Moving to Jeddah in August from USA/Texas

It depends on how close you want to be to your job.  But frankly, you won't know what suits your needs until you get there.  Moreover, you can't rent anything until you get there---you along with plenty of other newcomers also looking for housing.  Anyway, your more established colleagues will be your best resource as to where to live.

sure Al Hamra the best Area ,

Yes, Al Hamra and Al Andalus are good areas, but not the only good ones. If you could give us a hint on where you are working, maybe we can suggest a good place. Also let us know how big an apartment you need.

You can get really nice flats, even brand new ones, in really good areas with the 48K/year housing allowance. And these are generally not hard to get.

Thank you all for your replies. I really appreciate that.Actually I don't mind driving. Safe and good area to me is more important than driving to work. My work will be at the intersection of Television Street and Falah Street.

I need 2 Bedroom apartment.

I 'll find you one ?

Patrick2u wrote:

Actually I don't mind driving. Safe and good area to me is more important than driving to work.

Ah, I hope you have experience driving in other parts of the world, particularly in developing countries. I often worried if I'd safely get to and from work every time I got into my driver's car.  And the thought of driving in such chaos... But I don't want to get off topic. 

another thing you should consider is if you come with wife and kids, if so life outside a compound may not be the best for them.
There is a compound in North Obhur called Fal it is less expensive than the ones in the city, and it is right on the beach, may worth take a look at it.
It is true what Smurfette said, driving here is a crazy and a big risk, drivers make 6 lanes in a 3 lane street and they come out of nowhere, and also it may take 1 hour to drive a 20 minutes without traffic distance, so keep that in mind.
good luck!

I will recommend you some good districts, and you do the research.

Ar-Rawdah, Al-Basateen, Al-Hamra, and Al-Aziziyah

All these districts are filled with services (Restaurants, Supermarkets, Bookstores, Telecommunications, Furnishing, etc.)

They're also close to two large roads convenient to get to your destination (Prince Majed rd. and King Abdulaziz/Al-Andalus rd.)

They're also not very far from the beach.

As to apartment classifieds, if you read in Arabic, try Waselh classifieds, which has an online website).

If you want, I will be more of help if you had specific questions.

We looked at all the large and recommended compounds back when we arrived in May (i tried very hard not to compare to home country standards......) in the end the waiting lists were too long and even then we were not guaranteed that when something would eventually come up it would suit.

So a few weekends spent trawling the streets of Jeddah and we came across Fal Beach resort  (its around 20 mins from the airport and 30 mins from our work)  Large pools, kids area and own beach, gym facilities, squash court and restaurant/cafe.

it depends on your needs/wants and standards......

dear , could you send me please any contact to this coupond FAL
plz
regards
khaled

We use to live in Al Hamra...it is a fantastic area to live for expats. Probably the best place in Saudi Arabia.

I live in Lotus II compound in Al Naeem district and I love the location. Not too much traffic, close to big malls(Red Sea and Mall of Arabia), markets, shops, and easy access to the city and the sea. The compound prices are a bit steep in this area and I only see villas around my area... which I think is the reason why it is nice and quiet here. If you can find a good flat around this area, I say go for it.

I used to live in Faisaliah district right behind Audi showrooms and although the location is convenient, I didn't like the traffic or the noise. It was a flat, not a compound. Prices were decent for 3-bedroom/2-bath in a newly built building at about 35k per year.

Al Hamra area also seems to be nice and quiet but I am not sure if I'd be willing to live with the traffic in that area...

Al Hamra has many leafy, quiet streets, purfumed with flowers, rambling coloured vines and beautiful trees. The shopping is world class, as is the gym, coffee shops, amazing Italian pizza cafe, a place where one can network and  is 20 minutes from the sea shore.

smurfette wrote:

Patrick2u wrote:

Actually I don't mind driving. Safe and good area to me is more important than driving to work.

Ah, I hope you have experience driving in other parts of the world, particularly in developing countries. I often worried if I'd safely get to and from work every time I got into my driver's car.  And the thought of driving in such chaos... But I don't want to get off topic. 

I agree with ya jeddah drivers are worst drivers in the world man .. loool you gotta pray everyday to get home safely

I disagree that Jeddah drivers are the worst. Have you experienced many of the drivers in the capital, or down in the UAE or up in Russia?

Patrick2u wrote:

I would like to know please what is the best 3 areas to stay in Jeddah ?

After reading many blogs, it looks like renting in a compound is very hard and you can be on waiting list for 3 months.

I asked some people, and they'd told me that Al Hamra and AL Andalus are the best 2 areas. Is that true?

I have up to 4k SAR/month to pay for renting.  Thanx in advance for you help

Im living in Andalus and yes its a good place, so many establishment like resto's and some department store not that big one's but the least expected. The better part is we are close to the bay, you can even jog in the morning with your kids. More apartments and hotels you can chose of, Al Hamra is the 1st street before Al Andalus.......just saying

Hi Patrick,
Al Hamra is the best choice for you, and its better if you let friends start helping you to rent some apartment before you arrive.

Good Luck

Nadi

Patrick2u wrote:

I would like to know please what is the best 3 areas to stay in Jeddah ?

After reading many blogs, it looks like renting in a compound is very hard and you can be on waiting list for 3 months.

I asked some people, and they'd told me that Al Hamra and AL Andalus are the best 2 areas. Is that true?

I have up to 4k SAR/month to pay for renting.  Thanx in advance for you help

I wanna go to Texas you are coming here..

@gokhanTheConqueror > If you are going to Texas, i invite you to post your questions on the Texas forum.

Just to remind that this topic is on "Moving to jeddah"

Thank you,
Christine
Expat.com team

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Deyaa1989 wrote:

I will recommend you some good districts, and you do the research.

Ar-Rawdah, Al-Basateen, Al-Hamra, and Al-Aziziyah

All these districts are filled with services (Restaurants, Supermarkets, Bookstores, Telecommunications, Furnishing, etc.)

They're also not very far from the beach.

Today's quiz: Which one is the odd one out of those 4?!

One is a poor man's district, noisy, dirty, crowded, broken roads, with lots of old shoddy buildings and construction debris, low rents, thrift shops, local restaurants, etc.  Three are rich people's districts, with lots of new and luxurious buildings, villas and mansions, high rents, nicer roads, relatively very clean, quieter, and not that crowded, high-end restaurants, stores, and malls.

Furthermore, the poor one, being that it is at the Eastern side of the city, is very far from any beach (and very close to the desert and mountains).  I live in the poor one... I would like to find this beach which is "not very far" from me!