Jonghe? Good Place?

What’s up everybody, this is my first post in this forum and wanted to say hi to all yall out there. Hoping someone might have some insight into the Jonghe area of Taipei. Me and a couple of buddies are coming to Taiwan in october and are looking at getting a place in that area. Would you guys no about how far it is away from the center of town, good location, is public transport is convenient? Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks

Welcome. We are happy people.

Welcome to the Forumosa community.

I helped a friend move into a 3 bedroom apartment in Zhonghe last Saturday. It costs approx. US$430 (13,000NTD) a month, and is a 15 minute walk from the nearest subway system. The subway (called ‘MRT’ in Taiwan) takes around 20 minutes to the center of Taipei, and costs about 80c (25-30NTD) each trip.

There are many cheap restaurants in the area. It seemed reasonably nice to me, convenient and relatively cheap.

Unfortunately I am leaving Taiwan before you arrive, otherwise I would have happily given you and your friend a guided tour of Taipei.

Good luck, and welcome again to Taiwan and Forumosa.

Zhonghe is a pretty gritty working class suburb of Taipei. It’s also pretty big, and many areas are well away from MRT stations. Many foreigners prefer to live in Yonghe, which is closer to Taipei, a bit more expensive, and more crowded.

I would say, the closer to Yonghe and the orange MRT line, the better. The closer to Banqiao or Tucheng, the worse.

I recently moved to Zhonghe from Xindian and I really love it. The transportation is really great as long as you’re near an MRT, and cabs aren’t too bad price-wise from the city. There’s lots of good places to eat, and there’s also a big park by the Yong’an Market MRT that’s great for walking around (or walking your dogs).

As for apartment prices, we pay 20,000 a month for a 3 bedroom right on the park, I guess a little more expensive, but I think it’s worth it.

Personally having lived in Zhonghe for a few years I would say that its rather an armpit of a place, with Yonghe and Banqiao as the groin and buttock regions. I liked Xindian much better although the government still can’t properly decide how to spell it which can be quite humorous from time to time. I specifically preferred the area around Dapinglin the best for its transportation links, restaurants and so forth. The greatest problem about Dapinglin however is that there are fewer car parking spaces than almost anywhere else.

I work there (well, in one of the two), basically refuse to leave the company, but … it’s really nice beside the … ah well, just come and see for yourself.

[Armpit? No, there are really beautiful armpits out there, so I wouldn’t call Zhonghe an armpit…]

Thank you very much to all for the responses… I did some further research on google maps to see what else we can find, and the place is in Yonghe. I pose another question: The place we were looking at was 30, 000 NTD for a 3 bedroom on 591.com. I figure that this site is for locals so they wouldn’t really be marking up the prices, but would anybody know the average that apts go for in Yonghe? Or is 30,000 a good price? Once again thanks for the help.

That seem pretty high for Zhonghe. What is coming with the apt? Or how many pings is it? I lived in Zhonghe/Yonghe and loved it. Sure Xiandian is great for nature but Zhonghe is great for proximity to the city.

Yonge/Zhonghe area is packed very tightly -at one point, it had more population density than Bangladesh- but it makes up for teh fact it is convenient and you will practically find everything there.

I assume you will be working there or nearby, for transportation purposes.

I also assume a 30 thousand place in there would be : within walking distance of the MRT, new high rise, with several elevators, guard at the door, garbage pickup, and the place will be furnished. maybe one of the new ones on top of teh MRT station or supermarket, or close to SOGO.

Otherwise, it would be too expensive. What I mean to say is that iyt would have to be above average. Put teh link and we can tell you more.

Found another spelling at the local Honda rep office this morning.

Chungher

Note the “r”

My wife and I moved out of Zhonghe area, nearer a MRT station.
As mentioned above, the area has a fantastic selection of
places to eat, but if you have no scooter (or refuse to be dependent
on one), make sure you add 15 minutes to get ANYwhere.
it’s 15 minutes by bus to get to a MRT line. so that’s 30 minutes
out of everyday if you want to work outside of Zhonghe.
want to meet a friend somewhere? tell them they have to wait
an extra 15 minutes for you.

property is a lil bit cheaper, but that wasn’t worth my (our)
time to save a little bit of money, in contrast to lost time
every day in just getting out of the area.

get a scooter if you find a good place to live there.

(edit / 2011) depends on your personal preference, but waiting for the bus sucks.
if you have no scooter, get yourself as close to the MRT station as possible. don’t fall into
the taiwanese overly-thrifty bragging right of saving a little bit of money, at the downfall
of being further away from where you want to be.

