# Best area to live in Cape Town for single young professional?



## andywhitford (Mar 7, 2016)

Hi all,

I'm planning to spend (at least) a few months in Cape Town this year - April & May initially. I'm trying to figure out relatively precisely where I should be trying to live while I'm there. With it being just going past summer, being close to a beach may not influence the decision as much as it would if I were arriving in, say, December.

I'm a 36yo digital entrepreneur, single. I work a lot but will want to be social too. Advice from a local friend suggested Green Point is my best bet due to it having beaches one way, good restaurants and bars right there, and the city close by. That seems to make sense. But, even though Green Point isn't huge, it does seem to have some different options in itself... it seems to me there are (at least) these options...

1) More "De Waterkant" than Green Point - lots of the places I contacted about serviced apartments / guest houses gave me options in this area, both city side of it and Green Point side. I've been told there is a "Gay Quarter" there; I'm straight and have no need to be close to that, but no homophobic fears of it either. That said, if the nightlife in the immediate area does tend to be more gay than straight, it doesn't seem to make sense for me to be right there.

2) Further around Main Rd towards the Stadium has a lot of vacation accommodation options; but does that make it kinda touristy? Not really my goal, but I do want to be "close to the action", if that area would count as that.

3) In closer around the Waterfront - I've heard it's a bunch of new developments and relatively upscale. But possibly a bit "sterile"?

4) More towards Sea Point? Or, into the City Bowl?

Other factors for me...

- I do like walkability, I don't intend on having a car if I can help it. So being able to walk to easily grab some food somewhere close to home is good for me. Happy to jump in taxis and Ubers for other things, so long as I'm not living in an area where literally everything I might want to do involves needing a short car ride (ie I don't want to be "close to everything, but with nothing actually there")

- I plan to use a coworking space on Loop St most days (Inner City Ideas Cartel) so I'll be going to and from that most days

Any advice would be hugely appreciated! If you can indicate areas by the street intersections or landmarks, that would be awesome too, because when someone says "Green Point" or "the City Bowl", that still seems a bit general, even though I know stuff is pretty close together.

Thanks again!
AW


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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

Hi Andy - that sounds wonderful! The Inner City Ideas Cartel is very, very close to Green Point and De Waterkant and I would not bother about the "gay quarter" - 90% of the bars in that area are not strictly "gay". Nevertheless, a few steps further are other areas of Cape Town with even more nightlife. Honestly, most often you can, with an Uber or car, jet across Cape town for under £2 in 5-10 minutes. Consider Gardens, Tamboerskloof, Higgovale (gorgeous) for city-side residences and Camps Bay, Atlantic Sea Board from Clifton to Sea Point/Mouille Point for sea-side areas.

Feel free to engage further.


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## andywhitford (Mar 7, 2016)

Thanks Legalman. It might be that I'm looking at things slightly the wrong way. I've largely been trying to figure out which exact area would mean I can walk to the most stuff the most often, and only jump in an uber when I need to shoot over somewhere else now and then. But the consistent advice I seem to be getting is always about how most places are only a very short and cheap drive away from each other. My point being that I might need to accept that using a car regularly for short trips (be it Uber or whatever) is what I'll end up doing no matter where I live.

I guess the only point to reiterate is that I plan to be there for about 2 months and without my own car. If I'm jumping in an Uber virtually every time I want to do every little thing, that can turn into a bit of a pain in the ass over a 2 month stay, even if every ride is quick and cheap (I can say this for sure because I've done it before... you start to feel a bit like a kid who needs his Mum to pick him up to drive him places just to do anything). It would be nice to at least walk out my front door and have an easy choice of some different places to grab food (and even groceries perhaps).

My other question I forgot to ask is more about demographic. I'm in that phase where I'm definitely getting a bit too old for clubs, but not yet at the phase where all I want is a nice dinner, glass of wine and an early night. Does the City Bowl tend to be a bit of a younger crowd? Are there some particular areas where the ~25-35s tend to be (as opposed to the real youngsters)? Lol I only just turned 36 so I'm still in denial about exiting that age bracket.


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## Klipspringer (Feb 21, 2015)

Get a bicycle. That should solve all of your problems. If you want to be within short walking distance of bars, restaurants and hangouts for young-at-heart 30-somethings you need to look for a place just off Kloof Street in Tamboerskloof. Long Street, which is basically the extension of Kloof Street towards the CBD is in my opinion for a slightly younger crowd, though you'll probably go there too to party and it is also within walking distance of Kloof Street.


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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

andywhitford said:


> Thanks Legalman. It might be that I'm looking at things slightly the wrong way. I've largely been trying to figure out which exact area would mean I can walk to the most stuff the most often, and only jump in an uber when I need to shoot over somewhere else now and then. But the consistent advice I seem to be getting is always about how most places are only a very short and cheap drive away from each other. My point being that I might need to accept that using a car regularly for short trips (be it Uber or whatever) is what I'll end up doing no matter where I live.
> 
> I guess the only point to reiterate is that I plan to be there for about 2 months and without my own car. If I'm jumping in an Uber virtually every time I want to do every little thing, that can turn into a bit of a pain in the ass over a 2 month stay, even if every ride is quick and cheap (I can say this for sure because I've done it before... you start to feel a bit like a kid who needs his Mum to pick him up to drive him places just to do anything). It would be nice to at least walk out my front door and have an easy choice of some different places to grab food (and even groceries perhaps).
> 
> My other question I forgot to ask is more about demographic. I'm in that phase where I'm definitely getting a bit too old for clubs, but not yet at the phase where all I want is a nice dinner, glass of wine and an early night. Does the City Bowl tend to be a bit of a younger crowd? Are there some particular areas where the ~25-35s tend to be (as opposed to the real youngsters)? Lol I only just turned 36 so I'm still in denial about exiting that age bracket.


Hi Andy - one of our staff is 36 and a digital entrepreneur. Ping us a private message if you'd like to get in touch.


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