# job in, burj khalifa downtown: where to live?



## overseas (Aug 3, 2014)

Hello,

Newbie here so please excuse my lack of knowledge.

Starting a job near Burj Khalifa and I'm quizzed as to whether I should live near and pay more or live far and pay less but commute.

Prices aside for now, 1) how convenient is living near? e.g. if i stay in biz bay, I still wouldn't be able to walk it to burj khalifa and taking the car could mean being stuck in traffic and paying for parking, 2) (I assume parking near burj khalifa is not free either or is it?).

About living far, 3) how far is far but commutable? 4) If i take the metro from let's say, the final point/station on the map and commute, is it a feasible ride? 5) is it going to be a standing commute or can work on a laptop and morning breakfast be completed on the metro train (thinking I might save time this way)? 6) Does the metro open 24h, which would make it useful when getting back home after finishing late night work at the office (which i think is going to be common)?

7)What would you do and 8) what would you recommend?

Currently considering either studio/1 bedroom or flatshare...9) would there be any other options...say by setting up a weekend business and renting out a business office which you would also live in (I'm only saying this because I've seen some forums talk about converting a London office into a hybrid home for living and working)??


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## LesFroggitts (Dec 30, 2013)

overseas said:


> About living far, 3) how far is far but commutable? 4) If i take the metro from let's say, the final point/station on the map and commute, is it a feasible ride? 5) is it going to be a standing commute or can work on a laptop and morning breakfast be completed on the metro train (thinking I might save time this way)? 6) Does the metro open 24h, which would make it useful when getting back home after finishing late night work at the office (which i think is going to be common)?


The Dubai metro is NOT a 24/7 operation. See *DUBAI METRO*

Standing commute versus sitting down is always going to depend on the time of travel and direction. There are NO tables on the Metro, so any laptop work would be just that "lap top work"

From Jebel Ali station (furthest out) to Burj Khalifa station is around 38 minutes and 15 stops. Have a look at this *Brochure*.

Absolutely NO EATING OR DRINKING allowed on the Metro, fines are payable.

Also you'd have to consider how you get to your starting Metro station, there are only two lines in Dubai, but of course plenty of taxis and buses.


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

It also entirely depends upon what the salary is for your job.

Being near Burj Khalifa could be a low paid job and that means your choice of location is somewhat limited by what you can afford.


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## mac86 (Mar 14, 2013)

twowheelsgood said:


> It also entirely depends upon what the salary is for your job.
> 
> Being near Burj Khalifa could be a low paid job and that means your choice of location is somewhat limited by what you can afford.


Don't forget there is Emaar Square and Boulevard Plaza Towers, both of which have multi national companies in them.

If you are working in either of those, the Metro is a 2 minute walk from the buildings (most of the way in an air conditioned walkway. There is also free parking underneath the Boulevard which is walking distance to these buildings.

I know quite a few people who live near to these and walk it, although they are all in Downtown rather than Biz Bay. Biz Bay is definitely walkable, whether you would want to or not is a different matter!!

Options to live if you are planning on using the Metro are the usual (JLT, Marina, Greens, Tecom, Al Barsha) which are all probably 40 mins away door to door (very rough estimate obviously!). As someone previously said, no food and drink on the Metro but would recommend getting a Gold Class pass rather than standard, its not that much more (a few dhs per journey) but even in rush hour I used to get a seat.

I think the Metro is open pretty late, but as someone else said, not 24h. If not then alternative transport home is taxis or your own car.

Weekend business idea I have never heard of but pretty sure it would be illegal or not allowed by the tenancy contract (good idea though!). 

Without knowing salary and living standards/costs etc very hard to say what I would do (but will give my thoughts anyway!), I actually live in Downtown, and think its a great place to live, although probably one of the more expensive places in Dubai at the moment. The big plus for me over areas like JLT and Marina was the area is well maintained (pavements finished, no building waste just dumped) and whilst there are building works going on, its not like living on a building site which some areas of Tecom and Marina felt like to me. The other big positive was AC and white goods included, I found that similar sized places in JLT and Marina, whilst cheaper to rent, had the added costs of needing to buy the white goods and a monthly AC charge, so in the end wouldn't have been any cheaper.

Anyway, good luck!


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## overseas (Aug 3, 2014)

LesFroggitts Thank you for your post and concise answers!

