Moving to Geneva...where to live?

Accomodation, House and Garden
1
I'm new to the englishforum but have been living in Switzerland for a long time.

I'm moving from Zurich to Geneva in July, with my two little boys. I have no idea where to start looking for housing. To those of you who live there, can you please rank neighborhoods/areas where I can find great public schools or French-speaking private schools, possibly a house with garden, not too far from the city center? I've heard it is nearly impossible to find housing in Geneva and I'm nervous about that. My children are 6 and 8 and speak fluent French, but they have been in the Lycée Français and have had a more challenging curriculum than our local public school provides. I don't want them to be under challenged, but would like to switch to the public schools if possible.

I'm sure there are many more questions, but this is a start. Thanks in advance.

2
Hi, regarding schools, if you want them to be educated in the French system, then your only public school option is to send them to school in France. Otherwise, there are private schools in Geneva that offer French education (not Swiss).

Your question about housing is more difficult to answer. Housing is tough and affordable houses with gardens are almost impossible to find. When it comes to neighbourhood rankings, generally Rive Gauche is better than Rive Droite, but it very much depends on a lot of things (where your work is, where the school is, what you consider essential and what are the comprimises you can live with).

I would say that Institut International de Lancy and Institut Florimont are two quite popular private school choices and since they are both in Lancy which is well-connected and has some very good neighbourhoods with houses and gardens, that could be your starting point.

3
Hi there, and good luck moving to Geneva. I just moved from there to Zurich after living in the suisse-romande area for 4 years. Check glocals.ch (or com?), it is expat forum with a Geneva focus, you may get some answers there.

4
Hello,

I have the same question: Where to live in Geneva? We are moving to Geneva in January and now I am surfing the Internet and forums checking the information about the school (we are choosing between Ecolint vs. College du Leman) and house of course. We are allowed to rent the property up to 7000 CHF, of course I don't want to miss the chance to find appropriate house/apartment in good area.

I don't want to choose the place depending on school, since both of them have their own transportation, we definetely will buy the car there and as I see the public transportation is perfect.

So the questions are:

1. In which place in Geneva is better to live if we prefer quite area, preferably near the lake, park? Transportation is not a problem (but on the other side, not 30 min drive just to drink a cup of coffee in good place)

2. What type of house/apartment can we afford for this money? I read a lot about spooky neiborghs and would like to take a shower and do the laundry when I want, not when I am allowed. So I think about the house, but realy don't know what type of house could it be there, or may be top-floor apartment with terrace?

3. What you guys can advise to look for and what can/should be included in that renting price (dedicated parking place, gardening, cleaning, some extra payments-heating, hot water, etc.)?

4. Should it be furnished/unfurnished, with Inetrnet, cable TV (satellite installation) or something else?

5. We have an agent, but I'd like to be aware of some "dos and don't" in advance.

Hm-m-m, may be that's all up to now

Sorry if something sounds a little bit stupid . I am newbie (even I am about to be one) and realy count on your wise advises and experience. Thanks

5
The best way is feet on the ground and go and look, yes, I know it takes time. You have an agent get them to organise some viewings based on your criteria. Get a bus pass for the day and travel the lenght and breadth of Geneva to see what it looks like, or you can get a guided tour.

Look on www.homegate.ch

The place we rented was definitely not the one I thought we would from the photos or the location. Turns out I was very wrong, it was an excellent apartment and location.

Just avoid anything down town centre and that should get you a reasonable size not to mention garden.

6
In Geneva or VAUD, you dont look for housing...its housing which looks for you!!!*

*meaning you can't be that picky because it's supra hard to get anything

7
With a 7k CHF monthly budget it becomes suddenly a lot easier

8
Absolutely.

9
Hello, you might want to get to think about some preferences before you go further. For example, do you prefer city living or being in more spacious countryside; or house versus apartment; this will help getting past the first stage. For example you mention quiet, then living in city might be more than you can bear; and if want privacy and ability to do as you please having close neighbors in apt. will hinder this. More space/privacy basically means house outside city (geneva countryside or canton Vaud). Keep in mind CDL is outside Geneva and one of the 3 ecolit campuses is in Vaud.

In response to specific questions:

1. Being by the lake means being near center of GVA, but there are no real apts. right on the lake. If you want house with direct access on lake, probably best on the Cologny>Hermance direction, but you will pay for it. Also, for me, this side of geneva can be quite isolating with one access road and not much else. It can also hinder commute unless workplace is on that side of the lake.

2. Houses generally give you privacy and your own laundry facilities; depending on the apt., they will often have communal facilities to be shared and likely have allocated time slots. More modern buildings tend to have own facility in each apt. Need to ask agent.

3. Heating and hot water is usually included in the price/charges. There will likely be an annual adjustment if you use less/more than the estimate. For a house, gardening may or may not be included in the price, need to ask. Car spaces usually you pay extra, in case of apt; for house not an issue. Also use of cave is typcially in price/charges for apt. Cleaning of the common areas of apt. building is typcially in the charges, but not cleaning of the apt itself.

4. Most apts. and houses are unfurnished (incl no light fixtures), if you want furnished, you will obviously pay more. Don't know of any houses rented furnished. Depends on how long you stay, whether cost of furnished outweighs cost and hassles of getting furnishings.