Full Article can be found here: http://www.thelocal.ch/613/20110721/

A new survey has mapped out what Swiss residents think of the country’s 26 cantons.
According to this survey:


The residents of mountain cantons are often stigmatized as having an “old approach to life” and narrow-minded views.

The Cantons of Zurich and Geneva are perceived as snobby and arrogant, while also fiercely independent.

The Ticino region in the Italian part of the country and the Canton of Geneva are considered “young, open and hip,” the company said, and Ticino also holds the record for “most beautiful canton,” together with Canton Graubünden and Valais.

All the cantons are considered to have enough 'Swissness', with quality services and safety, while urban cantons such as Geneva, Zug, Basel and Zurich are not perceived as child-friendly.

What do YOU think about where you live ???

That's neither here nor there.

It rains an awful lot.

I pretty much like it. Public transportation is great. Mostly I don't like the teenagers. They are loud and dirty. (Littering, spitting, being drunk in public.) They are so aggressive with one another, it's disturbing.

you're old !

Ticino =

This place has so far to go on the 'young, open, and hip' scale you can't even see the goal line.
I guess no one likes to talk about the xenophobia, the crappy indifferent/hostile bureaucrats, the unemployment, the crappy public transit because they haven't done any serious work on the city transport corridors (we just have buses which have to compete with all the cars (because there are few dedicated bus lanes) ...which people drive because taking the bus often means taking an hour and a half to go 8 km.
etc etc etc.

Is there a noticable difference in different parts of the country? In Basel, I have been impressed with how little trouble there seems to be with teens, public drinking etc. Sure, there are regular parties along the river areas, but nothing that seems to involve the police and I have never felt threatened when cycling through under-the-bridge parties, late at night.

Alternatively, what country are you comparing the locals with? Perhaps our personal experiences elsewhere, affect our perceptions here.

lol, yes I am the "oldest" 31 year old I know. I dunno, maybe because I grew up mostly on a Navy Base? They only ever place I really "lived" other than here was the US. (NJ.) I know teenage drinking goes on everywhere, but maybe in the US it's more done behind closed doors, like house parties and such. I don't know much about the lives of teens here, but do they participate in school sports or activities? My folks lived in Naples Italy for 2 years and they seemed a little rowdy there as well, but not as much as here. As far as diff. parts of CH, I guess I haven't been exposed to enough areas to make a comparison. It just seems the way they "talk" to each other here is almost, challenging? Lot's of pushing and shoving, or sitting around drinking in public places trying to look intimidating? That's just the vibe I get. I also know personally 2 people who have been robbed by young men. Well, one attempt was unsuccessful. Other than that, like I said I love it here

I think there's not enough KFC

Great food, great weather, great motorcycling roads, great walk to work.

Tom

Ok, well, there is that.

It's fantastic: beautiful landscape, cheap rent, friendly locals, handy transport links... it's a bit chavvy round here, but not half as bad as anywhere I've lived in England. Lots of old factories, too, which is nice.

What does "chavvy" mean?

Lots of wannabe gangsters - kids who wear baseball caps and baggy trousers, sitting around the train station smoking spliffs and spitting.

They're largely harmless, but they make the place look untidy.

OMG yes that's exactly what I'm talking about!

Ticino? Isn't that where all the old folks head to for their holidays??

FTFY


(will be too short)

I think cantons are quite diverse, though (they're so large)...

Last year, we moved from central Zurich to Greifensee -- both of which are in the canton of Zurich but are quite different. I wasn't very happy in central Zurich (lack of trees and space, noisy, etc.) but I absolutely LOVE it here in Greifensee. Of the many things I have come to realize about myself, after moving to a foreign country, one of them is that I'm just not much of a "city girl." I need trees, the sound of birds and open sky.

Very interesting. I've always been a country person. Needed lots of space, lots of forrest and away from everything. Moved to Zurich, and now I am definitely a city person. I need every available right at my doorstep right away. Nature is quite the bore now.

Hard to generalise in somewhere as huge as the USA. Personally, I was just plain scared in Baltimore, during my short walks from the Friday evening friendly bar, to where I parked my car. Luckily for me, there were always a couple of young men ( I must have reminded them of their Mum) who would volunteer to walk with me, past the agressively drunk college aged guys on the street ( and screaming obscenities from passing cars and even the chartered buses that looked full of young sports teams on theire way back from somewhere)

In NY, I was intimidated enough to walk slowly towards the corner to my YH, until I saw another cleancut cut person with a backpack, heading the same way. I would then attach myself, to not look like I was alone. In SanFran, I apparently took the wrong route to the YH by just one block - even during daytime, that was scary. One the other hand of course, I have met countless folk in and from the USA, who are the nicest, friendliest, politest people one could ever hope to meet.

The Italains? Oh yes, but they tend to be louder and more openly expressive than people of some other countries anyway.

Yes, teens here do take part in sport and other activities. In Basel, there seem to be huge numbers that learn to play a musical instrument ( cf: the number in faschnacht bands) and the number of freshfaced young people I see at the train station on weekends, shows that a lot of them organise themselves for skiing in winter, walking in the countrysdie over summer.

As well as the obvious presence of soccer, I have seen lots of midweek basketball practises going on in various gyms; tennis is played. Then there are all those who turn up to run in Stadtlaufs throughout the country, slowup bike riders etc., thousands of 'em. I think that Switzerland is a good place to raise children.