I’ve lived in Taichung for 8 years and while I get up to Taipei less frequently than I’d like I think I’ve spent enough time there to get a fair feel for Taipei life, so to briefly touch on points already brought up in this thread and add my 2c:
Weather:
Taichung gets less drizzle and rain, no doubt about it…
[Taichung : 1 Taipei : 0] A surprise early goal for Taichung…
Pollution/Air Quality:
Taichung is much worse than Taipei… Taichung’s proximity to the industrial furnaces and filth spewing free-for-alls of Da Jia, Zhang Hua, Tai Ping, Tan Zi, etc. not to mention the high prevalence of “home workshops” and uncontrolled ghost money burning in the city itself mean the grey/brown haze that hangs over the city more often than not is not “condensation” as the locals would have you believe… I ride my mountain bike in the hills overlooking Taichung most days and you can see the filth blanket that the mountains lock in over the city clear as mud, even though from downtown it kind of looks like just a cloudy day… the fact that every single commuter is using their own internal combustion to get to work instead of being neatly is tucked away underground on an MRT train doesn’t help…
[Taichung : 1 Taipei : 1] Taipei gets in the equalizer in fairly emphatic style…
Transport:
I’d like an MRT, but I prefer being self sufficient mobility wise so it’s not that big an issue for me other than in terms of the traffic congestion and pollution, which having an MRT would reduce ten fold…
[Taichung : 1 Taipei : 2] deflection off the post, but the goal stands… an MRT is better no matter which way you slice it…
Traffic:
The net experience of driving/riding in Taichung is worse than Taipei, vehicle density certainly is less especially scooter wise, but Taichung’s drivers are more psychotic… it’s the quality of driving that wins it for Taipei… the stricter (although still useless) Taipei police mean Taipei driving standards and marginally better, the total and absolute lack of enforcement in Taichung means anything goes and nobody cares… Also the road network is less organized than Taipei, the Japanese era grid system in the old downtown area quickly dissolves into random chaos and haphazardly meandering roads in the rest of the city… everyone blows off red lights and triple parks whenever they please… almost zero overpasses for getting around town and from the outlying suburbs/areas into downtown leads to massive bottlenecks at the train line underpasses… also 90% of roads are strangled by arsehole roadside business owners who place their electric signs all the way out in the car lane… the scooter lanes are already packed full of illegally parked cars due to zero parking enforcement… roadside parking does not exist in Taichung, but the comparatively few parking garages are mercifully cheap compared to Taipei…
[Taichung : 1 Taipei : 3] Mouth breathing cretin road users concede another for Taichung… Taipei now looking dominant with a 2 goal advantage…
Population Density:
Doesn’t matter if you mean how many people per sq/m or how thick the population is, both figures are way high… In Taichung the former is lower than it is in Taipei, although the latter is way higher… see “caliber of compatriots” point below for more details…
[Taichung : 2 Taipei : 3] Taichung claws one back with slightly less claustrophobic streets…
Parks/Museums/Facilities:
The Art Museum and Science Museum do a good job of keeping up the side for Taichung, the Science Museum park is quite nice and in the heart of the city, but both fall way short of a reason to live here… “Beyond the very low expectations” would be more apt, but credit where credit is due I guess… Other parks like Sculpture Park and Metro park on the hill are there or thereabouts, but feel like they are newly and poorly put together since A.) the flora just hasn’t had the time to establish itself as Taipei’s older major parks have and B.) they are… Public sports and recreation facilities are few and far between and can’t compare in quantity or quality to Taipei’s although since I don’t really use them perhaps I’m not qualified to comment… Taichung does have a fairly nifty skate/BMX park which is something…
[Taichung : 2 Taipei : 3] Taichung goal disallowed… residents furiously foaming at their binlang stained mouths…
Crime:
In the past I’ve lived in Zimbabwe, England and South Africa, compared to these places, Taiwan has “no crime”… YMMV… Gangsters, both real and perceived certainly exist in Taichung in overwhelming numbers, however traffic altercations notwithstanding you’d have to go out of your way to put yourself in a position for them to effect you… that means chatting up the wrong girls in the wrong bars… no point in complaining that the train hit you when you were standing on the tracks now is there…
[Taichung : 2 Taipei : 3] Obvious dive from Taipei, referee unmoved… play continues…
Caliber of Compatriots (population density revisited):
