West Coast, Singapore

West Coast is a HDB town estate in Singapore. The HDB estate was built on part of the reclaimed land. It was completed in the 1980s. As of 2008, the town is under West Coast Town Council, and it is part of Clementi. A shopping centre named Ginza Plaza is located here, but was closed in 2007 for upgrading and will be ready in Sept 2008 [http://blog.hotvictory.com/2007/11/20/singapore-ginza-plaza-to-get-26m-facelift/] and [http://www.singaporepropertywatch.com/property/ginza-plaza-to-get-26m-facelift ] which will be renamed as West Coast Plaza. However, the contractor has not finished their work till now. Before the upgrading, the major occupants were McDonald, KFC and ShopNSave. Far East will try to get these tenants back when they reopen. Far East also hopes to attract residents living in the West, who are generally have higher salaries than residents in other parts of Singapore. A recent study by Knight Frank showed the West has a higher proportion of private housing (about 30 per cent) than the island-wide residential mix (about 18 per cent). Moreover, the major occupants of these private houses are Professors and Lecturers from National University of Singapore. This group of highly educated residents recently become more concentrated in West Coast of Singapore. Also, nine or more new private residential developments within 2km of West Coast Plaza are expected to be completed around the same time as the mall.

Currently, all HDB prenincts in West Coast are under LUP and IUP-Plus Upgrading Programme, which will also be completed in 2009.

History

Before any development was built, West Coast is mostly a swamp, and the coastline was along the present day West Coast Road. There were some kampungs settled along the shorelines. But when the Singapore Government decides to develop this area, the swamp was reclaimed and the land was also reclaimed to extent to the present day Pasir Panjiang Port Terminal. Old people who lived in West Coast said that HDB blocks were built first; before the port terminal and factories, they could see the beautiful shorelines.

Transport

There are feeder services looping at West Coast from Clementi Bus Interchange:
*SBS Transit Loop Services
**282 - Loops at Clementi West Street 2/West Coast Road
**285 - Loops at Pandan Loop; but it passes through West Coast Road.

In addition, the following bus services pass through parts of West Coast:
*SBS Transit
**30 (Boon Lay Bus Interchange to Bedok Bus Interchange)
**51 (Hougang Central Bus Interchange to Jurong East Bus Interchange)
**78 (Jurong East Bus Interchange to Clementi MRT Station - Loop)
**97 (Jurong East Bus Interchange to Marina Centre Bus Terminal)
**97e (Jurong East Bus Interchange to Colleyer Quay) (Fast Forward Service)
**143 (Jurong East Bus Interchange to Toa Payoh Bus Interchange)
**166 (Clementi Bus Interchange to Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange)
**175 (Clementi Bus Interchange to Lorong 1 Geylang Bus Terminal)
**196 (Clementi Bus Interchange to Bedok Bus Interchange
**197 (Jurong East Bus Interchange to Bedok Bus Interchange)
**198 (Boon Lay Bus Interchange to Bukit Merah Bus Interchange)
**532 (Clementi Avenue 4 to Fullerton Road) (Premium Service)
**533 (Teban Gardens to Fullerton Road) (Premium Service)
**9N (Marina Centre Bus Terminal to Taman Jurong) (Night Service)

*SMRT Buses
**176 (Bukit Panjang to Bukit Merah)
**188 (Choa Chu Kang to HarbourFront Bus Interchange)
**189 (Bukit Batok Bus Interchange to Kent Ridge Bus Terminal)
**963 (Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange to Habourfront Bus Interchange)
**963E (Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange to Habourfront Bus Interchange) (Express Service)

*IMM Shuttle services
** IMM - Clementi MRT/West Coast Hawker Centre (Loop)

The nearest station to West Coast is Clementi MRT Station, which can be accessed by bus services 189, 282, 78, or 175. In 2010, The Circle Line West Coast MRT Station, CC25, will be opened, Despite the name, the station is located far away from the actual town of West Coast.

Education

West Coast has many primary and secondary schools.
*Primary Schools
**Jin Tai Primary School(Closed; Merged with Qifa Primary School in 2008)
**International School
**Qifa Primary School

*Secondary schools
**Kent Ridge Secondary School
**Clementi Woods Secondary School(Formerly Jin Tai Secondary School)
**Tanglin Secondary School
**The Japanese School (Secondary)

Recreation

West Coast has a Community Centre for sports, and The Clementi Stadium (capacity 4,000) and West Coast Recreation Centre are located near West Coast Road and can be seen from the Ayer Rajah Expressway. West Coast Park and Clementi Woods are situated at walkable distance from West Coast.

ee also

*Clementi
*Ginza Plaza
*Jurong East
*West Coast Park