I've heard of all the nightmares of finding an apartment in Zürich, but I was wondering what "in Zürich" means. I'm not all that interested in living in Zürich proper. We've looked at homegate.ch quite a bit and there doesn't seem to be a shortage of places in Thalwil, Horgen, Adliswil, etc. So, are all the nightmare scenarios just for the city of Zürich or is the abundance of flats in surrounding towns an illusion?

But you have to live in Seefeld, darling...

Homegate is more the illusion, or rather that you can see something on homegate and therefore you can phone them up, its available you can have it.

You may be one of 20 people wanting the same apartment advertised, but then you may not be... its difficult to tell, and moreover, difficult to feel confident that you have a place until the contract is signed. Just because you've applied doesn't mean its yours...

Seefeld is full of pretentious knobheads and wealthy people. You will pay a large premium for a modest place, if you can find one. You are wise to look further out of town and down the lake. The competition and pressure there is less than in the City itself. Get a map of the Kreises (thats with a "k" not a "c" ) .

Of course it depends where you work, assuming you are not a gentleman-of-leisure.

dave

Zurich is anyway a small town and public transport are very good.... don't worry too much about the location....! Try to get something close to your working place and avoid the villages...
Seefeld is an excellent area but ...what would be your budget/expectations?
A friend of mine pays 1600 CHF for 35 mq (one room apartment) in Seefeld....

It is easier to find a place outside of Zurich proper, Horgen, Thalwil, and the other places you mentioned are nice places to live, and the S-Bahn links them into Zurich in under 20 mins, and during rush hour the trains go every 10 mins (S2 anyway)

You will find a place in Zurich proper if you have enough time and money.
There are lots of flats, but the nice ones tend to have more people interested in them, since most people like to live in the city the competition for nice flats is higher, and the price can reflect this..Seefeld being a prime case.

DaveA will rightly tell you that you are either a city or village person, work out which one is you and go for it.
Incidentally I am a small town not far from the big city person.

I don't know if I consider myself a "gentleman of leisure" considering I have no idea what that means. I'm guessing something along the lines of Brandy, cigars, and boats. In which case, no, I'm not. We're not looking for a permanent place yet, just someone to settle and get used to the life there; ~a couple of years. Right now we live about 30 miles outside of Dallas, so if you consider urban sprawl to be a village, then I'm a village person. That's probably not an apt comparison though. I live less that 10 miles from work and it can take me 45 minutes on a bad day, so travelling by S-Bahn 20 minutes doesn't sound terrible to me.

What would you advise to someone wanting to live "in" the city but who cannot afford Seefeld and doesn't really like Kreis 4,5 either... ?

I wanted a flat in Thalwil or Zurich and it still took 4 months to get one. As Dave A said it's not the finding suitable places but actually being the 'chosen one'.

I lived in Kreis 3 up by Schmiede Wiedikon for a few months and loved it.
Transport is no problem and you are only 15 mins walk from Uetliberg, as well as being 20 mins walk / or 8 mins tram ride from city centre.

If I had my choice I'd love to find a place up near Triemli, perfect location close to transport and town, but with good country on your doorstep.

The places with the 800* postcodes are IN Zurich, 80** tends to be at the edge of the city and 8*** is outside of Zurich.

I live in 6, which I believe is the biggest "kreis" in Zurich, and probably the most varied.

If you say you can't afford Seefeld, then the cityish part of 7 is probably a long shot - I tend to think of this as a nice area, but high-rent. The outskirts of 7 - Witikon - are more affordable.

I spend a fair amount of time in Wipkingen (10), a kreis I like. I'd try living in Oerlikon (11) if I could get Mr. Bartholemew to agree to it...
I've also always liked Wollishofen, which is in 2, but have never lived there.

The in-laws live in Schwamendingen (12) and get a fair amount of flak over it being dangerous. They say its safe and affordable, but don't like the noise of airplanes taking off and landing.

just my highly subjective 2 cents worth on areas of Zurich...

Live in Winterthur ... or surrounding areas. Especially if you have or want a family one day. It is a great lifestyle, and you can be "IN" Zurich for work or pleasure within 19 minutes by perfectly safe Swiss trains. Rent costs a lot less, but I don't know if it is much easier to find something available.

Postcodes in and around Winterthur start with 84** (the 8 means it is still in Canton Zurich, something which even the Swiss are sometimes surprised about).

The City of Winterthur has nearly 100,000 people, and is therefore one of the largest in Switzerland. It has all the advantages of City Life, but the people seem to me to be much friendlier than in Zurich. There is plenty to do here alone (including city nightlife) loads of cultural pursuits, world class museums, top educational institutions etc).... but obviously that 20 min train to Zurich is nice. The airport is 15 mins by car from Winterthur and there is no aeroplane noise. An international school and a renowned bilingual day school ...

http://www.winterthurtourism.ch/defa...ppe=14&Seite=0

But if you want to be IN Zurich, I agree that the other places you mentioned, Thalwil etc (which has a postcode starting with 88** as do some of the other areas on that side of the lake) are excellent places to live, and as there is no unbuilt areas between Zurich and Thalwil in my mind it is more or less a continuation of Zurich, the suburbs, much like you describe in Dallas, although obviously still quite a cool place to live.
There are also plenty of expats in Thalwil, and international schools nearby.

One last thing, there is really no "bad" bad areas in Zurich, at least none that aren^'t obvious ... I lived in Kreis 4 for a while (8004, 8 for Kt Zurich, 0 for Zurich, and 04 is the "Kreis"), considered one of the worst, and I was living in luxury, perfectly safe. You can't really accidentally mess up completely and be in the "wrong" part of town. Go with what feels good; and make sure your work commute is reasonable.

Good luck with the move,

Lisa

I'll be working in Horgen, but would like to live closer to the town. Whats a good place thats in between that remains cheap and safe....

If you lived in Dallas, anything here will be an improvement. :-) I live in a village outside of Zürich and I highly recommend it. It gets you out of an expat bubble and gives you more a taste of Switzerland. I found my house on homegate. I got the train schedule (sbb.ch) and decided from where I would be willing to travel and used that as a circle. There are few places in Switzerland I would not live but then again I moved from College station so there is my reference. I also highly recommend the S bahn (S = Stadt or city. So the S bahn are the intercity trains) to get to work. The roads here for a dual carriageway are not as wide as a single road in Dallas and were planned by a drunken blind surveyor. There is not a straight stretch in the whole place. However I can sit on the S bahn feeling very superiour while I read the paper and watch the traffic moving at a snail's pace below. Good luck. Lisa

Lots of Texans here... Gig em, Lisa.

For the gent who works in Horgen, move to Enge or Thalwil and you'll be happy.

For the thread starter looking for a place to live from Dallas, pick one. Do you like lake views or mountain views? If you like lake, chose a side and don't go much further then Wädenswil (my choice) or Erlenbach/Meilen.

If you are happier in the mountains, a lot of expats live in Adliswil.

I haven't had experience with Winterthur, but it sounds nice enough as well.

Find your office, pick a train route, assess how many trains go an hour, and then determine how far you are willing to walk to the station.

The two apartments out of 200 that actually end up available will jump out at you. One will end up having a mirror on the ceiling or be *too* close to a noisy intersection and WHAM the decision is made for you.

Don't trust homegate. I selected 12 apartments/houses and every single one was taken. No matter what, you'll need local help (imho).

Another former Metroplex Texan here ... Go Frogs!