An odd topic but the most important one IMO… Taipei is the capital city, it is the hub of commerce and enterprise, it is the “flagship” city of the island and it’s residents while varied include the highest concentration of folks who’ve seen a bit of the world, who are more forward thinking and open minded, people who have the means and desire to aim higher in life… this IMO is normal and natural since in any country the caliber of citizenry in the capital is generally higher than that in rural backwaters… Taichung isn’t rural, and on paper it isn’t a backwater either, but nobody appears to have told the locals that… The proximity to the above mentioned neighboring “satellite cities” which most certainly are backwaters means Taichungers are a rough and ready mix of folks who are shuffling slowly towards the future in an oblivious kind of way and out and out binlang trash hicks and pool hall punters who drive like Napoleon, spit, shout in Taiwanese at 6am, stare and point, kick stray dogs, let their children’s teeth rot, let their own teeth rot, shout some more, deep fry their food in motor oil, consider binlang stained vests and pajama shorts “evening wear” and have a level of savvy and general sophistication that rivals stone age tools… the mix is not an even one however so if you stay within certain select areas of downtown Taichung most folks you’ll come across will be the former, but stray even slightly out of the choicer downtown haunts and great unwashed take over rapidly… the principal at work in Taichung is the same as the one in Taipei just in reverse… some slam drunk on rice wine yob who takes to the streets of Taipei in NT$10 blue flip flops, crusty shorts and a stained wife beater, illegally parks his clapped out car half on the pavement and half in the oncoming lane and staggers off leaving a trail of cigarette butts, snot and stained saliva will undoubted attract a few disapproving “looks” from more sophisticated citizens and not inconceivably the attention of the law, serving as a mild face grazing and motive to think twice in the future, whereas in Taichung nobody bats an eyelid, mostly because they’re all doing it too… similarly some young Taichung lad snappily dressed for his Friday night date or a returning ABC will undoubtedly attract “who the f**k do you think you are, trying to make us look bad?” leers and jeers which in turn makes them more likely to break out the wife beater in future so as to fit in… also after living here almost a decade, learning fluent Chinese and rubbish Taiwanese and generally bending over backwards to learn and accept the “culture” and do my bit for social cohesion and suchlike, I still can’t walk anywhere in public with my wife without passive agressive, sneers, taunts, slurs and general low brow teeth sucking xenophobia being directed at us…
[Taichung : 2 Taipei : 4] Taipei extends it’s lead with a perfectly executed free kick from it’s well manicured midfielder… surely Taichung can’t come back from this…
Nightlife:
As I said, I’m married, and been here long enough not to care anymore, so I’m very poorly qualified to comment on this area of Taichung life, but there are indeed lounge bars, clubs, bars, restaurants etc. that are just fine… for a given definition of “fine”… regrettably no real pubs that aren’t just half arsed cash strapped foreigner start ups that slapped up a bar and a projector screen in a low rent shop front and called it a “Tavern” or something suchlike… decent live music venues are lacking as are bands to preform in them… Soundgarden isn’t bad in it’s new guise either… so for it’s size the nightlife venues Taichung has seem fine to me…
[Taichung : 3 Taipei : 4] Taichung catches the Taipei keeper asleep in the dying moments of the game to avoid utter embarrassment…
General convenience:
MRT, modern clean efficient busses, English signage, English speakers (if these are an issue for you), Ikea, Costco, Jason’s, Foreign Trade & Culture Offices, agents of international companies, Western eateries, ATB Music, English bookshops, the list of good things about Taipei goes on and on and at the end in huge bold underlined capital script, for me at least would be “distance to the airport”… I cannot tell you how much I hate having to sit on a crappy bus for the 4+ hours per round trip it takes to go to CKS Airport and since I have to travel a lot, this alone would be reason enough to move to Taipei… In fairness Taichung is central and easy to get to the mountains and the North and the South parts of the island, but that’s not making any inroads into Taipei’s impressive list above…
[Taichung : 3 Taipei : 5] A final nail in Taichung’s coffin deep in injury time seals the game for Taipei…
So why don’t I live in Taipei?.. good question, I’ve been on the brink of moving there for the last few years, what’s always held me back is I always end up at the same question, “if you’re going to go to all the hassle of up and moving and transplanting the house and job and wife and cats and stuff, why stop at Taipei?”… Stay tuned for the next exciting match: Taipei vs. London…