stillhere previously said:




Would you care to show these number showing "since Santo Dominigo is where almost all the tourist go to" ?? From the number I have seen and number others have quoted that does not seem to be the case... but we all may be wrong and will acknowledge number you can provide... or do you mean for business travel and not tourists.... ???

Ricardolito previously said:

abc ..empty malls aaall around SD???? why do you not come here and see how wrong you are ..Mega centro , Centro , Acropolis and the Blue Mall and all the others I visit seem to be doing very well and the traffic around the malls in the Lincoln Churchill area is an indication of this ...but maybe not so well in Santiago . The only malls in strife are the old ones that have not been maintained

abc200 previously said:


I used to walk through the mall opposite Supermarket Nacional - only a bank, an ice cream stall and a pizza joint doing any business. Vast place - must be 1/3 of a mile long. Also the mall behind Nacional, - all shops over-priced, poorly stocked and empty. Plaza Lama near there always seems to be empty compared with the branch at Duarte.

s.

Ricardolito previously said:

why give a minus to still here when he asks a legitimate question in a very polite way ...Of course most tourists do not visit Santo Domingo ..las Americas is not even the most used airport . but the Zona Colonial council seem to be doing everything they can , on a limited budget , yo encourage tourists to see the old places...the pity is that all the shoppimg malls for tourists are in the area bounnd by Kennedy , 27 de Febrero , Tiradentes and Churchill...quite a distance from zona colonial and zona colonial is not serviced by a Metro !!!!!!

Eriliza previously said:



In terms of a metropolitan area, Santo Domingo is the largest and most visited by Dominicans and foregners alike. Now, as for the most frequented tourist spot, Punta Cana surpasses Santo Domingo and Santiago.

Ricardolito previously said:

no I did nothang out with Blu...actually most foreigners living here have received the most ridiculous advice from the American emabassy ..basically saying never to walk in the same street on 2 concecutive days ..I go all over ZC without a fear just like i used to do in Bangkok that abc writes about ,,,The difference abc ,,is 90 5 of planes landing in Thailand land in BKK ,,but here they land in SD, Santiago , Puerto Plata. Punta Cana, la Romana ..much more diversified

abc200 previously said:



SD has also shot itself in the foot with huge roadbuilding, too many malls for the market that do not connect with hotels, subway etc. The Colonial zone has been run down and many stupid malls have been built. Unlike Thailand there are no well organized open air markets.

So of course for a city break many other cities in the region are more attractive.

Perhaps the future of SD is like Detroit - run-down, unplanned, huge desolate lots etc. and businesses that can,t stand the expense and hastle of their emplyees travelling by car.

They may locate to another country or with luck to LR, LT, Santiago etc. Santiago is a candidate still for development in a more sensible way if rail links are established to the rest of the country and to Haiti.

When I go to SD unavoidably - attempts will be made to rob me, I have much hastle from so called guides, I have to take taxis because of inadequate buses and public transport, Malls don,t even have bus stiops outside , you have to attempt to cross 6 lane highways at traffic lights - can take 10 minutes.
You see grown men fighting over a parking space.

The lack of well organized open-air markets deprives small scale Dominican entepreneurs to grow their businesses.

BK and the planes landing did not happen by accident - it took years of painstaking planning.

I suppose of now the idea would be be to sack all the government planning department ,serving, SD and freeze all developments pending review of projects, Place road blocks collecting 10$ dollar tolls and introduce bus lanes on major highways?
Requistion desolate and deserted malls for demolition and construction of open air markets?

I would of course agree with the US advice - it is a dangerous place. Do not go without a definite plan and in most areas bear the expense of a know taxi company taking you from place to place. ]

If you are fool enough to hire a car - and drive in SD with its lack of road signs be sure to take $1,000 and be prepared for some guy in a wreck bumping into your backside, police will arrive after a couple of hours, pay police and the wreck driver or you have a night in a fairly unpleasant jail.

S.

LaTrinitaria1844 previously said:









SD is way more attractive then any of the other shit cities around it in PR, Cuba etc. I does offer much more variety and modernity. You're just stock in the past and have no clue of what progress is. My city, Santo Domingo is incredibly beautiful, with kind people if it wasn't because I'm studying in US I will be living there long ago.

SD might seem "unplanned ", but that's far from the truth, new roads and as you know the train station are bieng built all around. The city will never be like Detroit so don't even compare it