Moving to Hong Kong. Where to live?

Hi Jessika,
Welcome to Hong Kong!  
I have had a look at Hong Lok Yuen school and it is located quite some distance from where your husband will be working, so I think it would be a good idea to decide who you would prefer to travel the most, your husband or your children.

http://www.hlyis.edu.hk/default.aspx?e=88F3C44E-C607-4D9A-A9CF-20239620A4AF

This is the bus route for the school and presuming you will not have a car, at least when you first arrive, it might be good to look at places along the bus route.  
I would say that routes 3 and 4 probably offer locations that are also commutable to Hong Kong Island.   You might want to look at Gold Coast or Shatin for example.  

The New Territories will definitely be a nice place to live with more space, fresh air and usually cheaper than other areas of Hong Kong, but you do compromise with longer travel time to HK island and therefore work for your husband.

Sai Kung is a lovely place, but commuting isn't easy from there. Having said that many people live in Sai Kung and commute to central areas from there.  You can get a bus to somewhere like Tiu Keng Leng and take the MTR from there.  To Causeway Bay that wouldn't be too bad and your kids could get the bus to school from there too.  I would certainly consider that as an option while you are looking around initially.

It's hard to be specific when there are so many options for you to consider, so let me know if you narrow it down at all.  Please ask further questions if you need more information.
 

Good Luck!
Norma 

Hi Everyone, I arrived in Hong kong in 2007 and have lived in Sai Ying Pun for one year, my wife and myself wanted to live in the heart of Hong Kong so we looked at new properties for sale and everything was very expansive so we decided to buy an old place in Sheung Wan. Sheung Wan is a perfect spot in Hong Kong as you are near Hollywood Road where most of the things happen, look at hotel development in this area and you will understand why it is a place to be, 3 new hotels in Bonham Strand West, Ibis (French Group), Regal Grouq, So Hotel, 3 other hotels in Jervois street, soon a French Creperie. Because the British arrived in Possession Street, I think this is the only point that has a bit of History and meaning, a lot of new businesses have landed there and the French community is also quite important here in Sheung Wan, French knows better than anybody else when it comes to quality of life, right? ;-) Anything is within walking distance, The Airport Express, the Macau Ferry Terminal, Hollywood Road with all the Cafés and trendy bars and restaurants, the Tram line, the buses, the Ferry Piers that will take you to outlying islands, the MTRs stations, do not be fooled by Sai Ying Pun as it is too local and lacks of something to make it a trendy place, the vibrant area of Sheung Wan is incontestably the place to stay if you like to hang out. My personal opinion about everywhere else in a few words is that Wanchai is not very class, night life is dirty and noisy, Causewaybay is always about Shopping, it is noisy and it is reported to be the most polluted area of HK according to its API index, North Point is full of Mainlanders and boring, Kennedy town is too local and will stay like that, Central if full of expansive shops selling expansive Swiss watches every second shops, do you buy a Swiss watch everyday? if yes, I would recommend that you move to Geneva, you will save a lot of money ;-) Trendy Sheung Wan is the place to be when you want to live in the heart of the action of The 21st Century City. Dont wait too long because things happen fast here and soon this area will be out of reach, Mid Level will kill itself by rising building after building and obstruct the views it had in the past, now who can have a view there? not many, but the prices are still outrageously high and the flats really crap with not an inch of decoration. Buses a rare and everyone is after a taxi in the morning to go to work, what a life! The prices are high because all the rich people in the past wanted a view and a bit of a Fresh air which barely exist now, the peak is for the billionaires, what I found funny is you look at Brazil, Rio, it is the opposite, the rich live down below at sea level and the poors at the top, rich peoples in Brazil seems to have more common sense than here, well, think about what is convenient nowadays and not what was wanted in the past when a City like Hong kong was definitely different 50 years ago, but now accomodations, (unless you have a few millions USD to afford some of the nice villas up there at the peak Xanadu (in reference to Citizen Kane movie) and where a British designer was hired to make the deco), the others and most of them, they look alike, take a flat in mid level and another one in those new buildings built in Aberdeen for ie and they hare exactly the same deco, boring... I have a Designer friend who bought an old place (1980s) in Sheung Wan and made it really nice, it worth it at the end. Dont be fooled by massive entrances hiding small flats in the background, that is what typical chinese go for, the entrance is more important than the inside and the sq/footage of their flat, a bit like the concept of the face in China, what you look like in front of the other is more important than what you actually are inside, well, as a Westerner (French as you may have guessed) I think what is more important is the opposite (Est/West differences), where you live most of the time is inside your flat not the main hall, if your flat is small, your mind will become small, but hey you can still go downstairs in one of those big Chinese halls, where nobody stays more than a minute to collect the mail and take a bit of fresh air! Sorry to be a bit sarcastic, it is in my genes and culture. Anyway, if what I wrote is not helping to choose your way of living in this City, I hope you do find a nice little nest to stay, we found ours on asia expat.com

As a relative newcomer to HK I looked at a range of locations. Ended up moving to Park Island and loving it. Expats may not be as familiar with it, but if you are considering moving to HK its well worth checking out.

If you are still looking for a place to move. You can consider living in village house, since they are bigger, usually around 650 sq. ft., 3 bedrooms, and with greenery surrounding. My mum has actually one in Shatin, looking for professionals, expat teachers preffered, to rent(long term). Take a look at this site: http://hongkong.craigslist.hk/apa/5065843101.html Kowloon Tong is 2 MTR stations from Shatin. My mum's house is facing a valley, with fresh air, think you might like it. But doesn't matter if you like it or not, just for your reference. E-mail me if interested, there is a link in the above site.