Where to live besides Tianmu for families?

Hi,

I read the Tianmu thread, but didn’t want to hijack it with my questions. It’s been years since was last in Taiwan and haven’t kept up with the goings on there, so thanks for answering some questions if you can!

Can you recommend some areas for a current family of 2 under 2 to live? Tianmu is an option, but the cab fare getting to and from Tianmu to downtown Taibei is around $300, iirc, and MRT would not be convenient for toting kids along. The convenience factor of Tianmu is the foreign grocery stores, TAS, foreign-oriented businesses, Yangmingshan, and SFH. I hear Tianmu has SFH, but are they really in Tianmu, or up in the mountains? Not interested in homes in the mountains.

Seems Tianmu has everything we want, but really, do I want to go there? :hand:

Looking for a neighborhood that:
-is central/urban as we might not have a car
-is not as $$$$ as 101 Xinyi district
-very close to a good hospital
-can walk to grocery store, playground, convenience stores, restaurants, transportation, stores
-looking for 4+ bedrooms, a patio or yard is preferred, and parking spot

Do you have any websites to recommend?

What’s SFH?

Also, when you mention cabfare to downtown do you mean to Taipei Main Station or Taipei 101? Would this be for work (and thus frequently taken)?

Here’s the part that will be the most difficult – on a budget, that is – for Tianmu, or just about anywhere in metro Taipei that meets your requirements: “looking for 4+ bedrooms, a patio or yard is preferred, and parking spot”.

Perhaps you could find something around Miramar. But I prefer Tianmu.

Tianmu has good bus connections, and buses usually run with less passenger load than the MRT. I’d look closer to Zhishan MRT or go up to Qilian. Either side is cheaper than the middle, and has better deals closer to MRT.

That said, alternatives would be Tazhi or Neihu, in the outskirts, plus Minshen/Minchuan area in Taipei.

I live in NeiHu with my three kids and I see and meet more and more families here all the time. We’ve got the convience of the new MRT and nearby highways but also the luxury of mountains, lakes and parks,

[quote=“cranky laowai”]What’s SFH?[/quote] I think it means single-family homes.

You mean a house-house? Mmm. My coworker who lives there says some are on flatland, mostly mansions. Then you have 透天厝, maybe a few. 別墅 uphill.

The guys I know -with families- who work at the embassies live around Takashimaya, there are some older but really nifty apartments: big, spacious. Close to parks. Not sky high rents.

Ah, OK. There are probably a few four-or-more-bedroom single-family homes in Tianmu proper without heading up the mountain for, oh, NT$150,000 per month. Maybe there are even a couple for less than that. So unless the family has a very generous rental allowance, I don’t advise getting one’s heart set on such a place – not in Tianmu at least.

There are some individual houses up by Chinese Culture University (Wenhua Daxue) that probably would be significantly cheaper. But that’s definitely “up in the mountains”, and those places might well be fix-me-ups.

Compare to the options in Xindian (for a house-house):

rent.591.com.tw/rent-detail-859651.html

rent.591.com.tw/rent-detail-887689.html

8 rooms for 40K: rent.591.com.tw/rent-detail-851507.html

Off topic= See why it was so hard to find a 150K home for that guy? Wonder if he found any…

You mean a house-house? Mmm. My coworker who lives there says some are on flatland, mostly mansions. Then you have 透天厝, maybe a few. 別墅 uphill.

The guys I know -with families- who work at the embassies live around Takashimaya, there are some older but really nifty apartments: big, spacious. Close to parks. Not sky high rents.[/quote]

Well, personally, I live here maps.google.com/maps?rlz=1T4GGHP … =en&tab=wl

I like it because I have a townhouse, small backyard, pool in the summer and no cars driving in the lane infront of my place. The neighbourhood kids all run to each others houses and there are numerous parks and hiking trails all around us. There is a community bus that takes you to DaHu MRT and DongHu Rd where the food is to be found. Unfortunatly, you need a scooter or the community bus to get the five mintues to supermarkets/restaurants etc.

It’s not perfect but we are happy here and have lived in this place for 8 years. I have seen places for rent for 30 000nt for 80 pings. There is a rental office here you can go to or you can check out every neighbourhood individually at www.591.com.tw

It would be great to have 914 back in town! :beer:

Note: The MRT has been extended, and now includes Donghu.

We live in Donghu, near piwackit, but within walking distance of the wet market and lots and lots of good stores on Kangle Ave, which then becomes Donghu Rd. as you head west. For us, it’s a 2 or 3 minute bus ride to the MRT, or a 10+ minute walk, but you could live right on the MRT and have lots of bus options.

