Don't want to sound too mean or discriminative to anyone, so please excuse me, but: why is Kanton Aargau so cheap compared to Zürich?

We've been living here in Zürich for 9 years now, I love the place, all amenities are a short stroll away, commute time (was) close to zero... infrastructure, parks, hospitals all top notch... but we can't pay the property prices here.

The problem is of course with me: I want the same as others also want (4.5, 5.5 rooms apt or house, silver coast or somewhere reasonably rural, own garden, close to a train station, but still in a safe and silent street, kid-walking-distance to schools and at least a Volg) - long story short: doesn't exist (no supply) or is prohibitively expensive 1.3-1.7M for a flat or 1.5-2.0M+ for anything larger, depending on Gemeinde. And even those are gone in a week(ish).

Then you go to Kanton Aargau and it immediately gets about 500k cheaper for the same config in a similar setting. What's wrong with Aargau? We have friends in Lenzburg who got a detached newly built house for under 1M in Staufen, 10m walk from Lenzburg train station. I'm now eyeing the Brugg and Baden area, very nice properties around 1-1.2M.

Is the school system so much worse? Does the weather suck (usually foggy in the winter) that bad? There be dragons? Or just noone wants to have an AG plate?

We need to stay put until probably 2023 for passport reasons, but I'd like to be prepared to know if there are any pitfalls of moving out of Kt ZH.

in five years, i will point out this post to my fellow aargauers as to why property here is so expensive....

Doesn't sound any different from living in a major city and then moving outside said city to me. Prices are always higher in the big cities, fewer properties available and more competition for them.

One word ... Bünzli

Jokes aside, it is a lovely place ... I’d be happy to own a home there. Yes the winters are foggier and the mentality is more rural, but there is nothing wrong with it.

And slightly higher taxes than ZH.

It's not that simple to commute to ZH from Lenzburg, Aarau, etc.

Either get stuck daily in car traffic, on pay basically for a GA once the train crosses the tunnel between Mellingen and Killwangen. Lenzburg is to the West of this tunnel.

I wouldn't say so. Moving out of ZH does not make the properties way cheaper, except for Bahnhofstrasse, Seefeld, etc. Suburbs of Zürich are just as pricey. Last I saw a 4.5 garden flat in Thalwil for 2.25M. And Thalwil is really hip, but not a major city is it?

Suburbs or Brugg/Baden/Lenzburg/Wohlen are like half price...

Go west young man.

Isn't there a combi ticket, a-welle/z-pass or something like that to make travelling from a little cheaper than buying a GA?

Ultimately though, I don't think this should be of too much concern, with the working from home likely to continue long after the pandemic, taking the train 2/3 times a week (if that) won't be too much of a chore. What's important is that the journey is quick thanks to that tunnel.

Maybe the prices in Aargau will start to rise as a result of WFH?

Shhhhh... keep it down. It's been a well-kept secret.

Yes the Aarau-ZH abo is ~300 CHF, GA 360 or so haha.

And yes, I found about it because my employer closed the office in Baden. I took the 100% home office instead of going to Zürich everyday from Aarau.

@user137: the rent difference between my flat in AG and something similar in ZH pays for my car

or slightly north-east, to ZH Oberland (affordable and decent quality of life, easy commute)

nukelar plant, for one

https://www.englishforum.ch/insuranc...rking-car.html : you'll feel at home there.

3 of them: Gösgen, Leibstadt and Beznau

There are Bünzli people living everywhere.

The fog is depressing. To escape it you really have to choose specific areas with a higher elevation.

More like SE!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%BCrcher_Oberland

Do you mean "nuclear"?

If so, I would think that as something positive, actually!

Tom

Yes! One gets Iodine tabs in the mail. No charge.

This one may also be worth mentioning:
If you move to AG with a B permit, you'll have to wait at least 5 years to apply for C, no matter how long you have been in Switzerland. In ZH (and many other Cantons) it is 2 years, or maybe even less as one employee at Migrationsamt told me after ~15 months of living in ZH that I just needed a language certificate to apply for C.

The same, or even worse, applies to naturalisation I have heard. But this one is more hearsay.