HI guys,

I'm moving from Dublin to Zurich beginning of October and I need to choose which flat get (in case I'll be lucky) between 3 locations: one in Bulach (close to train station), the second in Wallisellen (close to tram) and the third in Kloten. All the same specs.. I'll be moving with my wife nad my 5 months old baby. All of them are easy to commute to city I guess, we will have a car soon and I'll work in Oerlikion and my wife shortly in zurich north/east as well.

Just need your precious advice in terms of which can be the most expatriates and child friendly area....

Thanks a lot!!!!
cheers
tom

Welcome, We moved to Wallisellen in January. So far we really like the area. It is close to the train station, airport, shopping (Glattzentrum) and soon the Glattbahn tram line. 10 min by bus to the airport. 2 min by train from Oerlikon, 10 min by train to Zurich HB. There are some nice play areas for the kids. A fair sized forest with walking/running trails nearby. Our daughter goes to the international school here (International School Switzerland Zurich North) All in all we find it a very easy village to live in. Not near as noisy as Kloten with the airplanes. Hope this helps.

Hi buddy,

The flats i've seen in Kloten are of good size and good price, but the (big) problem is that Kloten is directly under the flight path of some pretty big planes.

I wouldn't sign for anything in Kloten until you've seen the place and heard for yourself how loud the planes are.

Since your child is young, i don't think you'll want him/her waking up in the late night or early mornings due to aircraft noise.

On the other hand, i did see quite a few families with young children in that area. So i guess they're surviving.

If you and your wife are planning to commute to work using public transport, i'd be inclined to consider how good the tram/train connections are from the other two flats that take you to (a) your place of work and (b) to the centre of town, where i assume you'll want to go for days out, eating out, etc.

Regards
Kash.

+1 for Wallisellen

-1 for Kloten - noise issues

I would consider Kloten over Buelach.

As far as I know Bulach is noisier than Kloten.
Bulach has lots of noise from takeoffs, and at Kloten it's mostly landings, and only some of them.

Hi Tom, I am also from Dublin, my second time in Zurich. You may want to re-think the car. You will need somewhere to park it and you have to pay, big time. If you take it to work, you will have to pay there too.

Why not look for an apartment in Oerlikion, good transport connections. Lots of ex-pats. Wallisellen (close to tram) the tram is not running yet, not until next year at the earliest, I think.

Good luck on your move.

Sorry, but you're wrong. Take offs are predominantly west over Rümlang or Opfikon/Glattbrugg towards the south. Bülach has landing traffic during the days and limited early morning take offs at the weekends and evenings after 21:00, but nothing significant. Kloten isn't as loud as you may think, the heavy departures from ZRH are from around 11:30 to 14:00 daily and then the odd flight, everything else will be high and away.

I would love to live in Oerlikion but its a hard place to get a house in, but very central and great transport connections. We also looked at houses in Kloten the apartments out there are nice, but I kinda felt it was maybe a bit out in the middle of no where. I wasn't that bothered by the noise of the planes although I was only there for about 30 minutes! We stayed with some friends for a while in Ruemlang while we were looking for a new apartment, the first few days I noticed the planes but after that not so much.

The most important thing when we were looking was good transport connections. Trains go a lot faster than trams (obviously) so it might be worth while looking a bit further out and using train connections rather than staying near a tram connection even though trams are more frequent than the S-Bahn trains.

Thank you guys for all your answers! I really appreciate it a lot, I will surely considere them before take a decision.

I also found an apartment in Bassersdorf. Does anyone know anything about this area?? Thanks a mill for any advice.

Tom

I'd still go with Wallisellen though instead of Bassersdorf as I am car-less and depend on the trains a lot as the former has better connections IMO.

Bassersdorf is lovely but a bit more remote than Wallisellen which has excellent transport links. Both have plane noise, but Bassersdorf has less than Wallisellen. In Walisellen, the noise got on my nerves as it was pretty much every morning 6am - 6:30 am as the long hauls come in.

I live in Embrach which is fairly close to Bulach. Bulach also has good shopping but otherwise I don't think it has much going for it.

I would go for Bassersdorf first, then Wallisellen.

good luck

Hiya
I am also moving from Dublin to the Kloten area early next year. I was wondering how your move went and where you decided to move to in the end?

Your wife will also be working, so where is daycare? I know a family who bought a house but never really looked into the issue of what is available locally when both parents work. They regret buying where they did. Some communities have much better resources than others. Just some food for thought.