well, ive lived most of my life in khobar and ive been working in doha for almost 2 years now. I would say that if you have a family, it would be better to stay in khobar. the cost of living there is a lot less expensive than here in doha. u could get a really nice house there and its yearly rent is worth a month's rent here. khobar is actually really nice and a good place to raise a family, Dharhan Academy is a really good school too, most of my friends went to school there. The malls are better and bigger there too and they have almost everything that you might need and almost every restaurant you could think of. As for recreation, well there is aramco, almost everyone there is american and they have a huge recreational facility. the only downside is, well of course, there are no clubs there, u only get to go to private parties which isnt so bad anyways. About safety, well, i feel like saudi is a safer place to live in than doha, the crime rate there is almost 0...although they probably just dont make it public...khobar is definitely a better place to live in if u have a family, its easier to save money there too. :-P