Hi all.
Excellent forum, I've been peeking at it for some time as the possibility of moving to Switzerland began to appear on the horizon. Well, its here now, and I'd love some advice on a couple of questions. Firstly some background - we are a working couple with three kids (ages 3 1/2, 5 and 7). My wife will probably be working in Zug and I'll probably be working in Basel.
My first question is how feasible is it to commute to Basel? My second question is what areas of Zurich (names or postcodes) are both convenient to the Hauptbahnhof and pleasant/family-friendly to live in.
My last question is how should we approach the childcare question? Could we bring or engage an au pair? Are other options available?
I appreciate that these questions are probably relevant to several forums, but I'd be grateful for all views/advice.

Hi Setanta1.

cool avatar! I think it would be easier if you posted questions you can't find the answers to in the relevant parts of the forums. For where to live in Zurich check out this thread. In Family Matters there are several threads on childcare so check out there. As for commuting to Basel or Zug, it is entirely feasible if you live in Zurich I people who do it daily.

Thanks Lou

Fair comment on the scatter-gun nature of my query, but while the thread on where to live is useful, I'm still not getting a good feel for locations.

So focussing only on the accommodation issue, can anybody advise on where are we likely to find a 3/4 bed appartment, in a good area, that's convenient for the train station, and is close to good junior schools, parks, swimming pools etc?

This handy little map coupled with the rail schedules might give you a better idea of where things are located and the time to get between place to place.


http://map.search.ch/
http://sbb.ch/en

Its a difficult question to answer.
Firstly almost everywhere in Zurich is good for Swimming pools (lake) and schools. Zurich isn't great for big parks like London or New York, however there are a lot of children's play areas. To be honest I wouldn't worry about that.
However if you want an English speaking school then I think you have to be near Aldiswil (no kids someone will correct me if I am wrong)
However that's a good 20mins trek from the main train station by S-bahn...not bad if you work in Zurich but nasty if you have to go to Basel everyday.

Almost all areas of Zurich are safe, and have a lot of facilities for your family. certain areas like Enge and especially Seefeld (top of lake nr town) are where the rich want to live, you can get a 3/4 room apartment but it will cost you a lot more than it would in Kloten (airport)

Either side of the lake are where most people want to live with the right side (Meilen, Zollikon etc) being the most popular. Thalwil, Horgen on the other side of the lake are nice areas and because they are not in the centre of town, or as desirable are more affordable.
However again commuting to Basle or Zug will be more difficult.

The big factor will be though, how long do you have to look for an apartment, getting nice places at a reasonable price in Zurich is tough, and you may like an area but probably won't be able to find a place there, unless you have a good 3 months to look. ie there are not many apartments on the market, or more accurately there are but there are also a lot of people wanting them.
You will have more luck finding a place in an unpopular area like Uster or kloten than you will in Seefeld, in my opinion neither of those places are bad, they are just not on the lake or 5 mins walk to the Bahnhofstr.

Edit http://map.search.ch/
seconding this link by Chemgoddess, will show you the facilities in an area.
Also look on this site for a big thread discussing the areas of Zurich proper.

We don't need to have big parks because we have the Alps and all sorts of actual nature surrounding us.

But in Zurich, there are all sorts of small well maintained parks.

The postcode question is too difficult to answer as there are so many possibilities. I would spending a few days here in temporary accomm, to explore and see how it feels.

As regards facilities for kids, sports and leisure. Unbeatable and good value.

Commuting is easy, but come here to get away from that if you can...

dave

without reinventing the wheel:
www.awczurich.org/schools.html .....in particular www.isoz.ch

you're rich or someone else is paying?

Thanks to all for the help.We're not rich, and anyway we think it would be good for the children to go to a Swiss school.
My wife will probably be going ahead of the rest of us, so she should have some time to scout the scene in Zurich and hopefully find something suitable.
Regards