Posted by
Nochriste
15 yrs ago
Hi everyone !
I’m a Swiss French graduate student who has just moved to Hong Kong. I have now a studio in Tsim Sha Tsui. My wife is French teacher and still lives in Europe. She wants to join me and we are looking for a suitable place to live. Our budget is between 10 and 15K for one bedroom and a living room, and we would like to be in an area which is “expat-friendly”, close enough to Central and in a neighbourhood which is not too ‘smelly’ and where signs are not only written in Chinese. :)
Some friends suggested Causeway Bay, or Happy Valley, what do you think?
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Consider Gold Coast, 40 minutes bus ride to Central, 30 minutes to Tsim Sha Tsui.
You could get bigger than a studio apartment, i had a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom for HK$13k per month.
The area is probably 40%+ expat now, there is a hotel, bars, restaurants and shops and is a quick walk to the beach
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Happy Valley, Tai Koo Shing, Kennedy Town, Sai Ying Pun.
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i would say you should look at (in order of priority):
- sheung wan
- tin hau
- fortress hill
- kennedy town
- taikoo shing
- happy valley
- disco bay / park island
- gold coast
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$10-15k - good luck - closer to Central means small the flat - think 400 sq ft for that price. Farther from Central will get you bigger sizes. If being near expats is that important then you will end up paying more for the same space.
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It is possible get a flat in Causeway Bay or Happy Valley within your budget, but it will be very small and the neighborhood will be very crowded. South Horizons on the south side has very good bus connections to Causeway Bay, Wan Chai and Central and the living environment is much better. You can get much more space for the money and it is much cleaner. Grocery shopping in South Horizons is pretty good for most things, although you will probably need to pick up some things in Central.
Stanley and Discovery Bay are probably the most expat-friendly, but buses to/from Stanley are not good and Discovery Bay is pretty isolated from the rest of Hong Kong.
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"buses to/from Stanley are not good"
How are they not good? The traffic is frequent, cheap and outside of rush hour there is always space to sit.
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Good list from cookie09.
I think the problem with Stanley is that there's only one road to Central so it doesn't take much to slow it down, though there are plenty of buses. But I don't think they'd find anything in their price range there, even the old places above the market are more than that right now.
Agree with Basker25 about South Horizons, and nearby Aberdeen is cheaper, but more local.
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Kennedy Town is a pretty good option. It's cheap and close to Central. You can get to Central by double decker bus, minibus, tram, taxi and soon the MTR.
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Hello!
Thanks to you all for your answers.
This list seems very interesting, can you specify why you chose this order? Is it in terms of cheapness or on the surroundings?
Someone suggests me to visit a flat in Wan Chai. What do you think of this area in terms of environment?
Bests
Christe
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My list is not in any particular order.
As for Wan Chai, it often gets a bad rap as a residential area because there is a quasi- red light district on Lockhart Road and because it is very busy shopping wise. However, Wan Chai is a fairly large patch of land by HK standards. The area around Star Street and Queen's Road East is very nice for living and has quite a few very modern developments. This is right next to Wan Chai Market (but not in it) and Pacific Place. Also very good bus routes.
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If there's anything left in Wanchai in your budget it will probably be either very small or very old- Star Street is on the up & up & way over-priced, though a handy location.
The modern developments there are a ridiculous price for the space.
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