I agree with Ray, there was nothing wrong with your original choice location. It offered the best balance and will offer a vastly better view unless race courses give you a woody....lol back home living right by a race course or an airport etc would be deemed undesireable, HK is a bit oddball like that.
Nice welcome breeze up there during summer in Tai Hang too,as it is unnaffected by the usual street level 'canyon' affect of the lower, heavilly built up areas. Not so nice in summer.
Last edited by Skyhook; 13-02-2015 at 08:14 AM.
Do you need a car? No
Is it nice to have a car? Yes, especially if you have kids doing all sorts of extracurricular things.
Is it essential? No
We got by 4 years without one and really never thought of getting one, but this year we have two boys in different soccer programs which sees kid 1 playing in Tai Po and kid 2 play in Tung Chung on a Saturday, followed by something else in Tai Tam that afternoon and having a car saves us time bouncing around all those different places.
The major reason for the car is the commute for dear old hubby. It's a "door to desk" commute of around 30 mins. If you go Happy Valley, there might be a lot of traffic if you are heading to the Eastern corridor expressway which would add to the commute time.
It would take him at least 20 mins (door to destination) just to get to Central by public transport, taxi at rush hour is mega hard to get.
The primary concern (for me anyway) is the kids school and Tai Hang offers the best option.
For the OP to Wanchai, the commute should be within 20 mins even allowing for traffic.
Last edited by ray98; 13-02-2015 at 09:01 AM.
But have owned one everywhere else and do drive ... even in HK from time to time when I rent a car.Original Post Deleted
It's easy to see the difference in time in a "car" vs public transport by taking a cab. When I'm tired or in a hurry, I catch a cab. That's maybe once a week. It saves me about 20 mins on a trip from HK Island to home - hardly a huge amount but worth it from time to time and I live a LONG way from HK island.
I would suggest to the OP that she do what we did - not get one on arrival and "try it out" for a few weeks. If it works, fine. If it doesn't look into a car. But do the sums too - I could probably take taxis for every journey I do and still be ahead vs having a car.... plus never need to find parking!
Well I was suggesting the car for the OP's husband's commute.... not as a convenience runaround for the OP. If the husband has parked the car at Shek Mun, the OP won't be able to use it.
To the OP, if your husband does decide on a car for the commute, suggest your husband takes the taxi there and back for a couple of days to familiarise with the route (successfully getting a taxi is a bit of hit and miss in peak hours though).
I also think that Tai Hang is a nice place that balances out the distances for all of your commutes. In my opinion, I don't think having a car is necessary but it definitely makes everything more convenient. Hong Kong is a pretty small place with excellent public transport so trying to get anywhere shouldn't take more than 90 minutes. Currently, I live in Tung Chung and I use the MTR to get to Quarry Bay, and the trip takes less than an hour. However, it does get VERY crowded and can give you a claustrophobic feeling which I don't enjoy but have gotten used to. I do know of people who couldn't handle it though and had to get a car. Having a car can also allow you to venture into a few hard to get to and overlooked, but wonderful places during holidays (though you could just rent a car )
I'd say have a look at Tai Hang, but don't keep it as your only consideration!