Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Seoulman69]

I may have to move apartment soon for a new job and was thinking of moving to Haebongchon. I was wondering if anyone here lived in the area and if they could give me some insight. Is it safe at night? Is the burglary rate higher? Is it noisy at night? What are the good and bad points of living there?
Thanks.

[jondepoer]

I've never had anything stolen. The best thing about it is that the local mom and pop convenience stores cater to western tastes. I had a hankering for smores one night while BBQing on my roof (another common advantage to HBC), and couldn't believe that the shop had graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate chips.

There are a bunch of great restaurants clustered on the main street, even more across the street in Kyungridan, and of course tons more in Itaewon. Its's great to have a nice "western-style" night out without having to worry about subway.

I am occasionally disturbed by noise, and the main street is narrow and congested, but good food combined with cheap rent is enough to make me happy with my choice to live there.

[seoulsucker]

Consider Kyungridan/Gyeongnidan just across the main road. It's a bit more expensive, but feels much nicer. It may sound trivial, but the sidewalks make a HUGE difference. There are great lounges and restaurants popping up all the time, and a quick walk over the hill and you're in the middle of Itaewon. I've lived in both and I would never move back.

[John Stamos jr.]

[Zyzyfer]

To me, HBC has the better bars, Gyeongnidan has better grocery stores overall. They both seem to have okay food but I'm not familiar with the stuff in HBC these days.

When I was in HBC, I lived way up at the top of the hill. Sucked going home at night but it was extremely quiet up there. Down near the bars if you want to avoid the noise you'll probably have to be a bit selective or go a block or two back.

[ren546]

I live closer to the main street in HBC, and the noise isn't really that bad, unless it's a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night. But I don't really care, and find some of the drunken early-AM banter kind of entertaining, because it's usually in English and I can understand it. A lot of kids come to party here on the weekends, but during the week you'll mostly see a lot of "older" people (for lack of a better term) who have been here for awhile, many of whom have families.

HBC is a little cheaper, and most of the apartments are a little newer in Kyunglidan, but both are okay IMO. The nice thing about living here is that you get a really good mix of people with different backgrounds and ethnicities, and the difficult things about daily living in Korea (e.g. the staring, the homogeneity) start to slowly wane from your memory.

[ren546]

Also, if you run (or walk), Namsan is really close (just at the top of the hill), and they have a great running track around the back of the mountain. And you actually see a lot of people running here (unlike in most other parts of Korea).

[saram_]

A lot of positives on here about HBC..

For me- the good points are,
central location is good.
Cheaper rent without a big deposit
Lots of western eateries nearby. ( maybe too many)
Good bus routes nearby.

I find though- the local marts are expensive.
There isn't a proper traditional Korean market nearby to get foods.
The Well Being (well bing) up in kyungiddan is about the cheapest place nearby to pick up groceries and foods.

Not enough cheaper simple Korean restaurants nearby.
Too many burger restaurants and more expensive / fancy eateries! You don't want to be eating at those too much.

[Seoulman69]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Seems like the main strip of HBC is a bit noisy but the further away from there you get the quieter it becomes. How have you found the crime rate and public safety? Do you feel comfortable having your girlfriend walking around the area on her own?

Also where would I find online listings for apartments in the kyungiddan (so many spellings ) area? I look at craigslist just now.

[John Stamos jr.]

No issues in the safety department from my experience, I wouldn't worry about it. My ex-girlfriend said a Nigerian guy or two would say what's up to her a every now and then when she would visit, but that's about it. Pretty dense area meaning there are generally people within sight distance and certainly earshot.

[fustiancorduroy]

[Zyzyfer]

What fustiancorduroy said, more or less. The areas are so close together that most agents have stuff available on both sides.

I used Arthur Choi of Eden Realty in the past. Say what you want about him but in my experiences, he doesn't take you to all the crap places first trying to get you to rent a dump. Though honestly I think most of the agents in the area have adopted a similar practice.

I've heard good things about Mandy Kim as well. Don't have any contact info for her but a friend has used her twice and was relatively satisfied with her efforts.

But I mean, just get in touch with the agents you see on Craigslist etc and arrange to meet. They should ask about price range and other factors and then start showing you places. My personal advice is to ask lots of questions about things like water pressure, how tolerant neighbors are of noise, and whatever else concerns you. A lot of the places are in older apartment buildings so conditions can vary widely (unless you're shelling out big bucks!).

[thurst]

hbc is cool, the only real negative is that once you move to hbc it's hard to justify leaving the hbc/itaewon area to hang out.

the crime isn't any worse than other areas in seoul. the difference is that in hbc everyone speaks english so word gets around and you actually hear about things.

kyungridan is cool, too, but those hills are serious business although i guess the same could be said for parts of hbc.

as someone else said, the abundance of good burger joints and sandwich shop is kind of a negative but it's definitely "one of those good problems" to have.

there's also a butcher that has american beef which is significantly cheaper than the korean beef that the rest of this country has suckered themselves into buying.