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jst
Joined: 14 Feb 2010
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 Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:11 pm Post subject: What's a close city/area to Seoul that's nice to live in? |
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| For those that don't want to live in the chaos that is Seoul, but want Seoul to be easily accessible, what is a good city/area to live in? |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Anything particularly close is still going to have it's elements of chaos, but the popular choices are generally Bundang, Ilsan, Anyang, Guri, and Bucheon. Gwacheon is smaller but is also really, really close to Seoul and a bit less crazy, if you can find anything there. |
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jst
Joined: 14 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:23 pm Post subject: |
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| northway wrote: |
| Anything particularly close is still going to have it's elements of chaos, but the popular choices are generally Bundang, Ilsan, Anyang, Guri, and Bucheon. Gwacheon is smaller but is also really, really close to Seoul and a bit less crazy, if you can find anything there. |
Thank you northway. Are these cities generally "new", which means you're likely to get an apartment that doesn't have issues (i.e. pipes freezing, poor insulation, mold issues ...)? |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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| jst wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
| Anything particularly close is still going to have it's elements of chaos, but the popular choices are generally Bundang, Ilsan, Anyang, Guri, and Bucheon. Gwacheon is smaller but is also really, really close to Seoul and a bit less crazy, if you can find anything there. |
Thank you northway. Are these cities generally "new", which means you're likely to get an apartment that doesn't have issues (i.e. pipes freezing, poor insulation, mold issues ...)? |
They're generally new but you still might end up in a dump where those things might happen. I can speak for Anyang in particular (and Gunpo, it's semi-attached neighbor) and say you're better off in the area around Line 4 than around Line 1. The area around Line 1 is significantly older than that around Line 4. |
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jst
Joined: 14 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:31 pm Post subject: |
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| northway wrote: |
| jst wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
| Anything particularly close is still going to have it's elements of chaos, but the popular choices are generally Bundang, Ilsan, Anyang, Guri, and Bucheon. Gwacheon is smaller but is also really, really close to Seoul and a bit less crazy, if you can find anything there. |
Thank you northway. Are these cities generally "new", which means you're likely to get an apartment that doesn't have issues (i.e. pipes freezing, poor insulation, mold issues ...)? |
They're generally new but you still might end up in a dump where those things might happen. I can speak for Anyang in particular (and Gunpo, it's semi-attached neighbor) and say you're better off in the area around Line 4 than around Line 1. The area around Line 1 is significantly older than that around Line 4. |
So Gwacheon is the best place to live (in terms of accessibility to Seoul and the "newness" of the apartments), then Bundang? |
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hamsteRRiFic
Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Location: going around in circles...
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:55 pm Post subject: |
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Gwacheon is more rural and spread out, and the neighborhoods are quieter. Some areas are older, some are newer. Bundang is mostly newer, and busier, from what I've seen.
I think Bundang has more frequent and better public transportation. The subway stations are few and far between in Gwacheon, and the buses don't always take the most direct routes. But if you have your own car, then Gwacheon's fine.
Bundang is further from the more popular areas in Seoul (Hongdae, Itaewon, Myeongdong, Jongno) than Gwacheon is. Gangnam might be about the same distance from each. Bundang has better places for shopping. |
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jst
Joined: 14 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:06 pm Post subject: |
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| hamsteRRiFic wrote: |
Gwacheon is more rural and spread out, and the neighborhoods are quieter. Some areas are older, some are newer. Bundang is mostly newer, and busier, from what I've seen.
I think Bundang has more frequent and better public transportation. The subway stations are few and far between in Gwacheon, and the buses don't always take the most direct routes. But if you have your own car, then Gwacheon's fine.
Bundang is further from the more popular areas in Seoul (Hongdae, Itaewon, Myeongdong, Jongno) than Gwacheon is. Gangnam might be about the same distance from each. Bundang has better places for shopping. |
Thanks hamsteRRiFic. And how would Ilsan and Bucheon compare to Bundang? |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:15 pm Post subject: |
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| hamsteRRiFic wrote: |
Gwacheon is more rural and spread out, and the neighborhoods are quieter. Some areas are older, some are newer. Bundang is mostly newer, and busier, from what I've seen.
I think Bundang has more frequent and better public transportation. The subway stations are few and far between in Gwacheon, and the buses don't always take the most direct routes. But if you have your own car, then Gwacheon's fine. |
If you had an offer that offered housing within a ten minute walk of the subway in Gwacheon you'd be talking about 40 minutes max to Hongdae, Itaewon, Myeongdong, or Kangnam. If Seoul is your goal, I would say it's a much better location than Bundang. |
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jst
Joined: 14 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:17 pm Post subject: |
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| northway wrote: |
| hamsteRRiFic wrote: |
Gwacheon is more rural and spread out, and the neighborhoods are quieter. Some areas are older, some are newer. Bundang is mostly newer, and busier, from what I've seen.
