Where to live? (safe, train, influence, nightlife)
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.After grade 4 the insanity in public schools begins though and you see poor munchkins trudging home from after school cram schools at 10 o'clock at night. .
This sounds like a lot of more competitive school districts in California, too!
No proclamations since we have now had each of these 5 cities at the top of our list at different points in the past year, but right now Taipei is the #1 choice. Anyway, we are still 2-3 years away so plenty can change and we will be taking two trips to all these cities in the next year so plenty of time to continue to discuss, debate and change our minds further.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJester
OP, seeing that you come from Miami, tell you what, Hong Kong's weather is almost exactly like Tampa or Fort Lauderdale.
Singapore actually arguably has better weather because it has only had one typhoon in recorded history. In terms of natural disasters, Singapore has the least of practically any city in Asia. Plus, Singapore has much better air quality than Hong Kong.
Gotcha. Yeah for me since I only visit Asia for one or two months at a time, I've never thought about the weather in any sense beyond the temperature/humidity. Definitely will have to consider extreme weather events as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJester
Singapore may have been ranked the most expensive city in the world by the Economist, but the Economist itself admits that that is largely due to the exorbitant car prices in Singapore, and that groceries in Singapore are cheaper than in NYC. Real estate in Singapore is a bargain compared to Hong Kong or even San Francisco.
Is it really? Hmm. Do you know what's the minimum purchase amount for foreigners? Eg, most parts of Malaysia require foreigners to spend 1M Ringgit (250k USD) on a single property.
Gotcha. Yeah for me since I only visit Asia for one or two months at a time, I've never thought about the weather in any sense beyond the temperature/humidity. Definitely will have to consider extreme weather events as well.
Is it really? Hmm. Do you know what's the minimum purchase amount for foreigners? Eg, most parts of Malaysia require foreigners to spend 1M Ringgit (250k USD) on a single property.
You do bring up a good point about foreigners. But for locals, the median home price in Singapore is only $293,852, while in Hong Kong it is $919,102 (all figures in USD). Also, the average annual household income in Singapore is $63,912 and in HK it is $43974.
So Hong Kongers pay three times more for a home but actually earn only 2/3s of Singaporeans.
Housing affordability is measured by median multiples: the ratio of the median home price to the average household income. In Singapore, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Hong Kong, those median multiples are 4.6, 3.5, 8.8, and 20.9--at 20.9, Hong Kong is more unaffordable than any city in the UK, Australia, Canada, the US, and New Zeland! www.demographia.com/dhi.pdf
Once again, I have not even tried buying a house in the U.S., so I'm probably not the best to ask when it comes to the specifics of home buying, but objective data shows that Singapore is much, much more affordable than Hong Kong and even San Francisco when it comes to real estate.
Of course, it's very hard to buy HDB flats in Singapore if you're a foreigner, but even then it would still be hard to believe that private property in Singapore would be more expensive than private property in HK.
Hong Kong is already pretty safe, but Singapore is even safer. In fact, Singapore's violent crime rate is only about as high as Sugar Land, Texas (suburban Houston) and lower than even that of Lake Forest, California!
Singapore's annual PM2.5 level in 2018 was only 14 ug/m3; this is lower than even several U.S. cities like Fresno/Bakersfield, which have PM 2.5 levels in the low 20's. Even the least polluted areas of Hong Kong have PM 2.5 levels in the low 20s.
Hmm, with the figure you presented that definitely is due to the govt subsidy. 80-85% of Singaporeans live in govt housing that is estimated at ~25% of the free market value. My uncle has a huge 4-bedroom condo that I can't imagine he would be able to afford if it was freehold. If he ever decides to sell, the govt is entitled to 75% of the resale price.
I don't really know HK's govt housing situation but it is not good. Singapore's is and in fact it was just mentioned on NPR's marketplace two days ago as the model that Honolulu is attempting to follow. https://www.marketplace.org/2019/04/...using-shortage
I also have experience with Macau, where my in-laws own a condo in govt housing. I believe they could sell it for market value now, the only restriction was that they hold it for 10 years. (I think)
Hmm, with the figure you presented that definitely is due to the govt subsidy. 80-85% of Singaporeans live in govt housing that is estimated at ~25% of the free market value. My uncle has a huge 4-bedroom condo that I can't imagine he would be able to afford if it was freehold. If he ever decides to sell, the govt is entitled to 75% of the resale price.
I don't really know HK's govt housing situation but it is not good. Singapore's is and in fact it was just mentioned on NPR's marketplace two days ago as the model that Honolulu is attempting to follow. https://www.marketplace.org/2019/04/...using-shortage
(I think)
Even looking at the private flats, the price per square foot in Singapore is still dirt cheap compared to Silicon Valley, not to mention Hong Kong.
