Lamma, Repulse or Redhill? Pollution, etc.

[tomtee75]

Hi, I'm single and moving to HK in a month. I seek somewhere 1) low pollution, 2) QUIET, 3) within 45mins' reliable commute to Central.

Could anyone living in Lamma, Repulse Bay or Redhill please advise which one you'd recommend, and what you think of your area (in terms of pollution, noise, commute time)? Also, what rent for a 1br would now roughly cost?

Additionally, for Lamma - is the power plant very polluting? Are the ferries reliable (i.e. no cancellations, no delays)?

Many thanks,
Tom

[PDLM]

1) You won't find that in Hong Kong - the pollution is throughout the territory, not localised.
2) Lamma is the quietest (stray dogs excepted)
3) All of them, assuming you are reasonably close to the ferry at Yung Shue Wan, and to the ferry piers in Central.

Lamma is probably a quarter of the cost of the other two - what is your budget? On Lamma, a 700sq.ft floor of a village house should only be a few thousand a month. Repulse Bay and Redhill start at about HK$40K.

The ferry is very reliable, but doesn't run during typhoons, and late night services are very limited.

[Lammarite]

Agree with the above, but the power station doesn't have too much fallout as it generally gets lifted over the island and lands somewhere like Ap Lei Chau. On some days you do notice the soot on your rooftop and it is pretty strong stuff.
The ferry takes about 25-30 mins into central which gives you a chance to have a cup of coffee and read the paper. If you live on the far side of Yung Shue Wan most people have a pushbike which cuts the time down to a few minutes from home to ferry. Most places are within a 10 minute walk though.
The ferries achilles heel is the late running cut off which I believe is still 12.30am but if you do miss it you can take a sampan from Aberdeen, though this definitely not something you can do regularly and if you are a night owl Lamma is not the place to be (though there is a good pub culture there which goes on until 3-4am).
If you have the luxury, check into the Y when you get here for a few nights and go and have a look at some different places, even Sha Tin and a few other places which people will recommend.
I would also doubt you will find anywhere 1 bedroom in Repulse Bay and Redhill is predominantly bigger family houses and during rush hour I suspect it would take more than 45 mins into Central.

[shri]

The demographics of Repulse Bay and Redhill are way too different from Lamma. The R's are very much family oriented and pretty upmarket neighborhoods. Lamma still has a sizable hippie / rebel residents who might tend to spend more time fixing the planet than pretending to be capitalist pigs like the rest of us.

[Lammarite]

And other generalised stereotypes!

I'm sure the lawyers and suits who live there for the greenery and floorspace have their own side!
HK magazine does a great job of keeping rents low on Lamma and the people with sweaters wound their necks and tassles on their loafers away!

[Vile]

Hong Kong's coal-fired power stations are pretty polluting by international standards, although the Lamma power station is not the worst of them. You'll get smog wherever you go, and roadside pollution on top of that in the urban areas.

Like the posters above have said, Lamma and Repulse bay are very different neighbourhoods in other ways.

[tomtee75]

Thanks very much for the replies. On the matter of dogs (and cats) in Lamma - do they make much noise at night? As for the power plant - do locals have any health issues that are suspected to be because of it (or because of soil contamination from the old plastics industry)?

I see that Lamma rents are significantly cheaper than the island; surely this can't all be due to the isolation by ferry? I don't mind the limited ferry schedule, as long as they run reliably.

[PDLM]

You really need to come and see. Lamma is an island full of low-rise "village houses"; it doesn't even have a proper supermarket.

HK Island is largely full of multi-storey high density apartment blocks, interspersed with a few enormously expensive townhouses and larger mansions.

It would help if you gave us some idea of your budget.

[tomtee75]

Up to HKD20,000 for 1br - would that be too little for anywhere on the south coast then (Stanley included)?

[Lammarite]

You may be able to smurf into a Stanley property on that budget but it will knock your 45 minute commute out.
The stray dogs don't make that much noise at night, no more than the buses etc in town, but you could end up with a neighbour who has a noisy dog.
I am not aware of any adverse health effects of Lamma residents but that isn't the type of information which would be made public round these parts. Not sure about the plastics industry you mention- there certainly is no industry there now nor has there ever been as far as I know.
Rents are cheaper primarily because of the commute and the lack of creature comforts on the island. There is no supermarket like Wellcome or Park'n'Shop but there are local shops and Wellcome do deliver. There is also no 7-11 and the like but you are never far away from buying most of the things you need (cheaper too).
The buildings are not the highest quality in terms of finish but if you take a budget of HKD15 over there you will get a very nice 700sqft flat with a 700sqft open roof and a view.
There are a lot of pro's and con's but it will ultimately come down to personal preference.
The recommended course is come here and look.