Well that all depends where you park it. Sorry - have to jump in here. Reasonable summers - well the last 2 were absolute rubbish. Depends what you are used to - if you come from a country where summer happens on a single weekend in the year - agreed. Great winter sports - agreed. Very clean: sorry - can't agree on that one, I find it quite dirty - but again it depends on what you are used to. High salaries - you've probably noticed that salaries haven't been on the move for quite some time. On my recent visit to Australia I found that people who do the same sort of work as you and I now have exactly the same salary level there as they do here. In the case of the US every time I've done the comparison salaries in the US have been higher for my type of work. Taxes - another myth - and it depends what you compare it to. People love to point to the taxes in nordic countries and say that Swiss taxes are low. Switzerland is actually pretty much in the middle when it comes to the tax burden on the average person compared with all other OECD countries, of course if you are very rich then this is another story...Last point - crime - yes and no. Ask a policeman in Zurich what they think of the crime rate... It all depends where you live, in many parts of the US you leave your door unlocked, but in other parts you probably get your entire door stolen.. I've got my 2002 edition of the economist "pocket world in figures" in front of me and Denmark ranks number 1 (worst) for theft and Switzerland number 7. Mind you there is a note warning the reader than crime statistics often depend on the efficency of the reporting systems of the country and the policeforce.. The UK isn't even on the list and we all know that anything that isn't nailed down in the UK is fair game, especially up north :-)

Ok - sorry that had nothing to do with short term work permits - just another point of view.