People on this forum love to bash Singapore. In many people's minds, unfortunately, Hong Kong is this kind of California--liberal, hip, exciting, overcrowded, expensive, while Singapore is this kind of Texas--ultra-conservative, ultra-patriotic, filthy rich oil town, affordable, but boring and culturally backwards place where everyone speaks with funny accents and eats food that the locals all think is awesome but everyone else hates.
And yet Singapore, the Dallas/Houston of Asia, is still growing faster in population and stealing business from Hong Kong (the San Francisco/Los Angeles of Asia)!
Even looking at the private flats, the price per square foot in Singapore is still dirt cheap compared to Silicon Valley, not to mention Hong Kong.
People on this forum love to bash Singapore. In many people's minds, unfortunately, Hong Kong is this kind of California--liberal, hip, exciting, overcrowded, expensive, while Singapore is this kind of Texas--ultra-conservative, ultra-patriotic, filthy rich oil town, affordable, but boring and culturally backwards place where everyone speaks with funny accents and eats food that the locals all think is awesome but everyone else hates.
And yet Singapore, the Dallas/Houston of Asia, is still growing faster in population and stealing business from Hong Kong (the San Francisco/Los Angeles of Asia)!
I've never heard of that take and not doubting your observation at all, it's interesting to me to hear a different perspective. I've lived in HK for years and recently visited Singapore, and felt like HK may have once been that bastion of liberal values and youthful energy decades ago but today with the encroachment of their neighbors (and owners) it feels to me like a commerce capital of a major country - think London, New York, Tokyo, Seoul, with all their wealth, income disparity and flaunting of luxury brands for the rich in the face of harsh conditions for the poor. I've never felt like it was anything like California.
Singapore for that matter isn't like Cali either, but I'm not sure I would call it ultra-conservative or anything like Texas. The media and arts and culture is a little boring by comparison but QOL is very high, for me maybe the highest in Asia. Maybe I'd liken it more to a WASPy insular rich enclave within California somewhere? With huge political and financial influence relative to its size?
Liberal, young, hip and exciting IMO should be monikers given to Taipei IMO. It's (to me) the most cultured, independent-spirited and free thinking of the East Asian cities that I've been to, and I've more or less been to all of the major ones.
I've never heard of that take and not doubting your observation at all, it's interesting to me to hear a different perspective. I've lived in HK for years and recently visited Singapore, and felt like HK may have once been that bastion of liberal values and youthful energy decades ago but today with the encroachment of their neighbors (and owners) it feels to me like a commerce capital of a major country - think London, New York, Tokyo, Seoul, with all their wealth, income disparity and flaunting of luxury brands for the rich in the face of harsh conditions for the poor. I've never felt like it was anything like California.
Singapore for that matter isn't like Cali either, but I'm not sure I would call it ultra-conservative or anything like Texas. The media and arts and culture is a little boring by comparison but QOL is very high, for me maybe the highest in Asia. Maybe I'd liken it more to a WASPy insular rich enclave within California somewhere? With huge political and financial influence relative to its size?
Liberal, young, hip and exciting IMO should be monikers given to Taipei IMO. It's (to me) the most cultured, independent-spirited and free thinking of the East Asian cities that I've been to, and I've more or less been to all of the major ones.
I've never heard that take either. Some of those attributes mentioned sound accurate, but that general comparison sounds off especially when its source is apparently "in many people's minds."
Even looking at the private flats, the price per square foot in Singapore is still dirt cheap compared to Silicon Valley, not to mention Hong Kong.
People on this forum love to bash Singapore. In many people's minds, unfortunately, Hong Kong is this kind of California--liberal, hip, exciting, overcrowded, expensive, while Singapore is this kind of Texas--ultra-conservative, ultra-patriotic, filthy rich oil town, affordable, but boring and culturally backwards place where everyone speaks with funny accents and eats food that the locals all think is awesome but everyone else hates.
And yet Singapore, the Dallas/Houston of Asia, is still growing faster in population and stealing business from Hong Kong (the San Francisco/Los Angeles of Asia)!
What a laughable comparison.
There's nothing Californian about HK and nothing Texan about Singapore.
I've never heard that take either. Some of those attributes mentioned sound accurate, but that general comparison sounds off especially when its source is apparently "in many people's minds."
Every time posters on this forum mention Singapore it's typically about how it's tough on crime, how it's intolerant, how it's an authoritarian quasi fascist state. Or how the food, weather, nightlife, etc. sucks compares to Hong Kong.
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