Hi guys,

We're newbies, moving to Zurich to live next month.
We both work from home and are on a quest to find
the 'best' place to live in the World..
...and Zurich is next on the list.

I lived in Notting Hill, London for 10 years and decided
that I'd had enough of the traffic, commuting, rain etc etc...
Went off on a journey around South America, Greece,
Spain.
Just back from spending 6 months in the British Virgin Islands
and then Miami Beach for the last 6 months. We would
like to stay somewhere longer but all of the above just
did not stack up...

Interested to hear where your all time favourite places
to live are :-

Wish list : Culturally diverse, outdoor lifestyle, street cafe culture, healthy eating, public transport (hate cars), cinemas, waterside, weather,
cleanliness, personal safety...

Places we have tried are; Australia, South Africa, Scandinavia, Canada...

Wow, can I have your job, what do you do from home that allows you to follow such a great quest?
Anyway, while you’re here you can check out Barcelona and Nice, two cities that I love and both tick most of your boxes.

Enjoy your stay.

Great plan! Yes, Barcelona is nice (what do I have to say?! :-P), I am sure you will find Zürich very nice too, but in other style (if you are used to city stress maybe it's not your choice but it can be good during some months), I love also south of Germany, cities like Baden Baden, Friburg... they're very green, with frendly people :-)

We're hoping to explorer Bacelona and South of France from Switzerland on long weekends.

Not sure where live in Zurich yet. Given our wish list -
(Culturally diverse, outdoor lifestyle, street cafe culture, healthy eating, public transport (hate cars), cinemas, waterside, weather,
cleanliness, personal safety...)

We are thinking (from reading these pages) Seefeld or even NiederdorfS.
We are recently married 30 somethings.

Is there good gym/healthclub and tennis courts nearby these areas?
This are essential...

Hey Quest,

I lived in the Niderdorf and I love it! But I really don't know if you can play tennis around; I used to live near Spyriplatz (Bus:33, Tram: Winkelriedstr.) and there are at least 2 places where you can play tennis, just 2 min walking. One is a Tennis Club (I don't remember the name), not very expensive, maybe you can try to look for other Tennis Clubs?

About outdoor lifestyle... near Spyriplatz you can go up to the hill and go by bike, jogging, walking but there are not nice cinemas, cafes... for these you must take the tram or bus (just 5min) or walk. If you don't have children I'd recommend living in the center, it'd be more exciting, but remember Zürich distances are small so...

Thx.
No kids. Hence all the travelling!
The centre sounds good. We are used to walking
everywhere - that is a key decision in where we
chose to live. California failed due to that despite
some great places to live.

My Swiss wife and I (Boston native) moved here back in April. I might recommend Thalwil as a place to look for an apartment. Lots of train service in and out of Zurich. Execellent tax rate too from what I understand. We are in Gattikon which is part of Thalwil, but too far to walk to the train station on a daily basis. Thalwil has a nice Starbucks which is about the only place to get a good cup of decaf if that is what you need.

If you really want to save taxes, move to Zug. Very nice place, but from what I understand, more foggy during the winter. The numerous cloudy days in CH make a lot of people nuts. Be sensitive to this as someone moving here from Florida. Dont use FL for short for Florida, because that is the acronym for Lichtenstein I think.

Sam

THanks for this Sam,

Not to keen on cloudy days! That is why we left London.
Prefer cold and sunny! Does it depend on where you are?

If you can choose anywhere in Switzerland. I personally think Bern is a nicer city then Zürich. Also has on average better weather.

But to get the best weather in Switzerland you need to go for high ground.

If that is the case, we would think about living in Zermatt or Wengen.

Now we are considering Bern, I am very interested to know how does it compare to Zurich for quality of life...

Based on : Cultural diversity, outdoor lifestyle, street cafe culture, healthy eating, walkability (hate cars), cinemas, waterside, weather,
cleanliness, personal safety...

You should really visit Florianopolis and Buenos Aires before you make a decision. Funny, I live in Miami and heading to Zur in a few days for two months. Love the town.

Wow, gotta be a record..,thread necromancy on a nearly 6 year old thread by a newbie first post.

One thing I don't get. All the places mentioned barring Zermatt have a fair share of cars. So if they hate cars and work from home, it is a no-brainer that Zermatt or Wengen being car-free has to be the spot. Spots with lovely views.

What does the OP do for a living????? That's the real question on my mind.

Bern doesn't have the waterfront that Zurich has. Have you thought of Lausanne ?

I don't think you can quantify or objectify beauty or love for an area, lots of places have a similar level of beauty, it’s the feelings and experiences you gain from those around you that attach you to a certain place. I feel your incessant globe trotting searching for the superficial will lead you to miss the true beauty of an area in its details, flaws, and subtle back drop to the events of your life.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Zurich is packed with cars and the city gets gridlocked quite easily. Also, in terms of multicultural environment, compared to opther cities, ZH is not very impressive to say the least.