Walking with stroller in HK

C

catcurran

Registered User
Hello, we just arrived in HK from New York and I am confused about where to live. I thought the Mid-levels would be good (my husband works in Central) but after viewing numerous properties, it seems like a TERRIBLE place to try and walk with a baby. Not a lot of sidewalks and narrow, steep, wind-y roads...Even looking in the Repulse Bay area, it does not seem very stroller-friendly. The only thing I looked at that seemed ok for strollers was the Parkview complex (?)

If anyone has any advice, it would be much appreciated. I have a 1-yr-old and we plan to have another one...I just don't know what neighborhood is best. People have said that HK is like New York and it's not!!! (NYC is so baby-friendly....and flat!)

thank you very much!
 
Hi Catcurran,

I love taking my 12 month old walking in the pram and have been doing a lot of thinking about this very topic since moving to HK 6 months ago!

I am on Conduit Rd in Mid-Levels. Conduit is a long flat road which is good for walking with a pram. It also has a small play area at the end. The only problem is that if you want to leave Conduit Rd you encounter heaps of stairs (unless you go before 10am when the escalator is going down in which case you can go "anywhere").

Prior to moving to Mid-Levels we stayed at Repulse Bay (109 Repulse Bay Rd) for 2 months. I found Repulse Bay pram unfriendly as the main road was very busy and the footpaths intermittently just vanished for a few metres forcing me to walk on the road.

My picks for good pram friendly places are:

1. Robinson Rd, Mid-Levels. You can walk along a generally flat road to 2 supermarkets, a chemist, a coffee shop and an Italian deli (don't get excited, the deli is worlds away from an NY deli!). You can also get down to Caine Rd via a side street with no steps. I think you can actually walk to the Botanical Gardens without steps????

2. Pok Fu Lam area around Cyberport. This area has lots of new footpaths and fairly wide roads so you feel safe with the pram.

3. Tai Tam. I have never pushed a pram around Tai Tam but I have scouted it out in the car (the things you are reduced to in HK!). It seemed to me that you can walk from Tai Tam to Stanley on footpaths and maybe even walk on a track next to the Tai Tam reservoir. It's a bit further for your husband to get to work though but nowhere is far in HK.

4. Bowen Road, Mid-Levels. This a flat road which has a well known walking track. I am not sure where else you can easily reach from Bowen Rd though and, when we looked at apartments on Bowen Road, we couldn't work out how to walk to a coffee shop with the pram (which was essential to my husband!).

5. If you want to live centrally, the other good places could be near to the Botanical Gardens or Hong Kong Park. Both are fun places to take your baby for a walk and a play (although HK Park has steps so you need to pick your routes).

I would be really interested to hear the views of other users on these suggestions. As I said above, I have only lived in two places and have only been here for 6 months so I am hardly a HK veteran!
 
Yes, walking most places in HK with a stroller is rather challenging.

I chose Parkview in the end, as I like to be able to step out of my front door and take my little ones (a 1yr old and 3yr old) for a safe, stress-free walk every day. But even Parkview isn't as stroller-friendly as you might think. Of the 16 residential towers, only one has a ramp at the lobby level entrance (I tend to use the car park entrance to avoid the stairs). And the Podium, which looks like a lovely leafy place to walk, is impossible to negotiate with a stroller - so many stairs (which are particularly annoying as they could just have easily built sloping paths to accommodate the undulations of the terrain).

There's a fold-out map/info booklet called Prampushers Guide to Hong Kong available at Bumps to Babes and Dymocks, Bookazine etc. It's a good starting point, but realistically, you either have to be prepared to have your walking severely curtailed or get your little one into a sling!

Best of luck - and feel free to PM me if you move to Parkview and want to meet up. My younger boy is 15mths old.
 
Thank you thank you for these very helpful and detailed posts. I really appreciate the advice. I will consider all factors mentioned.
 
Pokfulam would be my choice. Close to central for easy transport for your husband (and you when you want to taxi or drive into town, around 15 mins) and big, wide pram friendly sidewalks with open / sea views. You can walk from there down to Cyberport which has a nice open grass area for kids to play in, a dog-friendly park, a supermarket and coffee shop etc. A gentle hill back home, but if I'm really tired I get a taxi!
 
I'm pregnant with my first and am seriously considering not buying a pram. Has anyone else done this? Mostly my concerns are:
1) We live in a Chinese old-style building (no lift) so I can't imagine juggling baby, purse, and pram!
2) The street we live on is rather steep, so pushing a pram up the hill might be difficult, especially as the baby gets heavier.
3) I will be the sole care-giver (my husband owns his own business so is away a lot and I'm not keen on hiring a helper) for the first few months, so I foresee it being a one person show most of the time. As such, I will need my hands for things such as shopping bags, etc.
4) We're not rich, so taxi-ing everywhere isn't an option. I plan on using public transport for the most part, and can see how a pram would be more hindering than useful.

