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Inbound to work NW New territories - where to live with a young international family??

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  1. #1

    Inbound to work NW New territories - where to live with a young international family??

    Hi all - yet another unnerved expat trying to understand the best place to live in Hong Kong.

    I am potentially moving over to work NW of Tuen Mun at Black point, we are a european family with two kids under two. Wife is a language teacher at international school. I know this part of HK is remote and I'm struggling to find an area to live which can provide an international community with schooling/play groups, access to outdoors but with a reasonable commute (car under one hour). Tyring to keep living costs at around HKD100k mnth all in (rent, transport, school etc)

    I've worked internationally, as has my wife, including living in China so we arent afraid of integration but the priority as usual is on the kids having access to amenities (and making sure my wife dosent go mad being stuck in the middle of what I've heard called Mordor by some expats!).

    I've been told Pok fu lam could be feasible as the western tunnel is a straightforward drive. Gold Coast apparently isnt great for international community? Lantau whilst closer has a longer commute due to difficulty owning a vehicle.

    Any help/advice much appreciated.

    thanks in advance


  2. #2

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    Fairview Park.


  3. #3

    Gold Coast has an excellent International community. For 100K you will have an excellent lifestyle over here. However, which area will your wife be working in?

    100LL, chingleutsch and imparanoic like this.

  4. #4

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    You can stay at the Gold Coast Service Apt temporary and see if you like the area.

    https://serviced.hk/apartments/new-t...ast-residences


  5. #5

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    Does your wife already have a job here, and do your children already have school places? If not, you need to be considering their potential commute times too, and the first priority would be to sort out the school places.

    Those factors being equal, I'd say somewhere like Gold Coast would be ideal. If you want to be a bit closer to the main shopping area in Tuen Mun there are places like Villa Tiara and Chelsea Heights, and there are also some foreigner-friendly villages around, too.

    For schools, there is an international nursery/ preschool in Aegean Coast (just opposite Gold Coast phase 1), and Yuen Yuen Primary is an English/ Putonghua media of instruction government-subvented school in Tuen Mun - note that quite a bit of Chinese language support out of hours might be necessary to get kids up to speed for the Putonghua, specially learning characters. Otherwise the closest international school is Harrow, which would probably blow your budget out of the water unless your wife teaches there and can get a staff discount.


  6. #6

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    I wouldn't plan on doing that commute from Pok Fu Lam to Tuen Mun by car. Petrol and toll charges are not cheap plus parking at home and work.

    Tuen Mun and Yuen Long are changing with new shopping malls and new residential estates above the MTR. There's a few expats living aboard boats at the Gold Coast.

    Where is the wife working and where are your children going to school. Those are the important factors to involve too.


  7. #7

    thanks all for the prompt replies, very helpful

    This move has come up rather quickly and we have two kids under two so for the first six months my wife will be looking for work at international schools/private tuition, aiming to start in Sept term 2017. We dont have any places at schools, as we figured being located in Pok fu lam would give good access to kindergarten/pre school.

    I havent visited gold coast, looking at a map I would have thought it would be an obvious place to live but I've been warned off it as it wont offer much in the way of international community and the area around it is polluted? I think by the time kids are ready for international school we could have found another location - not sure I can afford Harrow!

    toll fees/petrol - I hadnt thought of the fee's, good spot.

    I'll have a good look around both gold coast and pok fu lam, we get an orientation package so we should have plenty of time to make a call. Although the latter looks more appealing for all the access it gives to nature parks etc on Hong Kong Island.

    thanks for everyones advice - very encouraged by the response here


  8. #8

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    Pollution doesn't vary that much, well except Causeway Bay, Mongkok and the ilk. There will be days with high pollution no matter where you live in Hong Kong (unfortunately).

    Can you describe what you mean by "international community" because many of us think of Gold Coast as being as such, but you don't see it as that?

    imparanoic likes this.

  9. #9

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    Whoever has been telling you about HK Gold Coast has seriously No Idea. It is probably the most international, family friendly environment you could find in NW New Territories. it also doesn't have nearly the levels of roadside pollution you find in more heavily built-up areas, and as Claire said, ambient pollution is much of a muchness all over the region. Commuting from Pok Fu Lam would be daft, IMHO.
    As well as Harrow and Yuen Yuen, my local spies tell me another EMI primary school will be opening around So Kwun Wat area within the next couple of years, although I haven't dug up any details.

    I'm also really puzzled why the natural parks on Hong Kong island might be better than the far more extensive and numerous ones out in the New Territories??

    imparanoic likes this.

  10. #10

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    I would definitely not live in Pok Fu Lam if I or my spouse worked in New Territories. Long commute and expensive rent to live on HK Island. Gold Coast is supposed to be really nice and if your wife gets a job at an international school, there's a good chance there will be a kindergarten attached or some nearby that your kids can attend and they can all travel together. The only people I've met who live in GC are Westerners so not sure why you think it's not international?


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