[carboy]

Originally Posted by f1fan

My $0.02: Don't stay in the western suburbs like Goregaon/Malad/Kandivili as the roads are badly clogged in the morning and would take you upwards of 1.5 hrs to commute to Powai thru bumper-bumper traffic.

Not sure if this true. I think if you stay on the eastern part of the western suburbs - i.e. Jogeshwari east etc, it should be OK. Commuting from Andheri West to Jogeshwari East or Jogeshwari West to Jogeshwari East before hitting the JVLR takes a lot of time. But once on JVLR, I see that peak hour traffic usually lesser in the J to V direction in the mornings & lesser in the V to J direction in the evenings.

[manaa45]

My comments in your post.

Originally Posted by n.devdath

Hi All,
I will be relocating to Mumbai by the end of this month(July) and am totally unaware of the place, its nuances, weather, everything. All I know is the approximate location of my office at Mumbai which is either close to or at Hiranandani, Powai.

Welcome to Mumbai.

I have the following questions initially:


2. Which areas would be appropriate to get accommodation close to the place? My range for a 2BHK is around the Bangalore rates(8-9kper month with car parking).
3. Is it easy to travel to this area and from which part of Mumbai?
4. I d prefer to take up accommodation at the outskirts of the city if there are no issues rather than end up staying at a packed and congested place so any tips on that would be useful.
with this kind of budget, you could opt for Mulund, Thane, Airoli, Vashi & Nerul. you could get a 2bhk in about 10-12k in Vashi or Nerul or Airoli. Prefer to stay in Central suburbs because commuting from western suburbs would be nothing short of nightmare, be it travelling by Public transport or by your own vehicle. If you try to stay at thane, getting accomodation in proper thane city near the station would not fit your budget, and what would fit your budget is very very far away from station thereby increasing your travel time. I stay at nerul and travelling to Hiranandani Powai via Ghatkopar Mankhurd link road is around 45 minutes drive for me which might go maximum to one hour at peak hours. as far as public transport is concerned, train is not too feasible from navi mumbai but lot of buses Non Ac as well as Ac buses provide good connectivity form Vashi-Nerul to Powai.
5. What is the advance that is usually asked for by the landlords? Is it negotiable? Generally ten times of the rent is asked by the landlords but can be negotiated.
6. Which are the areas that I should stay away from?
I am currently a bachelor but will most probably get married this year, hence I prefer to take up a 2BHK rather than a 1 BHK and upgrade later. Am I thinking on the right lines? Go in for 2bhk if you would be having relatives visitint you often otherwise 1bhk should be good enuf. But as far as I know you might not get huge houses as you would be used to in Bangalore. So you could go in for 2bhk.

7. I m used to travelling for an hour using public transport while coming to and going back from office at Bangalore, so I can manage the same. I prefer office cab/public transport to riding or driving in the city daily so would prefer an area which has a bus depot/train terminus etc if possible.
Answered above.

Well this is it for now, but many more questions coming up later...

[prateek99]

I am chipping in with my suggestions too, in bold.

Originally Posted by n.devdath

Hi All,

Welcome!

Bhandup, Mulund, Thane; all are suitable locations. I will give you one more option to confuse you further.

Dindoshi, Goregaon East

1. Is it ok in Mumbai to drive a KA registered vehicle?
Once you are here, you will see lot of vehicles registered outside Maharashtra. With proper documents, this should not be a problem.

2. Which areas would be appropriate to get accommodation close to the place? My range for a 2BHK is around the Bangalore rates(8-9kper month with car parking).
I stay in Dindoshi, Goregaon (E). A 2 BHK here will be around 14-15k, MHADA colony. No fancy apartment. I guess its <15 kms from Powai. You can reach happening places in less than 30 mins drive.

3. Is it easy to travel to this area and from which part of Mumbai?
Its centrally located between central and western railway lines. So even if you travel by train to say Kanjur (Central Line) or Andheri (Western Line), you will have to cover fair bit by road.

4. I d prefer to take up accommodation at the outskirts of the city if there are no issues rather than end up staying at a packed and congested place so any tips on that would be useful.
Peace of staying close to your workplace is a must in Mumbai. I suggest you stay close to your office.
The approach road to MHADA is a little congested, a little, but once you reach the colony you will be completely at peace.

5. What is the advance that is usually asked for by the landlords? Is it negotiable?
For 1BHK, I paid 40k deposit. 2 BHK should be @ 60k.

