Exodus in Cabarete?

[mountainfrog]

Will RE prices drop now?
http://www.puertoplatadigital.com/no...areteexodo.htm

Aren't these people grossly exaggerating?
DR1 readers should know better...

m'frog

[Chris]

Uhm... perhaps a few of them made incorrect investment decisions and now want to lay blame a la Dominican Style?

(I kinda know you disagree with me froggy ... but face it, I have a point)

[mountainfrog]

Originally Posted by Chris

Uhm... perhaps a few of them made incorrect investment decisions and now want to lay blame a la Dominican Style?

You are correct.
Numbers were not given.

I am certain it was only one Italian, one Canadian, one British and one German entrepreneur...
Never, however, have I seen such a correspondence between the nationalities...

United from paradise we leave...?

m'frog

[CFA123]

I'm wondering if it's not an effort by the business community to get some attention to the problems around Cabarete. (Yes, there have continued to be some crime issues that haven't made it to the newspapers and forums.)

Perhaps the idea is to use the media to shake things up a little. Be interesting to see if other newspapers run with the story.

Now, let's just hope the reaction isn't to close the bars at 11pm.

If Leonel is got a good head on his shoulders he'll step up the Barrio Seguro plan in this area if it already hasn't been implented.

One doesn't even have to have a high school education to realize what this situation/bad press could do to tourism.

[mountainfrog]

Originally Posted by Chip00

.... step up the Barrio Seguro plan in this area if it already hasn't been implented.

Maybe it has.
Would one notice any difference?

m'frog

[Chris]

Chip00, have you ever been to Cabarete? Barrio Seguro is kinda overkill? Yes? The barrio has about 3, perhaps 4 roads and really does not look or feel like a barrio. There really is not a barrio there, just a Dominican community. I took Spanish classes there some years ago and it was a friendly, welcoming real piece of Cabarete with wonderful food. Had some of the best food there that I ever had on the North Coast.

Cabarete (tourist Cabarete) has one road with a few going off to 'new' gated communities or pink and green condos.

The history here is remarkable. As long as the development stayed in Cabarete (Tourist Cabarete), things were fine. As soon as the development moved off of the main drag, things are not so fine. The crime is not Cabarete Dominican people, it is those that move in for a while and pick the low hanging fruit.

It is strange, first time I went to Cabarete years ago, it was the same thing. At that stage however, it was Europeans and Germans that had the crime problem as Americans had not really appeared on the scene yet. There are stacks of abandoned developments hidden behind overgrown trees.

Seems to me it is a self-perpetuating cycle. Perhaps this little place does not want to be developed?. It sure has lost most of its charm for me with all the rampant, as quick as you can, cement block painted in pretty colors, 'development'.

I lived just outside of Cabarete without ever locking any doors. The 'iron' that we had was for decoration only. We left for a vacation without closing our back door. When we came back, one of the Dominican neighbors' son had moved in for the duration, just to keep an eye on the place and make sure the chickens don't take a hike. It is such a heartache that this wonderful little spot in the sun has attracted so much development that it is losing its charm and has become a crime magnet in the process. Don't get me wrong, there was theft, but very seldom was there any violent crime. (Unless two Germans lit into one another at the Hexenkessel and we all watched!)

I guess the froggy feels the same about Las Terrenas.

"Barrio Seguro" from what Police have told me is a stepped up presence in an area and although Cabaret isn't your normal "barrio" I would think a more prominent ploice force in this area could only do good. Hell even the dumb ass police here who are crooked realize the importance of tourism to the DR and who wants to hear on the news that the foreigners are abandoning Cabarete?

Look to see Leonel doing something soon if this continues.

[Chris]

The crime is not in the barrio or on the main drag. The crime is around new developments, all tucked into little bays and little streets. Stepped up presence will mean patrols to .. say .. 50 little 'spaces'. I can't see it happening. By the time the patrol gets there, the crime will be done.

It is still a very small place with all kinds of nooks and crannies.

People there are at the end of the crime wave. If they're beginning to feel it, it just shows how much it has taken root.

[El_Uruguayo]

Apparently the murder was by another gringo - not that that makes it any better, just something to take into consideration - it doesnt seem to be a crime of a dominican against an expat.