As the title says I’ve had a job offer working over at Taichung port, which I’m considering. I’ve done some googling and it seems super remote and quite difficult to commute to and from from taichung. I don’t have a car, but do have a scooter.
Google maps shows no public transport between the port and taichung which seems unusual…
Does anyone live there or know anybody that does and could shed some light on what people do for living and commuting? Any tips would be very much appreciated.
I would like to be able to enjoy taichung and also be able to get to Taipei on the weekends, but it seems like it would be very difficult.
As far as I can tell, my options are:
Rent a place right next to the port in wuqi or longjing, which both look like very boring areas
Live on the edge of taichung, near the high speed rail station, buy a second hand car and drive 45 mins there and back every day. Problem is that’s still a hefty commute and even a second hand car is at least a months salary.
Refuse the offer
The position is only temporary and if all goes well (which it never does) I would only be there 4-5 months. I’m wondering, will this also cause problems with accommodation? I know in Taipei most rooms on 591 need a yearly contract.
I’d probably just live close to it, bring your scooter with you. Commuting is something that you do every day so it gets to be a slog. There is an area that is served by the 306 and 308 so perhaps live close to that if you wanna go to the city centre on weekends.
I would not care to drive a scooter or even a car twice a day. Traffic is especially bad at rush hour.
Take weather into consideration rain, heat, humidity.
I like hanging out in central Taichung so I would probably try to do it if only for half a year. Plus it would help me get to know an area and people that might be nice to know in the future. And maybe find spots to stop along route for a break or snack.
There are buses but maybe not to your location. Maybe you can have a scooter or bike at one or both ends near bus stop.
I occasionally drive a similar route to/from Central Taichung and going both directions I just keep feeling like when am I going to get there.
One option to live in the area but there’s not much to do. And another option is to live halfway between near the universities or maybe near art village.
If you do decide on scooter, there are small lanes a lot of the way between both locations so you mostly see scooters on only and rarely a car.
Maybe figure out your ultimate goal of living lifestyle location and then plan around it best as possible.
Yeah I thought about living near the university or perhaps near the high speed rail station which might be a little more convenient as it also has the train line.
The commute seems like an absolute ball ache. A car I would be a little bit more OK with, you have your own space, AC, can listen to music and podcasts etc. But driving over an hour every day through traffic in the heat or rain doesn’t sound like something I’m willing to do. I also don’t want to have no transport and essentially be stranded out there at the mercy of friendly colleagues with cars or pretty minimal public transport.
The other thing I’d want to consider is that my partner lives in Taipei and if I’m miles from the HSR station it’s gonna be really difficult for us to visit each other.
Yeah I agree, it makes sense to cut the commute as that’s what I would be doing more.
I have a partner in Taipei that I’d want to be seeing on the weekends and I don’t want to be too far away from transport links (eg HSR) otherwise it’s gonna be very difficult for us.
The more I look into it the more I feel like the whole thing would be kinda miserable. I think I need to spend some time exploring the area but unfortunately not gonna have time for that
That’s why I am telling you to go to Anren Village in Wuqi. Because you’re close to the 306 and 308 buses, the two major buses that quickly get to the city centre and transport links. They’re the most convenient ones.
Those two buses are Wuqi’s major transport links.
If you’re in Anren village or nearby, then you’ll be relatively less frustrated for your trips to the city centre and other transport links.