Can't decide where to live?

S

sangmota

New member
We have now been in HK for almost 4 weeks. There are four us, our two children are 5 and 7 and they go to school in Tin Hau. We have narrowed it down now to three, The Carmina, Deep water Bay drive, Bamboo Grove Kennedy Road and maybe The Royal Court also on Kennedy Road (viewed yesterday and looked very interesting).

I would love to know what life is like in the Mid-levels. I like the idea of being in the thick of it but worry about how child friendly it is, air, traffic etc. I didn't see any children at the Royal court as I did at The Carmina and Bamboo Grove. Anyone know anything about this building?

Any thoughts/advice/information will be greatly appreciated.
 
Can't tell you anything about Royal Court, but had a friend who lived in La Carmina. Very swish, lovely apartment, but she found the pool area a bit impractical - no shade whatsoever, and the surrounding floor got extremely slippery when wet, so it was quite hazardous for kids running around. Also, unless you have a car, you'll struggle a bit to get around - only one minibus and not many taxis going down the dead-end road. She also struggled to make any new friends in the building.
Friends in Bamboo Grove are very happy with it, and there's a good community spirit. Lots of friends for the kids to play with, and lots of other mums to meet. Good location, especially as Wan Chai is revamping.

Sorry I can't help with Royal Court though.
 
We live in Midlevels up from Kennedy Road on May Road. Our road is actually quite residential--it's not like living by the escalator / grabbing Thai food on the way home, etc. We're blessed with one grocery store across the street (which is really a life saver).

I would look at the different places, as you probably have, with an eye toward school, work commute, and cost. But other factors to consider are convenience to *basics* of life, such as groceries or a pharmacy, community spirit in the building amongst other factors, and opportunities to play.

For example, our building has about 5-10 families who are on first name basis with each other and have kids popping in and out of each others houses like they were their own. Parents and helpers watch out for each other and it's a really good vibe. A building across the street, far bigger and more expensive, has just as many kids but they lack that sort of community spirit (so we've been told by so many). A few of them even come over to our building to play.

One final note about the pools: our pool is in the shade until about 11:00 and after about 5:00. It makes the water much colder than pools that are in the sun all day long. This is something to consider if the water isn't heated at your pool.
 
Thank you so much for the advice. Yes we are definately wanting that 'community spirit' and it seems Bamboo Grove has it. I like the idea of being able to walk somewhere. Commute time to both school and work is more than reasonable from here. Thanks also pengiunsix for the advice on pools. Are there any other buildings around Midlevels East that you know of that are family friendly and a good community spirit?

Thank you honkyblues, you have just confirmed that Carmina is not the place for us. It's nice to hear that there are families living around the midlevel area, everyone we seem to meet at the moment either live in Tai Tam or Stanley!
 
Our building is the Valverde and we're pretty happy here, despite it being a bit smaller than many of our neighbors. There are quite a few kids in Hillsborough and Clovelly Court, but both of them are a bit larger complexes so I'm not sure how good of a spirit develops in them.

With all that's been said, we now go to school at HKIS on the South Side. Being in midlevels and schooling over there is a slight inconvenience as play-dates and after school activities have become more difficult. You might prefer being in a kid-friendly area rather than just a kid-friendly building.
 
Yes you're right. We're in Parkview and a whole coachful leaves from here to HKIS. I like the Southside but for me it just seems to lack that Hong Kong vibe. (I know, I'm new, coming from the UK, I just want to experience it all). I'm sure I'll change. Children at the school seem to be coming from all over, few from Parkview and others from all around the Island and off the Island. We saw the repulse bay, stunning views, but a bit not really us (I think). Oh.....so confused! Thank you for suggesting some alternatives, I will look into them.
 
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