Thanks I will take your advise and will consider my relocation to other areas within beautiful Taiwan.
I have been to Kaohsiung only a handful of times in 23+ years. I first visited in 1987 and hated it. It seemed dusty, hot, and chaotic. My opinion did not change during a few subsequent visits in the 90s. I generally couldn’t wait to get the hell out of the place.
However, I visited a friend there a few years ago and found Kaohsiung remarkably more pleasant. I took a special trip there a few weeks ago and had a great time walking around the harbor area. It isn’t a beautiful city, but it is much more approachable. I like walking in dense urban areas and found I could go almost anywhere on foot. Perhaps it helped that I was there on a Saturday and that the weather was gorgeous. I was surprised to see how many people were getting around by bike. For reference I was around Sun Yat Sen University and Chi-Jin most of the day. I’m not sure if I want to live in K-town, but it looks to beat the pants off of Taichung and most of the second- and third-tier cities on the island for the foreseeable future.
A buddy who recently spent a few months in Tainan said that place has also turned the corner so to speak. I am sure I have not been in Tainan in at least 18 years. Any comparisons, O You Southerners?
I was down in Kaohsiung over the New Years weekend and the revitalized harborfront area is very nice. I had my road bike shipped down there so I can ride their urban bike paths, and I wasn’t disappointed. Did a 70-kilometer bike ride on New Years Day, and I posted photos from the ride on another thread here in Forumosa: viewtopic.php?f=134&t=94474&start=20#p1244432
During the evening I saw quite a few expats in the harbor area at the outdoor cafes. Being one of the bigger cities Taiwan, I’d imagine there would be quite a large expat population there. My impression of Kaohsiung is favorable. I wouldn’t mind living there (especially with Kenting nearby!)
Kaohsiung is way under-appreciated ! Its quite fab !
[quote=“DrTom”]I was down in Kaohsiung over the New Years weekend and the revitalized harborfront area is very nice. I had my road bike shipped down there so I can ride their urban bike paths, and I wasn’t disappointed. Did a 70-kilometer bike ride on New Years Day, and I posted photos from the ride on another thread here in Forumosa: viewtopic.php?f=134&t=94474&start=20#p1244432
During the evening I saw quite a few expats in the harbor area at the outdoor cafes. Being one of the bigger cities Taiwan, I’d imagine there would be quite a large expat population there. My impression of Kaohsiung is favorable. I wouldn’t mind living there (especially with Kending nearby!)[/quote]
Really good to hear you had such a nice time of it on the bike. I am not a biker myself, but I take it as a great sign of improvement if people on bikes can get around so easily. Thank you for confirming my impression. I visited some of the same spots you did judging from the content of your photos.
Nice work. 
If I ever make it back to Taiwan in the future, I would love to try living in Kaohsiung. It would be great to get a different perspective on Taiwan than Taipei.
Go to Kaoshiung and you’ll disappear off Forumosa…nobody posts from down there…almost.
Anyway…I’ve been there a few times recently. It depends what time of year you go, the summer is really hot there, although it is really hot all over Taiwan too mixed with the air pollution it’s not a great feeling.
Kaoshiung’s harbour areas are improving by leaps and bounds. We stayed in unipresident hotel on the harbour entrance recently, if you like looking at harbours and ships it was a great spot, you can see some nice yachts nearby. Kaoshiung also has a very good shopping centre complex, dreammall, better than Taichung actually. Then you can walk and bike through large parts of the city which is good. It is a very big city as I found out when driving through it, you need to know the spots you want to go to. Visited Zuoying lake, was not too impressed, needs to be totally renovated. I wouldn’t be too hard on the DPP in Kaoshiung, it has worked for them there, they are pushing more cultural stuff and parks etc. Kaoshiung city didn’t sell off large areas of public land like they did in Taipei!
Tainan is smaller and has a nice feel to Anping and certain parts, it’s obviously a lot more historical and it’s only 1 hr from Kaoshiung. Hardly any expats live there though.
All the cities in Taiwan suffer from pollution but Taipei is probably slightly better these days due to less factories and the fact that it rains more so washes it out. I have been driving a bit recently and to be honest there has been severe air pollution for much of the past two months over most of the island, the West coast is severely polluted still (really bad haze which only disappears when you go to the Central mountains or the East Coast).
The issue between where to live is complex as Taipei is also the city that has improved the most and has the best public transportations, plus it is closer to the North Coast, there is no equivalent to that down middle or South of Taiwan unfortunately (most of the coastline has been destroyed). Also Taipei’s restaurants both local, Asian and foreign are still tops.
The cost of Taipei is far higher for decent accomodation, but if you live in Taipei county it probably evens out. The East Coast has them all beat but too remote.
[quote=“headhonchoII”]Go to Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) and you’ll disappear off Forumosa…nobody posts from down there…almost.[/quote]How can we remedy that? Suggestions?
Those of us in the hinterlands beyond Chinese Taipei are doing our best to participate. Perhaps separate sub-fora for Kaohsiung and Taichung would help,* but the truth is Taipei will always be top-heavy in the foreign residents category. It can’t much be helped, I don’t think.
