Hi everyone, looking for a place to rent I soon found myself searching in the towns above. FYI I have only spent a weekend in Basel, no more.
Lifestyle: certainly considering that I am moving on my own and have no children, I know that Basel is probably the best area. But what is it like to live in the other two? Is it really so different (boring?)? Considering I will have a two-wheeled vehicle and can I get around easily? Are the historic centers served / nice? Is Basel for professionals and two others for families?
Logistics: I really believe they are all close, and even if I work in Basel with a motorcycle I will still be able to be at work in 10mn maximum according to my calculations. Is that correct? Or traffic is worse than i imagine? To get to the airport, are they in similarly served? Or basel is much better served?
Taxes: I believe the order for lower to higher taxes is bettingen Landscape: bettingen and riehen I imagine them greener and closer to the woods. Basel seems to be more “city” and lively (relatively speaking)
Rentals: I don't see big differences! And the houses are similar
So my question is: what do you think? Do you have experience or experiences that you want to share and can help me? Opinions? Something for which you would rule out one or the other, or reasons to definitely choose one of these? Logistics is very different from how I imagine it? Traffic? Services or public transport?
Thank you!
Bettingen is best described as absolutely dead, whereas Riehen is only dead.
You’ll spend every day traveling into Basel, including weekends, so why not just live in Basel?
There is a little tax saving, offset by the commute etc. Rent appears the same.
Riehen is lovely but quiet. Forget about Bettingen.
No filtering or overtaking on a bike, it’s not London. It’s not an absolute rule, but I rarely see bikes being used as they should to beat the traffic.
Somewhere on this site is references to the Swiss Highway Code that will tell you the rules, or someone will put me straight.
Airport? Only bus 50 goes, and that runs from Basel train station.
Most single folk prefer Basel to the burbs, for socialising/commute reasons.
Depending on where you work in basel it could be a bit more. Set the time of departure in google maps during rush hour to get an estimate. If you want to go to the airport by public transport you're looking at a much longer commute.
Landscape: you won't see much forest or landscape from most of riehen either since it's a relatively flat area, and depending on where the house is you still need some form of transportation to go anywhere including the woods. If urban trees are important then Gellert might be worth looking at.
Look at the surrounding communities in Baselland. From Allschwil and Binningen for example, if you live near the border, you've all the advantages of living in Basel, but have lower tax and lower health insurance.
My son recently moved from just inside Luzernerring to just outside, but in Allschwill. He's several hundred francs better off, yearly. His cycling to SBB takes exactly the same time.
If you look at Allschwil, bear in mind that the Dorfplatz end is blighted by the planes climbing out.
BVB.ch gives a route planner so you can get your commute times worked out on public transport.
If you're single and without kids I would live in Basel, rather than Riehen or Bettingen. Bettingen can be relatively inaccessible by public transport in the late evening where as Riehen at least has the S6 train (which connects to SBB and the Airport bus no.50) and 6 tram running until late. That said, living in the city you can walk or cycle anywhere within it in 10-15 minutes. In Riehen you would be anywhere between 10-25 minutes on a tram or bus depending how far up you live.
The tax difference is not massive vs. BS but can still be worth 1-2k a year depending on your income. Still, I personally would make the decision based on lifestyle choices rather than tax, in this case. The two 'rural' communities - Riehen in particular - are nice places to bring up a family. Lot's of green areas, walks in nature, schools etc. but you will struggle to meet other single people locally.
In the city you will find far more social activities that are based around groups of friends rather than families and it will be nice in the current weather to be able to walk down to the river and relax with a beer rather than inhale other people's body odour on public transport! If you will be working in of the 'Big 2' pharma companies then you can live pretty much anywhere in the city and your commute will be a maximum of 20 minutes by bike or public transport. Except maybe if you're at the far end of Gundeli and working in Novartis but even then it would be maybe 30 minutes.
I would strongly suggest picking the city. At least for a couple of years. If you end up staying longer or maybe meet someone and start thinking of the future, then for sure consider Riehen, Bettingen or some of the other BL communities mentioned above.
Thank you very much guys! Very useful info.. i really hadn’t thought of the swiss rules on a bike for example.
I was considering super quick commute or drive to basel anyway since i am used to filter through traffic and pass queues (italian on a vespa style! 😉 . 10-15 mn ridinf a vespa i considered to be anywere in basel, but if thats not the case it could really change things.
Also hadnt thought about the airplane noises.. after 2 years in richmond i really cant deal with airplane taking off and landing noises anymore. If anyone lived there knows what i am talking about..
If you're in Basel or close, it shouldn't be a problem.
I'm not certain, but I seem to recall that filtering through traffic is illegal in Basel.
>Also hadnt thought about the airplane noises.. after 2 years in richmond
>i really cant deal with airplane taking off and landing noises anymore.
You'll need to get used to the church bells...