you can have ripe tomatoes that won't give you wind like your stale caviar.
http://www.envirolet.com/prices.html
Be frugal.....
At the moment, of course, you are a rotten tomato!
Go back to your to true vocation reviewing Checkhov Ibsen's Cherry Orchard under a nom de plume.
Cherries are sweet!
http://theater2.nytimes.com/2007/....p=2&sq=Ross+Burton&st=nyt

S.

actually, ABC, i have learned a lot from you. as we speak, i am doing some research on setting up an opera company. things are going to be rough in these parts for a goodly while, and i want to do my part to stabilise the economy. i feel that a few performances of Madame Butterfly should do really well in raising the GDP.

GC you must be somewhat immobile on your throne something like Winnie in Happy Days. But you seem to be short of lines!
S.

Yes Dread lets hope you also raise the hapiness index!
You can create a cultural lighthouse! While GC has a cultural dungeon!
S.

isn't it past your bedtime, ABC?

dread - you have been asleep for a long time. However you say you are learning, for example how cultural activities increase GDP and the significance of novelas such as Dame Chocolate.
http://www.cepr.org/bulletin/bulletin_may_2008/052008art04.asp
Good luck with your Opera company!
GC still stting on the throne trying to recite the Russian alphabet backwards and work out how to fix broken TV's
Ever thought about poetry
We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.
Dead Poets Society. Thoreau was into frugality!
I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life

into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms
Just maybe I'm pro american quoting an American author.
S.

The monkey is awake and expleting!
Coprolalia again!
S.

wanker your favorite quote of Winnie's when he was addressing Lady Churchill....." It will be long and it will be hard "

the monkey's 20 lines get rotated.
http://www.geocities.com/zhoumann/monkey.html
S.