Where is the best place in HK to raise a baby?

[ssheng]

My husband and I are expecting our first child right around the time our lease comes due. I currently work in Central, he in Kowloon Station, and we live in Kowloon Station as well.

My priorities have suddenly changed in terms of what I want out of our apartment! Where do you think is a good place for us to consider living? I love that we have an organic supermarket downstairs, and the convenience of the MTR right now, but Kowloon Station is still quite expensive (I would love more space for the baby) and it seems like all my husband's coworkers with kids live in Sai Kung or Stanley. I would love to be in an area where there is a healthy community of families to meet, playgroups, schools, etc. (Trying to think ahead!)

Any recommendations you have would be greatly appreciated! And my husband is a bit concerned with commuting too far with his demanding job, so if it's really too far out to be convenient to get to his work, please do mention that. Thanks so much!

[carang]

sai kung is great as is db. if you have a car, commuting from sai kung to kowloon station is quite fast. via shatin, eagle nest tunnel it would take 30-40 minutes depending on where in sai kung you choose.

db is awesome for kids. it's a 30 minute commute to central, never traffic. it would be about another 10 minutes to kowloon station.

[loveask]

if you and your husband are working in central and kowloon station, I would recommend staying in Kowloon station so that you can come home as soon as you can when you get off work. there is a pretty good community in kowloon station also of families and you can arrange playdates. You are also close to all the good schools in kowloon tong.

[0ze_Kid]

I am a big one for DB. I love the no cars, the open spaces and the fact that almost everything is within the enclave. And that it is only 30 minutes from CBD.

I think it does depend on your budget as I think HK has some great kid-friendly communities. Here are some areas that I considered before settling on DB:
sai kung
mid-levels
pok fu lam
kowloon tong (it was on my list because of what PP said - close to Australia School, sounded like a good community...)

If your DH is anything like mine he will not like to commute very far, especially as we had a new born and every minute was wasted time for him on a 12 hour day shift! (Until recently he thought 30 minutes was too far!). I think this is a BIG factor when deciding where to move or if you stay.

[ssheng]

Thanks for your helpful responses! We will be checking out all the areas mentioned above to figure out what works best for us. Like I mentioned, my husband is a bit picky about the commute, so I have a strong feeling we will not be going too far away from where we are now...:)