# Neighborhood Advice



## truenorth (Aug 2, 2014)

Hello,
We are currently living in a new, highly upgraded 4000 Square foot home in a suburb of Toronto Canada. We are now relocating to Dubai, and having trouble deciding on which neighborhood to live in.
We know that we want a newer 5 or 6 bedroom with a pool. We want something as close as possible to our standards of homes. We'd also like to be close enough to Dubai Marina. Also, my husband will be working in Jebel Ali. Here are some areas we've seen:

Arabian Ranches - Too far but houses were nice. Especially the Hattan.
Green Community - kind of old and squishy but not too bad
Jumeirah Islands - love the area - close to marina - nice frontage - but heard that pool maintenance is very expensive - also homes were not bigger than 4 bedrooms.
Meadows - homes seemed to be dated but location is great.

We did not get a chance to see the Jumeirah Golf Estates but heard that this area may have the type of home we're looking for. However, i'm not sure if it's too news. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks


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## despaired (Dec 22, 2013)

Have a look at the sticky threads. There is already some information in regards to areas, house hunting etc. And check out online dubizzle etc. in order to get an ROUGH idea of what houses in that area might look like.


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## londonmandan (Jul 23, 2013)

Hi,

Read the stickies on here and also to be honest you are better off actually being here and looking as what you see now will be gone tomorrow.


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## vantage (May 10, 2012)

from another thread.... you have children..
it would be better to get a school sorted first, THEN a house.

If you pick your dream house, there's a very real chance you may not get into a school close by. The good schools have long waiting lists, and quite a murky admissions process. This can result in commutes of over an hour at each end of the day (for you, or on the super-slow and expensive school bus service, if you end up with house and school too far apart.

Bear in mind that school starts at 7.30 or 7.45 am, that could mean getting the nippers out the door soon after 6.00am every morning.

school THEN house.


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## truenorth (Aug 2, 2014)

Thanks everyone for your responses! My husband will be in Dubai for the home search in a couple weeks. He has two weeks to find something.

I guess our biggest concern is the newness of Jumeirah Gulf. Is there construction? Is there any frustration getting in and around the neighbourhood? What are the amenities? 

We've also picked a school already (Greenfield) which is quite close to most of our chosen neighbourhoods.


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

There is construction everywhere in Dubai. It cannot be avoided - just mitigated.


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## LesFroggitts (Dec 30, 2013)

twowheelsgood said:


> There is construction everywhere in Dubai. It cannot be avoided - just mitigated.


There most certainly is a lot of construction going on at the moment - especially all over the newer areas of Dubai.

A lot of them, due to the high heat and official restrictions on mid-day operations, will start work around 0500hrs.

But you get used to it.


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## truenorth (Aug 2, 2014)

Yeh, I know there is a lot of construction and that you get used to it - ... I was just wondering if Jumeirah Golf estates is still in the throes of new-community-construction. I've heard that often new neighbourhoods become uncomfortable because you're living in it unlike in established neighbourhoods like Arabian Ranches, etc.


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## swissknife (May 31, 2014)

Motor City is great..


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## zed1212 (Feb 13, 2014)

Hi Truenorth

we are in a similar position and was wondering what you finally decided on? 
The developments you have mentioned are the same ones we have been considering. Our daughter has got into a school in Barsha South so all of these seem to be within a 15 min drive

any advice you can offer would be most appreciated


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## truenorth (Aug 2, 2014)

Well, we've been in our home in Jumeirah Golf Estates for almost 4 weeks now. The house itself is great. Very 'western' and comfortable. 

However, we're on a street that's still under construction. And the community isn't established. Very different feeling from Arabian Ranches and the like. Doesn't feel like a community just yet. 

It's very easy to get to parts of Dubai from here but it takes a few minutes to get out. I'm not sure where your school is but do a Google maps search to see how long it takes to get to your school. We didn't know and visually it looked like our school was close but it takes 25 min to get there. This part sucks!!!

Although I love the house and the proximity to most places, I think I would've preferred a more complete community. Or maybe a more established section of this community. 

Hope this helps!


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## zed1212 (Feb 13, 2014)

Thanks for the update and once the construction completes it should get the community feel. 
Having had a quick look at Jumeirah Golf estates online the houses look amazing!

I have looked at google maps and also took a drive on our last visit to Dubai, Meadows, Ranches, Motor city are all within about a 15 mins drive but that was outside of traffic time. Im sure during the busy times it will be more.

We are planning to stay in short term accommodation for about a month while our belongings are shipped from the UK and this should give us enough time to check out all the communities and make a decision. Ill certainly check out Jumeirah Golf estates as an option when we get to Dubai and hope we can make a decision soon enough...


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