Who is living in the Angeles / Clark area?

[OnMyWay]

We are strongly considering moving to the Angeles / Clark area as a longer term plan.  I know we have a few members in the area and I thought that maybe you could share some of your experience with me.  Positives and negatives.  If you are in a family situation, that is most helpful.  Own or rent, and where?  Neighborhoods?  Schools?  I'm not interested in Fields Ave. experiences!  

Why the move?  I have said many times how much I love my quiet and peaceful neighborhood here on the base, and that is still true.  I hope that I can replicate that peacefulness in Clark somewhere.  The problem here in Subic Freeport is that they are developing like crazy, and like so many places in the Philippines, there is an extreme lack of planning.  Traffic problems are accelerating quickly with no expansion of the road system.  There are 1000's of new jobs being created in some new industrial parks, which is great, but nothing is done to expand infrastructure.  Add some more buses is about all I see.  This all makes Olongapo more crowded too, and they have the same issues.

Another pet peeve of many residents is the lack of beach access.  We only have a few nice beaches and they are commercialized to the max.  We are treated like tourists and the going rate is 600-650 per head at swimmable beaches.  I don't consider Baretto and that area swimming beaches.  When I moved to PH I thought I would enjoy the ocean.  It costs me around p2500 for a family day at the beach!  So why bother living in "beach" area that is not really welcoming?

The Subic ruling authorities (SBMA) don't give much time to the residential areas.  The infrastructure has not been kept up since the U.S. Navy left.  We have a neighborhood group that does help get things done, but we are more of a pain to SBMA than a priority.  Their priority is rolling in the big money from big enterprises that just make the place more ugly.

Although there are several other things to mention, lastly, for now, is the medical care.  It has always been sparse.  We never liked Baypointe Hospital (ACE) and now it has been downgraded to something less than a hospital.  They no longer can perform surgeries and no longer take Tricare for vets.  Yesterday, I went to Lourdes Hospital in Baretto where our kids were born and we still see our pedia there.  The place seems semi-deserted.  Low lights and not many staff.  Facilities are getting run down, etc.  The last major hospital is the Olongapo public hospital, James L. Gordon.  Well, it is public, so not quite what I want.

By contrast, Clark is booming in a more positive way.  Roads are expanded to keep up.  There is big money, both Federal and private, flowing into the area.  I recently have been to Medical City Clark, and it is by far better than anything in Subic.  Many docs are from the well respected hospitals in Manila and come out a few days a week.

So, next steps are to find out a lot more about housing and schools in the area.  That is where I hope members can help!

[graham59]

I lived there with my family back in the 90s and early 2000s... but a very different place now.

Certainly plenty of expat facilities though.  Some may consider it a bit 'wild west' (and potentially dangerous for foreigners), despite all the development.  You'll still be labelled as a rich sex tourist, with pockets to be picked.  

[intrepid]

1 hour ago, OnMyWay said:

We are strongly considering moving to the Angeles / Clark area as a longer term plan.  I know we have a few members in the area and I thought that maybe you could share some of your experience with me.  Positives and negatives.  If you are in a family situation, that is most helpful.  Own or rent, and where?  Neighborhoods?  Schools?  I'm not interested in Fields Ave. experiences!  

Why the move?  I have said many times how much I love my quiet and peaceful neighborhood here on the base, and that is still true.  I hope that I can replicate that peacefulness in Clark somewhere.  The problem here in Subic Freeport is that they are developing like crazy, and like so many places in the Philippines, there is an extreme lack of planning.  Traffic problems are accelerating quickly with no expansion of the road system.  There are 1000's of new jobs being created in some new industrial parks, which is great, but nothing is done to expand infrastructure.  Add some more buses is about all I see.  This all makes Olongapo more crowded too, and they have the same issues.

Another pet peeve of many residents is the lack of beach access.  We only have a few nice beaches and they are commercialized to the max.  We are treated like tourists and the going rate is 600-650 per head at swimmable beaches.  I don't consider Baretto and that area swimming beaches.  When I moved to PH I thought I would enjoy the ocean.  It costs me around p2500 for a family day at the beach!  So why bother living in "beach" area that is not really welcoming?

The Subic ruling authorities (SBMA) don't give much time to the residential areas.  The infrastructure has not been kept up since the U.S. Navy left.  We have a neighborhood group that does help get things done, but we are more of a pain to SBMA than a priority.  Their priority is rolling in the big money from big enterprises that just make the place more ugly.

Although there are several other things to mention, lastly, for now, is the medical care.  It has always been sparse.  We never liked Baypointe Hospital (ACE) and now it has been downgraded to something less than a hospital.  They no longer can perform surgeries and no longer take Tricare for vets.  Yesterday, I went to Lourdes Hospital in Baretto where our kids were born and we still see our pedia there.  The place seems semi-deserted.  Low lights and not many staff.  Facilities are getting run down, etc.  The last major hospital is the Olongapo public hospital, James L. Gordon.  Well, it is public, so not quite what I want.

