Sri Hartamas

Sri Hartamas ("Glowing Estates" in English) or Taman Sri Hartamas (translation 'Glowing Estates Park') is a residential suburban neighborhood in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sri Hartamas is located in Kuala Lumpur, under jurisdiction of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur. The zip/postal code is 50480.

Location, Area Description and Demographic

Sri Hartamas has a geographical advantage; located very close to the entrance of two major expressways that link the city with the surrounding suburbs. See New Klang Valley Expressway and Damansara-Puchong Expressway. The travel time to anywhere in the Klang Valley area, as a result is surprisingly short, even during rush hour.

Sri Hartamas's most prized feature is the greenery and isolation. It is surrounded by a hill range that dots the Klang Valley, giving the area an isolated country feel, despite being only 15 minutes away from the center of Kuala Lumpur. The country feel, coupled with the easy transportation access via car, has made it a magnet for the up and coming, young professional, Malaysian upper middle classes. The neighborhood has a manicured esthetic, with a park like feel, something the area residents guard.

Residents of the neighborhood participate in the resident's association. In years past, the association has hired a private security firm to patrol the area. The isolation of Sri Hartamas and the surrounding area made it prey to crime for a while, though this is not so prevalent today.

The homes in Sri Hartamas consists of townhouses, adjoining semi detached homes and small town bungalows. Built by a Malaysian developer in the 80s, the streets are strangely wide, compared to other areas. The wide streets turned out to a boon for multi car households that live in the area with limited garage space when the neighborhood went through a renaissance period.

1990s Renaissance

Sri Hartamas gained considerable popularity as a desired neighbourhood during the Asian boom of the mid 1990s. Prior to that, the belief by Malaysians was that the neighborhood was too isolated, with little to no infrastructure in the area. With no grocer in the neighborhood at the time, a pint of milk was a 15 minute drive away. As the demand for quality housing in Kuala Lumpur increased, this soon became irrelevant.

Indeed, easy transportation access by virtue of being close to the expressways, proved to be Sri Hartamas's saviour. Other developments in the area followed. Down the street, a huge condominium project, "Mont Kiara", soon took off.

Mont Kiara as well as Sri Hartamas quickly became very popular, not only with the Malaysian young professionals, but also with expatriate families, who hail mostly from Australia, Japan, Britain and Europe.

The extra security and the two international private schools in Sri Hartamas that opened at this time made the area a boon for expatriate families. Sri Hartamas, circa 1996-1999 became an international neighbourhood, with residents originating from different countries.

Americans as well as single expatriates on the contrary tended to prefer living in nearby Bangsar, another neighborhood closer to restaurants, clubs, bars and shopping malls.

ri Hartamas Today

The isolation and greenery of Sri Hartamas, with easy access to anywhere; the trademark of the area, gave away some of it’s luster when access to a 3rd expressway that links the area with the rest of Kuala Lumpur opened. See Sprint Expressway.

Changes post-1990s boom

Another development followed, this time bringing some of the infrastructure that Sri Hartamas initially lacked: restaurants, shops, bars and as well as an outdoor Malaysian style food bazaar. Much of the shops and pricing cater to the relatively affluent and expatriate demographic of the area.

Upscale Amenities and Conveniences

For Malaysia, the area conveniences reflect the demographic, a sharp contrast to other areas of Kuala Lumpur: A nursery in Sri Hartamas, aside from childcare, offers introductory classes in French. There is a disproportionate number of Japanese and Korean restaurants in Sri Hartamas, catering to the large number of Japanese now living in nearby Mont Kiara.

Amenities nearby include: 2 golf courses, a country club, a very "posh" health club and spa, several American chain stores and other conveniences, such as being within 20 minutes delivery of Pizza Hut or Dominos.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure here is excellent, with developed country utility services and operating standards (i.e Wired telephone, electricity & broadband internet) and services (i.e trash collection). Prior to 1995, due to the terrain of the area, mobile phone coverage here on certain operators in Sri Hartamas was spotty at best. Today, all mobile phone carriers have base stations throughout the neighborhood, with excellent coverage.

Changing Area

Little of the greenery and isolation remains and hence Sri Hartamas is not as quiet as it used to be. The traffic influx as well as other new developments nearby has brought an increasing number of people to the area. Through some of its isolation is gone, the young Malaysian professionals that initially moved into the area stayed on.

However, the expatriate community that once lived here in large numbers dwindled after the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-1999, when people moved back to their home countries. The area continues to be popular with expatriate families, particularly those with children.

Though no reliable census exists, there is a healthy balance in the number of residents from the different Malaysian ethnic groups in Sri Hartamas, with no obvious majority group, unlike other parts of Malaysia.

In terms of night life Sri Hartamas is now a small, vibrant community. Of particular interest is the wide range of restaurants and bars that have developed around the shopping area in Desa Sri Hartamas. Whilst there are some western style ex pat bars there is also a good food court and a multitude of Korean, Japanese, Thai and Malaysian restaurants.

ri Hartamas on TV

Sri Hartamas was featured on the American CBS series, "Amazing Race" in April 2007. The contestants who were in Kuala Lumpur at the time, were asked to roam the neighbourhood soliciting "surat khabar lama" (malay), or "old newspapers" for recycling.

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