Starting life in Taiwan in Tainan?

[afterspivak]

That is a wild and woolly place.

Excellent affordable eats on Huaxin Street though. Love the Burmese food and tea there!

Guy

[user86]

Ah I see. Never been to New Taipei.

[KHHville]

@Snowfox

@KHHville

Rent somewhere closer to downtown and scooter to work.

Thanks everyone for your input

Scooters are probably not my cup of tea.

If I take the job I’ll look at commuting options via the highways or HSR itself. Anything under 30 mins is tolerable. I see that the HSR takes 17 mins from Chiayi to Tainan, or 15 mins from Tainan to Kaoshiung.

How are the areas around the Chiayi & Kaoshiung HSR stations?

Maybe use the TRA (normal train) to commute to work. Just get off at nearest TRA station to the HSR station (if that is where you firm is located). Then figure out where you want to live based along TRA line.
Maybe even be able to use Tainan’s version of U-bike at a TRA station.

[user86]

@KHHville

Maybe use the TRA (normal train) to commute

@Snowfox I second this. You don’t need to confine yourself to the HSR. The regular commuter train has a station at the same location as the Tainan HSR station, so you could commute with that. It’s only half an hour to downtown Kaohsiung if you take the express commuter train, at about a third of the price of the HSR.

EDIT: Forget what I said. I seemed to have forgotten that the regular commuter express train goes to Tainan Main Station downtown, not to the HSR. You’ll need to transfer to get to the HSR.

So HSR is still the better option if you plan to live in northern Kaohsiung, but if you don’t mind the 30-minute commute, then living in central Tainan shouldn’t be a problem.

Personally I’d rather live in the quaint alleys of central Tainan than the suburban residential towers in northern Kaohsiung.

[fumarole]

The Taiwan Railway Shalun Line is a dedicated line that runs from the Tainan main station to the Shalun station which is next to the HSR station. It is 5 (planned to be 6) stops from the main station. The train is not as frequent as most local lines but it runs at least every hour from Tainan proper. The fare is NT$25 one-way. You can find train schedule and fare info on the Taiwan Railway website.

The area around the HSR is developing fast. There is housing, an enormous outlet mall and a couple of academic institutions so it is becoming its own destination. Plus there is easy access to the HSR. That said, if you don’t mind commuting, then living in central Tainan city is probably a better option.

As mentioned, the public transport system in Tainan isn’t very good and traffic is terrible during rush hour (which seems to be longer every year) but if you live in the central district, it is compact and easy to get around walking.

[TimesThree]

@Snowfox

I seem to recall the boss said it is close to the high speed rail station.

How are property prices there to buy or rent? Are they relatively new builds? What’s the neighborhood like?

I looked it up (never got off the HSR there)

It’s toward the mountains, southeast of the Chimei (Qimei) Museum. Looks like there’s some outlet mall action in the area. Real estate would probably be expensive. It’s not impossibly far from the city center, but it’s not convenient.

[TimesThree]

@fumarole

As mentioned, the public transport system in Tainan isn’t very good and traffic is terrible during rush hour

understatement of the decade

[Mario22]

I live in Tainan. West Central District is fine. Public transport doesn’t exist. Without Chinese always will need someone to help.
Tainan is great for holidays though.

[Snowfox]

@dan2006

I did the commute for a year. It got old fast, the one hour train ride was a pain each way daily.

Back in the prehistoric era, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I was a young graduate student, bright eyed and eager to work at an exciting government laboratory doing interesting stuff.

Problem was, I was new to town but knew a family there with a granny flat to rent out. I couldn’t afford a car yet, so for a year I walked one hour to work - rain, snow, shine, etc.

With age I seem to get a bit less tolerant of the annoyances in life so 30 mins top in the comfort of a car to work, please. Where I’m at its a 25 min ride and I am already not so happy about it.

[Brianjones]

@user86

I won’t be able to answer your specific questions. I’ll defer to people who have actually lived in Tainan

[afterspivak]

Hey, I applaud the ability to know what we don’t know.

The more I see, the less I know
The less I find out as I go
I knew much more then
Than I do now

With apologies to Paul Hewson.

Guy

[fumarole]

If you decide to get a car, make sure you have parking spots available at both ends of your commute. The parking situation in Tainan central districts and at the HSR is frustrating.

A good portion of the commuting traffic flow is from Tainan city to the outlying industrial and science parks in the morning and the reverse in the evening so there will be heavy traffic on your route. Not sure where you are coming from but driving in Tainan requires a lot of patience. Not that different from many parts of Taiwan but the road configurations make it particularly challenging.
Good choice on the scooter. Would not recommend a scooter for a commute of that distance.