[nostalgic]

Originally Posted by psampras88

My advice would be not to restrict yourself to HK island, but take a look at the New territories.

it's interesting that there are lots of talks about hk island and the new territories within the forum, but rarely do people suggest kowloon as an alternative.

even if the urban district of 'yau tsim mong' is too local... the new developments along west kowloon and perhaps further east around tseung kwan o and hang hau are definitely worth looking into.

my place in yau ma tei is dirt cheap and it just takes me 8 minutes to go from my station to admiralty on the mtr. besides, there is ALWAYS a 24 hr mini-bus that brings you back here no matter where you are.

[psampras88]

Kowloon can indeed be an interesting place but forget about West Kowloon (outrageously expensive and subject to recent property speculation / manipulation - wait for the mini "West Kowloon bubble" to crash before considering renting or buying there).

Forget about Yau Ma Tei / Mongkok / Kowloon Bay / Kwun Tong - dirty and carry a low class image for Chinese (SARS started in Kowloon Bay).

On the other hand, Kowloon Tong / Ho Man Tin are superb areas to live in: clean, green, low population density...only drawback is that these areas are very expensive (have always been that expensive, so little speculative activity around there)

But I still have a soft spot for the New Territories really: affordable and great quality of life for those who have the patience to find the right place (NT are immense compared with Island and Kowloon) and can think out of the box and the Expat stereotypes...

My NT rankings:

1) Sai Kung / Clearwater Bay area
2) Gold Coast / Sham Tseng area
3) Disco Bay