Hi!
I’m wondering what would be an equivalent of Morges near Zurich, if it exists at all =)
In such aspects as,
in a commutable distance to work hubs, ie. to Zurich/Zug
with a nice scenery nearby
compact, ie. supermarkets, barbershops, doctors, hospital, gym, kindergarten etc. in a walking/fast commutable distance
with accommodation moderately available to rent (as compared to the average difficulty in the region, I know it’s a big pain point in general out there)
you name it
The aspect that is not important to me is whether it’s mostly locals living there or expats, ie. it could be anything linguistically and political values / demographics wise.
Lachen is very nice and by far the best option if you want to be close to mountains. It is a considerably longer commute to Zurich or Zug. Doable, but easily 20 mins longer one way. Logistically, Thalwil is best, but of the two I like Horgen better.
Rapperswil is unfortunately a traffic nightmare. As nice the old town is, I would never want to live there because of the traffic. Logistically, Gold Coast is OK for commute to Zurich by train, but car is tedious and Zug is far. Silver Coast much better due to motorway and proximity to Zug.
I have never been to Morges and just had a look via Google Streetview. Nice. If you are looking for the same kind of promenade along the lake, I think Thalwil or Horgen will not impress you too much. Lachen is probably one of the nicer places for drinks or dining by the lake. Rapperswil as well. And a few places along the Gold Coast.
If you are looking to be closer to Zug, maybe give Cham a look.
It depends. A Spanish friend who used to live in Geneva did not like Zurich at all. Found the people closed or something. A German friend who lived in Geneva working for the UN hated it for the shallowness of the (expat) crowd.
I live in Lachen. And it is a great place for a family. I don’t know Vaud well, so cannot compare really.
1h commute covers a lot, you could live for example in Lucerne or Romanshorn, but wait you didn’t list the lake, so if you don’t care much about having a walking distance to any lake, the options are numerous.
Yep, the only requirement is for it to be a self-sufficient compact infra-structurally/service wise little cute town, ie. not every little cute town would qualify =)
Well, but you do realize that some cute little towns are so well connected to bigger centers of life that it’s even more reachable than from within a big city? Many places in cities are actually quite disconnected, where you don’t have a convenient connection to the center by public transport, where a bus/tram makes a “discovery” route instead of connecting you directly with the old town, or you have to make changes.
Also depends how young you are and imagine doing something in the evening, everything away ~2km from zurich on both coasts is dead after supermarkets close, lachen - place to raise children, feels like a cemetery after 8pm, i knew one couple that moved from Dublin to work at Estee Lauder, they were shocked hahahah even though i told them it is pretty much riviera around here :DD Morges as well as Lausanne is full of students, so there is around the clock something, i would think only Zurich, Oerlikon, Walliselen may be or any other city-like place with some action. Otherwise if you are with family, then yes all those residential areas along the coasts are designed for that, Zug also.
Yep, exactly, I am with a family, the population of Morges is growing and it feels a bit crowded to my taste already but still nice =)
I am fine with a town being dead and residential as long as it’s self-sufficient in all aspects but work =)
Really? I once read about a project for this that was like 2 bn cost and 20 years construction time. Sounded all very unrealistic. But that was some years ago.
Ha, what a coincidence. Check this NZZ article that was published last weekend. Cheaper places to live not so far away from cities, includes map of average rent costs: