Live data from Hacker News

Hong Kong’s Massive High-Rise Neighborhoods

wired.com

51–60 of 77 posts

Re: Hong Kong’s Massive High-Rise Neighborhoods

#53

Also, let's face it. It's very difficult to reason about the interior of a building from pictures of its exterior. Who knows how nice these apartments are? I grant that many of them are not probably up to the standards Americans are used to, but the mildew from the tropical climate and various other factors conspire to make things look worse than they are, I bet.

And most of them have a choice of multiple ISPs offering 1Gbps FTTH for about US$20-40 a month...

Yes. But keep in mind that minimum wages is $3.75/hour with no paid breaks.

Also, that's your connection speed to the ISP's network. As soon as your traffic leaves HK, you're more likely looking at < 10 Mbps

Re: Hong Kong’s Massive High-Rise Neighborhoods

#54
Having lived in several buildings identical to the ones in a couple of the photos for nearly a decade I can assure you there is nothing very nice about living in them. The lifts and the hallways have no air conditioning. The flats themselves are really really really small, you can fit a queen size bed into the larger bedroom, but you're left with enough room to ease into the room sideways. The worst is during Jan to early March when you get 6-8 weeks of cold weather. It's only down around 10C but the buildings aren't insulated and everything is made of tile, so the wind slices through the walls and the tiles suck the heat out of your body. A lot of these housing blocks are built on top of enormous shopping malls, or train stations or both. And getting to and from work every day means pushing your way through what my Chinese wife used to call "a sea of people" which people in the West would only see if you went into a city for fourth of july, or new years eve fireworks.... And the pace of life there makes NYC feel like a backwater village. There truly is no place like Hong Kong on the planet.

That said, my time in Hong Kong was perhaps the happiest of my entire life. And you get used to living on top of everyone else. I'm headed there next month, which is only a 1.5 hour flight from Phnom Penh. I can't wait. There is a little noodle shop in Dai Wai that I've been dreaming about for two months now....

Re: Hong Kong’s Massive High-Rise Neighborhoods

#55
post #6
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town in New York has eleven thousand tenants, which is at least a fraction.

But that's the ENTIRE residential development block - NOT a single building as denoted in the original post. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Stu...

According to cousin comments this stat is per development block

Re: Hong Kong’s Massive High-Rise Neighborhoods

#56
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And most of them have a choice of multiple ISPs offering 1Gbps FTTH for about US$20-40 a month...

Yes. But keep in mind that minimum wages is $3.75/hour with no paid breaks. Also, that's your connection speed to the ISP's network. As soon as your traffic leaves HK, you're more likely looking at < 10 Mbps

Nope, I get 100+ Mbps to at least Taiwan and Japan, according to speedtest.net.

Re: Hong Kong’s Massive High-Rise Neighborhoods

#57

There is a fortunate side effect to living in such tiny spaces. Having spent a couple of years living in what could be considered submariner sized dwellings, I found that the only thing I used the spaces for was sleeping. When one lives in a tiny, depressing hole, one tends to maximise the time spent out in the world doing things and socializing. With all of that activity I lost weight too. There is a tendency to bea…

When you were living in a cozy apartment, did it happen to be in a city where free, public conveniences (like greenery, shaded benches, water fountains, etc.) were rare to nonexistent, situated in a region where the climate was extremely hot and humid year-round? I ask because I live in such a city and socializing seems to take the form (for the affluent) of, for example, sweaty people buying overpriced iced coffees…

No, it wasn't in such cities. They were, however, equipped with excellent public transportation, which certainly lowers the barriers to going out.

Re: Hong Kong’s Massive High-Rise Neighborhoods

#58
post #4

I used to -- and still do, to some effect -- fetishize living in a highrise. I was a suburban kid who grew up in a boring (and, in retrospect, wonderful) house surrounded by other boring houses -- I watched Seinfeld and Frasier, and loved the idea of living in an apartment complex, where prospective friends and plotlines were only yards and floors away. Looking at Michael's pictures, I'm struck with a particular sens…

I always think the opposite way, that getting lost in the anonymity of the crowds is highly appealing to me.

Re: Hong Kong’s Massive High-Rise Neighborhoods

#59
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. But keep in mind that minimum wages is $3.75/hour with no paid breaks. Also, that's your connection speed to the ISP's network. As soon as your traffic leaves HK, you're more likely looking at < 10 Mbps

Nope, I get 100+ Mbps to at least Taiwan and Japan, according to speedtest.net.

That's quite fast. I see ~10-12 Mbps to Taiwan/Japan from both home (200 Mbps fiber) and office (1 Gbps fiber).

To the US, I see ~4-5 Mbps consistently. These are both via PCCW.

Re: Hong Kong’s Massive High-Rise Neighborhoods

#60
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, I get 100+ Mbps to at least Taiwan and Japan, according to speedtest.net.

That's quite fast. I see ~10-12 Mbps to Taiwan/Japan from both home (200 Mbps fiber) and office (1 Gbps fiber). To the US, I see ~4-5 Mbps consistently. These are both via PCCW.

Weird, I'm also on PCCW. Results from tests I just performed, over Wifi though so not that accurate:

- Japan: http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/2924783412

- US: http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/2924790093

Post reply on HN