Info on La Union

[snoozer]

I spent some time in La Union during April and I was pleasantly surprised. It is not as noisy as I expected and the people who lived near mi novia where very pleasant. There was general agreement that if you lived on, or near, the street that is the access road to the new development there is a lot more traffic (as you would expect).

As far as rents go I found that you would pay half of what a comparable apartment would cost in the centre of El Batey.

The cost of a carro publico is 20 pesos during the day and 25 at night, I believe gua-guas are 5 pesos less, but they are often full when thay get to La Union. Not sure what moto concho would cost but I would guess less than 100 pesos.

[Lambada]

Read what 'algunos antisociales' are up to, apparently. This refers to the Villa Liberacion part of La Union
El Nuevo Norte > Inicio

[Rattus_Rattus]

Originally Posted by alicious

Rattus - How did you get them to stop stealing the electricity?..I've heard horror stories about that from some ppl!! Can you check it every evening to make sure no one is hooked up?? Besides that did you enjoy living in La Union?

I was told there is even a very decent supermarcado...would you agree?

The same people who works for the power company connects the illegal powerline after workinghours. And when you call the powercompany to get rid of the parasitwires- the same people comes over and removes the wires. Next morning its the same thing all over again.
I even tried to replace the mainline, and have it run from the pole in the street and over my roof (We lived in a top apartment), The only thing that little stunt resolved was all of the parasittic cables moved to the roof overnight aswell.
I ended up by having two choises: 1 Pay electricity for ALL my neighbours. and 2: Leave La Union.
Since im not running for president, we moved back to Sosùa.

If i didnt had this problem with "supporting" 50% of La Union with electricity, i would not leave- we had family close by, and friends. Everything you need for having a good life.

There is a couple of good colmados there, even a nice restaurant where we use to eat 3times aweek.

[J D Sauser]

I spend a lot of time in La Union... day and night.
It is a Dominican neighborhood, and while even some locals may label it as a "barrio" in my opinion, because of a good portion of working class people, families of police and army personnel who live there, I think it's a couple of notches above what most consider a "barrio".
It is quite save as La Union has not gotten any fame for harboring "delinquentes" and the fact that many people look after what's going on around their block. There is a lot of social life, churches, colmados, restaurants and most recently the new children park besides the base ball court... so, I think that young kids have better opportunities than just hanging around or being up to no good. I spend a lot of time there, day and night time and never felt "the heat" luring around the corner. Yet, many Union residents fear that the population of "Villa La Liberacion" behind "La Union" could adversely affect the relative safety they experienced so far, as there is a strong socio-economic gap between the residents of the two neighborhoods.
While the architecture certainly is the least appealing version of the so called "Arquitectura Balaguerista", the apartments are of better quality and design than "Villa La Liberacion" and many apartments have been upgraded by their subsequent owners to quite nice interiors, some of which can leave the very surprised after what one would expect from the exterior.

Services are somewhat spotty. Water comes in once or twice a week, and then, maybe it does not for a week. Some home owners have fitted "Tinacos" (large plastic water tanks) on the roofs to store water and create some 24/7 pressure... others just have bins, buckets and baby tubs they leave under the always open shower to collect the water when ever it comes.
Electricity is just as bad and many do not have the resources to have a back up system (inverter running on batteries) installed. So, many "enjoy" candle light dinners all too often.
Electric meters have been installed by Edenorte (they have an office right in the middle of the place, btw) only long after the homes had been distributed. Many apartments share 1 (one) meter among 2 or 3 places as many of these places may have been owned in rows by families! Some have never gotten around to get a meter properly installed and will not understand why they should not get power when you do.

Most units have 3 Bedrooms and 1 shower-bath, a small kitchen with a smaller space behind it for washing and a living with balcony (which many have expanded) and a very small dining room. All in all, for what it is, it's not bad and offers some potential.
Home ownership is undocumented, or better said, based on private notarized contracts as the State has never issued titles to the properties. Rough homes which have not been upgraded and have no inverter or "Tinaco" can be picked up starting at 200'000.oo - 300'000.oo Pesos and may cost up to 1'000'000 Pesos or more when upgraded and fitted with all the technology needed to mimmick a modern life standard.
Rents will start at around 1800 Pesos per month for a basic unit (no Tinaco, no inverter, no tiled floor no fitted closets).

Carro and guagua conchos stop in front of La Union on the main Hwy going both ways (East towards Sosua and Cabarete and West towards the airport (POP), the air force base, Cangrejos, Montellano and Puerto Plata) constantly.

I would not recommend La Union for the un-seasoned expat from a developed country. The person should be experienced in on-site Dominican culture and and have LIVED at least some time in Latin America (Las Condes in Santiago de Chile would not qualify, thou). Spanish would be a must and it would help if one is a good handyman, because there will be a lot to maintain and keep up which your Landlord will not do.



... J-D.

[SKY]

Just to add something, there are also many private houses in La Union. Some are pretty modern, and are available for rent. Of course you would pay more for these.