Ok, I am now on a 4-week countdown to find a rental place in Zurich (as that is when my temporary accomodation runs out). Here are relevant details:

place of work: Opfikon (of course)
residence preferences: none, apartment, flatshare, etc.
age/familial status: 31 male single
hobbies: cycling

I have bought a map and it appears that Oerlikon, Oberstrass, Unterstrass might be a good halfway point between Zurich old town, a nice hill for cycling in Zurichberg, and work, but I thought I would rely on those that have actually lived in Zurich for a while ...

Any help appreciated.

I have just moved to the Zürich and the S5 and S7 from Glatt/Opf mean you can live almost anywhere. Personally I'd rather not live on the doorstep of work, and parts of Oerlikon - although not pretty by anyones standards - provide better value than in the city itself. Most peolple would suggest somewhere like Seefeld as a good neighbourhood, but it really depends on your priorities. Oh, and its one hell of a hill ...

dave

I also live in Seebach, same apart. complex as Dave, we chose this area as my husband was working in Glattbrug/Opfikon and he wanted to be near work, he could walk there within 15 mins, annoyingly his company have just recently moved him to an office in town!! but we live right on the S6 line and he can be in Zurich by train in about 12 mins and by tram in 22 mins. Not the greatest of areas but much cheaper than seefield and the like, also I quite like Oerlikon which is only a 15 min walk away or 2 mins by tram.

Take a look on homegate.ch and use the map of the kreises and postcode to narrow down your search. I am sure someone will give you a sentence to stereotype for each Kreis , to narrow down your search.

Get accommodation is not easy, especially as you go closer to the city, so unless its new-build or you know someone leaving, don't assume it will be easy and "lists of interesting applicants" are not uncommon for an apartment coming up for rent in a good area.

http://www.ini.unizh.ch/~dylan/zurich-maps/

Postcode and kreis (region) maps for Zürich. Very useful when making sense of the adverts.

Hope this helps
Dave

PS: Just don't let the bank let you languish in Eibenstrasse

Hi,

It depends on how you spend your time. We chose to live near the city because we wanted to be able to go out 'till late in the night without worrying about finding our way home. We just walk home when we're done. Even if we decide to take a taxi, it's not too much. Of course there are now night buses and trains that go about once every hour on friday and saturday nights after midnight, but we still like our freedom of choice. It's nice to be able to decide for a movie 15mins before it starts and still make it.

This was one of our main priorities when we picked our apartment which is a 10min walk to the Hbf. I've worked in Oerlikon, Schwerzenbach (near the Greifensee) and now Seefeld. It's nice to be central.

~ N

OK Nanda,
give us a summary of Kreis 12 (Seefeld) in 12 words or less:
............


Here is my appraisal of Kreis 2 (Wollishofen) in two words:
quiet, leafy

or
Kreis 3 ( Friesenberg) in 3 :
Uetliberg downhill urbanising

Kreis 4 ( Langstrasse) in 4 :
Buzzing hot lips nightlife

Any others...?

dave

Just my two cents' worth - Many people often do not consider the tax implications when they choose somewhere to live. Living inside the borders of town Zurich means much higher taxes. In my case I am a stone's throw from Seefeld, but my tax bills are way lower...

Mark - I take it your location is no longer "Melbourne" maybe you want to update your settings

Ok, here's my humble take...

Well Seefeld (kreis 8) is a nice place to be, especially if your train goes from Stadelhofen. It's great to be near the lake and you have all the bars and places to eat around. The moment you move pass Hoeschgasse, it almost takes on a village feel with people actually waving at familiar faces and the coop ladies recognise you. (I notice this difference when I started working here). I think the friendliest Zurichers are here. One thing to watch out for is early morning noise when restaurants and supermarkets get their deliveries done, when you pick your place.

I also like Enge (Kreis 2) - but mostly the parts near the lake. It's also very central and hey, you're near the lake and paradeplatz. That's really cool.

Kreis 7 is also very nice and hilly. Lovely views and plenty of trees. But you have to watch for public transport.

Kreis 6 - this is where I live now. I like the university feel. A few bars, restaurants, kebab and pizza places - so you can always just go out nearby but it's not Seefeld or Escher-Wyss Platz. It's quiet as it's "off" from the center. But you're at the base of the Zuriberg like Kreis 7 and 8.

Kreis 1 - Niederdorf. I would personally like to live here, if I can ever find space and afford it. One might say that it's noisy, but niederdorf has many nooks and crannies away from the main streets, so you may be away from the "central" spots.

