Am I crazy wanting to live in the Mid-Levels with a 6 month old?

[eebee]

Hi all,

My husband has recently landed a 2-year secondment opportunity to Hong Kong and we are moving in November with our 6 month old baby boy.

We visited for 1 week recently and looked at various areas around HK Island to live (Southside, Pok Fu Lam, Peak, Mid-Levels) but this only left me feeling more confused about where would be best for us to move!

Our budget is around 55-60k and my husband does not want more than a 30 minute commute to work each day. We want somewhere where it will be easy to meet other mums with babies and be able to join in activities (playgroup etc).

The mid-levels seems to tick all the boxes with it just seems SO steep and hard to get around with a stroller! How do people get around with kids in HK? Would I just jump in a cab whenever I want to head into Central? The advice I've been given by most people I've spoken to is that it's mostly young singles and couples in the Mid-Levels and when a baby arrives they move out.

Any other suggestions? We didn't look at Happy Valley on our visit but have heard this can be a good area.

We're living in a serviced apartment for up to a month when we arrive so have time to do some more looking around.

 

[carang]

you could also look at discovery bay. it is EXTREMELY baby/mum friendly, a 25 minute air-conditioned, comfortable ferry ride to central, slightly cleaner air, no private vehicles (only 500 golf buggies). it is a fantastic place for families with young kids. with your budget, you'd probably be able to get a nice, large place (low-rise) with a garden, too!

happy valley is good, too. mid-levels? hundreds of thousands of people live there, many with young kids, so it can't be that bad.

best bet, use your 1 month in the service apt. DON'T rush into anything. REALLY look around different areas AND different flats in each area, so you can get an idea of what's available in your price range.

 

[starbucks2]

Agree with Cara. I lived in Midlevels for 5 years and moved to Discovery Bay in January when with our 2 year old and newborn. Very family friendly with parks etc and a club (you have to join) with pools and indoor playroom for summer and winter. For that amount of money you will def get a nice apartment there and meeting other mums would be easy without even trying hard as you'll see heaps at the playroom and pools.

On the commute from there - I'd say realistically it is more than 25 mins though. Yes, a 25 min ferry but that is assuming you are living at the plaza and working at IFC. For me, it is about 50 mins by the time I walk out the door of my apartment, catch the bus to the plaza in DB then 25 min ferry then 10-15 min walk to my office. SO it will depend on where your husband's work is located.

Having said all of that, moving out of Midlevels and into DB was the right move for us. Much easier to entertain a little one in DB and just generally move around with a stroller.

 

[carang]

it used to take me about 42 minutes (i know because i would watch a tv show on my ipod video) from la vista to:
walk down the hill, catch the ferry, then walk to my office in sheung wan. it was almost timed exactly. one entire episode per trip.

we moved from db to sai kung 3+ years ago and i still miss DB terribly! i found it so fantastic for kids. we needed more space for less money, though, and sadly could not get that in DB, so we moved out to the boonies into sai kung country park...

 

[ssheng]

Agree also with Cara about taking your time to look - and since you were more focused on HK Island, I can't help myself, have to also suggest you take a look at Kowloon Station, since you have a good sized budget. Much more of a 'planned community', but a great outdoor playground, a very tiny park (hardly qualifies as a park but it does have a nice patch of grass, which is hard to find in HK), and ample living options. There are 4 different complexes (each with several towers, and all post year 2000 construction) and all of them have nice clubhouses with indoor children areas, pools and planned activities for residents. Plus, Elements Mall is downstairs, and if you don't mind paying more for organic food, your grocery shopping is a breeze at the 360 grocery store, you have a movie theater, ice skating rink, tons of restaurants, etc. Also downstairs is the Airport Express and the MTR. It's 1 stop/3 min ride to Central, although it's the IFC station so to get to places like the Landmark it's a short walk through the linked subway stations once you exit the train.

I realize I sound like an ad but we've just been so happy with where we live and met so many nice people, so just wanted to throw out the suggestion as we never considered Kowloon when we first got to HK, but are happy we did.

 

[Hannah's Mom]

We've lived in mid levels for 6 years and I have two young kids and no helper! Personally we love it! Buses are easy and cabs are plenty. The walk into Central is easy ... once you discover the routes where sidewalks don't suddenly end or you encounter stairs!! And there are lots of families, and depending where you are in Midlevels there are parks around and you can get that "community" feeling.

Definitly research though ... what someone loves about one place is what another can't stand about it!! Good luck with the move!

 

[LeahH]

We were in the mid levels until our first baby could walk, then moved to Pokfulam. I love it here and it only takes me 15 mins to get to work at IFC (that is by cab, public transport is a much slower). Lots of open space, good for strollers, parks/grass, low rise buildings, school, other families, good supermarkets and a playroom (wise kids). 55-60k will get you a pretty big place.

 

[shuchisingh]

i dont live in mid-levels but i have tons of friends with kids who do. you can find kid-friendly properties in mid-levels in your budget - robinson place, bamboo grove etc. also, midlevels has many playgroup / activities options once yr baby is around 9-10 months. apart from that hk park, botanical gardens are easy to access.

 

[eebee]

Thanks so much for your responses everyone - very helpful. Does anyone live at Hillsborough Court? It's one of the places we looked at and liked, but it seems the only way to walk out of there is down a near vertical road! (Old Peak Rd). Comments?

 

[eebee]

Thanks for your reply ssheng. I've had a bit of a look online at Kowloon Station and it does seem to fit our needs nicely. Which complex do you live in? Which would you suggest has the best facilities for a baby/young child (eg. indoor and outdoor playground, pool etc)? Any further advice would be much appreciated.