Avenida George Washington?

Serac · #1 07-02-2008, 08:45 PM

What's the deal with the name? What did GW have to do with DR? Also, I've been to DR 11 times since 1999 alone and there are no working street lamps (except for the hotels), the water and edge rocks are dirty, there are a bunch of empty lots, and half built "new construction" buildings. You would think this place would be developed, what's your input?

CyaBye3015 · #2 07-03-2008, 01:14 AM

Well thought out business plans are sometimes lacking in the DR. Or perhaps it more profitable for the developer to leave it at this stage.

Chirimoya · #3 07-03-2008, 02:02 AM

If this is the building near the corner with Maximo Gomez, it has a serious structural defect that forced a halt to construction, but the authorities still haven't forced the developer to demolish it. It has been there for years, a monument to incompetence.

The Malecon was named after Washington along with several other main avenues in the capital named after historic world leaders (Churchill, JFK, Lincoln, de Gaulle, etc). This, I believe, was an attempt by then dictator Trujillo to curry favour with the rest of the world.

NALs · #4 07-03-2008, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chirimoya

If this is the building near the corner with Maximo Gomez, it has a serious structural defect that forced a halt to construction, but the authorities still haven't forced the developer to demolish it. It has been there for years, a monument to incompetence.

The developers are actually selling the parcel with the half-built tower. Hm... I wonder why it has had a hard time selling?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chirimoya

The Malecon was named after Washington along with several other main avenues in the capital named after historic world leaders (Churchill, JFK, Lincoln, de Gaulle, etc). This, I believe, was an attempt by then dictator Trujillo to curry favour with the rest of the world.

Trujillo didn't went around naming places in the DR to curry favor with anyone, he did that by doing other things.

Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, and even JFK avenues did not exist during the Trujillo era. The avenues of the capital had names of his family members and many of the newer avenues (Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, etc) were built after the era of Trujillo ended, most by Balaguer. In fact, most of the main avenues were built by Balaguer, including the 27 de Febrero which in the 1970s actually looked like an avenue and not as the highway/avenue mix it is today.

Regarding the name of American heroes on the capital's avenues, it was done to show appreciation for the U.S. involvement in eliminating Trujillo and putting the country back on the path towards democracy.

The naming of the other avenues with heroes from other countries was done by Balaguer as he built and inagurated such avenues.

-NALs

Ogre of the Caribbean · #5 07-03-2008, 06:04 PM

G.W. avenue was created by Trujillo. One of the earliest propaganda biographies, printed in 1936, devotes part of the book to explaining why Trujillo named the avenue after George Washington and it even provides photos.

Yes, the other streets were named after Trujillo was gone.

Ezequiel · #6 07-03-2008, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serac

What's the deal with the name? What did GW have to do with DR? Also, I've been to DR 11 times since 1999 alone and there are no working street lamps (except for the hotels), the water and edge rocks are dirty, there are a bunch of empty lots, and half built "new construction" buildings. You would think this place would be developed, what's your input?

In every country you would find, street, avenue and boulevard named after famous presidents, monarchs or other personalities. George Washington, Jfk, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Simon Bolivar, Charles de gaulle those names you will always find it the avenues and streets of other countries, you should travel a bit more.

Serac · #7 07-04-2008, 12:09 AM

I don't know the cross street of the above pictured building but I had asked a local and he told me that it was built on bad land, according to him. Thanks Ogre, you answered my question. I do happen to travel and just was concerned with DR and GW.