Desirable districts to Live

[Ok then]

Hi All,

I'm moving to Singapore in March & will be working on Beach road.  I'm hoping to rent an apartment within walking distance from my office but I'd also like to be within walking distance to things like markets, tennis clubs, a gym, movie theaters & parks.

Will I be able to find what I'm looking for?  No advice or insight is unwanted.

Thanks in advance!

But please make sure to thank us afterwards too.

[to OP]

to the original poster.
Whatever you do, don't listen to this idiot.
He is a grade A loon who has been peddling all kinds of unbelievable stories on here for the last 2 months.

I recommend getting in touch with a professional real estate company the deals with expats.
Hoping to get any meaningful advice from this forum is trying to pin jello to the wall.

Just talking to my fiancee on this one as she is the local expert -Beach Road is the Thai district of the city around Golden Mile complex.  She recommends firstly getting a serviced apartment at The Concourse for a month as they are quite resonably priced according to our friend and look around as the accommodation out there varies. There is a lot of HDB housing in this area too.  You could easily live out by Kallang.  Its only a couple of MRT stops to Bugis and a lot more quieter than the constant noise drone of the Bugis area.  I myself would keep out of Bugis as I dont care much for that area as its noisy 24/7.  If you absolutely must live there then consider Burlington Square as its one of the better value places and right next to large shopping complex,short walk to MRT and not too far a walk to Dhoby Ghaut end of Orchard Road.

[More hype]

The reason why others "bashed" East Coast is because the East Coasters are the ones who always bashed other areas - they are the ones who hae never been to other parts of Singapore and conclude that East Coast is the best - when in actual fact, it is probably one of the most fake place in the world - fake beach, polluted waters, bad traffic, fights amongst residents, enbloc quarrels, car vandalism, the most dense area in Singapore, dead fishes on the beach, everyone congregates at Parkway Parade with daily fights at Parkway carpark etc. There is nothing natural there that's all. Even the foodcourts that you mentioned below are not even good by local standards.So stop the nonsense hype about the place being a paradise with lovely blue waters and surf ***. It's just not reality. Even the pubs along Marine Drive is a joke - not rustic at all.

And if I may add, there are lots of OTHER PLACES that have exactly the same facilities, or infact better facilities if you're not the shopping mall type of person. There are lots of more natural, laidback and down to earth places in SG other than the East Coast Park. If I want a weekend to R&R, the last place I wanna go is East Coast Park with the bicyle and cycling accidents and children crying and dead fishes galore.

East Coast is the best place in Singapore to live if you get a place in central east coast near parkway.  Further out, there is not much around.  Its an area which has everything you need and there is rarely any reason to venture out from it.  Beach, shops, pubs, ace coffee/laksa shops, hdb town centre, restaurants etc.

I get tired of residents from the dull boring expat areas coming on here and bashing it.  You will love the east coast because you will live in amongst friendly locals.  Yes the MRT is many years off yet but the bus service to Paya Lebar MRT is good.  Takes only 5 mins up Katong Rd or you can walk it like I do most times. Anyway there are direct buses from outside our post office which will get you to most places.

[UAreTheOne]

Bashing east coast without really getting your facts right. The dead fish are in Pasir Ris waters and there are NO pubs along Marine Drive.

Obviously you harbour a lot of strong negative feelings about East Coast.

I personally feel people are free to feel attached to whereever they reside and express their opinions. Others who don't feel the same way need not feel the need to bash their views. To each his ovwn. By the way you sound local.

[wazzziz]

Sounds like we have a PPP from Holland Village or Bukit Timah resident there.

There are no pubs in marine drive, they are along east coast road, some have great expat crowds  irish pub, open air pub, there are also pubs up katong rd and if you like your entertainment saucy then joo chiat rd (for the raunchier expat pubs)etc

I have never seen a dead fish on east coast or a cycling accident and certainly not even a fight at Parkway Parade and I live nr Marine Drive right beside NTUC, Parkway Parade, the car park etc..never heard of vandalism, never seen residents fight. All in all Marine Parade is a great wee town to live in .  The ones who complain most are the ones from the expat enclaves like newton, river valley, novena, holland V (total expat enclave) and bikit timah.  They ought to venture out the real singapore and enjoy the delights this amazing place has to offer.

[d15]

East coast is easily the better area to live. Holland Village etc are tacky, overrated stinking hot holes with little wind apart from overweight expats clearing their afternoon lunch.

[P.O.D.]

The east coast prices have doubled over the past couple of years which destroys its value-for-money advantage. Transport is also a problem since there is no MRT close by.

If there were an overhead mono-rail along the ECP on the water-side between say Suntec and Changi this would be huge plus.

However even around the quieter areas, Singlap Neptune Court, Fernwood, Mandarin Gardens etc remain over-priced with agents sending flyers "to buy your apt" and "to sell your apt" both claiming huge demand exists when the exact opposite is the case,

Elsewhere closer to Bedok MRT and other MRTs there are very nice 3-bed condos for S$1,500 - 2,500pm which is more closer to value-for-money and for the number of times I go to ECP, a near-by MRT is now a higher priority and would suit me better.

[jalanperak]

Just talking to my fiancee on this one as she is the local expert -Beach Road is the Thai district of the city around Golden Mile complex.  She recommends firstly getting a serviced apartment at The Concourse for a month as they are quite resonably priced according to our friend and look around as the accommodation out there varies. There is a lot of HDB housing in this area too.  You could easily live out by Kallang.  Its only a couple of MRT stops to Bugis and a lot more quieter than the constant noise drone of the Bugis area.  I myself would keep out of Bugis as I dont care much for that area as its noisy 24/7.  If you absolutely must live there then consider Burlington Square as its one of the better value places and right next to large shopping complex,short walk to MRT and not too far a walk to Dhoby Ghaut end of Orchard Road.

