"Riyadh- My Current Home town" a Riyadh Travel Page by asimk

I have been living in Riyadh for the last four years or so ..... it wasnt my choice but my work brought me here and first few months were really bad but now now I have got used to it or rather I should say that I am enjoying my life here.

You make good money here and all is tax free, then living in a compound is like as if you are living in a resort with all the facilities. So what else do you need ? thus I have been enjoying every bit of my stay here.

I guess I should talk about Riyadh now, So in the past 25 years Riyadh has, like many other Middle East cities, exploded into a modern, vibrant commercial centre with many Western characteristics. This rapid growth can also be reflected in the population, which has boomed from 667,000 in 1974 to more than 5 million today. In many ways, it resembles a modern american city, with motorways & flyovers, international hotels, high-rise blocks & neon-blazing shopping malls. The skyline is dominated by two new skyscrapers: the Kingdom Trade Centre, which is the tallest at 300 m, & the well-established Al Faisaliah tower. Both towers are situated between the parallel King Fahad highway & Olaya St. Further south the city is dominated by the UFO-style Ministry of Interior, the adjacent Ministry of Public Works & the STC building.

The City is bounded by a ring road, which comprises the King Fahad Highway on the West Side, the Airport to Al Kharj Rd on the East Side, the newer Dammam Rd to the north & the Old Makkah Rd to the south. The King Fahad highway bisects the city; the main commercial area is dominated by the intersection of this with the Makkah Rd & Dammam Rd (aka Khurais Rd). To the east of Al Kharj Rd is a rapidly developing vast area as large as the main city, comprising a mixture of housing & commercial interests.

The Old City of Dirah & the burgeoning commercial centre of Al Batha are to the south, bounded by Al Washem St to the north & Tariq bin Ziyad/Al Raes St to the south. The separation of Dirah & Batha is not very clear, but King Faisal St may be considered the boundary. The two well-known landmarks of the Water Tower & the 30-storey circular Khozam building dominate Dirah. Al Batha is the place for finding cheap bargains of any imaginable artefact or appliance & where almost anything can be made to order. It comprises a maze of old buildings & stalls, many without air-conditioning & intersected by very narrow alleyways.

The best shopping area for quality merchandise is centred on the fashionable Olaya & Sulemaniah districts. The major banks are almost all migrating northwards from their former locations & the head offices are all to be found in the Olaya & Sulemaniah districts. The best known hotels are in the same area, with a few exceptions such as the Minhal Holiday Inn & the Hyatt Regency.

There are no main residential areas since houses & compounds are to found in every district of the city. The plushest neighbourhoods for the super rich include the areas of Nasriya, Al Ma’ather & Umm Al Hammam, full of imposing walled mansions & gleaming white palaces.