Thomson is a relatively narrow area stretching from

Novena A novena (from , "nine") is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pentecost, when the ...

in the Central Region of Singapore up north till

Sembawang Sembawang ( ) is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, residential town located in the North Region, Singapore, North Region of Singapore. Sembawang planning area is bordered by Simpang to the east, Mandai to t ...

. The area is mainly located within the central catchment area where some of Singapore's reservoirs are located, including

MacRitchie Reservoir MacRitchie Reservoir is Singapore's oldest reservoir and was the first water supply system implemented in Singapore. The reservoir was mostly completed in 1867 by impounding water with an earth embankment, and was then known as the Impounding ...

Upper Peirce Reservoir Upper Peirce Reservoir ( Chinese: 贝雅士蓄水池上段) is Singapore's fourth reservoir. The 6-hectare Upper Peirce Reservoir Park overlooks the Upper Peirce Reservoir. History Originally known as the Kallang River Reservoir, Singapore's sec ...

and

Lower Peirce Reservoir The Lower Peirce Reservoir (Simplified Chinese, Chinese: 贝雅士蓄水池下段 Malay language, Malay: ''Takungan Air Lower Peirce'') is one of the oldest Water reservoir, reservoirs in Singapore. It is located near MacRitchie Reservoir and Up ...

Etymology

''Thomson'' was named after its namesake road, Thomson Road. Previously known as Seletar Road, this road was subsequently renamed "Thomson Road" named after

John Turnbull Thomson John Turnbull Thomson (10 August 1821 – 16 October 1884) was a British civil engineer and artist who played an instrumental role in the development of the early infrastructure of nineteenth-century Colonial Singapore, Singapore and New Zealan ...

, a government

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

who also helped to lay this road.Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), ''Toponymics – A Study of Singapore Street Names'', Eastern Universities Press,

Housing

The convenient location, due as its proximity and the ease of access to the Central Area, popular schools, parks and other parts of Singapore; combined with an

aesthetic Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,'' , acces ...

environment that is near forest and

reservoirs A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of water, interrup ...

tends to make property prices in the area significantly higher than other parts of Singapore. Due to this fact, a large number of condominiums can be found in Thomson as well. These include the likes of Meadows@Peirce, Thomson Grove, Lattice One, Adana@Thomson, Peirce View, Flame Tree Park and Thomson Grand. Private

housing Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...

makes up the bulk of the housing in Thomson with a modicum of HDB flats and

shophouse A shophouse is a building type serving both as a residence and a commercial business. It is defined in the dictionary as a building type found in Southeast Asia that is "a shop opening on to the pavement and also used as the owner's residence ...

s. The low rise housing in the area is notable and this stretches from MacRitchie Reservoir to the Peirce Reservoirs, consisting of neighbourhoods like the Thomson Ridge area, the Little Canada area and Venus drive, and goes up to Jalan Rebana and passing through the junction of Ang Mo Kio towards Seraya Crescent, Nemesu Avenue, Casuarina Road and Jalan Leban, arching at the Thomson Hills and Happy Park areas and culminating at the Teacher's Estate which lies along Yio Chu Kang road.

Infrastructure

Transportation

The area also contains one of the oldest roads in Singapore, which is also one of the longest and tends to be a vital link from the northern part of Singapore to the Central Area and the

Downtown Core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with two integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive buil ...

, as well as the rest of the island. The road is split into two lengths, Thomson Road, and

Upper Thomson Road Thomson Road is a major trunk road linking Singapore's central business district with the northern suburban areas of the country. The road is one of the longest in Singapore, starting from Novena in the south towards MacRitchie Reservoir, before ...

. Along

, there is also the Upper Thomson MRT station that runs along the Thomson–East Coast Line.

Recreation

There is a variety of popular food establishments, such as

roti prata Roti canai, or roti prata (in Singapore), also known as roti chanai and roti cane, is a flatbread dish of Indian origin found in several countries in Southeast Asia, especially Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. It is usu ...

shops, cafes, bars, and eateries, along the main road which runs through the area.

References