I'd love to hear other people's experiences with pram-free living in HK!
 
While we haven't gone pram free, we almost exclusively used the ergo for the first 4 months. After that we pick what works best for our plan for the day. The little one doesn't want to be in the ergo ALL day now, but can manage if it's less than 4 hours. Of course I pull her out now and then! If I'm going to a restaurant, or out at naptime I do sometimes prefer a stroller for her to sit/sleep in, but still always wish I'd have brought the ergo...
I have a quinny buzz and a maclaren quest, and one of the main reasons i take the quinny so many places is that I can strap the seat portion (unofficially mind you) into the taxi, plus she loevs it, it's really comfy...but for public transit, I prefer the maclaren, and that only if we are going to be gone all day. That said, I think a totally stroller free existence is completely plausible, at least up to a 6 month old, as that's as far as my experience goes!
 
You cannnot be stroller free from age 1 and/or 2-2 1/2 is my opinion. Until age 1, sure, it can be done, but my kids were above average and not very keen on being carried around. After age 1 they were simply too big and it was too much for me to carry (and I have twins too, so that's obviously a completely different story). My oldest started to walk really well at age 2 1/2 - 3 but I consider myself very lucky comparing her to other kids her age. A lot of others may not be so lucky so I can't imagine getting around without a stroller until that age (roughly 1-3 yo).

BTW, we live in Tai Tam and even though it's a little further from Cental (where my husband works) we've been very happy. It's great to be on this greener side of the island, close to Stanley, etc. Personally I wasn't a big fan of Pokfulam and the Repulse Bay area was simply too expensive (we have a 4-bedroom and we didn't want to pay more than $100k; although prices have gone down these days obviously).
 
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I would definately say you can get away without a pram for at least the first 6 months. My baby was 95th percentile weight for his age so I couldn't carry him in the Baby Bjorn past 5 months. However, if you didn't buy a pram and always used a baby carrier you would expect that your strength would improve as your baby gradually grows so you could probably carry the baby for longer.

Once the baby really is too heavy for the Baby Bjorn style carrier you could buy one of the baby backpacks. We have one which is the Phil and Ted brand. It's like a backpack harness and has a seat for the baby to sit in. I am actually not strong enough to carry my son any distance in the backpack but, again, if you used it regularly you would get stronger (think of how many calories you would burn!). My husband can easily walk up and down the stairs from Conduit Rd to Hollywood Rd with baby in the backpack.

Rebekah, I can't believe that someone else uses the Quinny Buzz seat in taxis. We do this as well and I thought I was so original - ha ha! Certainly not ideal but better than many alternatives I have found.

Mom2Sofie&Twins, can you push the pram from Tai Tam to Stanley along footpaths? Can you push the pram from your apartment block to the reservoir along a footpath?
 
our son is 2 years old and very light so we have hardly used our pram in these 2 years as he doesnt like it much and now he wants to walk on his own.

We could have done without buying the pram
 
oh my god this city is so stroller unfriendly. I used to cry myself to sleep every night when we moved here from the countryside in the UK a year ago. I was heavily pregnant, carrying my toddler inside my stroller up and down flights of stairs constantly, nobody offering help, I wanted to die.

But back then we lived in Central. Now, thank god, we live in Sai Wan Ho, in The Grand Promenade, the area is perfect for strollers, you can walk all along the promenade to Tai Koo and CityPlaza, plus loads and loads of playgrounds, etc. I love it here.

I think the sacrifice is you have to live a little further out from the main centre if you want a problem free stroller experience.

Best of luck,
Sophie
 
Happy valley is a great area to stay....centrally located....it is like a quiet small town in the middle of this bustling city....wide pavements, trees and a big green sit out area plus indoor and outdoor parks makes it very baby-friendly.....i am truly happy living here.
 
i think that havinga pram is a must.....how much can u keep carrying yr baby with you...even in a carroier....if u ahve shopping bags it is easier hanging them on the pram or in a havesack on yr back than attempting tp carry baby and all together......plus what about the times when the baby is sleeping? when he wants to feed? the pram is the best place he can be in even if u r on the road and need to give him a quick snack or a quick nap......sure it is not easy managing a stroller in HK, but u can buy a lightweight combi one maybe a second-hand if money is the issue and life would be a lot better.....i use my stroller all the time.....and i use only public transport....a little bit of practoce is all it takes,
 
if your husband doesn't mind traveling to & from work on the ferry each day. you guys could consider Discovery bay. A great place to live, it have its own community ie shops, supermarket, school, doctor, nice restaurants and most important lots of area for children to play and walk around. i suggest you go there on a weekend and look at the place.
 