Eh, may I inquire, too, what do you mean by the center of town? Taipei Main Station? Is that for traveling purposes?

I mean, Yonghe/Zhonghe has enough shopping, restaurants, bars, parks, entertainment -even hiking trails. Plus out of city transportation: buses to Taichung, Kaohsiung, etc. as well as out of town like Sanxia, even direct buses to recreational areas. I’d bet even if you wanted to get on the HSR, it might be faster/easier to take it in Banqiao Station, traveling from Yonghe/Zhonghe, and avoid the traffic at Taipei Main Station.

Yonge/Zhonghe area is packed very tightly -at one point, it had more population density than Bangladesh- but it makes up for teh fact it is convenient and you will practically find everything there.

I assume you will be working there or nearby, for transportation purposes.

I also assume a 30 thousand place in there would be : within walking distance of the MRT, new high rise, with several elevators, guard at the door, garbage pickup, and the place will be furnished. maybe one of the new ones on top of teh MRT station or supermarket, or close to SOGO.

Otherwise, it would be too expensive. What I mean to say is that iyt would have to be above average. Put teh link and we can tell you more.[/quote]

Once again, I appreciate the feedback guys. Here is a link to the place rent.591.com.tw/rent-detail-296906.html. Let me know what you guys think.

Eh, may I inquire, too, what do you mean by the center of town? Taipei Main Station? Is that for traveling purposes?

I mean, Yonghe/Zhonghe has enough shopping, restaurants, bars, parks, entertainment -even hiking trails. Plus out of city transportation: buses to Taichung, Kaohsiung, etc. as well as out of town like Sanxia, even direct buses to recreational areas. I’d bet even if you wnate dto get on the HSR, it might be faster/easier to take it in Banqiao Station, traveling from Yonghe/Zhonghe, and avoid the traffic at Taipei Main Station.[/quote]

The center of town being like right by Taipei 101, i hear thats where the nightlife is with regards to clubs. I didn’t know that Yonghe had that much had all the that stuff right there. I thought i would have to travel closer to 101 for that stuff, but what to do i know i haven’t even landed hahaha

Yonge/Zhonghe area is packed very tightly -at one point, it had more population density than Bangladesh- but it makes up for teh fact it is convenient and you will practically find everything there.

I assume you will be working there or nearby, for transportation purposes.

I also assume a 30 thousand place in there would be : within walking distance of the MRT, new high rise, with several elevators, guard at the door, garbage pickup, and the place will be furnished. maybe one of the new ones on top of teh MRT station or supermarket, or close to SOGO.

Otherwise, it would be too expensive. What I mean to say is that iyt would have to be above average. Put teh link and we can tell you more.[/quote]

Once again, I appreciate the feedback guys. Here is a link to the place rent.591.com.tw/rent-detail-296906.html. Let me know what you guys think.[/quote]

Almost 45 ping?! That is twice my house! :astonished:

Told you it had to be Yonghe, close to SOGO. Internet and building maintenance fee/guard included in rent.

Quite new -only 7 years old- guard at the door, NO PETS ALLOWED. Quite luxurious: gym and swimming pool in premises, fancy decoration -water filtering machine included-, parking space for scooter. It is one of those “hotel style” kind of places, full amenities. IMHO, it is OK for that kind of money -but you need to factor utilities so ask how much they are -electricity should be a bit high in a place like that.

Would like to know if furniture is negotiable.

And Yonghe to Taipei 101 is a bit of a long way. Anyway, the party center is Shida, Kuting Station, next stop after Dinxi, where this apartment is.

I occasionally ride my scooter on Huanhe Rd. where that building is located. I’ve always liked the way that building looks. It reminds me a lot of a beachside hotel. I was playing around with google maps today, and I think this should be the street view for that building.

It is probably a decent price for what you’re getting, but keep in mind that you’ll be quite far from the MRT. There is a free Yonghe City Shuttle that will take you to the MRT, but it runs something like every 30 minutes or so, I believe. If you don’t mind riding a scooter or taking taxis to get around, then that place would be alright. However, the MRT is an incredible resource, and I’d recommend trying to live closer to it.

It does sound very high for that area, although it may be in a new building where the public space accounts for the rest of the five bedrooms it might otherwise be.

That’s the same price as our 4 bedroom 50 ping in Shilin. We are in an old building (with elevator) though with only 3 ping public space deduction.

They are probably counting in the KTV, coffee shop, movie theater, etc… in those 44 ping. Did you see the pic of the lobby? Froggers, it is bigger than my whole house. :astonished:

50 ping! I’d go bananas -been here too long.