[mgabhi]

I am moving to Hk from USA in December and have started looking for apartments.Found an apartment on Castle Peak Road .It is called the Hong Kong Gold Coast.Wanted to see if this is a good community for expats and is this a safe quiet neighbourhood.I have two young kids and am looking for a safe quiet area to live in.

[Katanga]

Why not look at Discovery Bay ?

[larac]

The Gold Coast is well out of town (30-40 mins on the bus) but could be considered good with kids but don't be deceived by the pictures on the internet, it probably looked just like that when first built but its about 15 years old now and a bit tired. There are regular buses into town from there and a beach (man made with lots of rules about things you can't do ie: play with a ball). There is a tiny shopping centre there and the Tuen Mun Plaza about 5-10 mins drive away which has everything but be prepared its all locals so you do stand out but don't let that put you off, you aren't made to feel uncomfortable. As an expat family Discovery Bay is probably more your thing 25mins I think on the ferry from town and way more western.

[mgabhi]

I heard that the only way to get to and from the Island from Discovery Bay is by ferry.Is that true? If that's the case,I don't know if I want my kids to take the ferry to school everyday since they'll be going to the American school in Kowloon Tong.

I certainly don't want to live around Central or Kowloon since the apartments look really old and not kept in the best conditions.

My budget allows me to rent an apartment upto $25,000/month .Thanks for all your advice,guys !

[mgabhi]

Well,Gold Coast does look very attractive and beautiful on the internet.That's what attracted me to it !!!!

I like Discovery Bay but just the thought of taking the ferry everytime you leave the island discourages me a bit.I wonder,how this works in the rainy season when the sea is rough.Have they ever cancelled the ferry service?

[alien]

Disco Bay has two means of transport to get there and leave:
1. 24 hrs ferry service to Central. It is fast, safe and pretty reliable.
2. By shuttle bus to Tung Chung MTR station (HK subway/metro/tube system) and from there catch the MTR to many places in HK.

If your kids go to the American School in Kln Tong and take bus/MTR it will take them at least 31mins by MTR to Kln Tong MTR station from which tehy would have to walk to the school. It costs about HK$7.1 concessionary fee if you use the Octopus card. Plus travelling time and fare for the Disco bay shuttle bus. I suppose it easily sums up to 1hr.

I am not sure but I think Kln Tong is a pretty decent area...that which is close to Festival Walk. You may wanna check that out, too.

[timklip]

I live nearby to Gold Coast is a small village and do alot of errands there. It's a pretty nice developement, with a good selection of restaurants, but only one supermarket (ParknShop), clinic, the beach is not bad, but not the cleanest water (it faces a major shipping lane). Be careful which Phase (One or Two) you look at as Ph1 is undergoing MAJOR renovations and is shrouded right now. There is a residents shuttle to TST from where your kids could take the KCR to Kowloon Tong (not sure of the time but prob about 45 mins at least.) There are also a few buses into Kowloon MTR stations that will get them to Kowloon Tong.

From what I've seen, there are definitely more kids in Disco Bay (I lived there also for 6 mths last year) so your kids might have more playmates there. Gold Coast seems a little older crowd with fewer families. And yes, they do shut down the ferries in extreme weather (Typhoon Signal 8 i think) but its rare and you'll have warning enuf to take the train. Buses to Tung Chung can be very crowded in the morning however.

All in all, knowing what I know now, if I were you, I would consider Kowloon Tong, and forget about the travelling (it really can be a hassle). Its a safe area as well (not too many dangerous areas in HK).

With a budget of $25,000 (is that HK$?) you should have no problem finding a place in DB or GC, or even Kowloon Tong for that matter.

[globaltraveler]

we live at the goldcoast and we are quite happy with the area..its not so far to town with the 962 bus about 35 min goes almost without any stops.It stops in the most important places and there is a lot of other buses here to kowlon as well.It get so crowded and hectic in town its nice to come back here and relax.I think there is a lot to do with kids here as well, shuttlebus to school, playgroups,and the air is quite ok, much better than in town.Tun Mun is also ok to go shopping there.We looked at discovery bay as well which is very nice but you get quite quick bored there because its to isolated and you get more space for your money here at the goldcoast..It is like a resort here at the Gold coast and i think much nicer shopping mall than in DB..You can have a car here also which means freedom but dont need it really because the bus transport to town and airport it very good,cheap and a taxi to town is also very cheap.( 20 usd)From db is just the ferry which dont have such a good timetable if you want to go to town in the night and you cant take a taxi there eather..gets very crowded at the weekends there also..
The only thing with goldcoast is that everything starts to brake down like showers,aircons, toilets,in the appartments when you move in, make sure you check evreything before you moving in yourself...And let them do pestcontrol!..but anyway the customer service is pretty good when something brakes down they comming quite quick to repair it..its just anoying for the beginning...

good luck to you...

[rani]

If your kids will be going to the American school in Kowloon Tong, you can look at the new complexes in Hunghom - Laguna Verde, Harbourfront/

[larac]

You will see lots of threads on here suggesting you rent a serviced apartment for your first month here which would give you time to look around and decide what area is best for you rather than committing before you even see the place. Also it would probably good for your kids to live relatively close to their school friends so maybe if you do this you can find out where some of the other school families live before making a decision.