Moving to Basel (or near border Germany or France)?

Welcome and Introductions
1
Hi!

I know that people are living in near border France and Germany and work in Basel.

What are the advantages/disadvantages living so? Are the taxes lower?

I am considering to start to work in Basel, but not sure, should i search accomodation in Basel, Germany or France....

2
Most commuters head to basel , because they got familiy or personal connections to france or germany. The taxes in basel stadt aswell the health insurance are pretty high.

The rush hour to and from work is really annoying , because the city (basel stadt) is not car friendly , nor the sbb station commuterfriendly.

If you choose to commute , you will loose min 2 hours every day, calculate if you are willing to sacrifice the time , not the money.

Klein Basel aswell parts of Kleinhünigen and st-johann are pretty low standards, don't expect much (closed shops, higher crime rate, sometimes trash on the sidewalk ).

Saint Louis in France has seen better Days as well, i would not recommend to relocate there (attacks on the tram after nightfall for example)

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/cross-b...cks--/44936714

3
I worked in Basel for 14 years and of those I lived the last 4 in France, just over the border. My experience is:

*tax was not significantly lower

*my ex and I could afford to buy our own house instead of renting

*the commute wasn't that bad apart from Monday mornings when the lorry's were backed up from not being able to cross the border on a Sunday

*I preferred being in Switzerland to France but that is a personal choice based on my language capabilities, schooling for my children, culture and the fact I love Basel

*red tape is everywhere in France and so much more so than Switzerland....it really wore me down trying to get a simple piece of paper to even register the children at school

*I am struggling to find anything positive about living in France, I am sure many will be able to do so but for me it just didn't work. I would not recommend it unless you can speak fluent French and have a less English mentality than myself

4
Not so. We've lived in France about 25km from the office ever since we moved over here (from 2001); route and journey times varying over time, with long-term roadworks, new roads, changes to traffic flow, but even at its very worst it was never more than around 45mins (except maybe once every few months if an accident caused problems). Mostly is/was around 35 minutes door to door, sometimes as little as 20 when I did it by motorbike.

Some key points for driving in from France

- avoid coming down the motorway if you can, or at the very least have a back-up route in mind; it doesn't take much to make the border crossing go slow

- start work late, the worst of the traffic is usually gone by 0830 or so

- be aware of school holidays, and events like Basel World, which can seriously alter traffic flows

5
Hey Gerly,

I know a little bit St Louis and the surroundings. I find the city and the others around totally ugly and unpleasant. I also have the feeling that Weil am Rhein, on the german side, is not very nice too. Personal point of view though.

It is true that the french are not very good in foreign languages, in Alsace you can find more people talking german, due to the proximity with the border and history of the region.

6
Thats their national pride , speaking french.

Do not try speaking german in french, they don't like it (but they understand).

The best way is to ask in french : Parlez vous anglais ?