I realize you’re not focusing on the MRT, but having it right there should IMO be counted as a big plus, which is why I mention this area, which has VERY good on-foot shopping on Donghu road with a good wet market and every kind of mom & pop store, decent local food, and so on. There are groceries right by the Donghu station (Wellcome, Kangning-Donghu Rd.) and Huzhou (Songqing aka Matsusei), which also happens to have an Alleycat’s pizza (and a good OB/GYN btw) nearby, Jolly Thai food and Ryan’s sandwiches. Buono pizza isn’t far. Going a stop further to Dahu sta. (or walking 5-10 min.) puts you at Dahu park (superb place to take the kids). No idea about apartment sizes between the latter two stops but there are nice buildings there you could check out, and right behind them is Kangning hospital, which is fine for some purposes. There is also a major hospital (Sanzong) a couple minutes away by taxi from the Huzhou station, and small clinics in the area abound.

Foreign groceries are lacking, but there is a baking supply store in Donghu which has some foreign-style items, and there are multiple places for organic and health food items. Also, the availability of foreign items at ordinary grocery stores has improved over the years. There are also now multiple online sources which deliver to your home for pennies (P&P, Yiwei foods, El Toro’s deli meats and sausages, and so on), and this location puts you fairly near the Neihu Costco (which has many imported items). See also this thread on online shopping. With those sources and Costco, you can just make the occasional trek to one of the other foreign food item sources like Breeze, Far Eastern, Wellman’s or G&G.

The above strip is very near fast routes into town, like Minquan E. Rd. (to Neihu Costco, RTMart and Carrefour and an excellent baking supply store), a Hwy 1 onramp on Kangning, and a shortcut by the trash incinerator to get to Nanjing, Bade and Zhongxiao roads. Taking Kangning south also heads you toward the Nangang Carrefour and the Xizhi Costco. It’s 25 minutes by scooter to 101, and 20 minutes to Minquan-Dunhua, just FYI. We rent a parking spot for our car just in front of our apartment, which is very convenient. We have 45? ping internal, 3 large bedrooms, three balconies, and pay NT$16,000 in rent (normally $18k. 5th floor, no elevator). There is a small, mediocre park with a playground, less than a minute’s walk away, and a grocery store 1-2 minutes away. Our vet is 1-2 minutes’ walk away, as is our family clinic, stationery stores, bakeries, optometrists, hardware stores, all kinds of food places, and so on.

There’s a small ‘mountain’ at Dahu Park with a hiking trail. Wuzhi Shan is not far. There are small playgrounds and parks scattered here and there but not as nice as, say, Lotus Hills.

I noticed that that XXX guy and that Dwayne ‘the Rock’ wrestling guy are in the same movie at the same time. I thought it must be a sign.

Thanks everyone for your help. I wish I could make a house hunting trip to see Taipei for myself again. I can’t believe how much I have forgotten I can’t even remember the name of all the districts.

That was a very helpful post, Dragonbones. I like Neihu area, as I used to live there, but I think it might be too “local” for Mr 914. He wants urban, central, with sidewalks, with lots of western conveniences and hopefully some businesses that speaking the English. But it’s been years since we’ve both been back, so maybe you’re right, the MRT might have changed the area.

Question about hospitals: which are the best for English-speaking staff, L&D/Maternity, and pediatrics?

We just remembered Da’An district. Can anyone tell me what the boundaries are for Da’An and Xinyi? I hear Xinyi is all nice and new and shiny, but it’s really too much. Mr 914 mentioned Yongkang Street. Is that Da’An?

I’m still iffy about Tianmu, because I know we’ll hardly leave our neighborhood, and selfishly, I would feel more comfortable living outside the “expat bubble.” The Mister, however, thinks Tianmu is the place to be. So, is there a good hospital there? And is cab fare still $300 to Taipei business district?

Sorry for the rambling…

Yongkang is in Da’an. Xinyi is the the most urban, newest, and central part of Taipei. Da’an is right next to it and contains the university districts and Da’an park. This is where Taiwan’s richest people live, so the hospitals and schools are the best. There are probably as many sidewalks as in Tianmu. There are fancy supermarkets like Jason’s etc. in Taipei101. The one thing downtown will not have is businesses that specifically cater to westerners although I think you will find that many people speak English in these affluent, educated areas. Tai’an Hospital on Dunhua and Bade is well-known for its English-language clinics. Taipei Medical University Hospital and Cathay General Hospital are both very highly regarded.

Neihu is way too suburban for me, but it does have some places with nice views of the hills.

