Due to job change we are soon looking to a move probably to geroldswil or Oetwil an der Limmat.
I would like to know (if anyone of you familiar with that area) the kind of ppl it has in terms of welcoming foreigners, local schooling, children friendliness, shopping possibilities etc.
thank you very much for any inputs ...will be of great help!
regards

Noone familiar with this area?

I was looking around and trying to get more information on Geroldswil here, but I was sad to see that the only post about it had absolutely no response. Of course that this could mean a lot of things, including nobody in here really knowing a thing about the city, which even though not apparently realistic as many people here know SO MUCH about every corner of Switzerland could still be the case.
Nevertheless, I would like to give it a try and ask in follow-up to the initial post and see if by now someone would have more information about the city

Thank you in advance for your help, kind stranger!

Hi Ricardo,
I worked in that area a few years ago. It's located by Limmat river, so nature opportunities. There's an indoor swimming pool (when I'd pass by, I'd see kids swimming training).
Supermarkets: Coop, Denner Express, Migros VOI
Kindergarten, school.
https://www.psog.ch

Hi Riana22,

Thank you very much for your reply and additional information!
Kind regards,

Ricardo

Hi everyone,

trying to create some movement on this post as well.

Anyone that could share any impressions about living in Geroldswil?
This option is also under consideration for me now given a recent change of jobs.

Any information or opinions on being expat friendly, transport options to Zurich HB/Airport, local activities, interactions in the community is highly appreciated.

Thanks.

20 odd years ago a then colleague of mine lived in Geroldswil in a house built around 1930-50 which was typical of the area. There’s a lot of unattractive concrete construction I would say from expansion in the 60s and 70s and a lot of light industry between there and Zurich. I don’t recall the exact rental cost, but I do remember it was fairly high.
His children went to the local schools as non-speakers of German and were made welcome, given coaching in Swiss German and came up to speed quite quickly. The family chose to return to the UK after about four years when one of the children failed to gain a place at Gymnasium level, but they were otherwise fairly happy with the area.
Geroldswil is well placed for car access to the airport, I am not so sure about public transport. There are good links into Zurich. I expect it is overflown regularly and could be subject to aircraft noise. I think these days Geroldswil, Oetwil etc. are pretty much part of the same agglomeration, like many places that side of Zurich.

Where do you live now, and where do you work? Geroldswil is one of the better towns in Limmattal, but I think also very boring and public transport to Zurich always involves a bus to get to lovely Dietikon.

Thank you a lot for the quick reply.

For context, we currently live close to Letzigrund. We are happy with the services around and the easiness of transport. With the increased time doing home office (both me and my wife have lots of calls which is an issue now when having meetings at the same time) and a new born joining the family, we started to look for a larger apartment (we currently live on a 3.5).
The pricing here in the area jumps incredibily from a 3.5 to a 4.5. We started to consider options a bit further away, until this one came up in Geroldswil.
The situation is of purchasing an apartment though (still under construction) and not renting... which makes the decision a bit harder.


@Wongles, that is actually one of our concerns. I've heard that if kids study "out of the bigger centers" (whatever those limits means) they might have a harder time getting to Gymnasium here in Switzerland. Not sure if that is completely true and how much it would impact the options of the kid in the future.

@komsomolez, on the work aspect what changed is the larger amount of time we are spending on home office now (the office has been downsized and the working from home period has increased, becoming partialy compulsory). It's a great option to work from home but if it 's enforced and you have kids, you might start to look for a more curated place at home to hold phone calls and do more focused work.

Do you see any developments in the area in recent years, of have any information in the trends going forward?

Appreciate any futher thoughts you could share on the subject.

Thank you

I sometimes go to the swimming pool there.
Both towns are on the leafier, wealthier and Swisser end of the Limmatal.

There is nature, space, clean streets (especially Oetwil)…
Oetwil is high end, very few chavs.
Geroldswil more middle class, not as many foreigners like Regensdorf or Dielsdorf…

Both decent options if you do not need to commute to HB regularly.

Just round the corner from the Limmattal, you have the Furttal (valley where Regensdorf is located). Otelfingen and Boppelsen are two villages towards the end of the valley that are really great. We lived in Otelfingen for 7 years and the place is a quiet village, with many international families, plus it has a great school. Otelfingen is on the S6 line, so you get 2 trains an hour into HB and Baden. You quickly get used to the schedule.

Boppelsen, just up the hill, is an even better village from a tax point of view, but you do need to take a bus to get to the Otelfingen train station. Both are affluent villages, but people are open and friendly. At some point, we were looking at buying in either village, but as in all good villages, competition was fierce. Around the area, you also have Hüttikon and Dänikon, two small villages with a bus connection to Regensdorf. But no train station and the primary school which the two villages share, is in the middle of nowhere.

We also looked at Geroldswil, but it wasn’t for us. The lack of a train station was a big negative. With Oetwil an der Limmat, although it is a nicer place, it was not ideal for school kids, as our children would have to take a bus to go to school to Geroldswil.

Good luck in your search.

If you're considering buying there, then I recommend you visit on many days and nights.

Take the public transport there and back, both from where you live now, and also in the other direction on all the connections around where your new home would be. Even if you usually drive cars, the public transport will be what your child(ren) use, to get to their schools and friends and events, so you should know how the routes and timetables work, and where they'd be changing and waiting.

Do the same thing on bicycles, and check any hills and crossings of roads.

And if you use cars, do that, too, especially into and out of Zurich in rush-hour, in case you later have jobs requiring that.

Also, walk from that new possible home to all the shops, doctors' practices, restaurants, pharmacies, playgrounds, churches (with bells), etc. Both in daylight and at night.

Listen and smell and look.

Good luck with your decision!

I wouldn't stress over it that much as advised above. Everything changes in a few years. From my experience of owning a place to live, in the future you adapt your life to the circumstances, making life choices which suits you better from where you are.