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best location to live in Seoul

 
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lily



Joined: 06 Feb 2006

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 12:32 pm    Post subject: best location to live in Seoul Reply with quote

Hello all,
I know that Seoul is a big city, so I am wondering where would be the best place to live in Seoul? Any comments would help me in my search for a good location.
Thanks
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dulouz



Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: Uranus

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 2:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That would be Iteawon, thats where the foreigners live.
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Swiss James



Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 4:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd reply, but this question comes up A LOT- can we not have one of the previous threads made into a sticky please mods?!

(p.s.- West Seoul, north of the river)
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jinju



Joined: 22 Jan 2006

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 4:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Witht he subway system being so good, you can live anywhere. But my favorite place in Seoul is the Gwanghwamun area. Would I want to live there though? Not really. I live close enough that I can be up there in 30 minutes.
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bobbyhanlon



Joined: 09 Nov 2003
Location: 서울

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 5:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

itaewon? are you kidding?
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RACETRAITOR



Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 5:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

bobbyhanlon wrote:
itaewon? are you kidding?


Hey, some people don't want to walk far to start a fight or pay for sex.
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eamo



Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 5:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would agree with Swiss Tony..ahem James.

The western part of Seoul around Hongdae, shincheon, Ewha and Yonsei universities would be the best area for foreigners to live if you are young and single. Varied and plentiful nightlife. Medium priced housing.
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Swiss James



Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 6:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote



"Finding a place to live in Seoul is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman. You've got to get a good view, make sure you have easy access to all the points of interest, and avoid the brown line"
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Zyzyfer



Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 6:06 pm    Post subject: Re: best location to live in Seoul Reply with quote

lily wrote:
Hello all,
I know that Seoul is a big city, so I am wondering where would be the best place to live in Seoul? Any comments would help me in my search for a good location.
Thanks


That depends on what you want from where you live, what you want to be near, how much cash you can throw around, and whether you want roommates or not. If you're a FOP (fresh off the plane), your choices are limited to what your place of employment provides or probably Itaewon. If you can deal with roomies, you can look around for people advertising places. Having roommates means you can get into places with bigger rent, and the quality of a place increases exponentially (from what I've seen) as the rent gets higher.
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eamo



Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 6:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
and avoid the brown line"


hehehe.....hey! stop blasting Itaewon. I guess Swiss Tony would be at home there...
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eamo



Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 6:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
and the quality of a place increases exponentially (from what I've seen) as the rent gets higher.


Genius...sheer genius.[/quote]
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kidcharlemagne



Joined: 29 Mar 2004

PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 4:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

definitely skip itaewon - it's a slum. go to yoksam-dong or around hongdae.
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SPINOZA



Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul

PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 5:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

OP,

Itaewon is not a slum. Seoul doesn't have slums. Itaewon is a district in Seoul that has a lot of foreigners, from English teachers to U.S. Military to Nigerians and Russians. Koreans too of course, but the town is known as 'foreigner town' and I know many Koreans who've never been. It has a bad reputation for drunkenness and having a lot of "[insert n-word]" (and note speech marks) but it's really not that bad. If anything, it's rather quaint and uncrowded most of the time.

I'm biased, but I think there's a good case for northwest Seoul being ideal (by 'northwest Seoul' I mean 'Seoul proper' - not Greater Seoul towns like Ilsan, which is quite a long journey from Seoul proper outskirts and certainly downtown). I'm in an outskirt, so it's not overcrowded, yet close to major things and live near lines 3 and 6.
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HapKi



Joined: 10 Dec 2004
Location: TALL BUILDING-SEOUL

PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 7:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Should depend on where you work.
In all my time in Korea, I've never had more than a 10 minute walk to commute to work.
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Fantomas



Joined: 04 Dec 2005

PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 9:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Advantages to living in Haebangchon (Noksapyeong Stn line 6):

Geographically speaking, it's in the middle of the city. Most parts of the city are accessible by bus within 30 minutes.

Rent is cheap. If resourceful, you can easily score a multi-room apartment with amenities (and little or no key money), for the price of most Seoul one-rooms.

Itaewon, home of a few genuinely decent bars and numerous fine international-cuisine restaurants, is literally stumbling distance away. Love it or hate it, Itaewon is convenient for English-speakers, probably because everyone there speaks English.

Hope this helps...
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