Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

What a great site everyone. I am due to follow hubby soon and cannot rest till I have every scrap of info available on our new life in Dubai. We have been offered either a 2/3 bed apat/villa in The Springs. I cannot really find lots of info on this development, would an apat be ideal or should I insist on villa? Is it ideal for young families (3.5 and 1.5 yrs), my daughter is due to start nursery in August, should I be looking to register her over there just now or wait and visit some on arrival. Will I need a car immediately (hubby has one thru employer) or will I manage without for a bit? I do hope you can put my mind at ease as it is our first overseas jaunt and want the kids to be as confident as me - if that is possible! Thank you for looking and for any advice you can offer.

would recommend you also post on http://www.expatgossip.com/. They are mainly expat women.

Hi and welcome to the forum. Don't live in Dubai so can't comment on the Springs, but re: some of your other questions.
1) A villa would definitely be preferable with little ones. Apartments with balconies are too scary and you'll be glad of a garden when it gets cooler.
2) Yes, get a car if you can. It is possible to find a regular taxi driver - might be an option while you settle in - but it's much more convenient to have your own car
3) Schools and nurseries in Dubai can fill up very quickly so you might want to see if you can get a foot in the door now. Many of the better ones have websites, so I would get Googling!
Best of luck.

sauron wrote:Apartments with balconies are too scary...

That would be the dumbest reason to not get an apartment.

gtmash - you are an absolute c0ck.

But as such I am sure you would be happy to have your kids out on the balcony of a 40 storey apartment.

Gtmash, clearly you don't have children. Balconies can be a nightmare if you have young kids.

The Springs is nice, I wasn't aware they have apartments there. The villas a pretty nice in the Springs, if a little on the small side. It's a nice area, if a little out of the way at times.

Rosbif71 wrote:would recommend you also post on http://www.expatgossip.com/. They are mainly expat women.

Nothing much to that website...

Chocoholic wrote:Gtmash, clearly you don't have children. Balconies can be a nightmare if you have young kids.

The Springs is nice, I wasn't aware they have apartments there. The villas a pretty nice in the Springs, if a little on the small side. It's a nice area, if a little out of the way at times.

I have lived in crappy apartments my entire life, in a large community full of children. No one has ever fallen off. I don't know what kind of dangerous apartments you guys are referring to. If you leave stuff for kids to climb in the balcony, of course you are causing a hazard and can only blame yourself. There is the occassional kid falling off in Sharjah about once in two years probably because of negligence by the types of parents who carry kids in cars on their lap. And "john smith", get a life.

if memory serves me correctly a very similar question was raised about a year back, i seem to remember GABS, offering some pretty useful information on this issue as well as the local schools. use the search function to see what you can find.

i would say as soon as possible, get a car (with car seats ), the springs is a little out of the way from a taxi access point of view, and it's unlikily that you will find one "just hanging around" when you need it - as well as the continual cab fare.

a car will definitly give you a lot more freedom of movement and access to more activities.

look on the emaar properties website for more info on the springs development, this will give you a better idea on what to expect. also, try and get a decent map of dubai, there are a few online to familiarise yourself with where things are - that way you won't be "taken for a ride" too often by the taxi driver - they can smell tourists and "newbies" a mile away!

http://www.emaar.com/Developments/TheSprings/Index.asp

gtmash wrote:

Chocoholic wrote:Gtmash, clearly you don't have children. Balconies can be a nightmare if you have young kids.

The Springs is nice, I wasn't aware they have apartments there. The villas a pretty nice in the Springs, if a little on the small side. It's a nice area, if a little out of the way at times.

I have lived in crappy apartments my entire life, in a large community full of children. No one has ever fallen off. I don't know what kind of dangerous apartments you guys are referring to. If you leave stuff for kids to climb in the balcony, of course you are causing a hazard and can only blame yourself. There is the occassional kid falling off in Sharjah about once in two years probably because of negligence by the types of parents who carry kids in cars on their lap. And "john smith", get a life.

Just wait until you have your own and realise that a) kids are very resourceful and b) you cannot watch them every single second

gtmash, clearly as you have spent enough time online on this forum to make 700+ posts (most of them pointless, childish and annoying), I would suggest that it is you that needs to "get a life" . Get out more you sad little fcuk wit.

asc_26 wrote:

Rosbif71 wrote:would recommend you also post on http://www.expatgossip.com/. They are mainly expat women.

Nothing much to that website...

but a lot of them are in similar situations to this poster so it will be a good contact network for her!

john smith wrote:gtmash, clearly as you have spent enough time online on this forum to make 700+ posts (most of them pointless, childish and annoying), I would suggest that it is you that needs to "get a life" . Get out more you sad little fcuk wit.

I guess you jumped off a balcony as a kid and landed on your head. Sorry, man.

gtmash wrote:

john smith wrote:gtmash, clearly as you have spent enough time online on this forum to make 700+ posts (most of them pointless, childish and annoying), I would suggest that it is you that needs to "get a life" . Get out more you sad little fcuk wit.

I guess you jumped off a balcony as a kid and landed on your head. Sorry, man.

HAHAHAH..Good one GT....Damn guys from where we come all flats have balconies....And very rarely do kids fall off...

Well maybe some people just don't like them or are afraid of heights etc.

Chocoholic wrote:Well maybe some people just don't like them or are afraid of heights etc.

That is a legitimate, yet completely different, reason though.

I cannot stomach heights - thats why we are on the first floor.

3/4 in springs has to be a villa by the sounds of it.

You will should like it there - quite a few expats with families and a spinneys (think tescos) is close by + a few coffee shops.

Hubby will spend a lot of time in traffic though if he needs to commute into Dubai.

Thanks, thought I had started a riot with this! He will be travelling to the new Jebel Ali airport site. Would you say the springs is suitable then?

bellys wrote:Thanks, thought I had started a riot with this! He will be travelling to the new Jebel Ali airport site. Would you say the springs is suitable then?

Not such a bad location, although Green Community or Arabian Ranches would be better.