When I had the taxi comment in mind, I had the journey to Shek O in mind... It is a very winding twisty narrow road the last 15 - 20 minutes of the journey, a Taxi just makes it a bit less nauseating if you suffer motion sickness.
I agree that the bus to GC from central etc is great, when I have used it its been fab, on the few occasions I managed to get a seat.
Sai kung is also pretty easy if you get the 1A mini bus from Choi Hung MTR, essentially takes the same amount of time as driving.
Some area's are just locations to sleep, shower etc , some area's allow you to become part of the greater community, it really boils down to, do you like an area where your neighbours know you by first name and say hi when you walk by while they wash their car, or do you just want to pass life by not taking an interest in the people that live near you...
I bet very few of you know all of the people on your apartment block floor...
I know everybody by first name in the first 8 houses nearest ours, and we have only lived here since june . We were welcomed by the neighbours, to me that means a lot about the nature of the people out here, compared to a lot of high rise area's of HK, that people wont even give you eye contact in the lift.
Just my own experiences, as I am sure we all have differing ones .