By contrast, Clark is booming in a more positive way.  Roads are expanded to keep up.  There is big money, both Federal and private, flowing into the area.  I recently have been to Medical City Clark, and it is by far better than anything in Subic.  Many docs are from the well respected hospitals in Manila and come out a few days a week.

So, next steps are to find out a lot more about housing and schools in the area.  That is where I hope members can help!

Don, I feel for you and know exactly how you feel.  Your post could have been written by me or most other expats about their locations.  Maybe the only difference may be we do have good doctors and hospitals and are within 20 minutes of Alabang with all their good hospitals as well.  I think for us we are hoping to stick it out at least five more years until our daughter finishes high school.  When she is off to college we may consider a move.  Where?  Who knows.  But as mentioned before traffic is my biggest concern.  Of course the traffic is caused by most all the things you mentioned above.    Hopefully in the waiting years things may improve.  I doubt it, but hopeful.   Good luck in your search.

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, graham59 said:

You'll still be labelled as a rich sex tourist, with pockets to be picked.  

When was the last time you visited?  We go quite often and I never got that feeling.  Maybe the closest would be if I was in the mall alone and an obvious bargirl gave me the look!  99% of the time I am with my kids and we are very well received.  That being said, I never go to some area where most sex tourists would be found.

[robert k]

I could have written your post about the congestion and about Naga CamSur and I wholly sympathize. I myself am going to scout Mactan Island, yes there is traffic in Cebu, but not too bad at off peak hours and there are destinations that when you get there you don't wonder if it was worth the effort, including at least one tolerable steakhouse.

I took a look at Angeles and I didn't get the wild west vibe but I wasn't there for adult entertainment and as close as I got to that was Andy's Pies and Italian Cowboy pizza, which I would recommend both. That was 2 years ago. Traffic could be a bear there two years ago at peak times but off peak, it moved well enough, but things change.

[graham59]

Er no. I don't go there for the sex tourism either. 

I was last there last month. 

I will be there again in another couple of weeks. 

Frequent visitor.  I have many friends there, and have lived there off and on since 1991.

(I have also lived near Naga in Cam Sur). 

[TimL]

I was there last Aug with my GF and I/we didn’t have any issues either. Of course we weren’t hanging near fields or perimeter. Haha.  The mall and the infrastructure was quite nice there and I am still pondering a move from Cebu to there. The biggest issue I had there was a lack of Grab Taxi’s. I ended up just renting a car for the 10 days that we were there. Driving was a breeze for the most part. My hangup now would be in getting a drivers license as I have been here a year now so I cannot legally drive any more. 

I’m thinking about another trip there maybe next month to scout things out again. 

[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, TimL said:

I was there last Aug with my GF and I/we didn’t have any issues either. Of course we weren’t hanging near fields or perimeter. Haha.  The mall and the infrastructure was quite nice there and I am still pondering a move from Cebu to there. The biggest issue I had there was a lack of Grab Taxi’s. I ended up just renting a car for the 10 days that we were there. Driving was a breeze for the most part. My hangup now would be in getting a drivers license as I have been here a year now so I cannot legally drive any more. 

I’m thinking about another trip there maybe next month to scout things out again. 

That is good that you rented a car to get around as you would get a better feel for the area.  If you stay in the freeport, the driving is very nice.

They are building another huge hotel / mall across from SM.  I'm sure you noticed it as it is huge!

Were you able to drive around the Clark Center and Parade Grounds area?  If not, check it out next time.  Very mellow and the parade grounds look great when it is green.

Edited June 15, 2019 by OnMyWay

[TimL]

Hi OMW,

Yes, I did see that. I was wondering what it was going to be. Yes, we went all back around the airbase. Really cool. Lots of abandoned properties back in there. Kind of sad as it looked like they were pretty nice back in their hey day. Lots of nice houses up towards and past the airbase as well. I really need to get into the gated communities as that seems to be where the nice housing is. Had a heck of a time drilling down a realtor. My fault though as it was more of a whim trip then a planned out one. I will definitely plan things better this time around.  It also rained a lot while we were there so it kind of hindered us quite a bit.  That’s why I was thinking of maybe going in July rather then August this year. 

[Gary D]

2 hours ago, TimL said:

Hi OMW,

Yes, I did see that. I was wondering what it was going to be. Yes, we went all back around the airbase. Really cool. Lots of abandoned properties back in there. Kind of sad as it looked like they were pretty nice back in their hey day. Lots of nice houses up towards and past the airbase as well. I really need to get into the gated communities as that seems to be where the nice housing is. Had a heck of a time drilling down a realtor. My fault though as it was more of a whim trip then a planned out one. I will definitely plan things better this time around.  It also rained a lot while we were there so it kind of hindered us quite a bit.  That’s why I was thinking of maybe going in July rather then August this year. 

July can be very wet as well. We were in the area during a July and Manila had a metre of rain in 7 days. You need to avoid June through September.