Hi,
Would just like to ask what you think of Hong Kou district and living in it (for those of you who have). Pros and cons and your impressions.
Generally, what do you think of amenities in the area and atmosphere.
Does it feel very 'local' aand 'out there' in your expat eyes? Why?
Thanks.

I work there but would certainly not consider living there though.

Well, I think it depends greatly on your lifestyle.
It is far from downtown (if we consider Jing An temple or people square is the downtown).
Also some parts of Hongkou (closer to Baoshan Lu) are definitely not pretty...
But I would surely love to have a flat in one of the new buildings overlooking Luxun park..
For the transportation, before one had to rely only on the bus (like the No 18 ), but now the subway lines get closer (Hongkou stadium)...
Finally, for shopping, there are big shopping malls and quite a lot of choice around Duo Lun Lu...
Duo Lun Lu in itself is a nice place...
In my opinion, this part of Hongkou, although far from downtown, has still much more life than the outer parts of Pudong...
But of course, if you like to go to western restaurants and pubs every evening, you will find the distance to be a pressure...

Well the Sichuan north road is 1 of 4 most famous commercial roads of old SH

and Tian Ai lu Shan ying Lu ..r good for a leisure walk...

I live in Hongkou and think it great for the money you spend but not many western amenities other than right around the stadium and even there is nothing like the western side of the city. If you like to go out alot, it is not that far to Peoples Square and Hengshen Lu bars....I live close to Line 8 North Xizang station and it takes about 20 minutes via subway to Peoples Square and maybe 35 minutes to Hengshen Lu.

actually some part of the bund is located in hongkou
so that is not too bad and has many many old buildings there. if you live in north of the bund, it is beautiful but the life there is very local and environment is not so clean sometimes

I just might be one of the few expats coming to Shanghai who does not want to live like he lived back home.

So HongKou district sounds appealing to me, as I'm not too interested in being near Western restaurants or Western shopping areas.

Can someone give me an idea as to what rental prices are in HongKou, namely, near the stadium and/or Luxun Park, for a standard 2 bedroom apartment of 80 square meters in a standard building (i.e. not one with marble floors and a jacuzzi, or not one that is dilapidated and/or condemned).

Any feedback would be much appreciated!

at least 2500-3000

Agree sichuan lu is ok for a walk- if they fix the pavement and some of the old buidlings there! I would really like to see Sichuan Rd made a little trendier- that palce has so much potential. I see Dong Da Ming Road also being redevloped, partly because Hyatt is there? Speculating. Anyway, some cool developments scattered around but too dispersed to have an overall impact on the look and feel of the neighbourhood. What do you think?

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FTM, amazing you can tolerate the construction noise and pollution that such massive renewal surely entails. And I've been wondering about that Shimao building on the northern bund (Wusong Road) Is it completed? Are businesses moved in already? Despite all that infrastructure going up, yet again it is a case of the software not following. Are there tax- breaks, preferential treatment, incentives for moving businesses to Hong Kou?
Where is that new mall?
I live in a apt compound that is pretty middle class now, it has its own contained mall with KFC, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, supermarket and a subway station, and the area is quite settled, but still accessible to downtown. Which is what I like- ta very much. Living in an old house may be novel first few months, but the little problems start to show with an old house and living in there is not so fun.

I think if you are looking in the Luxan Park area, it might be more than 2500-3000 as stated before, but I would guess that depends on the kind of place.

i live in hongkou district, and it's very easy for me to get to the bound or people's square. there r so many buses taking u directly to bound or People's square. it is even possible for u to walk there, if u are willing to, only takes half an hour.

currychook, it seems the construction has been kept on a strict schedule, so far. Or, maybe it's tolerable because I lived through annoying drilling and heavy machinery that echoed throughout my neighborhood in Hong Kong.

The software is hopeless throughout Shanghai. It drove me crazy when I first moved here.

I'm not sure about the Shimao building you're referring to, but there's an area near the Starbucks with many empty businesses. And I have no idea of anything related to running a business here.

The new mall is close to the river...you can see the framing--it's supposed to have a supermarket...Sorry I don't know the exact location. I really need to take up Chinese.

I'm familiar with the compound you refer to (Rainbow City?), but, although conveniently located near the metro, do you ever feel it may be a bit cramped?