I think Bundang has more frequent and better public transportation. The subway stations are few and far between in Gwacheon, and the buses don't always take the most direct routes. But if you have your own car, then Gwacheon's fine. |
If you had an offer that offered housing within a ten minute walk of the subway in Gwacheon you'd be talking about 40 minutes max to Hongdae, Itaewon, Myeongdong, or Kangnam. If Seoul is your goal, I would say it's a much better location than Bundang. |
That's what I thought. Bundang is relatively convient when going to Gangnam via subway, but not so great with other locations. Thanks northway |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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I would give a thumbs down to Bucheon as I considered living there before deciding for another city near Seoul. I consider it just as hectic and polluted as Seoul, though I hear the expat scene there is growing.
I think Ilsan would be a good fit in that it has many of the creature comforts you'd find in the West. Plus scores of express buses go to Seoul from Ilsan. |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:26 pm Post subject: |
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| jst wrote: |
| That's what I thought. Bundang is relatively convient when going to Gangnam via subway, but not so great with other locations. Thanks northway |
Bundang's a really solid location in its own right, which you can't say about Gwacheon or Anyang, but the latter two have much better subway connectivity. I live in Sanbon (one stop farther than the last Anyang stop on Line 4), and I very, very seldom spend more than an hour getting to my final destination on the subway. Insadong is pretty much the only place that takes longer than that. Check a subway map for context. |
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jst
Joined: 14 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Yaya wrote: |
I would give a thumbs down to Bucheon as I considered living there before deciding for another city near Seoul. I consider it just as hectic and polluted as Seoul, though I hear the expat scene there is growing.
I think Ilsan would be a good fit in that it has many of the creature comforts you'd find in the West. Plus scores of express buses go to Seoul from Ilsan. |
So would this be an appropriate order?
1. Ilsan
2. Gwacheon
3. Bundang |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:42 pm Post subject: |
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| jst wrote: |
| Yaya wrote: |
I would give a thumbs down to Bucheon as I considered living there before deciding for another city near Seoul. I consider it just as hectic and polluted as Seoul, though I hear the expat scene there is growing.
I think Ilsan would be a good fit in that it has many of the creature comforts you'd find in the West. Plus scores of express buses go to Seoul from Ilsan. |
So would this be an appropriate order?
1. Ilsan
2. Gwacheon
3. Bundang |
This depends on your areas of interest in Seoul. I'd rather live near Line 4 for convenience's sake, so I'd actually put Anyang above Bundang, personally. |
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jst
Joined: 14 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 1:59 am Post subject: |
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| northway wrote: |
| jst wrote: |
| Yaya wrote: |
I would give a thumbs down to Bucheon as I considered living there before deciding for another city near Seoul. I consider it just as hectic and polluted as Seoul, though I hear the expat scene there is growing.
I think Ilsan would be a good fit in that it has many of the creature comforts you'd find in the West. Plus scores of express buses go to Seoul from Ilsan. |
So would this be an appropriate order?
1. Ilsan
2. Gwacheon
3. Bundang |
This depends on your areas of interest in Seoul. I'd rather live near Line 4 for convenience's sake, so I'd actually put Anyang above Bundang, personally. |
So ....
1. Ilsan
2. Gwacheon
3. Anyang
4. Bundang
Thanks northway. |
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zappadelta
Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 2:02 am Post subject: |
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| jst wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
| jst wrote: |
| Yaya wrote: |
I would give a thumbs down to Bucheon as I considered living there before deciding for another city near Seoul. I consider it just as hectic and polluted as Seoul, though I hear the expat scene there is growing.
I think Ilsan would be a good fit in that it has many of the creature comforts you'd find in the West. Plus scores of express buses go to Seoul from Ilsan. |
So would this be an appropriate order?
1. Ilsan
2. Gwacheon
3. Bundang |
This depends on your areas of interest in Seoul. I'd rather live near Line 4 for convenience's sake, so I'd actually put Anyang above Bundang, personally. |
So ....
1. Ilsan
2. Gwacheon
3. Anyang
4. Bundang
Thanks northway. |
Of course there is no way to make a definite list like this, as everyone has their preference. I would put Sanbon (in Gunpo city) at the top. Some parts of Anyang are really good, like around Bumgay and Pyoungchon. Around Anyang Station is not so good, in my opinion. |
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