Thread: Panama City or Santo Domingo?

Hi All,

Has anyone been to both Panama City and Santo Domingo?

What are the main differences?

In terms of modern infrastructure, lifestyle, business opportunities, things to do/see, housing, shopping malls, beaches, which city would you recommend?

Which city is bigger?

Thanks for your help.

Sto Doming is 90% mulatto & 10 Caucasian....Panama is 85% mulatto-mestizo & 15 % caucasian...r

(Just kidding...Sto Domingo is a beautiful, women are beautiful & the beaches are comparable to Varadero. Panama is much better in terms of infrastructure, banks, freedom & technology....& Panama is the hub of N. & S. America......this small piece of land, is beautiful......& the only negative aspect is that it does resemble Miami a bit.....Another item to consider is that Panama has a large retiree population; mostly expats from America).

Originally Posted by Posterchild

Hi All,

Has anyone been to both Panama City and Santo Domingo?

What are the main differences?

In terms of modern infrastructure, lifestyle, business opportunities, things to do/see, housing, shopping malls, beaches, which city would you recommend?

Which city is bigger?

Thanks for your help.

I think the only thing that's better in Santo Domingo is the beaches nearby.
And Santo Domingo has a much bigger population than PC.

The Dominican Republic is much more relaxed, the women are more beautiful. No immigration nonsense and bank accounts can be opened in one day in dollars without the Panamanian style catch 22. The weather is also better with less rain.

Hi There,
lived in Panama 9 years and have been living for the last 3 years now in the Dr. Personally I prefer PTY , above SD any time of the day. There's a lot more crime, corruption and poverty in the DR, 57% of the population lives below poverty standards, besides that you have the blackouts and shortage of water apart from that you can't even drink the tap water.
Last week was stated in the newspapers that in 15 days 41 people were murdered, here you see people selling empanadas and packing a 9mm.
The education system is a joke, the President of the Lawyers association stated a little while ago that 95% of the lawyers are illiterate which is true. Dominican women are beautiful but with very low moral standards, can't count the 70 year old men walking with a 20 year old on their arm.
The beaches are beautiful but for the rest there's not much nature, you hardly see any big birds flying because they have eaten them all. People in the barrio quite often eat a stray cat and even owl.
Cost of living is very high, food and electricity are expensive. Health care hardly any!!
I could keep on going all day long but I don't want to spoil and as mentioned Panama is the place for me to be.

Anything bad about Panama is more so in DR. I lived in DR for many years and enjoyed it up until about three years ago. I have no need of putas, corrupt officials, bad roads, beggars, illiterate and inconsiderate people (go to the beach on a Sunday and you will be pelted with sand throwing Dominicans). It was time for a change, so I did. Despite all the things I read about Panama including the noise, traffic and crazy drivers, it cannot hold a candle to DR. Crime is rampant in DR and not just the small stuff. People have been murdered for their cell phones. The part that really got to me was the foreigners. So many of them get the idea they can run wild in DR. A person that was a good driver in their home country now can flaunt the laws with little fear. I could go on and on with comparisons but i'm happy for the foreseeable future in Panama.

DR is a nice place to visit but not to live in.

Their beaches though are much nicer than Panama. Only down size I see to Panama is that its becoming pretty expensive to lead a quality life style. Have you considered Ecuador or Nicaragua?

Panama is more modern than any country in latin america besides Chile, Brazil and Argentina.

Home is where your heart is, mine is in Panama.