Moving to Hong Kong again, but with kids...

Hi All


My husband and I used to live in Hong Kong - Robinson Road, two doors from escalator - and are moving back this summer. This time will be sliiightly different, since we now have fourteen month old toddlers with us.


We loved living in Midlevels, but I'm not sure how practical it would be with two mini monsters - are there any young families in Midlevels that could shed some light on what it's like with transportation, playgroups etc?


Also, I remember always seeing strollers on buses - are all buses equipped with an area for strollers or just some lines?


Last, but not least, our housing budget is between 90K -100K HKD - is it possible to find a four bedroom in Central/Midlevels for that - not looking for shoebox rooms this time around, but nothing grand either. I have searched through the rentals on this site, but it's difficult to tell from the pics/descriptions.


THANK YOU for reading and hope to get some advise!


Kind regards,


Mrs G

Mrs G,



At that budget I think you can get a 2000 sq ft apartment in Mid levels at HKD 40 psf ..and I seriously dont think you will be taking a bus


but why not consider south side ?? repulse bay etc..

Why in the world wouldn't I be taking a bus???

I worked with a chap once who needed four bedrooms, and he said that it was very difficult finding an apartment with four full bedrooms. He would have been in your cost bracket, however, it was a few years ago, things might have changed.

k-gwai has been removed from the forums

Hey Woods99


Yes, that's the impression I got. At the end of the day, we only technically need two bedrooms - but would love an extra room for an office/guest room, since I work from home and a room for a helper.

Dear Mrs Golightly


I live in Mid-Levels (Robinson Road but about a 5-minute walk West from the escalator) and have an 11-month old son.


I find Mid-Levels a bit of a chore with a stroller/buggy with all the hills and uneven pavements BUT playgroups and kids' facilities are quite easy to get to (as is Central by bus) and frankly for me and my wife, the convenience of getting to/from work quickly (and back to our son quickly at night!) trumped most other considerations.


Not all the buses that go down to Central have space for a buggy/stroller and in fact I think you are technically supposed to fold them up but the single-storey buses that go down to Central (e.g. 3B or 13) do have enough space to park one.


P.S. the comment questioning whether you would ever take a bus is a typical HK attitude - it's presumed that if you are well-off you wouldn't stoop so low as taking public transport!

I lived in Mid-levels for 8 years before my kids where born and until my eldest turned 7 and my youngest 4.


It was convenient to live there, it took us 10-15 min to get to the HK Botanical park, HK park etc

It was easy to walk with the kids in the afternoon to Central to have a frozen yoghurt

But we decided to move out because on rainy days we feel trapped at home, the kids would get bored

Now we are living in The Belcher's and we like it very much.

With so many kids living here even if is raining we just take the lift or walk to the next tower for play dates, indoors swimming pool is a plus and transportation is amazingly easy, there are taxis and buses everywhere.


As for why on earth you would take buses, you know what, unless you are a cantonese speaker and have no problem communicating with taxi drivers, you would find that taking a bus will save you a lot of headaches.


I am fed up with taxi drivers being rude, trying to run your fare, etc

With a bus you always know exactly where it goes and where to get off.

We used to live at The Habourview on Magazine Gap Road (Mid Levels Central) and all the apartments were 4 bedroom. At that time the lower floors were around $100,000 and but I have no idea what they go for today. Also at the time there were quite a few families with young children in the building. It had/has a small playground and a pool. I was quite reliant on my car but would also use the building shuttle, mini buses and taxis to get to around.

Why would you even consider mid levels as a parent. I fail to understand. I lived on Robinson road in the late 80's when it was a nice quiet place and you could get to TST in 20 minutes by car or 30 minutes by public transport irrespective of the time of the day. Over the past 30 years I have lived in various parts of Hk including Pokfulam, Happy valley, Sai Kung, Clearwaterbay and yes Mid levels. You need to consider how long you intend to be here for, where would your husbands work be, play groups, future schooling and above all the rest the AIR QUALITY . If your husband will work in town and does not mind commuting 30 minutes a day by the MTR you should consider the new places like Tsueng Kwan O (overlooking the harbour) or the new developnments in Choi Hung. many iof these have in house club facilities stunning views, great facilities and now even some good hotels and shopping malls nearby. Most of all they are being developed as the new sports hub of HK. I worked in midlevels on a project for about 2 weeks last year. I was shocked at the amount of traffic jams even in the day time. All those taxis, cars buses choking the traffic on the single artery roads like Conduit road, Robinson road, caine road belching out toxic fumes.


Seriously you need to weight the pros and cons. Do you want to be in the middle of a residential area with known traffic woes, and associated air quality issues or would your husband be willing to compromise on his travel time for RELATIVELY CLEANER air for kids who will be home 16-18 hrs a day. Incidentally it takes the same amount of time in the MTR to go from Lam tin to Central as it does by taxi from Central tro midlevels in peak hour. If you really have to live on the island I would agree with some others here about Repulse bay , Shouson Hill or Stanley, Chung Hum Kok, Tai tam as cleaner options.


We have heaps of friends who have moved from the city to places like Sheung Sze wan or Razor Hill. Rents are still about 65000 for super homes, 10k/m for a driver, 10k/m for keeping a car (If you want the aded convinience) . all, helps in driving the husband to the MTR aAd picking him up, kids have a blast with so much outdoor activities and numerous play groups . A great community spirit too. We feel the area comes alive during things like CNY, Mid Autumn festival, Easter, Haloween when you really get the feeling of living a village lifestyle specially for the kids.

To be honest, I'm a honker, and love taking buses. It's cheap and goes almost everywhere! Why the heck not stay above the ground, and with the amazing view of Hong Kong?


However, MrsGolightly, the buses ride are much faster compare to few years ago when I first came back. Sometimes, I even thought I was on a rollercoaster ride going down from uphill to Central.


For housing, it's really depends on what type of building you pick, we have a lot of so called "luxury" flats/apartments in town, most of them are not targeted to the expats. And price have definitely gone up for sure.

Don't listen to the naysayers, take the twin babies on the bus in a twin stroller (unfolded). No cheating by bring along 1-2 helpers or spouse or friend though. Just the 3 of you and the welcoming HK crowd, at say 8.30am on a weekday. They think we are bonkers already. they might be right!

Dear Mrs G


As for the housing, the market is very tight at the moment for 4 beds in Mid levels. The budget is not a problem but you may want to consider a 3 bed apartment. I am sure that you are already aware that you will be moving to HK at the same time that most families move and that it becomes very hard to find an acceptable place.

It's summer and this is when most families make the move in time for the start of the school year.

If you would like some more help with the property search please feel free to contact us.


Thanks

Antony.

You will get houses in your budget just make sure there is a lot of construction is taking place or they are breaking old buildings to make a new one . The digging , drilling is very irritating when you have toddlers and ur working from home . Few agents don't know so talk to different agents and check that.

Traveling is much faster from Caine road ...

At the same time escalators are hope less one or other is under repair ... So be ready to go up and down stairs ..

I love Robinson road and been living for almost 4 Year ...