Several questions re: life in Rakkah

1). Your initial housing assignment is for 2 years, at that time you can get on the bid list and bid on houses that come available in DHA. This can be a very long process though when you only have points for a couple of years. Also depends on how picky you are on getting the housing style you want. There are some people on the bid list that never win a bid because of them not liking the houses available or they are out bid. Your GC will give you a few more points, but there are people with lots of points on the bid list bidding against you.

2) When we went on the bus, that included time thru security checks. They do not take long. Official word is the commute is 30 to 35 minutes, time will also depend on where you need to get off for your office, they are taking people to their offices at this time. School buses will have the same time as well.

3). There are hourly shuttle buses running between Rakkah and DHA from 6 am to 10 pm. There are designated taxis in Rakkah and you will find private drivers by word of mouth after you arrive. Most Aramco expats do not hire their own personal full time driver.

4). Aramco has a Houseboy Service, their number will be on the phone list that is in your home on arrival. If you want one, you will be able to find one. It would be good to ask your neighbors who they use, they usually work for more than one family.

5). Some of the DHA self directed groups are already active on Rakkah. As the residents of Rakkah identify what they want on their compound, Aramco will work with them to provide space and equipment. Self directed group information is in your home upon arrival.

6) add the 30 mins on and it will take about 90 mins, depending on causeway time.

7). You will have all the delivery options DHA has, just probably from different restaurant locations. Dining options with in the compound will increase with population increase as the restaurants can be supported by the residents.

We also have been thinking about how wife can take kids to after-school activities, tutors, piano lessons, which are available in Dhahran. We figured out a couple of potential solutions.
(1) I could drive a car to the office and park near the bus stop. Wife will ride a bus to DHA and then drive the car to get around DHA. Or,
(2) We could also buy a cheap "camp car" which will be used to get around DHA.

Thanks vpainter and UmmRiyam....so the conclusions I can draw from your comments are:

PROS / NEUTRAL POINTS
- Bigger house and newer appliances, etc. and some marginal financial benefits (free internet, etc.)
- More food delivery options
- Pre-k school in compound
- Same travel time to Bahrain as from DHA
- Domestic help (maids, etc.) can be found

CONS
- Once you're there, likely difficult to move to DHA given new hires will have fewer bidding points to work with
- 35-40 minutes longer commute for kids to school and employee to work
- Children cannot come back for lunch from school
- DHA has a much larger EXISTING set of activities / groups; Rakkah will be all new and is going to evolve over time
- Wife cannot go to DHA activities, school, etc. except by bus. Same for return from DHA back to Rakkah. As revive suggested, perhaps there are ways around this but seem to be too much trouble
- No hospital in Rakkah

Anything else I am missing?

Additional pros & cons:

PROS
- can suggest whatever new activities / amenities you are interested in
- K-3 is available in Rakkah (currently not available in Dhahran)
- Likely stronger sense of community (much smaller camp, all residents are westerners and all have multiple kids)
- Quicker access to restaurants, groceries, Corniche in Khobar

CONS
- no gae
- no backyard fencing (as of now)
- Maybe slightly higher security risk by virtue of living in Khobar instead of the secluded Dhahran. This is probably arguable. The added risk is almost zero/negligible when everything is stable like now (or in the past several years & also the foreseeable future), so this may not be a factor for now.

I should have said "all residents are westerners", not Americans. I edited my earlier comment. Thanks.

The last count I have had is about 20, there are new hires moving in weekly. 16 of those families are families who have been here living in RT so new hires have some families who already know the ropes. From last week to mid August, unless their arrival dates change (and they do) there are 17 new families moving in, and that is just the ones I am aware of. Others are moving in also.

I have been told once in a meeting and once face to face with the Assistant To Executive Director of Community Services that Moms can ride the school bus. So I hope that is the case for you. As the community fills up and buses fill up, there will probably be a Mom bus monitor on every school bus just like there is in DHA on all the school buses.

If you had a car, your husband would be able to drive it to work, park it, and you ride the bus over and pick it up. You could probably even leave your car parked in one of the parking lots that is not monitored by time (some spots are for an hour or 30 mins). And all ride the bus each day and take your car home on the weekends or whatever you choose. Buses run from 6 am to 10 PM each day between Rakkah and DHA.

Traffic will depend on the time of day. It will be busy in the mornings with everyone going to work. Having rode the shopping buses over many years, they have never been in a major accident nor have there been any security issues that I know about or ever heard rumor of.
I haven't heard any issues with the school buses who have been going to the British School and Dhahran High School for many years. There are buses that go to that campus when needed from all the compounds, and some have very long commutes.

Welcome to Aramco!