The links you have sent are indeed very useful. I tried to search for the right info but ended up on a seemingly fake website ending in dot eu. anyway, really appreciate your help. I found out that it's open from around 6am-11pm excl Fridays (2pm-midnight).

I know you say eating or drinking is not allowed on the metro but A) is it actually enforced? B) What about diabetic people?...ok, a burger and chips maybe pushing it but, C) how about a eating a sandwich very discreetly?? 

Highly appreciate the fact that you mentioned the time it takes from the station furthest out. Really useful measurement. It sounds like it's commutable even from the furthest station away from burj khalifa. I am assuming I'd take a bus to the starting station...I heard you can drive your own car to the starting station and park it there for free and then board the metro train, D) is that true for all stations?

Regarding laptop work on the train - thank you again for your insight! It seems like you've considered this before. Well, if travelling to work in the morning to arrive at the office by 8am or possibly before 8am, E) I would assume that's rush hour time right? - Or maybe I should ask F) what time is (road/train) rush hour (morning/evening)?


Twowheelsgood thank you for your post. I know what your trying to say but to be honest, I wanted to measure by convenience first and then measure by salary that's why it's not mentioned. Maybe I should've put it this way. I could just about afford to live downtown and live far out in cheaper accommodation but there are tradeoffs for living close to work and enjoying the convenience of close proximity, vs, living far and enjoying the convenience of having more spendable income. Please correct me if I'm wrong, G) prices downtown start from 5k/month in a flatshare and 1bedrooms/studios in places that are far out such as JBR, are closer to 2k/month? H) Is there such thing as 500-1k/month studios in places like marina JLT or JBR or at the edge of Dubai? I) Also, is it worth commuting from Sharjah or is that too much hassle?

mac86 Thank you for your useful answers and your valuable opinion.

J) Is the parking restricted to employees of the mnc companies at emaar sq and the blv plaza towers? As it would be free, K) would it have enough spaces to park or would i struggle to find a parking space?

I am assuming that Biz bay is walkable but L) people don't walk because the heat of the sun in dubai is unbearable, right? 15min in the sun is a no go to most i guess? Do people exercise outside at all - M) I mean, how about jogging to work? - I assume there is a shower at work...


Besides the cost of appliances/rent and besides the construction scenery, N) are there any other pros/cons to living far away and living down town? e.g. amenities (supermarkets, gyms, sports centres, expat clubs)

O) So even in Gold-class there is no table? P) How much does a return ticket cost from a far away place like JLT to Burj Kh? Q) And do they do season tickets? - Just trying to see if it's cheaper living far away and paying for commuting, vs, living close and walking...


Thanks for mentioning what you would do. This may sound weird but I'm guessing budget for accommodation could range from 2k-7k. 2k living far away in a studio and commuting via metro (plus bus/car) everyday or 7k sharing an apartment downtown and walking/driving work.

Another question I probably should've asked is R) how much are daily expenses to live in dubai? food (home-made/on the go), utilities, transport/fuel/insurance, etc

Once again, thank you to all the replies, your help and advice is much appreciated!


Feel free to answer one or all of the new questions in this post - Many thanks in advance!


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## QOFE (Apr 28, 2013)

Please have a look through the stickies too.

The no drinking/eating is strictly enforced on the metro. Even chewing gum is banned. The metro only has two lines here. It's not the kind of commuter train system that you would have in Europe. 

Your accommodation budget is very low. I doubt you could find a studio for 2k a month in Dubai.
Have a look at the ads on Dubizzle, justrentals, bayut and propertyfinder. 

A lot of your questions are already answered in the stickies. Have a read through to get an idea of other people's budgeting.


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## mac86 (Mar 14, 2013)

Will answer some of them for you, but do recommend the Stickies (as mentioned above).

A, B, C - Yes, it is enforced, I don't think I have seen anyone eat on the metro (and I used to use it to commute each day), the only thing I have seen and personally done is take a quick glug of water when needed, discreetly.

E-F - Rush hour seems to be from about 7-9 I would say, fairly standard. Certainly the metro quietens down from about 930-10.

All accommodation questions are best answered by looking at the stickies and propertyfinder.ae, dubizzle etc. Although will say I definitely cannot see the benefit in commuting from Sharjah, the traffic seems to be a nightmare at any time of day, let alone rush hour.

