Hi, Im moving to Geneva in end of august and while finding a place alone is proving to be harder than I first imagined, i have no idea which areas are the best to live in! I'm working by the airport so ideally would be looking for somewhere with good transport access so as not to have a monster commute every morning. I also like going out in the evenings and living in nice surroundings (doesnt everybody!). Which areas of Geneva do you reccomend for me to look for accomdation in? Any advice would be greatly receieved!

Cheers,
Ben

If you have a choice of more than one place then you are very lucky indeed. For most of us the best place to live in Geneve is wherever the régie decides to accept us.

Ahh I see. Is it not possible to simply rent a place without being told where to live? i am not familiar with the system and haven't heard of the regie!

Yes, Of course you can choose where you want to live. But the problem is that there is a housing shortage in Geneva thus the more picky you are the more difficult it will be to find a place. If you broaden your search area it will be easier to find a place.

Regies are property management companies.

I think you might want to search this site to find out more on how the housing situation is & how things work in Geneva.

In Geneva area it is quite difficult to find an apartment. As usual the market is almost completely controlled by the regies and the new offers disappear very quickly. It is difficult to meet all of the following criteria:
- good location
- good price
- good standard
I live near the airport - because I was able to find a very nice place with a very good price. The communication is good but there is noise... Similar situation is in the centre - near the railway station.

Maybe if you are not compelled to live in the city itself, you may try nearby villages in Switzerland or France.

Thanks MiniMia, that's exactly what I meant. I'm sorry that I didn't communicate it better.

My other experience is that there's really no such thing as a "bad neighborhood" in Geneva as there might be in other countries. There are only neighborhoods where there will be slightly fewer applicants for a given apartment because of graffiti or (otherwise harmless) people dealing drugs on the street or whatever.

These neighborhoods are often the ones with the best cafés and the best access to public transport, so you take the good with the bad, and if part of the good is that only 15 people apply for the apartement rather than 150, all the better.

It took us months to find a place too. We are outside Geneva along the lake at Nyon. It was hard work but finally got a place. It takes a lot of calling the Regies / tenants making appointments to see places and ensuring you have the best and fullest file possible with your application. That is references, work contracts. Tak to the regies to try and get a list of all that you can. Your new employer / employees might be able to help you in some regards as some apartments go based on people you know and not how good your file is.

We actually took the apartment without even seeing it. It was the only one we were offered and it came through a month before we were due to move. Fortunately for us it was actually better than any apartment we had seen on our search. Although we have a good idea why we were offered it.

Hi Ben,

Best place to leave depends on what you want to be in the surroundings.

If you want public transport and nightlife, than probably Plainpalais, Paquis, old town might be the best ones...
If you have a car, and prefer to live in the 'countryside' (10 min by car 15 by bus from the center) I can really recommend the area of Bernex/Confignon. That's where I've lived for 3 years, and it is really nice. Small restaurants, nice bakery, quiet neighbourhood. The airport is 8 min by car, however by public transport it would take you around 45 min to get there...

By the way, as looks like I'm moving to Zurich (already here, but not too sure if I'm staying), my apartment might be available as of October 1

Zsofi