Best District for local exposure

D3 is has modern style businesses and restaurants and lots of expats live in D3 due to its proximity to D1. D4 on the other hand is totally different. I lived in D4 back in 2008 and some of the areas near the D7 border canal has very few expats and is an interesting area to observe.

D4 is too small crowded. You might want to check out D7. The beginning of D7 and not Phu My Hung area. Especially at the area closer to the river. There are a bunch of newer apartments where you are just a few footsteps away from the local neighborhood and local market.

Yay, someone like me who likes to soak in the local experience!
Short answer: you can't beat D5.
Long answer is full of generalizations with my warped bias and prejudice:

D3 is a grid of one way streets with trees, fancy cafes, nice foreign restos, but with no center. I suppose the farther west side is more 'regular Saigon'. I heard that people from Hanoi moved there.

D4 is somewhere I just pass through, the main roads are highways from better places. Gritty inner city, I haven't stopped long enough to find any charm. I promise not to mention the gangsters. There are no more gangsters anymore. All gone. Very safe now Yoda says.

It depends on where you are working in D1. Cross the canal to the close-in part of Binh Thanh (an unnumbered district) for winding hems, wet markets, lots of little shops and restos, but also apartment buildings for expats. Some big streets too but I guess all districts have some.

Most of D1 is not what people think of as the upscale D1. Just get away from Japantown - Bitexco - Ben Thanh - Bui Vien areas. You might like Tan Dinh neighborhood, parts are like D3, with a big market, a cat cafe, and the roads along the canal are cool.

D1 in the Tran Hung Dao/D4 canal corridor is definitely not the touristy downtown mega hotel experience. Working class, urban, some gentrification starting, some nice cafes for locals, and easy access to downtown and south.

My favorite is D5, Chinatown. Just continue down Tran Hung Dao, between Nguyen Trai fashion street and the river. So much variety of shops, river cafes, markets of every kind (food, textiles, wholesale, ornaments, jewelry, tools, herbs...), Vietnamese meets Chinese. Urban and industrial areas too. Not so far from downtown, Bus  #1 runs up Tran Hung Dao to Ben Thanh station. Tran Hung Dao is what made me decide to move to VN.

ps. Agree with QuidProQuo with D4 canal area of D7. I like watching the boats. No tourists. Close to PMH shopping and eats. Traffic to D1 can be bad tho.

Link to big map

Little map, too small to see anything!

For District 5 enthusiasts. 

http://vietnamnews.vn/life-style/427082 … ebook.html