Wipkingen - is that Kreis 9? Is also a nice place. Close to Hoenggerberg (sp?) and the river. Got a village feel. Across the river from Escher-Wyss-Platz so plenty of stuff happening close-by. Trains to Opfikon, might pass there as it's close to Wipkingen Bhf and Hardbruecke Bhf - which are both between Oerlikon and Hbf.

Away from Zurich - Mark is right, taxes are lower as you move away from Zurich City. But rent isn't that much different in the first villages outside. I find that public transport is also lacking by comparison. Yes, there are buses but there are not as often. Most people I know who live outside the city, do majority of their travelling in cars.

So, that's my take on zurich. I have not lived in all of these places so this is only going by impression.

Sorry .. didn't see the 12 words or less ... until now. Ooppss..

I always wanted to live near Hardbrüke or Escherwyss platz. (Kreis 4/5).
Urban cool. Loft apartment, Akt4 and Moods nearby. Sorted.
dave

Cant really comment on the other areas, but I love living in the Kreis 4 (western part towards the Hardbrucke). A short walk or ride to everything, close to motorway access if driving and a quick sport cycle to get up/over the Uetliberg. Rent (or at least ours) is cheap, I have to multply my rent by 2 or 3 to get the monthly rents I hear quoted by others around here. Though I think I have lucked out in this regard.

Thought I'd post the homegate.ch map to help visualise those Kreis numbers.

I have lived in the area for nearly 5 years. I started in Opfikon and then went to Wallisellen. Opfikon os good for taxes. Both Opfikon and Walliesellen have great connections into the city.

Both Opfikon and Wallisellen suffer from plane noise in the morning though...

I think you need to consider a few things before choosing a place to live rather than doing it on one or two criteria. For example if you want the night life and then to be able to walk home the decision is more or less made for you. If you want to be able to ride your bike from your house door then you really need to think a bit outside of city Zürich. If you earn enough to have to make a tax return then you should consider your tax bill as Mark mentioned. If you like eating out then you should maybe move out towards Zollikon.

But when all is said and done you seem to have missed the point that finding something in 4 weeks in Kanton ZH is like running a marathon being a fat slob with the same notice - kind of tough...

Just my thoughts and you will probably find the answer on homegate. I hope you get lucky...

Richard

Oohh.. tell me where. Or better, add it to the restaurants thread.

Yeah I was going to say the same thing. I live in Zollikon, and despite being packed full of rich people, the eating options are very limited, and usually very unexciting (as in boring). Same old paradox in Switzerland, loads of money, limited options for spending it.

If I wanted to live somewhere with the best eating out I'd probably head somewhere like Kreis 4 or 5, but then there would be other disadvantages...

I guess maybe what Richard was referrring to is that Zollikon is right on the doorstep of Seefeld where one can find a better selection of restaurants.

Zollikon has a 912 bus, many large gated houses and cheap tax. With the possible exception of the latter, I can't imagine wanting to live there. I used to walk into town from there many days, and if you're after that kind of sedate life, I would move down the lake a bit further to Kusnacht or Erlenbach.

dave

Whoa! thank you so much for all this information. I am currently holed up in Seefeld for 4 weeks thanks to the bank providing some interim accomodation. I must admit it seemed like a pretty good area, but that is only on 1 day's impression.

More importantly I now realise I really have to get my but into gear to get a place to live. From what it sounds like, I won't have much choice in living area due to sheer necessity of finding a place within such a short time period.

Love the map of the kreiss's.

Will post when/if I find a place

Kloten
Lots of property available at short notice
Quieter than Opfikon
Snobs will look down at you.

Have you taken a look at the add for the apartment I posted (in the Zolliker area)? It's available as of mid July.

It comes from a colleague of mine, very nice lady.

[moderator note: this post merged from a separate thread]

My husband grew up in the Bern/Solothurn area, so doesn't have a lot of familiarity with Zurich. Plus he's been gone from Switzerland for the past 10 years. Now it looks like he'll be getting a position in the Zurich area (currently looks like Opfikon). Initially he'll be renting a studio flat or possibly a flat share until we can get the whole family move organised (house sold etc.).

I am assuming that with Zurich, as with most (all?) cities, there are areas that are best avoided in terms of crime/drugs/safety. Are there any particular areas that we should be aware of when he's looking for a place? He has one friend who lives in Zurich, but he hasn't heard back from him yet on this, and besides, I always think it's a good idea to get input from multiple people on questions like this. Said friend lives in central Zurich near the train station and works on the opposite side of the city so not sure how much help he could be on this anyway, if that's where my husband does end up with a position.

Thanks for any input you might have.