@JonJones. Asante for the post worth responding to. Let's look at it for a minute;



Number one. As always, you fail to define terms and even when they are defined for you, you seem to have a problem understanding what they all mean. We have already shown you that Runda and Muthaiga, while both nice, house two different sets of people.

Muthaiga houses the aristocracy (Kenyattas, Chandarias, Wanjigis, Njonjos and so forth)

Runda is upper middle class, just like Riverside (rentals and ownership by Embassies, upper middle class Kenyans, corporate CEOs and so on). A defunct diplomat working for the UN and renting on 1/4 acre in Runda is hardly upper class . But to you maybe he/she is.

Number two. You CANNOT go ahead INVENTING YOUR OWN DEFINITIONS of what is low density

here is one definition;

https://pinned.co.ke/arc...logy-kenyan-definition/



Since you CLEARLY HAVE NEVER BEEN TO KITENGELA, let me explain to you (for the umpteenth time) and in lay mans English, how Kitengela settlement patterns are. Think of Kitengela as being a mini version of Nairobi. It has its CBD (EPZ road to Enkare Nyama Choma joint.) All this is Kitengela core where you will find 98% of all the flats in Kitengela.The only exception to this is Milimani which is like the Westlands of Kitengela. High density apartments but catering to the middle class Kitengelans mostly. After Enkare there is a river and the famous "bridge" I have talked about a jillion times. It is easy to recognize, because that's where the trees in Kitengela start Beyond the bridge, it is ALL LOW DENSITY save for first row -commercial plots- where all the biasharas (Tarikiville Mall, Pavilion XV, Former Tuskys Chap Chap, Petrol Stations, Fruits and Beyond and now Quickmart plus so many more nest. The rest are ALL gated communities all the way to Acacia junction! And this is where the middle to upper middle classes of Kitengela all live.

To say that this area is high density is like someone who has never been to Nairobi saying Runda and Muthaiga are both high density areas because of the high rise flats in Pangani. Or that they are all high density slums because of nearby Mathare a stone's throw way . This is how ridiculous you sound.





I think you can see how ludicrous this sounds in light of my explanation above



According to who? Jon Jones who is not even in charge of Kajaiado's spatial plan ? Kitengela beyond the bridge is sparsely populated, mblathee. You can even get 50 acres to build your personal palace peke yako in Kitengela. Can you do that in Muthaiga ?



How does a city that is less than 5% fully settled, let alone developed fail before being built? Again, the ridiculousness of your statements is jaw dropping.



Your ignorance here is world-shattering
1. Who told you that Kitengela has no zoning laws?
2. What on earth do you think a controlled-development gated community is? Need I repeat that Kitengela has the highest number of gated communities per capita of all the suburbs of Nairobi Metropolitan?
3. I have told you many times. It will be EVEN BETTER than Runda. Seeing is believing. I wish you could visit from whatever slum you are living in majuu and see for yourself what's happening in Kitengela. You wouldn't spew ignorance fuaaaaaaaaaaaaa with so much confidence



Asante for acknowledging this fact Na hiyo ni mahendeleo.
Jokes aside, let me tell you something buddy.
People thought I was joking when I said Kitengela is the next big thing in Nairobi Metro 10 years ago.
Some mocked
Some cried
Some wailed
Yet the stats and evidence on the ground keeps confirming everything I said.

300 BILLION in investments is no stupid money my mblathee.

For prespective. KRA collected about 1.7 Trillon in tax revenues in FY 2020/21. Meaning about 17% of A WHOLE NATION's tax revenues were invested in a tiny little corridor of a town called Kitengela

That alone should make even the most stubborn anti-DC cretin think twice.

AND I SAY AGAIN. THE BOOM HAS NOT EVEN GOTTEN STARTED YET!

Kitengela's hinterland stretches as far as Konza City to the East, Isinya to the South and Kiserian to the West and almost none of that hinterland is currently developed yet . And remember the majority of investors and home owners beyond the bridge are mostly former Nairobi core expats, diasporans and similar investors. Mambo bado!