6. Which are the areas that I should stay away from? I m currently a bachelor but will most probably get married this year, hence I prefer to take up a 2BHK rather than a 1 BHK and upgrade later. Am I thinking on the right lines?
If only 2 of you are gonna stay here in Mumbai, prefer 1 BHK. Just my opinion.

7. I m used to travelling for an hour using public transport while coming to and going back from office at Bangalore, so I can manage the same. I prefer office cab/public transport to riding or driving in the city daily so would prefer an area which has a bus depot/train terminus etc if possible.
I bet you haven't seen anything like Mumbai yet.

Well this is it for now, but many more questions coming up later...

Only refer to the distance and not the time taken.

Originally Posted by f1fan

My $0.02: Don't stay in the western suburbs like Goregaon/Malad/Kandivili as the roads are badly clogged in the morning and would take you upwards of 1.5 hrs to commute to Powai thru bumper-bumper traffic.

I beg to differ. I reach from Dindoshi to Marol in flat 25 mins in the morning. 1 Hour in the evening.

[MX6]

Lot's of people stating lot's of things. I'd suggest you to have a trip to Mumbai to check out first hand, the areas like Airoli, Mulund and Thane. I loved Powai a lot. There were days when I used to stay in a 1bhk paying a rent of 6000, bang opposite the IIT main gate. It was nice then. Now it's crowded and costly. I loved Thane more than Mulund because of two reasons. Thane was cheaper than Mulund just because of an imaginary line called border of thane district. Thane was also less crowded than Mulund. Life was simpler in Thane.
Those are my 2 cents.
And yes, welcome to Magnificent Maharashtra!

[f1fan]

Originally Posted by carboy

Not sure if this true. I think if you stay on the eastern part of the western suburbs - i.e. Jogeshwari east etc, it should be OK. Commuting from Andheri West to Jogeshwari East or Jogeshwari West to Jogeshwari East before hitting the JVLR takes a lot of time. But once on JVLR, I see that peak hour traffic usually lesser in the J to V direction in the mornings & lesser in the V to J direction in the evenings.

No Sir, it is equally messed up. I travel from Mulund to Borivali on a daily basis and following are the bottle neck areas that I see:
1. Kankur Marg bridge (if you are coming into JVLR from the Eastern Express highway. You would need atleast 15 min to pass this bridge.
2. IIT Signal: This would take you another 10 min atleast to pass ( much better compared to earlier).
Post that JVLR has moving traffic till I hit Western Express highway. As I am going against traffic on that highway I get a clean drive but I see bumper-to-bumper south bound traffic all the way from Jogeshwari to Kandivali Times of India junction on the western express highway.

Regarding the Aarey Toll Road that someone mentioned, apart from the Rs 15 toll, the road condition is not that great now and is a single carriage road in each direction. The biggest traffic block is outside the toll on the powai side and it takes atleast 15-20 min to reach L&T main road from there hence negating all the advantages the Aarey road provides.

I agree with you on the peak traffic being less in the mornings from J to V and vice versa in the evenings.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by MX6

There were days when I used to stay in a 1bhk paying a rent of 6000, bang opposite the IIT main gate.

[For the original poster's benefit] IIT is in Powai. So if you could get a flat in Powai, you could probably walk to work. It would be worth it, even if you had to pay a little more than Mulund or Jogeshwari. However, since I don't know the current rent rates, not sure if it would be a little more or lot more.

In Bombay, I feel it's better to stay near to your workplace. Commute in Bombay is not comparable to the commute in most other cities.

[prateek99]

Originally Posted by MX6

There were days when I used to stay in a 1bhk paying a rent of 6000

The last time I checked in Powai, the rent was 14,000 Rs per month for a 550 Sq Ft flat.

Originally Posted by carboy

In Bombay, I feel it's better to stay near to your workplace. Commute in Bombay is not comparable to the commute in most other cities.

+1

[f1fan]

Originally Posted by MX6

Lot's of people stating lot's of things. I'd suggest you to have a trip to Mumbai to check out first hand, the areas like Airoli, Mulund and Thane. I loved Powai a lot. There were days when I used to stay in a 1bhk paying a rent of 6000, bang opposite the IIT main gate. It was nice then. Now it's crowded and costly. I loved Thane more than Mulund because of two reasons. Thane was cheaper than Mulund just because of an imaginary line called border of thane district. Thane was also less crowded than Mulund. Life was simpler in Thane.
Those are my 2 cents.
And yes, welcome to Magnificent Maharashtra!

