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Where to live between Bukit Timah and Potong Pasir?

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miya1978
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Where to live between Bukit Timah and Potong Pasir?

Post by miya1978 » Wed, 02 Sep 2009 3:57 pm

Hi,

I'm new here and this is my first posting. We will move to Singapore from Germany in about 3 months and so I have lots of questions :???: .

One essential is the above mentioned. Which living areas would you recommend? Workplace will be close to Potong Pasir MRT Station (NE10) and we hope that our child can attend kindergarten of German European School. We tend to not to use a car but public transport.

Thanks in advance for any recommendation!

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Zeenit
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Post by Zeenit » Sat, 05 Sep 2009 2:00 pm

If you dont have a car I think its best to be nearer the school and amenities that you partner and kid will need. Catching a bus etc will be easier for you. But check out both areas for yourself.

Good Luck.
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littlegreenman
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Post by littlegreenman » Sat, 05 Sep 2009 4:18 pm

Hi Miya,

it all depends on your budget and what you want for the money. In certain districts (Orchard, Kallang, Bukit Timah...) you just pay more because they are in a preferred area. Reason that I am saying preferred is that all areas are good in Singapore; you would never come across a place like Kreuzberg or such as they are not existing. One useful website for you might be www.gothere.sg which gives you a rough idea of transit times using bus, mrt and taxi and a rough idea on price.

snolly
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Post by snolly » Wed, 16 Sep 2009 5:04 pm

One thing to bear in mind is that the German school is split into 2 campuses. Kindergarten is, oddly enough, up with the High School in Bukit Tinggi. grades 1-5 are on the Primary campus on Jalan Jurong Kechil. The high school isn't easily accessible by public transport. You can get dropped off on Dunearn/Bukit Timah Rds but it is a 1.5km walk uphill (not too steep, but enough to work up a sweat both ways, and not pleasant in the rain). You'll probably find you'll use taxis more than you would have anticipated to get to or from the BT campus. Fortunately they are relatively inexpensive.

The primary campus on the other hand is easily accessible to public transport and in a very nice green spot. So my advice (and what we have done) is live close to the primary campus and make use of the school bus for the remainder of the year whilst your child is in kindergarten. We live close enough to the primary campus that my boys can cycle to and from school, on a park connector bike path (so great for cyclists) and if I ever have to go to the other campus I grab a $7 (approx from primary campus) cab there and walk back downhill to catch a bus home.

One final plus about choosing somewhere to live is that we found we got much more value for our rental budget by living close to the Primary Campus, as opposed to closer into the city.

Good luck with your move.

maybemover
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Post by maybemover » Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:51 pm

hi snolly,

we will move in December to Singapore and our kids will go to Primary and Main Campus.
Could you tell me the name of the condo you live in ?

snolly
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Post by snolly » Thu, 17 Sep 2009 1:27 pm

Hi Maybe Mover,

We are in a small old condo on Hillview (we are on a local package). If you are looking around the area and want to be close to the GESS primary school try Hume Rd, Hillview Ave, Upper Bukit Timah, Jalan Jurong Kechil, Toh Tuck, lots in the Bukit Batok area too. There really are a huge number of condos in the area!

I trawled through the listings on this site before we moved to give me a good idea of condos in the area, their facilities and prices. Which was enormously helpful when I finally went out with an agent. That's probably the best advice I can give, be very clear in your own mind what your top criteria for your housing is and insist on only looking at apts/houses that match. Our top 3 criteria were close to school, preferably walking distance with handy public transport (my husband catches the bus to work). We needed a min of 1800 sq ft and less than $4k per month. It only took us a couple of weeks to find a place that ticked all boxes once we convinced our agent that we really didn't want to be on the East Coast "with all the other australasians". Our apartment is older and in a smaller condo but we ended up only paying $3k per month and my kids can cycle to school! We are very happy.

I also used www.gothere.sg to give me an indication of approximate commute times. It is surprisingly accurate.

Hope this helps. I've only started posting on the site, so once I am able to PM I am happy to send you more specific details about where we live.

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Post by amardeepv » Wed, 04 Nov 2009 6:34 pm

hi snolly,

many thanks for your informative post. e have looked at some condos around hillview avenue and upper bukit timah. one concern- my office is at raffles place. someone told me recently that the bus takes more than one hour to raffles place and prone to traffic jams between 7:30 - 9:00 AM and similarly in the evening. i was curious to know how much time does it take your husband to commute?

many thanks.

PS: this is my first post on the forum. we are looking to move by end of december.

harry138
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Re: Where to live between Bukit Timah and Potong Pasir?

Post by harry138 » Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:23 am

miya1978 wrote:Hi,

I'm new here and this is my first posting. We will move to Singapore from Germany in about 3 months and so I have lots of questions :???: .

One essential is the above mentioned. Which living areas would you recommend? Workplace will be close to Potong Pasir MRT Station (NE10) and we hope that our child can attend kindergarten of German European School. We tend to not to use a car but public transport.

Thanks in advance for any recommendation!
Hi Miya
Depends. Perhaps you could look for accomodation further up nearer to "Serangoon Central" (Two train stations from "Potong Pasir"). A new Shopping mall is under construction and is due for completion in 4th quarter 2010. It sits directly above the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) Hub that can connect you to other parts of Singapore by Train. An Australian Expat School is not too far and an American School is under construction just next to the Auststrain School.
Very convenient and central.
HC

miya1978
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Post by miya1978 » Wed, 18 Nov 2009 6:07 pm

Thanks for your replies. Meanwhile we found a nice condo in Bukit Timah with a direct bus connection to Potong Pasir. I think that's gonna be ok...

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