Is maybe Boca Chica a next kind of South Beach?

[drcaycu]

I have been reading on the forum that Juan Dolio is being promoted as a next South Beach. South Beach is somewhat of a party zone. With Night Clubs, Strip Clubs, lots of restaurants, gay clubs. I mean everything. Could it be that Boca Chica in the long run has more of that potential despite its reputation now. And that Juan Dolio becomes more recidencial like North Miami, Brickel etc.. South beach is full of Botique Hotels and Boca Chica has around 60 small hotels.

[Kyle]

i've seen downward spiral of BC over the last 3-4 years. on the surface i don't see why it's not competing with the likes of the North Coast. the only difference i see is the nightlife and less sex tourists. i hear that wasn't the case in earlier years. i like BC and i visit at least once a year...

maybe a longtime resident can explain....

[johne]

Originally Posted by drcaycu

I have been reading on the forum that Juan Dolio is being promoted as a next South Beach. South Beach is somewhat of a party zone. With Night Clubs, Strip Clubs, lots of restaurants, gay clubs. I mean everything. Could it be that Boca Chica in the long run has more of that potential despite its reputation now. And that Juan Dolio becomes more recidencial like North Miami, Brickel etc.. South beach is full of Botique Hotels and Boca Chica has around 60 small hotels.

A good question but very flawed in your assumptions. You start by saying"Juan Dolio is being PROMOTED as the next SB" (my bolding). "Promoted' is the key word and the comparison to SB does not exist IMHO and many others. (read the thread if you have a couple of days of idle time).So, one cannot move forward with the idea of BC is next without a positive conclusion to Juan Dolio.

In addition, I don't think BC has the availabilty of beach frontage that JD has.

[Hillbilly]

I can't explain it but I do not think BC will ever be anything close to South Beach.

You might find this sort of atmosphere in Juan Dolio/Guayacanes but not in Boca Chica.

There are too many drawbacks: both Geographical, Economical and Social
Geographical: Too small and too close to the container port
Economical: Not near enough hotels, not near enough wealthy population nearby to give it that South Beach ambiance.
Social: Most of the population are the dregs of the worker population from the old sugar mill days. No culture, little education and a day to day existence mentality. Almost any successful business there is owned or operated by foreigners (if they can stay out of trouble.)

HB

[Bronxboy]

BTW, South Beach is not what it used to be. If there are 5 open clubs on Ocean drive, that is alot.

I used to live there 4 years ago and it was already dying down.

Now, 15 years ago SB was the place to be, HOT HOT HOT.

Now a days, COLD COLD COLD!!!!!

[Kyle]

sounds just like BC...
how many clubs use to be open on Calle Duarte ?

[drcaycu]

Originally Posted by johne

A good question but very flawed in your assumptions. You start by saying"Juan Dolio is being PROMOTED as the next SB" (my bolding). "Promoted' is the key word and the comparison to SB does not exist IMHO and many others. (read the thread if you have a couple of days of idle time).So, one cannot move forward with the idea of BC is next without a positive conclusion to Juan Dolio.

In addition, I don't think BC has the availabilty of beach frontage that JD has.

The point I was trying to make was not that Boca Chica is better than Juan Dolio because it could be a kind of South Beach. I think South Beach has its good and bad things. I just imagine Boca Chica 5-10 years from now to be more lively than Juan Dolio when it comes to discos, restaurants, bars and nightclubs. Hopefully the social level of the ares increases so crime and the worst prostitution decreases. I also find the beach at Boca Chica very nice. And there is a part of Boca Chica after the Hamaca which is more upscale where the Boca Marina and Neptuno is located. I see Juan Dolio becomming even more upscale but more recidencial and as a place for foreignere and Dominicans from the capital and abroad to have a vacationing home. Maybe I am being to optimistic regarding the dr, Boca Chica and Juan Dolios future.

[tht]

Plans for Boca Chica existed 8-10 years ago before the general part of the population realized the Mega Port is a container port and not a cruise ship port. The "investments" that had taken place by "investors" over the previous years all of a sudden disintegrated and most of them became nothing. BC the next South Beach?? HB put it all in a nutshell in his post, the fundamentals are simply not there, too many people in the bottom of Maslow's Pyramide.

[drcaycu]

Maslows pyramid is an interesting framework to use when describing Boca Chica or other tourist oriented areas of the dr. I have been to most of the tourist areas in dr. Sosua/Puerto Plata, Boca Chica, Juan Dolio, Bayahibe, Bavaro and Punta Cana. They all have one thing in common. They have a concentration of Tigres, Tigresses and Haitian immigrants all looking to make some easy sometimes well earned money. Maybe the fasted growing area in that respect is Bavaro. Around Cortecito and Friusa. Just like it is in general the fastest growing area of the country. Recently I read in Clave Digital that the province of Altagracia where Bavaro is located is now the most violent in the country. It does not matter where the government and investors set up a new tourist area they will get the downside of prostitution, drugs, crime etc.... The same goes for South Beach in Miami. The Americans obviusly have less problems like that because they dont have the exstreem poverty. They are also much better at controlling it. There is a lot of police, camaras etc in South Beach. Hopefully here the government will get better at that here. So these areas can really develop. I think there is plans to clean up and improve Boca Chica.

[tht]

Originally Posted by drcaycu

It does not matter where the government and investors set up a new tourist area they will get the downside of prostitution, drugs, crime etc....

Unfortunately Boca Chica's problems are not just associated with tourism, it goes a lot deeper than that.