East Meadows - commute time and access to beach

[the colemans]

The East Meadows complex seems to offer good value for money... and is close to the MRT. I think the commute time to Raffles Place is about 20 mins.... is this correct?

Anyone live there already? We have 2 very young kids... keen to here views on location/facilities etc.

Many thanks
James

[seasider]

Lived there briefly in 2002. It is a good location with respect to transport links - Tanah Merah MRT being an interchange as well now - but I found it a pain not being able to walk to any decent supermarket (Cold Storage at Eastwood is the closest, IIRC). There is a little shopping precinct near D'Manor but it wasn't much use to me. I used to MRT to Simei or Tampines, or into the city. 20 minutes sounds about right.

I felt quite isolated when my husband was away, but then I was new to Asia and it was all a bit foreign and strange; I'd probably feel ok now.

East Meadows - well we thought it had fabulous facilities but it seemed like the whole neighbourhood used them, as it got very noisy round the barbeque pits which we overlooked, especially on a weekend. Also endless swimming lessons going on in the pool. I think it was very new when we lived there so it may have calmed down, but we decided the complex was just too big for us.

[the colemans]

That's really helpful, thank you.

Where did you move to out of interest? The commute time decrease moving one or two stops closer in seems neglibible (especially if it's a longer walk to the station!) but there seems to be a noticeable increase in price and value for money... it's a tricky one to balance but a long trip to the supermarket could get pretty tedious... is it possible that the situation may have improved since you were last there?

Alternatives that look OK on the web include Costa Del Sol and Cote D'Azur. Waterina too... heard anything about these?

[seasider]

We moved from one extreme to the other - from high rise, high density out East to low rise, low density right on Holland Road. To be honest we couldn't get used to apartment living and lack of space (budget restrictions) so moved to a house and are very happy here.

I only really know about those complexes from reading forums, but Costa Del Sol gets mixed reviews. If you use the Search function you may find some. I'm curious as to why it still looks very empty when I pass it (regularly, have a friend in Bayshore Park). It's a bus ride from the MRT though.

Cote D'Azur - is that the very new one next to Parkway Parade? I don't know anything about but the location is great for shops, but no MRT. (Do you know that the MRT can't serve the coastal areas because they're reclaimed land?) Plenty of buses I would think. Walking distance to the East Coast. Again, search the archives, I think it's been discussed recently.

The Waterina is much further from the coast near Paya Lebar MRT at the very edge of Geylang. Paya Lebar is going to be an interchange for the Circle Line but we're talking a few years off. It's not such a desirable area but I like Geylang - have lived in the thick of it for 3 years already! Great food and transport links.

You could look around Kembangan - some friends almost took a condo there recently, the only thing that stopped them was the landlord's attitude. You'd be closer to the city and also within reach of great food around Joo Chiat, a very interesting area. Also the Haig Road area, which is close to the Waterina.

I think you have another thread going about condos and houses so will stop there.

Do take a Serviced Apartment for a few weeks if budget allows - you don't have a clue about areas and distances until you are actually here.