Many consider the food from the south to be the most delicious in Taiwan. You are close to Tainan, where I think the best food in Taiwan is from. Just my opinion.
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Do you like that red sauce they pour on everything down South and are you missing geng right now ? 
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Iâd agree with this. A lot of the traditional food in Tainan is awesome.
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I have a 2 bedroom apartment that overlooks Aozihdi park for $15kNTD / month and can definitely say that itâs worth it! I work from home though, so any chance to get out of the house is pretty welcome.
Overall I strongly prefer Kaohsiung because of the more mild winter. The summer can be a downside for some (sweltering humid heat with a sun that shows no remorse), but I couldnât stand the months of damp rainy cold in Taipei where nothing drys and the sun doesnât come out for weeks at a time (and to be fair, Taipeiâs summer is only marginally better).
I will admit that Kaohsiungâs food scene does leave something to be desired â there is some tasty food here but nothing compared to the food streets of Tainan. Maybe Iâve just gotten sick of the night markets in Kaohsiung but they also seem pretty lackluster of choice (though with the Wuhan virus I havenât gone to one in months either).
Another thing to also second is the âopennessâ feeling of Kaohsiung that is more akin to a US city. Things feel a lot less cramped and confined with huge roads and sidewalks. Walking in New Taipei city where you are practically walking in the street right next to cars and scooters whizzing starts to wear you down after awhile.
Taipei is certainly a more âfunâ city with more food options and more things to do, but Kaohsiung makes me feel more at home with a more âlaid backâ feeling.
Edit: You do need a vehicle in Kaohsiung which you donât in Taipei. I had a motorcycle in the States so the adjustment to scooter life hasnât been too bad, but driving here is much different than the west. I havenât had any issues myself in 2 years (knock on wood), but there are certainly moments when youâre driving around during rush hour and think âwhat the f**k is going on hereâ as your in a swarm of scooter 8 across with someone passing you at 70kph on the right while trying to pass the ama ahead of you going 10kph on her 50cc scooter blowing smoke in your face. Also donât forget to watch out for the âno-lookâ right turners bombing into the road at every intersection or the car swinging a wide U-Turn at the next intersection because youâre on a scooter and donât matter. Not nearly as bad as Vietnam, but also not for the faint of heart.
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Some good points, and most I agree with. ExceptâŠ
⊠this one. Around my neighborhood you definitely have to walk in the middle of busy streets to get around (not easy with a toddler). The Aozihdi park area is nicer, and you have proper sidewalks (youâre lucky to live there), but many other areas of Kaohsiung itâs just the same as New Taipei, etc.
I refuse to drive here as I donât trust myself to survive, tbh. So I have to rely on the MRT, buses and taxis. It limits you a lot, but it is doable, as long as your workplace and home are both near MRT stations or bus stops.
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We lived here for a year before deciding to get a Scooter and I agree that âneedâ is a little too strong â itâs definitely do-able without and the MRT works great if where you want to go is on it, but there are quite a few great restaurants that I donât know I would have discovered if we didnât have a scooter.
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Blue Sky summer day here in Kaoshiung. I find summer time last few years, many more blue Sky days, winter has been the dirty air time but also better and much better than Beijing, but not as good as NZ.
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I havenât seen a blue sky like that down South in years. Maybe I have been unlucky.
Come now, or in general just in the summer. It rains a lot thus the air is clean, but hot 31C. Nice sunny day for me (not my local co workers who have a parasol to âprotectâ them.
I mean it, it is many years since I saw a true blue sky down South. Maybe over eight or nine visits I havenât seen it.
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Itâs usually misleading when you take a picture with no good distant reference point (the only thing in the sky in your picture is a building a few blocks away). Today was very smoggy, smelled the worst it has in weeks, and you could see the smog obstructing 85 sky and the mountains.
Past week has been good, but the pollution is building up and at this point we need some rain to clear it away.
âBetter than Beijingâ sounds good but isnât really that good.
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My standard is maybe not as high, but 37 pm10 is good for me (4pm at é«éćéæ©ć Ž - Airport) ! (Citywide range is 25-97 at 4pm, so it may vary by exact location)
My old home in Taibei æ°ćæżæ©ć (Banchau) is 65 at 4pm. In general though, now days Taipei City (more so than NewTaibei) has very good air most the year, under 100 under this index which good/moderate.
Thank you to all for your replies, experience, advice etc!
I plan to jobhunt after I move and settle. Currently I just want to find the right place before relocating.
Are there any expat districts in Kaohsiung and Taipei?
In Taiwan not really except Tienmu in TaipeiâŠCos international schools are there .
Foreign âexpatsâ are pretty well distributed around Taipei, some would never move to new taipei city so I guess they consider âTaipei cityâ as the expat zone.
Well Daan district is the closest to an expat area in Taipei city center (but vast majority of people living there are Taiwanese people ). Daan has a lot of nice restaurants and coffeeshops, daan park .
Thanks!
CCP rules Hk now as 1C2S evaporates into oblivion and perdition.
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Nothing like waking up and a clear view of Rangitoto for sure. 
None in Kaoshiung, spread out except for Japanese in area of culture park, many younger Japanese women study Chinese and on working holiday working Japanese shops/café in area (main point Japanese consultate is in area) as well working Japanese familes attracted Japanese run restaurants/ cafes in area. Other than that not many expats at all, and most live based on work/family needs. Younger expat western Men maybe Central park-south because of the night club, but no real area since overall very few non Taiwanese As mentioned in Taipei maybe near TAS/TES (The American and Euro School but most students there now days are ethnic Taiwanese with non Taiwan passport).