The Veteran General Hospital, one of the best hospitals in the country, is right next to Tianmu.

[quote=“Feiren”] Tai’an Hospital on Dunhua and Bade is well-known for its English-language clinics.[/quote] aka Taiwan Adventist Hospital.

Nobody takes a cab from Tianmu to Taipei anymore. You cab it to an MRT station, take the MRT downtown, take another cab to get to where you want to go if necessary. It’s cheaper and faster than cabbing it the whole way.

Minsheng community near Songshan Airport is another good place to live. It’s not as “suburban” as Neihu, but very family-friendly with small parks dotting the area, and has easy access to the downtown area. (No MRT though)

914, we aren’t living in Taiwan yet but we’ve made a couple of trips to fact-find (was going to write reconnoitring trips but I don’t think that’s a word), and my husband is coming out again tomorrow for work and to check some more things out. Our position is similar to yours in that we’re looking for somewhere family friendly. I would really advise against Da’an and Xinyi if you’ve got two babies and value their lungs. The air pollution is quite bad in those areas. Fine for a shopping trip, but I really wouldn’t want any child of mine exposed to it day in day out.

At the moment our plan is to find somewhere in Beitou as we’ve found a really nice mountain school for our son to attend, though looking at the links to houses in Xindian has given me second thoughts! I really doubt we’re going to find somewhere so nice in Beitou, at least not at those prices.

At least with young children you won’t be too tied to an area (unlike us, where it wouldn’t be fair to take our son out of a school he’d just got used to). Maybe just take on a short lease and decide where you’ll live permanently when you’ve had a chance to re-familiarise yourself with Taipei?

[quote=“Incubus”]

Minsheng community near Songshan Airport is another good place to live. It’s not as “suburban” as Neihu, but very family-friendly with small parks dotting the area, and has easy access to the downtown area. (No MRT though)[/quote]

Correction. Songshan Airport MRT station does exist and is very much operational. (Muzha/brown line)

I concur about the Minsheng neighbourhood!

[quote=“ozjaber”][quote=“Incubus”]

Minsheng community near Songshan Airport is another good place to live. It’s not as “suburban” as Neihu, but very family-friendly with small parks dotting the area, and has easy access to the downtown area. (No MRT though)[/quote]

Correction. Songshan Airport MRT station does exist and is very much operational. (Muzha/brown line)
[/quote]
True but it’s not exactly a hop skip and a jump away, is it? It’s a good 15-minute walk to get from Songshan Airport MRT to the heart of Minsheng community, not counting the 99+ seconds you’d have to wait just to cross Minquan E. Rd. Just ask our honorary Minsheng resident Mother Theresa how often he takes the brown line. :wink:

914, for what the B-boy is seeking, I would tend to avoid Tianmu. These days it is really more and more out there in the sticks. I would suggest my street in outer Xindian – lovely, green, quiet, out of the smog – but that’s only because I think you’d be a great babysitter, and Sandy Wee and Jake are the same age… but its about as far removed from what the B-boy wants as possible. Oh well. There’s always taxis. I am SO stoked that you’re coming!

I don’t think the MRT has changed the area much. Sidewalks are still iffy. Not that many western things. Not much English. But if you’re going to be on foot a lot, Donghu is VERY convenient. It’s not urban, new or shiny though. Probably too Taiwanese for your Mister, you’re right.

[quote=“Petrichor”]914, we aren’t living in Taiwan yet but we’ve made a couple of trips to fact-find (was going to write reconnoitring trips but I don’t think that’s a word), and my husband is coming out again tomorrow for work and to check some more things out. Our position is similar to yours in that we’re looking for somewhere family friendly. I would really advise against Da’an and Xinyi if you’ve got two babies and value their lungs. The air pollution is quite bad in those areas. Fine for a shopping trip, but I really wouldn’t want any child of mine exposed to it day in day out.

At the moment our plan is to find somewhere in Beitou as we’ve found a really nice mountain school for our son to attend, though looking at the links to houses in Xindian has given me second thoughts! I really doubt we’re going to find somewhere so nice in Beitou, at least not at those prices.

At least with young children you won’t be too tied to an area (unlike us, where it wouldn’t be fair to take our son out of a school he’d just got used to). Maybe just take on a short lease and decide where you’ll live permanently when you’ve had a chance to re-familiarise yourself with Taipei?[/quote]

Of course Beitou’s hills have better air. But I don’t think Da’an and Xinyi are so bad if you stay off the main boulevards.

You need to think very carefully about the commutes. It’s an hour downtown from Beitou at rush hour. That can be very rough.