I don’t take issue with your other points (many of them I agree with), but this one is strange to me. We are only second to Taipei for public transportation. Two lines on our MRT that go almost everywhere worth going, plus many bus routes to fill in the gaps. Yes, you need a scooter or car to visit the mountainous areas on the outskirts but unless you’re a nature guy, you’re not going to head there more than a couple times a year.
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Kaohsiung is 10 times larger than Taipei in area, but Taipei has almost 300 bus lines vs. fewer than 200 for Kaohsiung. Buses in Kaohsiung are infrequent (every 20-30 min. if lucky). 40.4% of people in Taipei use public transportation vs. 8.3% in Kaohsiung. The numbers speak for itself.
What places, specifically, do you want to travel to on a regular basis in Kaohsiung that you can’t get to by MRT or bus? There’s a few outlying scenic areas (that maybe warrant a visit every couple years) and that’s about it. And the main point in my post concerned our extensive MRT, not the bus system (which I said was just to fill in the gaps). That said, I’ve never had trouble catching a bus here.
Curious… do you live in Kaohsiung?
Yes, I do live in Kaohsiung, and I live close to an MRT station, which is great, but there are lots of eateries in Sanmin, Fengshan, Zuoying and Nanzi that I would like to try that are not reachable by MRT, and just a pain to reach by bus if even available.
Case in point, today I was in Zuoying near Nanzi and decided to try Beiping Yangbaobao Steam Dumplings… My plan was to take the MRT, then bus, then walk 6 minutes to reach it. When I got to the bus station, the bus just left, and the next one is at least 20 minutes away, so I decided to ride a You Bike. Google Map took me through highways (with ramps), which should not have been recommended for cycling at all…
BTW, it was worth it…
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That’s a good spot
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Those beef rolls are making me hungry… 
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I moved to Kaohsiung this summer. It is my first time in Taiwan as well. Until October or so, I could not believe how underrated the city was. It had everything… Food, scenery, convenience, reasonable cost of life. Sure, things like poor water quality and excessive usage of traffic lights even in smallest intersections annoyed me but I really loved the city… For me, a game changer was the air pollution which started to hit in October. The air quality was never in healthy (green) range anymore, and now it is not uncommon to get orange or red days. In my opinion, a city where you can not take prolonged walks outside is a low-tier city no matter how much it has to offer in other aspects of living. I’ve got curious to understand the reason behind such persistent air pollution as whoever I talked blamed China which was not so convincing to me. Then, I saw in google maps that there are two big power plants (south area power plant and talin power plant) constantly burning fossil fuel right inside the damn city. Surely, these plants should be playing a major role in polluting the air. I wonder whether there are some initiatives to move these plants somewhere further away. It looks like a no-brainer solution. Anyway, Kaohsiung is a nice city and could have been a true attraction for expats in eastern Asia if only if the air was a little more breathable.
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Yeah, there are good days and bad, there will be worse days moving forward. Last year wasnt terrible, but im told that was unusual. From Taichung down the west coast is pretty awful (I’d move to Taichung for the marginally better air and other things that are better, but i like my job here)
There are pockets where you can escape for fresher air, depending on where you live and what you do.
Taiwan seems to be a series of compromises. Up north doesn’t stop raining, east coast not a lot of opportunities plus earthquakes and typhoons, far south is maybe the best living environment but no work for me there 
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Do you mind sharing where these sweet spots are? I’m afraid I don’t know any yet.
Another bad day in Kaohsiung: AQI reads 137 at the moment.
Within K City, the forested areas. West side of the mountain by Lotus Pond, for example. Sometimes after a hike in a lush area I feel an oxygen high for 24 hours
Also some parts of Taichung were green when I checked today. A few other green spots down through Chiayi and Tainan but not many
Try and go up in the mountains on weekends…
Yeah, i went down bybthe ocean today and was pretty disappointed by the haze over the water
Taking another look, Taichung looks very tempting. I was offered a job up there but not really looking to make the move. Still, as you said it is getting pretty red down here!
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Taichung had extremely poor air quality today. The haze was so bad the surrounding hills basically disappeared. Its also not uncommon in Winter. Similar story to Kaohsiung really.
Just looking at the air quality site that I posted, you had a green square for every red one we have, yellow where we have orange
Also better food, cooler temps, i like the vibe.
I am telling you the air quality was bad yesterday , and that is very common in Taichung . So not much difference on that score.
Gotta (slightly) disagree here. Kaohsiung might be second, but a very distant second. The Taipei/Taoyuan MRT system puts Kaohsiung to shame. Everywhere has buses, but the whole point of an MRT system is to avoid surface traffic.
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Taoyuan MRT and buses are shit. Kaohsiung is way better. You can actually get around by public transport there.
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On the not bad vs bad score, ok not much difference. Taking a less binary measure, Taichung is at least better. Either way, I’m going to the mountains this weekend
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All the cool expats know that Yancheng is the place to live in Kaohsiung. Kaohsiung has it all - in a cheaper package. Sure maybe not as convenient and pollution can be downright awful at times - but there is still plenty to do, friendly enough people, and I’ll take the heat over the toilet bowl weather of Taipei 9 times out of 10. Disagree about it not being scenic though. You have beaches, Cijin, Caishan, a cruise up to Tainan or down to Kenting. 40 min by scooter and you’re in Pingtung hiking, drinking beer in a waterfall pool. I think this place get kind of gets a bad wrap, but there’s nowhere else in TW I’d prefer to live.
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When’s the best time to visit Kaohsiung?
What do you prefer, heat or air pollution?
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Depressingly accurate… 
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