I am new to the Zurich area and really can't face the nightmare of searching for a place in the city so am looking outside. I work in Schlieren so thought that Afflortern am Albis looked nice and more affordable that the city centre.

Does anyone on the forum live there? Myself and my partner speak no German at all would that be a big issue?

Is there any sort of expat community there?

Any info would be VERY much appreciated

Thanks
Sophie

It's terribly naughty and I would never suggest this in anything but a whisper but if you enter Affoltern am Albis into 'WO' in www.Directories.ch you get a whole load of names - and if you think of combinations of letters which come up in English but not in German, you might find English names, like I did.
And if you are very brave you might just ask them...
Desperate situations call for drastic measures - or something like that.
The worst that can happen is that they are angry and slam the phone down or, if their phone registers your number, they could ring you back in the middle of the night. I'm well out of it as they don't know mine!

I don't live there but visit it quite a bit. I really like it and its friendly atmosphere. It has nice housing. I would consider living there, but dont live that far from it either, so I go there to shop a lot. I always, but always, notice people who speak English any time I shop. I believe I've seen it given as their location by some members of the forum. It is much nicer than Schlieren, in any case. I would hazard a guess and say it's very suitable for families, but would probably have a little bit of night life as well, or as much as you get anywhere here outside of Zurich centre?

Just wondering if anyone has recent experience living in Affoltern?

How do you find the general environment? How are the schools especially primary school quality?

I have no idea about the schools but it is a great place to live and a cute little city (the smallest city in CH, natch) with some nice restaurants. Quite convenient if you work in Zug, and a doable commute to Zurich.

The tax rate is the highest in Kanton ZH after Zurich City IIRC, but the upside to that is housing is easy to come by. I lived there briefly this fall and would live there again should my current living situation change. I think it is a great place.

FWIW I don't speak German and had no language drama there.

I live near to AaA as do a few other people on the forum. I find it a really good place to live. It is quite in International community, there are lots of ex-pats living there so the school system is used to dealing with non-german speaking kids. The shops, restaurants and bars are all good enough that you don't really have to go elsewhere everytime you venture out but if you want to go further afield than Zurich great transport links and Zug is also an easy commute. If there is anything more specific you need to know send me a PM.

I lived in Affoltern am Albis for 3 years and still live very close to it. It is a fine place, not so quiet but not loud either in terms of night life. The badi is good in the summer and links to zug and luzern are good.

Schools are also good and there is a hospital as well. My wife is from the area and didn't turn out so bad (for a Swiss...). Pretty international in terms of local residents but also not overrun with us.

For me it would be a bit too far out. What about places like Adliswil?

Thanks for all the info. I am considering buying, and Adliswil is not so close to work for me.

Stick to AAA, its a hell of a lot better than Adliswil if you are a family and looking to send kids to local schools. We couldnt get out of Adliswil fast enough. Much happier now