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What is the general atmosphere, demographic, opinion etc of Bur Dubai? More specifically 9B street between Al Mina Road and Mankhool Road, about a 10 minute walk back from Al-Mina road by the Dry docks and the port?

Want to get a better idea of how others who are familiar with Dubai perceive the place. Especially along the lines of is the kind of area where I need to be careful about living with someone of the opposite sex, are people going to treat my fiance (she's a 24yr old chinese, me a 25 yr old american) in a disrespectful manner, etc? Other expats in my office are warding me off of it, wanted to get some other opinions (expert opinions? ha).

Here's a link to a map of the location for better reference:

map 24 link

Thanks for any help.

I'm fine with the place. But I think Westerners would find the area "beneath" their standards. At any rate, it's better than parts of Ghusais and Satwa. Only issue is the heavy traffic.

Nothing wrong with the area and there seems to be more of a mix of people in the area as apposed to other areas that are quite segregated.

The topic of living together with your fiance has been discussed to death. By law this is not allowed - you need to be married or be a blood relative. One hears stories about the law being enforced but it tends to be with non-westerns and in the more strict areas. Nevertheless, it is a risk. Note that racism/discrimination are a problem in Dubai in the the sense that it is more overt than it would be elwhere (America). Bur Dubai has a larger Asian population ("Asian" meaning indian/pakistani/bangladesh/sri lankan as opposed to chinese/far east which is what most americans think of as "Asian") than Western population.

Most of the accomodations in the area are apartments.

I think overall Dubai is a safe place for females.

p.s. You say your wife is chinese and you are "american" (what do "americans" look like? - American Indian, black, white, hispanic, chinese, asian, etc. I think I know what you mean but...

Make sure you have a parking space with the apartment because parking in that area is a nightmare.

Good luck. You'll be fine.

feelyou wrote:spam

Thanks for being a complete d|ck and spamming.

Not sure if it's your first time in Dubai but Just remember that STARING is a popular pastime here, especially by a group of certain people (just stating a fact here). Very very irritating. Your fiance and you (yes they stare at men too) would probably get very less or none of it in areas like Marina.

i live in bur dubai, im english, and there are enough of 'us' here to feel happy enough.

it is a bit more squalid than say the marina, but beggers cant be choosers! and al least it feels lived in!

hcaleman wrote:What is the general atmosphere, demographic, opinion etc of Bur Dubai? More specifically 9B street between Al Mina Road and Mankhool Road, about a 10 minute walk back from Al-Mina road by the Dry docks and the port?

9B street is a bit cramped (old & smaller apartments).
Southern of Rolla Street is considerably better (bigger & newer apartments).
In overall, the area is good and lively for some people who like convenience of getting anything nearby. Not for people who like to live in serenity.

why not live somewhere in Jumeirah..it's nice and not crowded