hi there!
i have 2 boys, no helper, and live in a walk-up in central. if i am taking the boys to playgroup i often don't take a stroller and opt to carry both of them. yes you will get stronger as the kids grow. My elder son 22mths, is able to walk quite a bit now so it's been a little 'easier' these days. if we go out as a family, we definitely bring a stroller. (i've got 4 - bugaboo, phil and teds double, graco edt, and a cheap umbrella stroller which was an emergency purchase on one of our trips). Each one works for us depending on what we need for the day but lighter is definitely best. The summers in HK are really hot and humid and carrying a child for any amount of time in the heat is really tough. nice to have a break and just push the stroller.

we looked around quite a few places but decided to stay in our current flat - we've lived here for 5years now. We chose convenience over a stroller friendly neighborhood. We grocery shop, run errands, etc all as a family so it really helps to be really close to everything. We live off of Staunton St. and can walk down to Central in 10mins - no stairs. We literally don't travel more than 10-15mins ever!! Doctor, OB, pediatrician, dentist, are just on Queens Road, Groceries just up the road or organics in Central, school is a 5min taxi ride away, botanical gardens, playgroups, etc. all in the same area.

The higher up the mountain you go in midlevels, the more inconvenient it is to run around so my limit is at Caine Rd. living close to your spouses work may be something to factor in especially if he will work long hours. If he then has a 40-60min commute after work, it will be hard for your husband to see the baby before he/she goes to bed at night. Being close can also mean meeting up for lunch once a week or doing dr. appointments together during that time - which may be nice since you are new to hk.

We also use the lightest possible stroller so it's manageable up/down a small flight of stairs.

It must be overwhelming to move to HK. I moved here without a kids and found it challenging the first year or so. I just missed home so much. No matter where you choose to live, you will find a way to make it work for your family. Just pick a place that feels most like home when you walk in. In the worst case, you can always move again next year :) good luck on your move!
 
I didn't use a stroller for at least the first 4 months with both my kids. They hated it.
I found a carrier the easiest, stress free way to navigate the city. Bubs was totally comfy and content.
In winter, it'll be fine.
 
I too came from NYC and had the very same problem. I was so used to walking out the door with the kids in the stroller and going pretty much anywhere I wanted to. I looked hard for a stroller friendly place that was affordable and no one has mentioned this area, and I don't think most people consider it, but we live in causeway bay and I have to say the areas around victoria park (tin hau, tai hang, causeway bay and parts of happy valley) are totally stroller friendly. in fact we live in our stroller and go to the library, park, club, shopping, etc. every day. I'd say 80-90% of my time spent is with the kids in the stroller zipping around this whole area. the only time it's in issue is going to times square on the weekend which we avoid, yet it's still not un-doable if you aren't crowd averse. We also have extremely easy access to the MTR (aside from the slow elevator in the cwb mtr stop!) and I take the stroller on it all the time to go to the doctor, run errands, or to get out and explore hong kong. we also have access to lots of buses and mini-buses to go pretty much where ever we want on the island. With a 3yo who doesn't like to walk, a 17month old, and a bad back I don't have the option of going without a stroller. Until my little one was 10 months old I would do a single stroller with the baby bjorn but with them both being so big now we are double stroller (phil & teds) all the way. This area isn't for everyone, and from what I've read there is more pollution although you can't really escape it anywhere anymore, but we've found a little quiet pocket where we now know a lot of our neighbors and all the kids in the park and at the library, and so on, so for us, and especially the kids, it feels like we have a great community now. all the best in your search. it's really hard - hope you find what works for you!
 
i just moved from manhattan via london and now we are in hk. we arrived here in mid-june and did a ton of looking. at first, i told my husband that there was no choice for us but in mid-levels, but now with a son who is 11 months old,, we quickly realized how un-stroller friendly it is and the pollution levels are horrible. that being said, we looked in repulse bay, tai tam and in redhill. we also decided on tai tam and my husband commutes into central. there is a great ex-pat community of not just americans, but of australians, british, french and spanish. we've met great people in our building and the american club is right there!

HK is definitely NOT NYC and I personally don't think NYC is that stroller friendly. It's just a very WALKER friendly for it's still hard to get on buses, in taxes and down to subways there. London was amazing in that respect!

Tai Tam has been great and I must admit I do crave Central life, I know the southside is healthier living for our son and so worth the sacrifice.
 
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