But thanks for asking. It’s so nice when you northerners take notice. sniff, sniff. 
- There are sections for these cities under “Restaurants,” but they don’t get much traffic. Locating other sections for major cities – Kaohsiung, Taichung, Tainan, Haulien, Taidong – on the main index would be better.
well, we in KHH communicate under a yahoo group called KaohsiungLiving, which maybe is a reason there isn’t that much
traffic here on forumosa.com
By the way,
I am living in KHH and I love it. Except missing culture events (e.g. concerts) we got it everthing here.
Housing and life-excepenses much more cheaper than up in the north.
Also loving the weather, and yes, pollution is there, but it has improved a lot. It also depends a lot
where you are living, I would not suggest either the north or the south, where the oil raffeneries are located.
You can’t compare the two if last time you want to K-town was 10 years ago.
Lived in Taipei for 2 years and I’ve been here for the last 2…K-town is definitely on the upswing, with an obvious government motivation for beautification/modernization. To me everything is better here, only thing lacking is the sheer amount of choice Taipei provides in terms of places to eat and bars/clubs.
Much prefer the weather here (barely rains and isn’t humid), cost of living is lower, and K-Town has plenty of space to improve and grow, while Taipei is just too cramped for that.
I bet in 5-10 years K-town will the the city of choice for many. As someone past their 20’s who isn’t really interested in clubs anymore, it’s the better place right now.
I’ll also add people in K-town are generally warmer/friendlier/more laid back than people in Taipei.
I spent a week in Taipei and didn’t really like anywhere that I went other than the fabulous bike paths. I spent a day in Kaohsiung and decided it was perfect.
I like how Kaohsiung is considered too hot in the summer yet Taipei which is one degree (maybe 2 at the most) isn’t. Yes, it’s hot in the summer but Kaohsiung also has 5 months of absolutely perfect weather in the winter.
I think the seemingly lack of participation from Kaohsiung’ers is due to Taipei just greatly outnumbering them. And there isn’t enough chatter on local spots to start a discussion on local stuff.
On most days, June-August, Taipei is hotter than Kaohsiung, but as has been noted several times, all the cities in Taiwan are sticky, hot, and nasty in the summer. It’s then we head to the mountains (or to your summer home in Hokkaido 
). Other than Kending (which I do not like, although Jia-le-sui and the SE coast is quite nice), where do you go to escape the heat in summer, starting from K-Town?
A lot of us Taipei foreigners can remedy that down in Kaohsiung … let’s move down there and open a bunch of eateries, bars etc. 
Ktown is going to be the place to be.
I think so too Tommy. I was there for a year in 2008, and went back to Toronto in 2009… Went back in the beginning of 2010, and what major improvements the city made in one year.
Near Wufo/Jianguo 4th road, there is a road that used to be known as a prostitute pick up area, and a ton of old, run down buildings. Well, they took a lot of that out, and made a park all the way along. Quite a nice use of the space.
I think K-town is very progressive of a city as of late. I still want to move back there, but still working on the career aspect of the equation.
I had always hated the place until I was dragged on holiday there this last xmas. Wow, the improvement in only 5 years is staggering. The air quality has got way better and everything has been tidied up with a lot more to see, eat and do. Thumbs up to KHH.
I am not so sure. Rental is fine in comparison with Taipei. Crime? Like Taichung 
? Thanks but no thanks!
I live in Kaohsiung now and I really like it.
I lived in Tainan for about five years before heading back home to upgrade my education. Didn’t want to go back to Tainan because it has become too cramped and crowded and the traffic is out of hand.
K-town, on the other hand, has a much more cosmopolitan feel to it with small villages mixed in among the tall buildings and modern restaurants and merchants. The roads are in general much wider and a little friendlier than Tainan (of course because K-town is much bigger).
I agree the weather is much nicer here than Tainan too. Almost every day is like a spring day in a temperate climate and I swear on some days, even though the sun is shining, it feels just like an early autumn day despite the sunshine.
One thing I really like about K-town is the ease of getting out of the city. There are numerous wide-open green spaces that aren’t really parks but are not empty lots either. The Love River waterfront area has many of these so it’s very hard not to like this place. A good expat community too with all sorts of activities such as road hockey, baseball, fitness and language clubs and of course pubs and clubs.
There is nowhere near as many good restaurants as Tainan because that is what Tainan is known for, but I’ve only been here a few months and have really only patronized the street stalls and small to medium outdoor eateries in and around my neighborhood and school.
But here’s the thing: in Tainan I needed a scooter to go anywhere. In K-town I don’t feel like I need a scooter. The MRT is five minutes from my apartment and I just tough it out for longer walks which are few and far between.
Plus, I don’t notice and high pollution here even though it does exist. Guess my tolerance is a little higher han most and I come from a clean Canadian city, so… 
Actually Kaohsiung has Taiwan’s worst crime. Maybe that’s what you meant. Still, by standards of US cities its ultra safe as long as you don’t act like an idiot.