For multiple reasons, we decided to move from Zurich Lake to Canton Vaud. My partner works in Nyon, I will be working in Geneva (and frequently travelling to Basel). We excluded Geneva as living place- too chaotic compared to our current quiet Swiss German village...
Do you have any insights to help us choosing? Nyon would be convenient looking at our work locations, but Lausanne seems a bit more interesting place to live, doesn't it? (and better connected to the rest of the world).
We wonder about :
- availability of nice flats (like, old buildings, wooden floor, lots of windows - seems like Lausanne has plenty of those)
- daycare waiting lists (we need to place our 2yo "immediately" somewhere, a crèche, a maman de jour, a Baby sitter... until I can start my maternity leave)
- family activities, like swimming, skating, walking
- parks, trails, Museums, etc. - easy to reach with two Kids
It would be great some EF-vaudois could give us some insights
Depends if you want to continue with a quiet life or be somewhere more active. Lausanne will be busy, probably as busy as Geneva so that may not suit - plus it’s quite hilly compared to Nyon I believe.
The shortage of both housing and creche placement is incredible in Nyon. I think it is calmer and quieter than LS, a big advantage for little kids. It is more expensive than LS, though. The waiting list for creche used to be 3 years, it may have improved.
I've said it in other threads .. But the creche thing, we've just booked one of our kids in for next year, they have plenty places. Of course they are filling them now and it's not center of Nyon, but just 5 mins away in Signy.
You could also look at the Morges area . You have lots of trains to Nyon and Geneva (express will stop in Nyon then go on to Geneva). If you live around the lake and need to go to Nyon/Geneva you HAVE to take the train. Driving is not an option with the traffic levels and the number of accidents per day.
Morges is a good comprise. You can get to Lausanne/Crissier for shopping (the big stores) or get most of what you need in Morges. Appartement prices will possibly be a bit lower than Lausanne.
Anyways, I thinking for the first 2-3 months to just hire a babysitter, and then I will be home in maternity, so it is ok if I find 2 places for next Spring.
I had a look yesterday into the reseau nyonnais of children services and may I ask you two things then:
1. did I get it right- in public crèches 2 brothers basically pay like 1? (ok, it depends on the income, but the rebate seems substantial), while in private ones just one of the two gets 20% rebate? is that more or less how that works?
2. I could not really find private crèches in Nyon, maybe I am using the wrong search terms... would you have any examples?
I just had a quick look .. Google for creche and google for jardin enfant gave me different results. Many of the places don't have a website, leg work required.
You might want to expand a bit from only Nyon. Try same search in the surrounding villages which are just 5-15min drive away, most of these will have at least one creche too.
If this is your main reason for not wanting to live in Geneva, then you're definitely going to want to choose Nyon. Lausanne is actually a much more lively city than Geneva. The latter is quite orderly, often called "dead" by locals, and generally pretty empty outside of normal business hours. Lausanne has much more of a young, student-centered feel, with lots of bars and concerts and events. So if quiet village is what you're going for, Nyon is a much closer match.
Thanks a lot! Well, we do not mind at all bars & people - I doubt we will take advantage of the nightlife any soon, but we like having people around... what we do not like is traffic and not a lot of "nature" around. Friends told us Geneva is quite bad from that perspective - is that true? here we are used that the kid can basically go around on the lake shore with his scooter and there are no cars, the biggest danger is represented by quite agressive swans
I was a couple of times both in GE and Lausanne, but I could not really say how they are different from this perspective...
Anyway, Nyon is the top choice at the moment- what attracts me of Lausanne are the nice building d'epoque, I like old apartments, wood, decorations, nice view, etc. Nyon does not seem to offer much of that...
Thanks, I will try with Jardins d'enfants too. I actually found La Boironette on Google. But you are right, somehow, I would need to go and see with my eyes.
The challenge is that we need a local adress to start planning crèches and babysitters (I mean, at least we need to know the city! Nyon, Morges, Lausanne, whatever) but as you might know homegate ads tend to be on a quite short notice - like now for March...
Nyon is practically Geneva so very convenient for work. I would suggest following the lake from Nyon to Lausanne and have a look at the different villages there. Commuting with train to geneva should be no problem. Lausanne is a beautiful town but I would not choose it for a family.
I would prefer Nyon over Lausanne any day, especially if its for a family. Finding suitable accommodation could be challenge although there are some new projects in Nyon where renting might be possible.
As suggested by others, looking at the nearby villages would also be a very good idea. We spent 4 years in Nyon and loved it. Then moved to one of the nearby villages and have loved it even more.
I will add Arnex, Borex, Duillier, Trelex etc to the list of names already suggested. If you dont mind going just a little off the auto route up the mountain, you could also look at Beginins, Coinsins, Vich, Vinzel etc.
Although I prefer public transport, driving by car to Geneva is not all that bad. We have friends commuting to Geneva regularly from Lausanne, Cosonay, St Prex etc. Believe me, its much better than driving from Winterthur or St. Gallen to Zurich in the morning traffic.
I completely agree. There are many other small "villages" between Lausanne and Nyon that will be more affordable, less rush / problems with finding a daycare, good housing and still close to everything you need.
To be honest, I am not sure that anyone chooses where they want to live along Lake Geneva these days, as a flat or house to rent is just so hard to get. Better to look at the adverts, go and see if you like the location, then cross your fingers that you are the chosen ones.
If you are buying, things are easier, but of course it takes time, and money!
Just a precaution in case you, guys, are counting on municipal subsidies for creche, you have to have a placement in your municipality in order to qualify. High earners will usually find a spot the min the local municipality realizes you placed your child elsewhere and pay to a different municipality. So - other villages for jardin d'enfants or creche are possible, you might just end up paying twice as much. In Nyon the discount for sibling was not much if I remember well.
I used to live in Nyon. It has great Connections to either Lausanne or Geneva. It is a great place to raise a Family, but it is boring on the Weekends.
There are lots of opportunities to visit the Jura mountains or the Alps.
Housing will be just a bit less expensive than in Lausanne.
Parts of Geneva are very pretty and natural, close to the lake or one of the large parks. But other parts are louder and dirtier, as cities are wont to be. I would say Lausanne is similar in this respect - it also has pretty, quieter bits and ugly, busier bits. Nyon has very few busy spots, so I think it might be more up your alley. But I echo the advice of others - apartments are difficult to find, so visit a few places up for rent and you'll get a better idea of what different neighborhoods are like. Good luck!
I'm in love with Lausanne, what a fantastic place! Nyon is nice as well, but as pricey as Lausanne (it's near Geneva, and there everything is expensive).
Morges is a very, very nice village as well, if you like it a bit quiter. Wonderful lake promenade, nice old town, and not to forget the yearly british car meeting http://www.british-cars.ch/index_a.html
Anything a bit away from the lake would be less expensive, but also more difficult to do with public transport.