We have lived in Geneva for almost 5 years and are considering buying a house. However, right now we can not afford anything in Geneva (that is not right on the motorway or on the landing path of airplanes) and we are therefore considering moving to Vaud. We have 2 kids under 3 and we both work full-time in Geneva. What is it like to live in a small Swiss village? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

Well, the benefits / drawbacks depend from village to village...

Possible disadvantages:

• bad public transport (depends on where you live, if u live on top of a mountain in a 40 ppl village that is very likely, if you live 20 minutes from geneva in a 20000 ppl "village" it is unlikely though...)
• Also depending on how many ppl live in that village: Is there a school? Or do you have to drive your children to school every day? Is there a schoolbus? etc...
• Depending on how far away you are from the next bigger town: What about going out? Is there a near place to go shopping? Of course u can do ur shopping after work, but it would be quite stupid to drive half an hour just because you ran out of milk =)
• How open-minded are the ppl in that village? In the very conservative parts this could be a problem... I don't think in the French part this is the case, so just ignore that =)

Well, in the end you have to decide whether you prefer living in or ouside the city... Regardless what country...

hth, if there are any further questions, just ask^^

This is a common dilemma, and I would be brutally honest about whether you are country folk , happy to watch grass grow, or whether you need the throbbing pulse of a city. I certainly do, and would never live more than 30mins from Zürich. Even a town like Rapperswil would be pushing it for me.

Would you have lived in a village in your old-country ? If not, why not ?
From a social standpoint you will be more isolated than there, although you can be lonely while better connected...

You have two children under 3 and you both work in the city which will be a significant distance from home... how will that work...?


dave

We live in a semi rural village of around a 1000 people about 10 minutes from Zurich airport. Without transport, it would be hellish as the local bus is only once an hour, but with a car, it's no problem.

My 4 year old goes to the local kindergarten and enjoys it, whilst the 2 year old attends an English playgroup twice a week in Bulach - 10 mins away. I don't work but in the last year I have made many friends within the village and playing in the playground has helped the girls make friends. Of course with all the nature around, going for a walk in the forest is an easy way to entertain them.

One thing I would say is that the locals have taken their time to get used to the mad English family but they do all know who we are, but I suppose having 4 cats go for a walk with you does tend to make you stand out a bit.

It rather depends on what you want as the others have mentioned, but I enjoy living here and this coming from what my husband refers to as a committed townie, is something of a change. Hey I even buy my milk direct from the dairy farm and eggs from the farm shop!

Good luck in what you decide.

Hi... it pretty much depend what you are looking for....
If you have a family, a village could be nicer for a couple of reasons:
* Normally rents are cheaper and you can get bigger apartments/houses
* Safer (not that Switzerland is an unsafe place).
* Quieter

Disadvantages:
* Language could be an issue
* Shops close earlier than in town
* You may need to drive to the city for getting the things you want (food/clothes etc)
* You may cut yourself off the social life...transportation could be an issue (and once you are in a village you may not want to drive to the city and having the hassle of parking, traffic etc).
* People in villages are normally more "narrow minded"

Cheers
Max

Thanks everyone for your replies. It seems to boil down to deciding what we really want and what is best for us in the long run and this is precisely what is difficult to do. We have never lived in a village, but then these villages around Geneva are not like back home -- I mean, in most of them you don't see any farmers around. On the other hand, the places where we found houses that we liked enough to buy are either tiny (Vich, 700 people) or quite far (Rolle/Mont-sur-Rolle, 35 min drive on the motorway on a quiet Sunday), so we are not sure how it will work. But we now live in downtown Geneva with all the conveniences (walking distance to the office, shops nearby) and problems that come with it (pollution, traffic, wafer-thin walls and neighbours that complain when our children cry and a rent of 3,500 CHF). Perhaps we would know better if we tried living outside Geneva... anyone willing to swap houses for a month this summer?!

2 penneth worth from me.

I've lived in some pretty big cities, and I have now (1 year ago) bought a house in Embrach (north or Zurich). It's fantastic. I can't imagine ever moving back into a city again. The quiet relaxed atmosphere has grown on me really quick. Here's a quick list of main advantages/disadvantages I've noticed:

Advantages:

More space
Own garden
Quiet
Great neigbours
"Community Feel" - bit wishy washy this one, but everyone seems to be interested in everyone else - they look out for each other.
Country side on your doorstep
Able to paint stuff and drill holes wherever you like
Overall investment - property prices on the up (this was not a consideration in our case but is valid nonetheless).

Neutral:

Overall monthly outlay neutral
Lower mortgage than rent, but higher heating/water bills.

Disadvantages:

Longer drive to work - 20 mins rather 30 min walk/7 minute drive
Public transport not so convenient, but still pretty bloody good compared to other places I've been!
"Country Smells" - I'm not so keen on that!
Further from the "big" shops
Large capital outlay


Finally, we found it was not so easy to even get a place in the various villages we looked at. It seems most properties change hands without being published on homegate. We also found, that those places we were able to put an offer on, went VERY quickly. So there has to be something good about these villages .

Best of luck!!!