Drawing open the curtains of a modern highrise apartment to reveal a gleaming skyline across the river is how the day begins here for many Hồ Chí Minh City (HCMC) residents.
After grabbing a latte and pastry from one of the numerous bakeries and convenience shops surrounding their Thảo Điền apartment complex, it's a convenient commute via metro or highway into District 1, the city’s hub for not only business but also shopping and world-class culinary experiences. Meanwhile, in District 7’s Phú Mỹ Hưng neighborhood, students are sitting for advanced lessons at the many universities and international schools that prepare diverse student bodies for globally integrated futures. These three neighborhoods, in particular, exemplify the sophisticated lifestyles, habits, and opportunities of Vietnam’s residents in 2025.
Thảo Điền: A Convenient Neighborhood to Play and Sleep
Until 2008, a single bridge serviced District 2, a once-neglected section of the expanding city. Since then, two large bridges, an underwater tunnel, and a metro system have opened, supporting a boom in the construction of apartments highrises, and luxury homes in the Thảo Điền neighborhood. These residences cater to families and individuals who want to live somewhere that offers convenient access to the city center along with a peaceful environment filled with international amenities.
Residents in Thảo Điền’s many apartment complexes and villas with English names and foreign design firms enjoy a bevy of modern amenities including pools, gyms, BBQ areas, cleaners, and security guards. Individual units reflect the latest trends in decor and technology, with smart climate, security, and appliance systems operating alongside unique art and design objects. Their high-quality construction, often by foreign firms, combined with the distance from the streets allows for silent views of the thrumming city beyond.
Thảo Điền and adjacent An Phú have earned a reputation as an enclave for wealthy locals and foreign residents in HCMC, in part because of the housing, but also because of the entertainment, shopping, art, and athletics available in the area. Climbing walls, pickleball courts, fitness gyms with cold plunge pools, children’s gymnasiums, chic fashion boutiques, animal hospitals, salons, spas, art galleries, cocktail bars, and high-end restaurants specializing in cuisines from around the globe all satisfy residents while compelling weekend visits from those living throughout HCMC. Upscale grocery stores with imported brands; Japanese, American, and Korean convenience store chains; and international schools and daycares mean that unless one works outside of Thảo Điền, there is little need to ever leave.
Even if rarely essential, trips out of District 2 are incredibly easy thanks to a diverse and efficient transportation system. The previously mentioned bridges and tunnel accommodate a greatly increasing number of personal cars as well as electric buses, motorbikes, and ride-share vehicles. In addition to the city center, people frequently head in the opposite direction to the factories and industrial parks located in Thủ Đức and Bình Dương where they regularly work in management positions. Most excitedly, in late 2024, HCMC's first metro opened with stops in Thảo Điền and An Phú. Clean, quick, and affordable, the transportation milestone means many District 2 residents are within a short walk and worry-free ride from the center of District 1.
District 1: The Stylish Center Where People Work and Shop
Aptly named District 1 has long been the economic, administrative, and aesthetic heart of HCMC. A glance at its neon skyline confirms its position as the center of southern Vietnam’s economy. The many neon skyscrapers house various national and international companies working across industries as well as co-working spaces and small offices that nurture the city’s young, entrepreneurial spirit.
Tucked in the shadows of the modern behemoths are Michelin-recognized restaurants that serve innovative fusion delicacies as well as tradition-driven local fare. Some residents can recall a time when “going into the city” was synonymous with going to District 1, in large part because of its premier shopping opportunities. Today, it’s the place for globally-revered brands, particularly in its prominent shopping malls. Foreign clothing chains and luxury fashion items, beauty supplies, electronics, and technology products all attract shoppers who prioritize quality and prestige at any cost.
When making a purchase in District 1, be it for a bowl of wagyu phở, a Prada bag, or a jar of imported cherry jam, it's likely done cashless. The popularity of cash and even ATM cards is on a sharp decline as payment apps and bank transfers become ubiquitous. Such a transition to digital transactions reflects the country’s embrace of technology and the ease with which mobile devices are being integrated into lifestyles.
When District 1’s grid-pattern streets were first devised by the French, they were arranged to prioritize arrivals to the city by boat. A lot has changed in the subsequent centuries. Now District 1 is connected to other areas in the city and regions beyond via an ever-expanding network of highways supported by ambitious bridge projects. Transportation is a frequent focus of development plans so proposed metro and bus lines, a high-speed railway, a new international airport expanded water taxi stations, and a port project aim to further transform the ways people enter and exit District 1 in the coming decades.
Phú Mỹ Hưng: An Area Planned for Study and Innovation
HCMC's transportation infrastructure advances have helped make District 7, once a distant swampland, much closer. Such accessibility has helped the Phú Mỹ Hưng neighborhood thrive. Laid out in 1993 as a joint venture between a Taiwanese company and the city, the planned area is rightfully praised as a model urban area thanks to its designated sections for specific purposes including technology and financial industry, commerce and distribution work, residential needs, and education.
Phú Mỹ Hưng and its surroundings’ reputation as a leader in thought and innovation is bolstered by its numerous universities including a branch of The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT); and Vietnam’s first liberal arts institution, Fulbright University; as well as campuses for Văn Hiến University and Tôn Đức Thắng University. The area’s embrace of academics is further enhanced by its many international primary and secondary schools that cater to foreign and local families with graduates attending some of the top universities around the world.
Because of its thriving education, business, and technology profile and clean, comfortable layout, Phú Mỹ Hưng is an ideal place to live, with all the facilities to match. Much like Thảo Điền, modern high-rise apartments and homes cater to affluent families as supported by shopping malls, parks, and a plethora of entertainment activities.
Longtime HCMC residents may watch the metro with a proud HCMC logo emblazoned on its glides overhead and feel as if they are in a surreal dream. After so much anticipation, it’s difficult to comprehend it's a reality. For those who have lived here for decades, the city’s current education opportunities, business ventures, and international lifestyles would have once seemed similarly fantastical. But as Thảo Điền, District 1, and Phú Mỹ Hưng represent, this modern, vibrant present is very much a reality.
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