Eastwood City versus The Fort, Global City (Fort Bonifacio)

Eastwood City or Eastwood

I live in Eastwood City so my opinion may be biased. I've also spend a lot of time at The Fort.

The main advantage of Eastwood City is that everything is so close. You can walk anywhere is Eastwood City and it is within 5 minutes walk. And if you don't want to walk they have a shuttle service for 11 hours on most days that will take you around which is nice when its raining and you forgot your umbrella.

Now with the new upscale Eastwood Mall open there are many brand name shops available. Along with the great shopping are at least 20 unique restaurants. Many of these restaurants can be found in other high end areas in Manila however.

City Walk I and II offers even more restaurants usually slightly lower in price. Cybermall offers the least expensive food on the 3rd floor.

Eastwood also offers a medical clinic, dental services, many salons and massage areas, laundry service, water service. Almost everything you would need EXCEPT a grocery store. However, a new grocery store will soon open (we heard its a Rustans) within the next year. For the most part you would never have to leave Eastwood if you don't want to. The nearest hospital, Medical City is about a ten minute drive away with no traffic, but if you need to go the wrong time of day it can take thirty minutes. Lots of good international schools nearby and certainly one to meet your needs.

There is a Shop Wise Grocery within 10 minute walk of Eastwood. However, I can not recommend walking at night and even during the day its can be dicey for someone who looks obviously like an expat and is nervous about walking about in a third world country. For me, I'm okay but still keep my eyes open. Plus there is always security working and watching in front of the retail establishments you'll be walking in front of on the way to Shop Wise.

Taking a cab is about a 15 minute drive. Why longer? Because of the crazy U-turn system for traffic here you can't actually make a left hand turn on C-5 toward Eastwood or getting into Shop Wise either. Instead you must make 2 U-Turns that more thats more than double the walking distance. If you hit traffic just getting there can take 30 minutes by car. The return trip is cake- only about 5-10 minutes.

Safety feels better at Eastwood. There is security everywhere. Really. I've only been approached once by a group of boys begging for money and that after living here for 10 months. However, safety is not bad in The Fort, its just so open that it somehow feels less secure. But you do see joggers, including female joggers, at all hours of the night getting their workouts in so I guess the residents must feel very safe there also.

There are quite a number of places where there are safety hazards in Eastwood. Electrical wires are often just draped across common traffic areas. Underground access areas sometimes have cracked pavement or worse there's an open hole in a sidewalk area with no warning that did not get fixed for months. In many areas sidewalks go from a few meters wide to one meter wide for no apparent reason. This gives Eastwood a cramped city feeling to me. Many surfaces are slick when wet. Drainage in some areas was not properly designed. Many sidewalk are at up to a 30% angle, and if front of The Excelsior it is not only angled but also painted making it a huge safety hazard. All these things add up to some bad design decisions made somewhere along the line. I suspect it was done to save some costs somewhere but it really does affect the overall feel of the city. Compare this to The Fort which does NOT have any of these design flaws. Its almost as if the designer of The Fort saw the mistakes that Eastwood City made and decided not to repeat them.

A park was supposed to be where the Dell building currently is located. The park was promised to all residents of Eastwood City and was an important selling point when they were considering to purchase here. Megaworld decided to later build a huge building there instead. I've heard from more than one resident that they would be interested in signing on to a class action lawsuit against Megaworld this significant change from what had been promised. As a result, Eastwood is mostly a concrete jungle. It does have some greenery but just a few trees and bushes here and there. Also, most condo units do have a private area where you can go for swimming and an outdoor experience so it is not all bad.

Given all that there are a lot of grounds people who do their best to keep things clean, and in general Eastwood is spotless. But still I've been walking there are see doggie doo sitting in the same place for days without being cleaned up. Dogs are allowed almost everywhere inside Eastwood including most stores. However, left over dog poop is quite rare.

If you live here you are forced to use Destiny cable and internet. The signal is so bad for cable the image is actually fuzzy. Only one DSL option is available which is adequate, but often goes down. And when calling Destiny Cable they say they are sending someone and then don't. Basically their customer service is terrible. Like unbelievably terrible- never seen anything like it anywhere in the world. But its your only choice. I wonder why Eastwood City would allow this us to have only one choice?