Sunday Afternoon in Kitengela CBD; Kitengela has Crossed the Rubicon.

Kitengela is like a beautiful woman with a terrible temper. Always alluring, addictive and attractive despite the fact that she might rub you the wrong way once in a while. Leaving her is impossible. All she needs to do is smile and bat her eyelashes and you are hooked on her once more.

A bit of a backdrop first.

In 2009 while the super-smooth and beautiful Namanga road was being built, Kitengela was one huge mess. Let us just admit this. most youngsters and recent immigrants to Kitengela have no clue that Namanga road was in terrible shape before then, considering that Kitengela is the main artery to trade with Tanzania and the SADC beyond. Now, they take Kitengela's main artery for granted as if it has always been there . That road was the game changer for Kitengela as we know it. Isitoshe, the fact that Kenha has the foresight to build murram slip roads along both sides of Namanga rd as it was being built was a brilliant move that would have far-reaching implications for Kenay's fastest growing town. I had the foresight back then to see how much of a gamechanger that road would be for the town. Back then, all Kitengela CBD had was rural looking run down single storey buildings/kiosks that were unsightly at best. Plots and buildings could easily be had for a song. Especially if you ventured further away from the town's CBD.

But back to my Sunday story.

Decided to take a walk yesterday starting at Eastmatt all the way to the strangely named Chairman Road that comes before the Chicken Inn/Creamy Inn/Pizza Inn complex and the former Kobil (now Rubis) Stage on Namanga rd. It may seem funny to many, but many middle class and above Kitengela residents hardly know their own town's CBD let alone walk through it, since they are mostly in their cars and their suburban home zones have everything. For example the new Quickmart is now walking distance to many of the most prime Kitengela gated communities, which has made driving all the way to Naivas Kitengela Mall unnecessary going forward. Then we are all very busy. Running businesses, investing, commuting to Nai Core, attending Estate improvement meetings, sending the kids to school and so on. Therefore it had been at least six months since I was last in the area, while on foot. At the intersection of Chairman and Namanga roads, I stood looking into Chairman road and was completely blown away. Reminded me very much of the vibrant Chinese markets in Shenzhen. The road is so packed, cars have difficulty passing through. Umbrella-covered street vendor stalls selling everything from underwear, to solar radios, to mangoes, to huge jikos, to hardware, to Chinese sneakers to clothing and everything in between dot the whole street.

But what struck me the most was not the hubbub of activity, but the quality of the merchants and pedestrians on that street. I have been to numerous markets in Nairobi. Gikomba for example is a royal filthy mess. Even the clients going there look weatherbeaten - no offense to them. In Kitengela, even the working class looks middle class (perhaps due to the availability of high quality mtumba?) As I slowly walked down chairman road, I found a young chap of about 22-25 years old in age, with a wheelbarrow full of sugarcane stalks that he was selling at the usual 20 bob a stalk cut up and bagged.

Curious to know his story, as he prepared a bag of the delicious cane for me, I asked him when he arrived in Kitengela (almost nobody was born here so this is a standard question), what brought him here and how he is faring economically. To my surprise, he replied in very crisp middle class English. He said he arrived about three years ago, a friend introduced him to the town, and that he was told that opportunities here are limitless. "There is also very little to no crime. Have you ever heard of anyone being lynched or robbed here?" he deadpanned. And business? "Sio mbaya," he responded, as he unfurled a THICK WAD of notes to place the 100 I had given him before giving me my change.

Further down Chairman road, I stopped to just assess the masses of humanity walking around in the area. What struck me too was the number of young women - ages 18-25 who would not look out of place in the leafy suburbs of Nairobi core. Kitengela is a very young town both in age and in the age of its population. These young lasses were busy buying things left right and centre. Clearly even if what they are buying is mtumba and low cost imported Chinese goods and living in the bedsitters and one bedrooms within Kitengela CBD, they are not starving by any stretch of the imagination. Also, in every stall and street shop, you rarely find the owners being over 35. You also hear a huge variety of languages being spoken including the strange sounding Rwandese and all the languages that represent the face of Kenya. Kitengela is as cosmopolitan as it gets.