I agree with you MX6 on that but the problem now is that our dear govt has put in a Toll Naka on that imaginary line. Every time you cross that line you pay Rs 30

[dkcrpl]

[quote=n.devdath;1972308]Hi All,
I will be relocating to Mumbai by the end of this month(July) and am totally unaware of the place, its nuances, weather, everything. All I know is the approximate location of my office at Mumbai which is either close to or at Hiranandani, Powai.

I have the following questions initially:

1. Is it ok in Mumbai to drive a KA registered vehicle? (NOC shall be preferable for peace of mind)
2. Which areas would be appropriate to get accommodation close to the place? My range for a 2BHK is around the Bangalore rates(8-9kper month with car parking). (U can think of navi-mumbai at vashi/nerul where 2bhk is from 13k to 20k)
3. Is it easy to travel to this area and from which part of Mumbai? (It is 30-45 minutes to powai)
4. I d prefer to take up accommodation at the outskirts of the city if there are no issues rather than end up staying at a packed and congested place so any tips on that would be useful. (Navi-mumbai has spacious roads and accommodations plus the malls)
5. What is the advance that is usually asked for by the landlords? Is it negotiable? (1Lac to 1.5 lac)
6. Which are the areas that I should stay away from? I m currently a bachelor but will most probably get married this year, hence I prefer to take up a 2BHK rather than a 1 BHK and upgrade later. Am I thinking on the right lines? (Mumbai areas are good but bit cramped. when i shifted from mumbai to navi-mumbai , felt like came to country sie but after some time u hate going to mumbai as it is very chaotic out there)
7. I m used to travelling for an hour using public transport while coming to and going back from office at Bangalore, so I can manage the same. I prefer office cab/public transport to riding or driving in the city daily so would prefer an area which has a bus depot/train terminus etc if possible.
(Not much of idea about public transport)

[MX6]

Originally Posted by f1fan

I agree with you MX6 on that but the problem now is that our dear govt has put in a Toll Naka on that imaginary line. Every time you cross that line you pay Rs 30

And I know a couple of routes which gets you across from Mumbai to Thane and back without going through the toll Naka!

But anyway, Devnath was hinting at company transport.

[SDP]

@n.devdath,
On an entirely different note, if you are open to riding a bike, that can knock off atleast 25% from your travelling time.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by SDP

@n.devdath,
On an entirely different note, if you are open to riding a bike, that can knock off atleast 25% from your travelling time.

And officially cross the toll booths without having to pay tolls.

[n.devdath]

Thank you very much for your answers everybody. It goes without quoting people that I m actually beginning to feel welcome in Mumbai by the responses that you people have given me.

Now, I somehow feel that Airoli is one among the many locations that suits me. Do you think it is possible to get a house (2BHK) on rent in the area for around 10k?

Please do not hesitate to correct my selection if it is wrong and suggest other areas. I m ok with any other area as well as long as it suits me.

Coming to posh localities, I m very much a middle class person who is aristocratic only when it comes to cars. For the rest, I prefer things which are unbranded, areas where I can get fresh veggies from a normal street vendor, go to a small old time movie theatre and get my chappals stitched from a footpath cobbler. I am not comfortable living in "US Style" localities where there are only malls and supermarkets to shop, only Cafe Coffee Days to eat and things like that.In fact I can very gladly live without them.

Having said the above, I presume, a normal middle class locality is sufficient for me. Please guide me in the right direction.

PS: I will not ride or drive to office so the INR 30.00 toll tax will not make a difference to me, at least regularly.

[Edsel Rulez!]

If you are not going to be driving daily, be practical. Pay around 15K for a 1BHK in Powai or Chandivali (Hiranandani would be out of your budget) and you'll get some time for yourself and (in future) for your wife. A 2BHK is overkill. I repeat -- there's NOTHING to beat the luxury of living 20 minutes from your office. Stay in far-flung Thane and you'll spend half your life commuting. I live in Andheri West and work near VT and a one-way commute (by bus and train) takes close to two hours. Can't help it because I can't afford to stay townside. Powai is still affordable. Go for it.

[amit_mechengg]

after i changed my job and relocated to mumbai i felt that i am in total mess.
the climatic conditions and mainly the traffic. so somehow revolted with my PM and decided not to stay in mumbai and instead travel to mumbai only on monday to and fro from pune.

i travel via airoli- powai -sakinaka route. my office is in logitech park sakinaka. belive me powai is jammed in office hours mainly between 9-12 and evening from 6 onwards its a hell. it takes atleast 1 hour to clear the traffic itself.

i suggest you to check out chandivali area. u will get a 2bhk in ~14k. hiranandani will be costly.

you will ruin your valuable time if you stay far away from office. after office you will never feel like crawling through the mumbai traffic.