The Concourse serviced apartments closed in February of 2008, and have since been torn down so Hong Fok Land can build two new residential towers (Concourse Skyline) on the site. Any one who has been in this area in the last 12 to 18 months would know this, especially someone who is supposed to know local real estate. So I have to question just how much of your advice is based on real knowledge, and how much is BS.

While the Golden Mile Complex is the epicenter of the Thai community here in Singapore (along with the Golden Mile Tower to a lesser degree), these two buildings are just a small part of Beach Road. It's the southern border of the Kampong Glam area, it runs along the southern edge of the Bugis area, it fronts the Raffles Hotel, and it iincludes all the neat places between the Raffles and the Fairmont (nee Swissotel, nee Westin). I used to stay in the Concourse serviced apartments a lot, and I still like visiting this area. There's a great little pub on Pahang street that attracts a pretty eclectic mix of expats and local chinese.

The Parkroyal Hotel is on Beach Road, and they have serviced apartments. So does InCity Lofts at 700 Beach Rd, although these are intended as serviced offices that you can also live in. The Somerset Bencoolen near Sim Lim Square is within (long) walking distance to Beach Road, as are the Liang Seah street serviced apartments, which are in a conservation shophouse. I personally like the energy and activity of this street (although the yin/yang hotpot places get a bit tiresome after a while), but some might prefer a quieter area.

To the original poster who will be working near Changi, my suggestion would be to find a place that's reasonably close to where you work. If you're going to be working in the Changi business park south of the airport, then East Coast does make sense. As an aside, the term "East Coast" is a little bit of a misnomer. It's actually the eastern half of the island's southern coast. If you're going to be working in the shipping and logistics hub north of the airport, then you might want to consider Changi Village, or even something like the Kovan area.

[wazzziz]

East coast is easily the better area to live. Holland Village etc are tacky, overrated stinking hot holes with little wind apart from overweight expats clearing their afternoon lunch.

Agreed, you will do well to buy out in the East Coast as things are going to really perform well.  Since the main eastcoast MRT will be somehere near Parkway Parade, try to buy close to there like seaview or cote d'azure and you are going to be part of something really big.  The whole stretch will turn into a leisure coast.  This is why all the new migrants favour the area close to sea, fresh air, great shops, restaurants (Katong laksa is the best laksa in all of singapore !)amazing choice of bars too...you wont regret.  We love it out here and would never move from it.

[Peasant]

wazzziz if you are not an agent you are one of those who spent too much on an east coast apartment, against advise given here, and now you realise there are so many empty condos, not apartments but whole condos along the east coast and the property prices are predicted to collapse and you desperately want out.

No en bloc frenzy to stir the punters eh?

Those who bought east coast apartments for S$1,600,000 will lose up to S$900,000 per apartment as prices return to what will still be an expensive level.   

The abundance of apartments can not be sold. There will be no huge influx of immigrants, we all know this. And as another poster pointed out, all leasehold....



 

[wazzziz]

Hey peasant, this is not the case.

You will see this as time goes on. 

Where did you get the 900k loss figures from by the way and why do you think this will happen..??  Absolute pie in the sky.

There is no property crash coming.  Just not going to happen.   Nor in the west is it going to happen.  The recession is over, companies are now hiring and the economy is booming again all over.

New migrants and expats arriving and everything is on the up.  All in all it looks good from where I am.   You keep thinking what you want but its on the up, end of story.

[d15]

on the east coast, generally speaking only properties abutting ECP are lease hold for obvious reasons, and most shouldn't concern you unless you intend to live for 1000 years.
I agree there is an element of a property bubble, but you can guarantee the govt will prop it any which they can...can't have too many 60 year olds working at mcdonalds. The new flamingo valley developmemt will sell in record time - guaranteed. However, what pisses me off about new condos is how small the "bedrooms" are. Buy old condos if you can.

[Peasant]

on the east coast, generally speaking only properties abutting ECP are lease hold for obvious reasons, and most shouldn't concern you unless you intend to live for 1000 years.
I agree there is an element of a property bubble, but you can guarantee the govt will prop it any which they can...can't have too many 60 year olds working at mcdonalds. The new flamingo valley developmemt will sell in record time - guaranteed. However, what pisses me off about new condos is how small the "bedrooms" are. Buy old condos if you can.

1,000 year lease? 
You mean 100 year lease and the older condos around Siglap have only about 40 years to run and these are some of the condos which have doubled in price over the past 3 years! 
Of course we remember the en bloc frenzy. Do you? Those who bought will remember, for at least 20 years, because thats how long it will take to work off their negative equity, unless they are leasehold in which case there is only one option; to sell their condos by stimulating demand here, there and everywhere. They are fishing, but there are no bites. 

[wazzziz]

If its space and a long term home you want then you'll get much bigger and better built flats from HDB.  Go for a 70's or 80's built resale in an old town like Ang Mo Kio or Toa Payoh and you wont go wrong as they have large rooms and you can make them as nice or even better than most condos if you renovate.  HDB is the best deal going here.

[Note that]

Wazzziz has completely ignored the excellent post by jalanperak, the first few lines of which completely blew the "I'm in the know" or "my fiancee is an expert" story completely out of the water