I am in my late twenties and I am considering moving to Stäfa with my boyfriend. I was wondering if there would be an active expat community there. I am still not sure about the move as I fear to feel isolated (I don’t speak German yet). Any advice about meeting people around there is welcome, thank you!
Hello everyone,
Welcome to the Forum. I don't know anything about Stafa, so have a bump and hopefully someone else will be along with advice.
What do you mean by active expat community? Specifically, do you mean a French one, an English one or just generally expats?
Stäfa/Männedorf have at least two fairly large firms with a lot of English speaking staff (Sonova and Sensirion), it feels fairly international and it's on the "gold coast" so there's loads of people who commute to Zurich.
My experience from nearby Rapperswil is that most people speak enough English for you to fit in, you'd be better looking at whether the locality supports your hobbies, sports whatever as that's how you can integrate.
Thank you 3Wishes for the warm welcome and newtoswitz for your answer!
By active expat community, I meant expats generally speaking (from anywhere), who would sometimes organize meetup for example.
And very good idea, I will check out the clubs/activities offered in Stäfa.
Zurich is just stone throw away that's where everything is going on. I'm currently living 15 min train ride from Zurich HB, I've never been looking for meetups in my very close neighborhood.
Thank you for your reply Gravity I will look for some in Zurich itself then, if I can’t manage to find/organize any in Stäfa.
It's been years since I last lived out that way (Männedorf, not Stäfa), but FWIW:
There are plenty of Ausländers living along the gold coast, but not necessarily a concentration in any one village. While each village is distinctive, the whole area kind of flows from one village to another, and is quite easy to travel around. You will meet kindred souls from from neighboring villages as you go about your day - I wouldn't make finding an expat community in the village itself a deciding factor.
If you are seeking English-specific activities, you likely will end up joining one of the Zürich based clubs or groups - again, only a short train ride away.
I chose our village based first on housing availability, then walkable local infrstructure and amenities. I figured I would find friends along the way - and I did. Although I moved away years ago, those friendships remain close.
Yes, I ment most of my friends via Zürich-based clubs... but turned out they, too, lived scattered throughout the greater metro area.
A great thing about the lakeside villages: While the general vibe is very 'foreigner friendly', you will still have to use German in everyday life, making iearning the language (if you are not yet a German speaker) so much easier.
WIshing you all the best as you settle in.
Hello Meloncollie, thank you for your encouraging message! I feel much less worried and I am actually looking forward to our move there ☺️
Hi did you end up moving to Stäfa? I am in Stäfa since three weeks and I’m wondering the same and how to meet other mums and children, I have s toddler.
My German is not (yet) any good so I’m not so comfortable joining a spielgruppe just like that.