J/K - No, it is free public parking, basically there are big car parks all under the boulevard. The only rule I think is cannot stay longer than 24 hours in one go, but I very much doubt this is policed. I don't use it myself but very much doubt you would struggle to find a space, they're massive.

L/M - obviously dependent on how you cope with heat! I would personally say you could walk it from October to April, and would sweat a little at the other times. Yes, I see it around the boulevard and sure its the same in other areas but people do go jogging all through the year, although in the summer it is normally in the evenings. If you are a jogger and there are shower facilities available I am sure jogging or cycling from BB to your office is an option.

I am biased but I love Downtown, has the Dubai Mall right there, Souk al Bahar has lots of restaurants and bars, there are loads of unlicensed restaurants and cafes all along the boulevard and plenty of supermarkets, I would say walkable from every residential building. Gyms, I think I am right in saying most residential buildings (if not all) in Downtown have their own gyms, the one in the Lofts where I live is excellent, and free. All of them have pools (we have two ) and some buildings have extra facilities (we have two squash courts too).

O - Gold class there are fold down tables on the backs of the seats, so if you get a seat you get a table :thumb:

P-Q - Cant off the top of my head think how much it costs, but I used to go from Tecom into Deira City Centre (about a 30 minute journey) and I seem to remember it being about 12dhs one way in Gold Class. Yes, you buy a NOL card (exactly like an Oyster card) which you top up with credit.

Yes, that's the million dollar question! To be honest, it is a completely personal preference, if you don't mind commuting and its cheaper that way (due to a much lower rent) then why not do it and have that extra cash? If its more convenience then do that. Unfortunately only you can answer that!

Living costs, there are a lot of stickies on that, all depends on your lifestyle and what you do socially. Utilities are dependent on your accommodation size, but as a guide my two bed flat electricity and water is normally around the 900dhs mark, so if you were in a flat share half that. The utilities are actually pretty cheap here, most of that charge is a 'housing fee' which is effectively a council tax (who says we dont pay tax in the UAE!). 

Cars are cheap to buy relative to EU costs, petrol can be cheaper than water (if you drink a named brand!), I think a rental of a Yaris is about 2k per month if you choose not to buy.


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## Windsweptdragon (Aug 12, 2012)

overseas said:


> I know you say eating or drinking is not allowed on the metro but A) is it actually enforced? B) *What about diabetic people?...*ok, a burger and chips maybe pushing it but, C) how about a eating a sandwich very discreetly??


Diabetic people have breakfast at home or in the office like everyone else. If they have a hypoglycemic attack they should be able to eat on the metro without being fined, but that doesn't mean you can get away with a sandwich. 

That being said guards aren't in each carriage on every journey, it is complete luck of the drawer as to whether you ever get caught. You are much more likely to be caught in a gold carriage though as they have random ticket inspections to make sure you are a gold card traveller.


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## Zeeshan08 (Sep 15, 2013)

A-B-C
Don't eat on the Metro. Anyway, you would be looking at a max journey of 30 mins, so I'm sure you can hold on.

Not all stations have a free Park and Ride. However if you are working near a Metro Station you should, in my opinion also live near a metro station. I commute on the metro and prefer it to driving. No hassle of traffic, speeding fines, salik toll, parking issues, dealing with insane drivers, etc. Just a nice peaceful ride in gold class (in my opinion ONLY travel gold class, its the only way I take the metro). Gold class cost double, but its worth it, and it has small tables I use my laptop all the time. Max cost for gold class if you go from end to end is 11.60 AED. So keep that in mind for your max per trip cost for the metro.

If you really wanted to live in sharjah it's doable but for a single guy it will be quite boring. I live in sharjah with my family and we honestly love it...but it's not everyones cup of tea. I take my car to stadium metro station in Al Qusais from my home in Al Qasba Sharjah (10 mins drive with no traffic, 30 mins drive with traffic). There is free parking there, and I take the metro to work from there. So, it IS doable, but maybe not ideal for your situation. The plus side for me here is cheaper rent and cheaper utilities (no housing fee). My bill for utilities comes max 200 AED per month (building has free AC).

Check out executive towers in biz bay, it's 5 mins walk to metro and one stop to burj khalifa/dubai mall station.

