I have been offered a job in Taoyuan City at a High school through the FET program.
I did a search on the city but mostly from 5+ years ago.
I have been looking at 591 apartments but anything under 20k a month which will be almost a 1/3 of my pay are pretty run down and tiny.
I was expecting to get more considering it’s not in Taipei.
I’m happy to take the train to Taipei on the weekend if I want a more lively area.
Probably also Ride to the city etc. Keen on bringing my bike
Is there good local food? Gyms?
Can I expect to save much after paying rent, bills, food, drinking 1 night a week?
I would search when you arrive, most large urban area have lots of rentals and nice to see it as its your home. There are also lots of newer homes, you many need buy a scooter which is cheap (or car , a used one is cheap but a car park is the problem) to get a lot of the new homes. As far as Taoyuan City, I do find it not find it attractive and would rather like five other big metros better than Taoyuan City. To me the city has small streets, unplanned urban mess and quite industry based also also a far suburb of Taipei. If cheaper I would live in Tainan, Taichung or my choice Kaoshuing.
If you don’t mind me asking, what sort of salary are you being offered?
Taoyuan City, btw, has a long-standing reputation of being the pit of Taiwan. It is changing though as it emerges as a satellite of Taipei City as well as a place with many jobs.
You should definitely be able to live off that—though as others have said, you’ll get more bang for your buck living in cities in the south.
One thing to watch out for (this is not specific to Taoyuan; it applies everywhere in Taiwan) is the 183 day rule for taxation. If you’re able to physically be in Taiwan for 183 days of the taxation year, you’ll be taxed on a progressive rate that’s much more favourable than the flat rate you’ll be charged if you are in Taiwan less than that magic number.
I lived in Taoyuan and actively dislike the place .
You are only planning a year so no biggie.
Make the most of your time there by living near the train station and taking off on weekends anywhere around the island. Protip - Apartments behind the train station (bade side) may be cheaper and the area is less crowded. Also there are good Thai restaurants there.
There are good rides into the mountains from Taoyuan, up to Daxi and beyond. There’s also quite good river bike paths that extend all the way to the coast. Good for walks in evenings aswell.
I would get a scooter if I was you as public transport is shit there. There is a big municipal sports center in taoyuan (Taoyuan civil sports center) and lots of gyms, no problems there.
