Andy Fielding

HI we are a family of 4 relocating to Dubai in January. Twin girls aged 5. We are looking at family places to live like Arabian ranches and the sustainable city really appeals. Our concerns are the travel times from these to healthcare city. It says 28 minutes but in traffic is this a reality.
any advice from anyone living in these places for lifestyle and the travel to the city would be great.
andy

scrubbedexpat141

I'd suggest somewhere slightly closer - Dubai Hills has a couple of areas, one is lovely, one seems a bit more mixed but still nice.
Ranches is an old school favourite, which makes me instantly think it's full of bellends. Must be some good deals now though, the first development is old.
Sustainable City gets good reviews, but not being able to park outside your villa makes no sense.
Damac Hills round that way - it's alright, I don't think much of the quality but there are worse places to live.
Ranches 2 / Mudon / Mira / Sustainable City - you may as well live in Abu Dhabi if your commute is to Healthcare City.
Maybe Silicon Oasis? Don't know much about it
One person on here lives at Meydan and likes it from what I can tell.
Then you've got the Jumeirah / Umm Sequiem options - less compound living though - positives and negatives come with that.

All of the above depends on the budget and what you're driving.
If it's a big comfy Range Rover then who cares? If you're getting there in a 15yr old Lancer then yeah, a few minutes less in the car will be good news.

Millhouse

28mims on a good day.

check using google maps at the peak times (ie 5:30pm on a Sunday to ranches) and leaving the ranches at 745am. It would take us up to 25mins just to leave the compound on a bad day but I’m told things have improved.

if it was me I’d move nearer to work (which I did) - the reality is that you’ll going to move near to where the school is so figure that bit out first.

ranches is a good all rounder but it’s old. Villas will be hit and miss.

scrubbedexpat141

Note - I deliberately didn't mention the Democratic People's Republic of Mirdiff because everytime I've been in an evening or whatever, the traffic has been rubbish.

Also, unless you live there and are a member of the DPRM you shouldn't really be inviting others.

Andy Fielding

Hi all thanks for the feedback. My question is more driving times from this area - is it 30-40 mins in peak or 60-80 minutes. We live out of a city (Melbourne) now for lifestyle and commute We looked at Arabian ranches and felt the villas seemed hit and miss for quality. Sustainable city is next to the ranches and seems more modern and better for a young family. As for cars not at the villa, they are no more than 50 meters from your door and it makes it safe for a family style village. The school is also in the city itself. The reason I ask for advice is due to Covid we have not been to visit first to check anything out.

Millhouse

If you can get a place at the school inside the compound, I would go there. Might move their myself on that basis but then I work from home. 50m in July with a bag of rice and some tomatoes will feel like you're tracking up a mountain.

I'd put it at 40+mins, but you're really best checking on the maps - been ages since I lived that way and there is certainly a lot (more) cars trying to get down the road to sustainable city and beyond at night.

Arabian Ranches peaked 8 years ago... when I lived there.

scrubbedexpat141

A chap I know in Sustainable City loves it, raves about it. I think it's a wicked idea.
I've never done that commute but I'd say it's a solid 35mins at a good time, let alone rush hours. I'd guess an hour to be safe. It's not going from/to Sharjah in the morning/evening so that will help but Ranches will get sticky at rush hour as Millhouse said - he's definitely lived in the 'burbs so will know better.
If the school is in sustainable city then it might be a winner.

Gavtek

Have a look at The Villa, it's near Silicon Oasis and you'll have an easy 20-ish minute drive along E66 to Healthcare City. That was going to be my go-to when I was considering a job in Sharjah. Couple of decent schools in that area too.

Good selection of reasonably priced villas, many of which come with private pool.

DXBtoDOH

I am going to throw out this possibility as something worth considering.

Metro.

Healthcare City has a big metro stop right in the middle. Most of the facilities are a short walk from the metro stop. If you lived close enough to the metro stops in Umm Suqeim/Safa then it'd be an easy commute. I knew people who used the metro to commute to work, with a spouse collecting them at one end for the short drive home or uber, or walked on foot if weather was nice. It's a reverse commute from the predominant commuting pattern so your carriages won't be packed or you can ride in Gold Class.

I'd rather live close to the beaches in Umm Suqeim than on the Ranches or one of those Arab versions of a Barratt housing estate plonked down in the middle of the desert.

Gavtek

Few problems with that are that Healthcare City is on Green Metro line meaning you'd need to swap trains at Burjuman which I assume would be packed every morning/evening, there's only one Metro station between Gold & Diamond Park and Business Bay so for the most part Umm Suqeim is almost completely bypassed by the Metro, and lastly if you're living within walking distance of a Metro station on Sheikh Zayed Road, you're still going to need to drive to the beach anyway.

Plus finding a villa in that area that's been well maintained and looked after is like finding a needle in a haystack. The good ones never reach the open market, they're always snapped up quickly through word of mouth.

Millhouse

WTF did I just read. He's in the market for a villa and two 4x4s, you are proposing the train and an e-scooter. A villa near the beach is a good shout though - but they are still expensive and I doubt he wants to share.

DXBtoDOH

If you'd ever taken the metro the way I suggested you'd realise it's NBD. I did it every now and then due to client/partner offices near Wafi and healthcare city. It's dead easy. It's the reverse commute so the carriages were pleasant, and the transfer at BurJuman was quick and straightforward. There are metro stops on the Umm Suqeim/Safa/Sofouh side. The real issue is lack of parking near the metro stops other than on neighbourhood streets. I had a coworker whose wife dropped him off at the Gold and Diamond Park stop near Lime Tree and of course she always went to Lime Tree afterwards

The Umm Suqeim/beach lifestyle is really lovely. Walking/cycling distance to the beach, scads of little cafes and cafeterias all over the place, a lot of Australians are insanely mad for it and live out of the Surf Cafe and the Sailing Club.

BTW, the drive also isn't too bad if you stay within Umm Suqeim 1 up to Mall of Emirates. You can probably take the Safa Park flyover around Business Bay and that back road is a straight shot into Healthcare City. Avoid Sheikh Zayed entirely.

DXBtoDOH

Eh, well, it was just a suggestion. He can still have the 4x4 for weekends along with all the other Australian surfer dads in their Umm Suqeim villas.

scrubbedexpat141

I nearly bought an E-Scooter for the 11minute walk to the office.

Decided against it and stuck with a Careem each way and the odd spin in the car when I got a parking space given to me. Now I find they've put e-scooter things all over downtown to rent by the minute. Perfecto

Millhouse

Do you look like a bell-end on it?