They have a KFC in Linkou. That’s the closest they get to culture!
Well, he did say he was willing to put his family’s well-being first. Tianmu is ideal for children.
Xindian options:
rent.591.com.tw/rent-detail-1248471.html
rent.591.com.tw/rent-detail-1205914.html
bit further but really pretty
rent.591.com.tw/rent-detail-1255259.html
Tianmu is kinda old and well getting from the middle of Tianmu to the center of the city or on the highway is quite an odyssey
Try Neihu or Dung Hu
Clean and looks new, good parks, mountains nearby, lots of families live our there, very residential feeling area. Pretty close to both Costco’s
Kang Ning hospital and Tri Veterans hospital there. MRT Brown line runs right through it. You got Dahu Park, Da Jr and the path along the river
Easy access to the both highways for going south. Also you can access the elevated highway out toward the airport
We live in Dazhi with our two small boys. 5 minutes from the river biking paths which is great on weekends. Wide sidewalks in much of the neihborhood. The restaurants aren’t quite as international as what you find in Tienmu but with the Dazhi MRT 3 minutes from our front door, most of the city is easily accessible. The straight shot to the zoo on the MRT is an added bonus.
We have friends in Tianmu that we visit occasionally. It seems to be a good place for families many of our friends have eventually migrated there for one reason or another. I never gave it serious consideration because the traffic and road layout always makes going in and out of the area feel like an eternity.
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The MRT and buses are not particularly stroller friendly, so I’d focus on an area where there are many small shops of every kind within a few hundred meters of your home (be sure to walk around the neighborhood of any apartment your agent shows you, to see what’s within stroller distance), and definitely get a home with an elevator or live on 1F. Tianmu near TAS (Taipei American School) is okay on this item. Donghu is excellent on small shops as are some other parts of Neihu, but such areas tend to be older.
Sidewalks in many parts of the city are non-existent or blocked by vendors, scooters, cars parked on them, so keep an eye out for that when viewing an apartment. Don’t just look at the apartment. Do a good, long walking tour of the area before deciding. Tianmu near TAS (Taipei American School) is okay on this item, although some parts have very uneven sidewalks requiring frequent detours. (Get a stroller with large wheels.) Also, the commute from Tianmu to highways and downtown sucks IMO. I would weigh the commute HEAVILY if I were you. I wouldn’t want to live there.
There are decent restaurants in Tianmu, and at least one big gym just north of the Tianmu Rd. + Zhongshan Rd. circle. There are groceries there, and several good import grocery shops like Willie’s Deli (formerly G&G) and Wellman’s. I believe that even the bigger supers there have a better selection of import items than their other locations (e.g. Carrefour and Wellcome).
If you consider the 101 area (which I think is too new and commercial), it has excellent sidewalks, but lacks small stores and greenery; it does have an excellent supermarket in 101. I wouldn’t want to live there.
- nice environment (renovated buildings, parks, “clean” air)-- Neihu near Dahu Park (<–click for pics) is nice and is on the MRT and near the highway to Taoyuan. That’d be my top pick for you.
yup
I agree.
[quote]Try Neihu or Dung Hu
Clean and looks new, good parks, mountains nearby, lots of families live our there, very residential feeling area. Pretty close to both Costco’s
Kang Ning hospital and Tri Veterans hospital there. MRT Brown line runs right through it. You got Dahu Park, Da Jr and the path along the river
Easy access to the both highways for going south. Also you can access the elevated highway out toward the airport[/quote]
I second this; for the OP’s benefit, Dahu Park is a 20-minute walk from Donghu or a couple minutes on the bus or MRT. They are both part of Neihu.
Donghu, where I live, is not open, green or airy; it’s extremely convenient due to the large numbers of small shops within walking distance, and has an MRT. Neihu is a huge area, but if you live in the pricey homes next to Dahu Park, it will feel very new, residential, clean and quiet, with nice views from some homes, and it’s a pretty little park with a well-known arched bridge. From there it’s a short walk to MOSBurger, Alleycat’s pizza, Ryan’s sandwiches, a short bus ride to Donghu, and a short drive to Costco or to the highway to Taoyuan. I’d ask your agent to show you homes next to Dahu Park, on the south side of the road (i.e. immediately adjacent to the park). I mean the ones behind the pavilion on the right side of this pic.
For the map location, input “Dàhú Park, Section 5, Chénggōng Road, Neihu District, Taipei, Taiwan” into Google maps; the park is at “A”, and Donghu is the next blue, green and white circular MRT symbol below it, a little over a kilometer away (see scale).
The negatives-- Neihu does not have the high concentration of foreigners and foreign-friendly shops and restaurants that Tianmu does. However, there are resources like the English-friendly Parent’s Place very near Dahu Park, the MRT and highway access are far superior to Tianmu, and there are plenty of babies and young kids in the park for yours to interact with. A foreign or mixed baby is a magnet.
Near Tahu MRT station:
rent.591.com.tw/rent-detail-1254237.html
thanks for the many good suggestions! We did go to Neihu, but the appartments we saw where in a constuction zone = not very attractive. We will definitely have to check out the area near Dahu Park the next time we go.
Also visited Dazhi = which was a little bit nicer than the Neihu sites we visited IMHO, but tianmu was definitely our favourite - especially the area around the baseball park which would give excellent options for my wife to stroll around.
convenience of the Jasper Villa was the best we saw (the park is right there + indoor pool and gym in the building), but price and overall standard (not very well maintained) of the appartments was not perfect - I am thinking there must be similar options with same convenience but better price/performance ratio?
Well, the obvious answer from my perspective to the thread question would be “close to mum”.
I think that the MRT is highly stroller friendly. There are elevators at every station and there are signs at every exit showing which exit has an elevator. Also every car has priority seats that people will yield. Of course there is a lot of people during rush hour but the whole beauty of being at home with your kid is that you can avoid rush hour. Buses can be a bother though since low floor ones are still very rare. If I were to live with a kid in Taipei it would be a deal breaker for me if it’s close to the MRT not.