Are there Neighborhoods to Avoid in Geneva

Accomodation, House and Garden
1
I will be interning in Geneva this summer and have found two flats to potentially rent during my stay. However, I want to know if there are particular neighborhoods to avoid? Also, how can I tell if either potential rental is a scam? Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

2
Let us know where your two potential apartments are and perhaps we can help you. Are you male or female etc.

About being a scam, sorry - i can't tell you. Unless you have been offered a wonderful flat for a low rent. Then you have to be careful.

3
Scams are possible. To be safe use a real estate agency.

they will have a list of documents for you to provide.

It is extremely difficult to find a flat to rent in Geneva, so yes, you are wise to question anything too easy.

A real estate agency will require proof of your residency permit and work or student permit and sometimes a letter of support from your school or employer. They'll usually also ask for a few months rent as a guarantee secured on a bank account in your name that they may only access if liable damage if done to the flat.

Hope this helps.

Neighborhoods to avoid at night as a woman: Paquis and perhaps Plainpalais

Otherwise it's quite safe.

We can only tell you the neighborhood if you indicate where the flats are as there's no real definition of "Paquis" for instance, on a map. A native would know by the street address.

4
One apartment is on rue de la Flèche and the other one is rue de Richemont. I am a female, and have heard to avoid certain areas at night. Thank you for all of your help. One of these apartments was requesting an incredibly low amount for rent per month (for the average in Geneva), so I may just avoid that one all together.

5

- Rue de Richemont: avoid + the surrounding area. Rue de Berne is two blocks away and it's the worst street in Geneva

- Rue de la Flèche: no problem if the apartment is okay, the street is just 50 yards away from two grocery stores (Migros and Coop Eaux-Vives 2000).

6
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH! That was incredibly helpful information.

7
How to spot rental scams:

1. Craigslist (yes, everything on Craigslist advertised in Europe)

2. Western Union (yes, everything ever)

3. "It's near a metro line", "parking", "garden".

4. Keys to be posted

5. Money to be paid up-front

6. Not signing contract, post viewing, in front of the landlord/agency

I don't know how people ever fall for these scams to be honest, but it seems they do.

8
AdrianLondon is 100% right!

If for any reason you need to wire money to Switzerland:

Avoid WesterUnion, Moneygram, Paypal etc... Only wire money to a major Swiss bank: UBS Credit Suisse Raiffeisen PostFinance AG (SA) Cantonal banks (Kantonalbank / Banque cantonale) including BEKB / BCBE ( see the list of all cantonal banks here ) Verify their IBAN acct number. The IBAN account number must begin by CH (such as CH93 0076 2011 6238 5295 7 ) Check the validity of the IBAN here . If it is a valid IBAN, you get this message: This is a valid IBAN (and you get 4 green checkmarks ). If it's not valid, you will get one or several and this message: This IBAN is incorrect. Make sure the housing websites have the .ch extension ( such as www.homegate.ch ) . Beware of websites ending by .com, .net, .biz etc... and very long URLs.

9

Yup, I fully agree.

The first one is in Paquis.

The second one is fine, you're very close to the center of town, right along the main tramline. It's a nice and safe area. You're also within walking distance (15 minutes) from the beautiful lake side.

10
I was just waiting for the replies.

There you lot go again about living in Paquis. How much of the population of Geneva live in Paquis? Quite a lot.... duh.

Paquis is fine to live in. Basta.

It is vibrant, and fun and cultural. I wish i could live there but unfortunately can't afford the rents there.

Sorry, finishing off the stilton and port.....

Oh, and i see little SuisseRomande has come back from his "flounce". Not been teleported anywhere nice recently?

11
I would add a little and agree mostly. Paquis has a reputation, yes. But mainly because it houses the red light district and has a lot of things that the rest of Geneva doesn't have.

This does not automatically make it a bad place. If you want late night shops, lots of cafes, lots of bars, multi culture, lively etc etc etc. Paquis is for you. If you want peace and quiet and see nobody, no sirens and easy parking .. Avoid Paquis!

It really depends on what you consider to be dodgy?? Prostitutes who politely say "bonjour". Drug dealers who say "salut" ?? Yes Paquis probably has more dodgy-ness than other areas but as far as i've ever seen, some of the people just look dodgy, they don't bite.

I'd probably rather be "attacked" in Paquis than elsewhere because it's always busy and somebody would hear you scream

Disclaimer .. I'm not a girl and I don't live there, just walk through fairly often.

12
Paquis and the whole of Geneva should be avoided. If some of you would/could read the local papers, y'all would know about the type of nonsense that goes on in that cesspool of a town. It is considered the most dangerous place in Switzerland and the official crime stats only underline my sentiments....well, as much stats as they possibly keep in that corrupt and understaffed legal aparatus down there. As apparently (judging from several EF accounts) if you get pickpocketed for instance, they don't even bother to file a report at the station. Go figure .

13
Paquis isn't the nicest area in the city for sure, but lets be realistic here. Even the 'hood in Geneva is pretty much crime free compared to some other places I've hung out over the years.

It wouldn't be my first choice, but living in Paquis would be a little like living on the strip in Vegas....If Vegas was only about 3 blocks long....and everybody was polite.....And you turned off about 90% of the neon.

Okay, on second thought, it's not nearly as obnoxious as Vegas.

14
So, the two words from the local.

There's no neighbourhoods to really avoid in Geneva.

It's a small town, quite safe (perhaps a bit less safe than when I was kid)

As it was said before, the Paquis have their reputation, because prostitutes have always been in that area, but it's also the multicultural area of the town.

Drugs dealers ? they are everywhere.

The only thing I would care about is the noise. Some place are given to be really noisy, but I can't help on that, I live by the countryside.

15
Come on, i bought you a beer didn't i? Without pickpocketing you.