So, same old story. I am looking for that perfect HOME here in Zurich. I am sure it is out there somewhere and hoping somewhere here on EF can help me find it.
Sob story to start - We are currently living in a 2.5room apartment with our 1yr old daughter who has taken over our bedroom and we now sleep in the lounge so we now have no living space.
As we have 1 income and dont want to spend more than a third on accommodation our budget is around 2500 month (will go over if we find something perfect). We just need something bigger but obviously I have my wish list.
1. 3.5 Rooms but would love 4.5 as we have a lot of visitors from near and far.
2. Kreis 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 (yes, willing to look further out but if we get a place outside the city of zurich it will affect the timing of the swiss naturalisation process if we choose to do this later).
3. Outside space. Balcony or Garden.
4. Lift (if above the 1st floor)
4. Dishwasher
5. Washing machine in apartment or flexible washing day.

I have used all the usual routes and spent hours and days plodding in the snow, waiting in line in the pouring rain, waking my daughter to carry her up 5 flights of stairs to view flats. I have tried all the usual things filled out forms, sent out applications, flirted, greased, pleaded and almost begged to get places (that i dont even really like) but still no luck.
Yes I am lucky we have a roof over our heads but with this horrid weather and a near-walking 1yr old I am going crazy in our 55m square apartment.

If anyone knows of any places (or knows when summer is going to arrive) please let me know.
Thanks for listening and your help
Svenca

55 square meters is not the problem, the problem is that you only have two bedrooms. In the mean time you can try to divide one of the bedrooms, the biggest one to get two separate spaces. People do it putting some furniture or oder decoration items that divide the space so you get basically two different atmospheres,

Just my 2 cents

Good luck in your search

We can recommend Adliswil It's just outside Zurich zone 10, there are slightly lower taxes than Zurich city, and it's family-friendly. The local shops are excellent, and it's a 16 minute commute into Zurich with a train every 10 minutes in peak times. The rents are lower than on the 'lake' side of the hill...

Why does this affect the naturalization process?

Actually this is incorrect (have found out recently) is harder when change of kanton.
Most "gemeinde" require you to have lived a minimum of 2 years in the same kanton before you apply for swiss citizenship. So if you are less than two years away from applying for citizenship (most people are required to live here 12 years to apply), then you should not move. Otherwise you risk having to wait at least another 2 years before you can apply for citizenship. Some "gemeinde" prefers candidates who have lived there 5 years.

And we have now found a new apartment.
Thanks to everyone who has PMed me over the last few weeks.