Taipei residential areas -advises appreciated

Hello!
I am relocating to Taipei from in August with my family - wife and 2 year old boy. Next week I am flying to Taipei to prepare all the legal things - apply for working visa, open bank account, etc. I am also going to search for an appartment. Some lady from the company I work in will be helping me - she is going to arrange some appartments to see. I wanted to ask you people about good areas to live in Taipei, if I need to find an appartment that costs 35000 NT$ maximum. My company office located in Neihu Chiu, and I don’t want the appartment to be far away from there. Also it would be better to live in area where I can manage without speaking a lot of chinese - I think I will learn it, eventually, but it will take some time. I heard that NieHu is a good place, and that a lot of people who come from abroad live in Tienmu. I don’t have to find the appartment in those 2 weeks, but it would be better if I will. Anyway, please advise me regarding the areas where we can live in Taipei.
Thank you.

Welcome to Taipei Taiwan Alex.

Please read this thread: [forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph … 794#330794](What do we obtain renting a place for 2.200 US$ ? A house?

Lots of suggestions were posted there about living in Taipei. Just browse the Living in Taiwan forum and when you need more info, just post here :slight_smile:.

Neihu is a nice area, quite a few foreigners live by that way. Xizhi is another area close to Neihu. For $35,000NT a month, you should have no problems finding a suitable apartment for the family so long as you don’t require a lot of space.

[quote=“alexa”]Hello!
I am relocating to Taipei from in August with my family - wife and 2 year old boy. Next week I am flying to Taipei to prepare all the legal things - apply for working visa, open bank account, etc. I am also going to search for an appartment. Some lady from the company I work in will be helping me - she is going to arrange some appartments to see. I wanted to ask you people about good areas to live in Taipei, if I need to find an appartment that costs 35000 NT$ maximum. My company office located in Neihu Chiu, and I don’t want the appartment to be far away from there. Also it would be better to live in area where I can manage without speaking a lot of Chinese - I think I will learn it, eventually, but it will take some time. I heard that NieHu is a good place, and that a lot of people who come from abroad live in Tianmu. I don’t have to find the appartment in those 2 weeks, but it would be better if I will. Anyway, please advise me regarding the areas where we can live in Taipei.
Thank you.[/quote]
Tianmu is an expat area but not cheap from what I heard. As well it’s a bit away from everything, though some do appreciate that (as opposed to living downtown). Neihu and Dazhi aren’t too bad either, seen lot’s of new residential complexes in Dazhi around the Miramar shopping center. Those areas should be cheaper than Tianmu and downtown.

My advise: get in contact with more agents to have a broader choice. And note that finding a good place takes time … a lot of it. I can recommend you an agent I have used before: Mimi 09-39252790

If you’re going to be working in Neihu, by all means live there too.

It’s a nice district and I think it’s better than Tianmu. There’s other places I prefer, but for a family and with you working there definitely look in that area.

Brian

I agree - if you work in Neihu you’ll want to live there. There is no MRT (subway) line out there yet, so if you don’t live in Neihu, the commute will be a big headache.

You will be able to find a fantastic place for NT$35,000/month, and great places for considerably less. And if you like hiking and mountains, Neihu is heaven. It’s a great area - the only reason I don’t live there is because of the long, slow commute to downtown.

[url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/lotus-hill-la-dolce-vita-in-taiwan/995/1 Hill[/url] is worth consideration. :uhhuh:

Thank you all for the helpful information. I have a couple of additional questions about Niehu (seems to me that this is the place to live in my case) - is it problemmatic to get from there to the downtown? And is there indoor swimming pool in that area?
Additional question : ususally in Taipei, what furniture is found in furnished appartment?
Thank you.

The brown MTR line runs though Neihu or close enough for it to be one bus ride away, I seriously doubt you’d have much problems getting downtown from Neihu. As for swimming pools … :idunno: you’re gonna have to ask around there yourself.

[quote=“alexa”]Thank you all for the helpful information. I have a couple of additional questions about Niehu (seems to me that this is the place to live in my case) - is it problemmatic to get from there to the downtown? And is there indoor swimming pool in that area?
Additional question : ususally in Taipei, what furniture is found in furnished appartment?
Thank you.[/quote]
It’s not problematic to get downtown from Neihu unless it’s morning rush hour, which is slow going. There are lots of buses that go downtown (some, like the Brown 9, cost NT$15; others are two-section fares costing NT$30), you could take a bus (e.g. the 284) to the Kunyang MRT station in Nangang. And a cab ride downtown will cost around NT$200-230 (US$6-7), 30% higher after 11pm.

One of Taipei’s few outdoor pools is in Dahu Park in Neihu; there’s an indoor pool at the Neihu incinerator, but that’s hard to get to if you don’t have your own transportation. I’m sure there are other pools there.

Check out Dazhi, too, for a place to stay - it’s just beside Neihu. Don’t know of any indoor swimming pool around there, though that doesn’ mean there won’t be any.

Furnished apartments will typically include all the basics (bedframe, matress, wardrobe, sofa, tables …) but also air-condition and bigger electrical appliances (TV, fridge, washing machine etc.). A clothes dryer for example may not be included though you could of course always negotiate with the landlord to provide any additional items you require.

The brown line will run through Neihu one day (2008 or so) but there are busses, taxis and shuttles to the other MRT lines, see Chris’ response.

The brown line through Neihu is currently under construction. It won’t be open until near the end of the decade. Currently the closest MRT station to Neihu is the Kunyang station in Nangang, but that’s still a fair distance away.

Pools - If you live in Neihu, its not too far the the Grand Hotel Club or the American Club in China.

If your focus is the pool - then go for the Grand Hotel - they’ve got summer memberships.

There is a small indoor pool right next too NeiHu Lake. Not sure of the address though but if you circle the lake you’ll see it.