Your "daily expense" won't be that bad. Food cost will prob be close to your UK food cost, fuel is cheap, insurance is cheap, cars are cheap. I suggest buy vs rent. I picked up a low miles 02 pathfinder for under 18k AED, it's a solid family vehicle no problems yet, and it's cheap enough that if i decide to sell it after a year of use I won't lose much...might even get back what i paid. so makes economical sense compared to renting where you are losing at least 2k per month on a crappy tin can yaris.


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## overseas (Aug 3, 2014)

Zeeshan08 thank you for your insightful post.

You're one of the few who say commuting from Sharjah is feasible - your idea of driving to the nearest metro from Sharjah makes sense! Now it makes me think, how much is rent in Sharjah...I guess i gotta search stickies and do a search online. But still I guess I will collect extra costs like the sharja/dubai border crossing fee and other salik fees (who much is that for you for a return trip to stadium metro station? - I'm thinking 11.6 + salik + border + fuel...I need to research this as well)

Very useful info about buying instead of renting a car, especially the cost of the car you mentioned - very insightful and very useful indeed. Also, good insight about using goldclass and the max cost of goldclass end to end; really grateful for this info.

From what I've heard elsewhere Exec Towers does indeed have a good reputation. So far, JBR, JLT, Biz bay seem to be the good locations but i guess now Sharjah might be an option.


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## LesFroggitts (Dec 30, 2013)

There are no charges for driving over the boundaries of Sharjah/Dubai, they are not border crossings, just the demarcation lines between two different Emirates both of which are part of the same UAE. The only cost for crossing from SHJ to DXB is when using taxis, they put a charge on for some reason.

The Salik charge is the toll road in Dubai, which is the SZR. If you're living in SHJ and catching the metro from the first station you won't go anywhere near a toll.

Fuel is only AED 1.72 per litre for the cheap (perfectly fine) stuff, unless you're driving a performance sports car which may require the pricier juice. So for GBP 0.28 per litre you really needn't worry about fuel costs in comparison to back home. As has been mentioned some bottled water costs more !!!

The Metro, from the Sharjah end going to Burj Khalifa, will require a change of trains as there are no through trains. You'll be changing from the Green to the Red lines and vice versa for the return trip.

Also, probably worth pointing out, that Sharjah is a 'dry' Emirate with limited entertainment unless you love drinking tea and coffee.


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## overseas (Aug 3, 2014)

LesFroggitts thank you for your post once again!

Your clarification on the border crossing fees (non-existent for cars only taxis), SZR toll-fees, fuel costs is much appreciated!

Just started to have a look at Sharjah rental properties - they are significantly cheaper! Zeeshan08's method of spending 30min driving to Stadium station and then hopefully it will be less than 30min (including the green-to-red line change-over time). Thank for clarifying the fact that a change-over is needed.


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## Zeeshan08 (Sep 15, 2013)

overseas said:


> Zeeshan08 thank you for your insightful post.
> 
> You're one of the few who say commuting from Sharjah is feasible - your idea of driving to the nearest metro from Sharjah makes sense! Now it makes me think, how much is rent in Sharjah...I guess i gotta search stickies and do a search online. But still I guess I will collect extra costs like the sharja/dubai border crossing fee and other salik fees (who much is that for you for a return trip to stadium metro station? - I'm thinking 11.6 + salik + border + fuel...I need to research this as well)
> 
> ...


Again, Sharjah isn't for everyone so def visit before you decide....and check Al Khan and Corniche areas in Sharjah as these are the more high end buildings, close to restaurants, cafes, some kind of decent water view etc. 

Most people on the forum are against sharjah, but to each their own. I moved here from Al Barsha, and although we loved Barsha as well, we love it here in Al Qasba Sharjah more.

Like I said, it might be boring for a single guy but to each their own. 

Daily commute expense would be max 23.20 AED round trip metro, and 8 AED round trip salik. Figure a yearly cost of 11,500 AED. But you can get a very nice 1 bed in Sharjah for 45-55k AED per year with a water view. 

However, living close to work can really be a huge plus also...depends how much you wanna save or splurge.


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## celticcavegirl (Oct 18, 2012)

Have a look at shares in Jumeirah, especially Jumeirah 1 which is close to downtown. The more you pay, the bigger room you will get (3000-6000/month range for double bedrooms) Not sure of how legal houseshares are (I'm guessing not very, especially if they're mixed) but there are an awful lot of them. Some are western only, male/female only, etc.

Some of the rooms are separate from the main house with their own entrances + bathrooms, probably once used as maids rooms or similar.


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