An unfurnished studio apt about 36 sqm (or 380 square feet) goes for about 12-15k Pesos in Eastwood. In The Fort the same goes for 20-25k Pesos. Both are extemely cheap compared to USA prices, but over a year period can add up to some significant savings by going with Eastwood. Of course larger units are available and both have similar pricing differences.

So there are pros and cons to Eastwood City. See the bottom for our conclusions. Now for The Fort....


Global City, The Fort or Fort Bonifacio.

Most of Manila's expats live in and around Makati and The Fort (part of Makati technically). Walking around you see a lot more expats in The Fort. High Street shopping area is really the nicest shopping experience around. Its wide open and spacious with many fountains and lots of green grass. This is in contrast to Eastwood which often has too narrow sidewalks for the number of people walking around.

Upon visiting the High Street area you would never know you are in Metro Manila. It feels more like you're in some posh high end suburban outdoor mall common around Los Angeles in cities like Brea, Westlake Village, Chino Hills etc..

Then going into Market Market (or if you're texting Market2) you'll get an indoor mall experience. This is the lower end shopping experience but still lots of nice shops and usually very crowded. There is also a movie theater along with all the usual mall stores. There is a large small store area including many fresh veggies and fruits which you will not find at Eastwood. There is also a large grocery store.

If you live in Global City you definitely need to have a car. You could live comfortably in Eastwood without a car except if you need to go to the grocery.

You also have scale differences. The Fort has what I guess to be the biggest bookstore in the Philippines, Fully Booked. It is 4 floors and very similar to a Borders or Barnes and Nobles Superstore in the USA, but BIGGER! This is not saying their selection of books are better however. For example I've found their business and computer sections lacking compared to even small USA book superstores. In Eastwood there is also a Fully Booked but 10% the size of the one if The Fort. Still a nice selection, but nothing compared to The Fort location.

The Fort still has a long way to go in its development. There are huge areas of land just waiting for new development there. With the recent world economic crisis it seems that plans for many of the high end developments have been put on hold. But still there is much yet to be done in The Fort and probably a lot that I am simply not aware of.

But never living in The Fort I guess there are many things that I am missing. I'm hoping that someone living there can fill in some of the blanks and offer more perspective on life there.

And the WINNER is......
That's a tough one. Really. It depends on what you want. Both have a lot to offer, and both have downfalls.

Eastwood feels much more like a community than Global City. Its tight and compact and convenient with some flaws. But still overall a very nice and comfortable place to live. Eastwood is kind of isolated though. Once outside the safe walls of Eastwood you're faced with the heavy traffic on C-5 during the busy times of day a good one hour drive to get to the Fort, and even longer to get to central Makati. That's all for about a 5 mile drive! And if its raining forget it- traffic grinds to a halt.

Global City is better for the expat who wants to be close to the heart of Manila. Its closer to the airport. Its very close to "old" Makati and the huge array of businesses catering to expats and the rich there. But my perspective is really biased. I have not lived there so there really is so much I don't know about Global City. Residents of Global City please respond!

Personally I like being able to walk to everywhere I want to go. Parking is often a big hassle in the Philippines (not enough and double parking) and even in The Fort you have to pay for your parking anywhere you go. Living in Eastwood kind of reminds me of a cross between living in Manhattan and Tokyo. Many of the stores are similar or the same as you'd find in upscale Manhattan and good local stores too. Its similar to Tokyo in that it is very clean overall and very safe (Manhattan is neither). Its funny that most of my friends in the states first question is "Is it safe?". My answer is that you are more safe in Eastwood City than anywhere in Los Angeles. This along with the cost savings (I have a bigger unit here so my cost savings over The Fort are about 40,000 Pesos per month for a comparable unit) I have to take Eastwood City.

But if you want more of a "western" lifestyle I would recommend The Fort. Most Americans at least are addicted to their cars so wont' mind driving everywhere in The Fort. Also, its closer to all the Western amenities that you are used too. Both are great places to live for expats from anywhere. Most people really would be shocked at how great it is to live in the Philippines and in my opinion actually have a better standard of living and a fraction of the cost of a similar living situation in most other countries around the world.