Happy Valley equivalent in Singapore?

[singsing]

Hi,

We'll be relocating from Hong Kong to Singapore in around a month’s time. In Hong Kong we have lived at the bottom of Happy Valley for close to 3 years with a great view overlooking the race course and literally a whole mini-town behind us.

We absolutely love Happy Valley. It has a great village - community feel with a good mix of locals and expats.It is very convenient for transport links - 25 mins door to door to work in central. There’s a couple of great local pubs - the everybody knows your name sort. There's restaurants, convenience stores, supermarkets, transport links practically on our doorstep. There's kindergartens and schools within walking distance. There's a local activity room down the road and a small park and playing ground adjacent to the race course that my little toddler loves. All these are going to be important factors when we start looking for a place in Singapore.

Any advice on what could be the Singapore equivalent would be greatly appreciated. We'd prefer to live in a condo but there is no housing allowance built into the package - this is not negotiable. My budget for rent is not likely to exceed SGD 4.5K. I hear rents have gone nuts in Singapore so I am a little concerned.

Thanks in advance.

[Icemocha]

No apartment with race course view in sg, but there are a few enclaves that matches your requirements.

You mentioned schools, so I presume you have at least a kid of school age and a toddler, which mean you may need a 3 br unit.

For $4.5k, Siglap is probably the only area you can get.

It's a nice area with good mix of locals & expats, food places, pubs, supermarkets and close to the beach. The former president of the country stayed there.

For many other areas, you probably can't get a decent 2 Br with that budget.

[ownervz]

For good location, you may consider Holland Village area.