My husband has accepted a position in Altstetten, Zurich and we will be moving from Cambridge, MA USA in mid-May. His company will be re-locating to Basel in January 08.

We have considered several housing options (living in the middle, moving directly to Basel, temporary housing in Zurich [very expensive] etc.). My preference is to live in Zurich, since we have a 10 month old son and I would like to be able to get out and meet other moms, be near cafes, the lake, people....

Do you have any suggestions as to what would be the best approach on handling such living arrangements? We've looked on homegate.ch but have no sense of how long leases last, or if there is a way to opt out after 6 months.

Thanks,
Sandra

In Basel, there are people with kids, who are mothers. Surprisingly, we also have cafes and people, and while there's not a lake, there is the Rhein.

You're probably better of settling where your husband's job will be, rather than where it is now. A few months of commuting for him will be easier than the Zurich apartment hunt, followed by a Basel hunt just a few months later - at a time when people don't normally move (Christmas/year end/general winter)

If you go to where you'll be settling, you'll also build up a support network, rather than start to forge friendships only to leave a couple of months later.

My vote would be to live closest to where he works. There is lots to do in either location. Here are two Yahoo groups that you might be interested in where you can ask questions about living in Basel and Zurich as a family...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BaselParenting

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Families-in-Zurich