What is the best area to live in Taipei?

Glad to hear you are moving to Taipei. I truly love the city and the country.

I used to live quite close to Hepingdonglu which is near to the National Taiwan Normal University so it is quite lively and affordable. I also lived in Songshan District in Raohej Street which is a Night market street which is a little out of town and a long walking distance to downtown Taipei but super lively every single evening. It's incredible to live in a street that every evening becomes one of the liveliest night markets in the city.

But the area that I really like is the area between Mingshen Dong Road down to Ren Ai Road sort of near Sogo. All that area is pretty classy with nice apartment buildings and full of malls and nice places to hangout.

Hi Sarah,

I would say it really depends on what you want and what your budget is.

Personally, I think Daan District is the best, because of all of the cafes, restaurants, boutique stores, and shopping malls nearby. With that said, it is also an expensive area by Taipei standards with very few new building apartments.

If you don't mind living in a renovated flat that is in a 30-40 year old building, and have roughly around 20 - 40,000 NT to spare in your budget for housing, I think Daan is a great place to stay. You can walk to Xinyi district and walk around 101, or enjoy walking around the filled alleys, full of cafes, restaurants, and boutique shops.

I currently live in Zhongshan district, because my wife wanted to live in a new building that allows pets. There are a lot of foreigners (Japanese, American, and Canadian) living here as well, although I think Daan is far better.

A lot of the expat community that is here in Taiwan teaching English also live around Shida and National Taiwan University (NTU). There are a lot of university students around there, and small cafes that serve international cuisines. Also, not a bad option for expats, depending on your commute.

Most people in Taiwan use www.591.com.tw to browse the different types of housing available.

Good luck and welcome!


Regards,

Richard

Thanks to Hansson and Richard. :-)
These are great information!

I would prefer to share an apartment, since I prefer to live with others. So the prices are usually lower than a flat for myself. Anyway, Daan district sounds like what I am looking for! :-))

Best,
Sarah

I just arrived here and working in nangang which is not the housing im looking for. I have a 9 year old son and Im thinking of moving into the city area because my son is so scared of dogs. 

When we lived in China not many wild dogs where we lived and nice rental apartments. So does anyone know where would be some options that might be suitable for me and my son.  I perfer newer apartments if they have.

Michelle

A lot depends on your budget. One of my friends stayed in a very nice apartment building walking distance to the Eslite Dunnan store just south of Section 4, Ren'Ai Road.

It's in Alley 20, Lane 265, Section 4, Xinyi Road, Da’an District and there are some kindergarten and play areas below the apartments. They are not new, in fact probably about 30 years old, but they still look modern and very respectable. But there are many other nice apartments in that area with lots of eat places and convenience stores and walking distance to Eslite, Sogo and so many other places including Zhongxiao E. road.

However, this area is very central and not so near to Nangang so it means taking public transport to get there. Maybe it is too far away for you...

If I worked in Nangang, I would look for apartments near the blue line MRT. Daan is a nice neighborhood, but it requires transfering train lines, if you take the MRT, which makes the commute longer. Even something near Taipei Main Station would be shorter than something near Taipei 101, despite Taipei 101 being physically closer to Nangang.