Best City to Live in Taiwan

Which city do you want to live in? Here I have made a review about best city to live in Taiwan based on the certain criteria.

Public Transports (Convenient)

(1) Taipei is the most convenient city to live in Taiwan since it has MRT that take you around city, sufficient number of public busses and taxis. (2) Kaoshiung comes in second place as it operated its first MRT system in 2008. (3) Taichung, as Taiwan’s third largest city, could be one of many choices too. It doesn’t yet have MRT system, but it has sufficient number of  buses runs along many major traffic routes.

Same as Taichung, other cities in Taiwan that doesn’t yet have MRT system rely heavily on city bus and taxi. Usually, the number of public transports between cities varies according to their population density. However, if you live in a county (not city), it is recommended that you have a car or motorbike for convenient in mobility.

Don’t worry for mobility between cities. Taiwan has two railway services which are TRA (Taiwan Railway Administration) and THSR (Taiwan High Speed Railway). Railway transports connect cities that are far apart, from north to south of Taiwan.

Safety

(1) Crime rate. Taiwan has a relatively low crimes rate. Taipei is definitely the safest city to live in Taiwan. We can still see women walking alone during night or students going back home from cram school after 9-10 p.m. However, Taichung doesn’t seem to be as safe as Taipei. Many said Taichung has a lot of gangsters show up during the night. But, who said going outside at midnight is safe?

(2) Traffic Safety. Drivers in Taipei and New Taipei City seem to have better moral than the other cities. They usually will let pedestrians to pass through first.

Living Cost

Although Taipei offers higher average of salary compared to other cities, the cost of living is relatively higher too, especially when it comes to rent a house or room because Taipei has much higher land and house price. For example: the average cost to rent a room (with toilet inside) in Taipei city is around 11,000 NTD, whereas the average cost to rent a house (entirely) in Chia Yi is around 6,000 to 7,000 NTD. Many Taiwanese also said, for the same amount of money, you can only afford an apartment (usually with two bedrooms) in Taipei, but you can afford a mansion in Taichung.

Industrial (Science) Park

You can consider to live in Hsin Chu, Tainan, or Kaoshiung because they have science park or industrial park. There are a lot of semiconductor and high-tech industries build in the park so it’s possible to increase your chance in getting a job.

Weather

Taichung has the best weather in Taiwan. It receives sunlight throughout the year and rarely strikes by typhoon. Keelung has the worst weather. It has the highest rainfall throughout the year and high humidity.

Generally, the temperature of the cities located in the south of Taiwan is warmer than those located in the north. When it comes to natural disaster, Hualian and Taitung are the most earthquake-prone-cities in Taiwan.

Environmental Pollution

Taipei, Kaoshiung, and Taichung are the most polluted cities in Taiwan since those three cities have higher population density and higher number of vehicles. Cities located in eastern Taiwan such as Taitung and Hualian are the least polluted cities in Taiwan.