I don't understand

[2010-NewDad]

I'm in the apartment living camp too. Personally for me the short commute to my office means I can play with my daughter in the morning and be home in time to play with her in the evening, feed & bathe her before putting her to bed. For me, this is a hundred times more important than having a bit of extra space or cheaper rent. The good thing about Hong Kong is you're rarely too far from any green areas anyway - even in Mid-Levels it's only a short trip to Hong Kong Park, or some of the walking trails on the Peak.

For us, the convenience of living in an apartment close to transport, the office far outweighs the sacrifice of a smaller space. Everyone is different and we all value different things - no right answer for everyone!

 

[howardcoombs]

Humans have been living in apartments and then highrises for over 2000 years; most people dont realize that they were around back in Roman times (Insulae).

With such a long history, there *must* be a study or 2 done to show how these environments effect kids development as some people have asserted. Could someone please point me to a scientific study that shows the benefits of low rise houses and gardens to development of babies and kids.

I'm with NewDad on this one - live somewhere convenient so that the family can be together for longer periods of time; this is a lot better than having parents travelling several hours a days just so the little one can be closer to ground floor, grass and sand.

 

[carang]

the great thing about hk is that it is a CHOICE. if you are unhappy living in an apartment, then you can move! there are other options out there for those who want them.

where we live IS more inconvenient, yes, but nowhere else in hk could we get the space (5 bed~two of which are about 300-350 sq ft each in and of themselves!~), garden, free car parks etc. for the $20k rent we pay.

what do we lose? central is a 45 minute drive away, but we don't frequent central, or much of hk island for that matter. access to good schools? while our kids are going to local schools, we are very happy with the schools so far (and we pay $635/month for my daughter's full-day kindergarten, lunch included, while our son's primary school is FREE!). access to restaurants? sai kung has a fair few of those, quite a few of them know my family by name. parks? hmmm... that is right outside our front door. playgrounds? there is one 5 minutes away and three or four right in sai kung town itself.

i think the point is, from those of us that live outside of "town", we don't feel like we are giving up much to live where we do. things might be different if hubby and i worked in central... but not everyone works there, neither of us do....

don't assume that everyone works in central. and that therefore a highrise in mid-levels is the must-do thing.

 

[nicolejoy]

I think that a large percentage of the expat population would work in Central. For people who don't work in Central, living further away might be more reasonable - but for those who do want to spend more time together as a family, living within close commuting distance to Central is important. And closer to central, the prices are higher per square foot.

While I would love to have a house with a backyard (and even a private swimming pool... maybe a nice patio for BBQs, a couple of dogs...), I don't think that my children are harmed or deprived because they live in a 900 square foot apartment. They do get plenty of outside time, and I think there are benefits that they have HERE that they will not have when we move back to Australia and have the pool, BBQ and dogs.

Wherever we are, we just try to make the most of that situation, balance aspects such as price, commute, facilities, space etc... and here we are, making the best of what we've got right now

 

[charade]

I live in the New Territories AND in a high rise. Gasp! Worst of both worlds one would say...but I like it. Everyone in my family seems happy with it. I get more space than I would on HK Island (and I work in Kowloon anyway) and I live on top of an MTR station so I can get to the centre of action (and work and back) reasonably quickly.

Only our friends are not so happy. They jokingly accused us of having another baby so quickly out of boredom of nothing to do out there in the boondocks.