Apartments for rent in Gazcue, Santo Domingo

What Gazcue is like

Gazcue (officially spelled Gascue) was laid out in the late 19th century and filled up in the early decades of the 20th as the city's first garden suburb, just west of the Colonial Zone. Its tree-lined streets keep art deco, neoclassical and modernist houses with porches and front gardens, and to the south it reaches the Malecón seafront.

In recent years many of those houses have been replaced by apartment blocks, a change residents and architects often debate. The result is a neighbourhood with two very different markets: old houses to restore and new apartments.

Neighbourhood life and culture

The National Palace stands in Gazcue, and Independencia Avenue runs through it to Parque Independencia, the gateway to the Colonial Zone. By Máximo Gómez Avenue is the Plaza de la Cultura, home to the National Theatre and several museums, and UNIBE university is on Francia Avenue.

There are corner shops, cafés, small hotels and street life; it is one of the few parts of the capital where you can do almost everything on foot.

Who it suits

People who prefer a historic neighbourhood to a tower in the business district, students and lecturers, foreigners who want to live near the Colonial Zone, and buyers who want to restore a house with character.

What to check before deciding

With an older house, have the roof, wiring and plumbing inspected, and check whether the property has heritage protection that limits alterations or extensions. In new buildings, look at parking: many Gazcue streets are narrow and on-street parking is hard to find.