I then started to look beyond the built up third rows in my quest to see if any slums are developing within Kitengela CBD. I could find none! All I saw was plenty of beautiful and semi beautiful apartment complexes springing up like weeds all the way down to the Kitengela/Machakos border where the state of the art Athi River SGR station nests. This is very unique and strange, because it speaks to how vibrant the working class economy in Kitengela is. I am told boda boda riders are having a field day in Kitengela due to the long distances and surging population that needs to be transported within the city. Their saccos are some of the richest in the region with some even having started housing schemes in the outskirts of the city. Surely there has to be some sort of slum in Kitengela, I thought to myself. Let's just say I walked and walked and saw nothing of the sort. In fact I was shocked at how fast the areas behind the main road are growing and how many thriving ordinary shops and businesses are operating deep within the nether regions of the Kitengela town CBD.

Eventually I ended up back past Powerstar Supermarket (which was packed to the hilt) and back on Namanga rd by the Rubis/Chicken Inn. Very little walking space due to the teeming throngs of Kitengelans doing their Sunday shopping. I noticed too that there's a HUGE new local supermarket that's recently opened on the opposite side of the road. That's Kitengela for you. You stay away for a week and come back and find three new buildings recently completed and occupied.

As the orange glow of the sun started to spatter my Kitengela evening, I couldn't help but smile at how this town has boomed since 2009.

In 2009 you could barely find a decent, clean roadside kiosk to have coffee in. Now upscale cafes including Artcaffee and so on are a dime a dozen. If taking your wife out for a dinner date, you literally can take her out to a different upscale restaurant every single day for a month and still be left with numerous new options to explore.

Bottom line, if the working classes of Kitengela are doing very well and not starving, that alone tells you that something major and serious is happening in Kenya's fastest growing town.

The wise ones will see the wisdom of investing and/or building/living here.
The naysayers will only gnash teeth when we tell them "we told you so" ten years down the line when New Runda comes of age .

NIMESEMA!!

1. We have already posted the storo hapa of how wealthy Rundans are leaving Runda for more space
2. Hata Karenites are moving to Tuala and Champaign Ridge where they can get hundreds of acres
3. Why would I jump out of the spacious, comfy, booming frying pan into the cramped, slum-surrounded fire? . HAIWESEKANI MBLATHEE.

I love Kitengela. It's the best of both worlds- rural + urban. The only place where you can be in Artcaffe having your Machiatto at 7am and within 5 minutes, you are on your 50 acre shamba on the outskirts of Kitengela town And remember this is before most have started building their palatial mansions on the land they already own that's booming in value daily

The funny thing is walking into Quickmart Kitengela is like walking into Quickmart Lavi. Same sort of middle class faces, dressing habits and tabias. Disappointing really, I was expecting something exotic like finding a shuka clad local buying a microwave.

Same deal in the homeownership/gated community associations. Nairobians tupu

https://www.businessdail...re-in-kitengela-3704650

Quickmart New Runda



Artcaffe New Runda




Kitengela hinterlands & Maasai Ostrich Farm.

Quickmart Kitengela a huge hit. I am actually shocked at how much of a hit it has been. Jamming with throngs and THRONGS of shoppers and high end cars outside.
Yet the building that houses it is not even complete yet!

Was expecting a very slow first few weeks

People from as far as Isinya, Kisaju, Athi River and surrounding areas coming in droves to shop. Walifanya hesabu (research) vizuri and I am sure they concluded what I too concluded over a decade ago about New Runda

You mean Sparkles can actually write sentences longer than one line? Na hiyo ni mahedereo.
But pray tell, where will he get the 3k from?