I've been living in Geneva for a year, renting a flat, and working near the airport. I would now like to buy a house (with a garden). I'm looking at France because property is so expensive in Geneva and I would appreciate some advice on location.
I prefer the region to the south of Geneva. I started considering the area to the East of Lake Annecy (Veyrier Du Lac, Dingy Saint Clair) where some of my colleagues live, but I'm a little concerned that I would be limiting myself to working in Geneva. Whilst I enjoy my job, you never know what the future holds and I'm concerned about ruling out the possibility of working in Lausanne. So I thought that perhaps the area around Thonon-les-Bains and Evian might be a better option for me, with the possibility to take the ferry to Lausanne.
How long does it typically take to drive between Thonon/Evian and Geneva airport during normal commuting hours?
I read that the road between Thonon and Geneva is being improved, due for completion in 2014, but is it likely that there will be severe delays whilst the work is going on?
Is it really feasible to commute from Thonon/Evian to Lausanne by ferry?
Would you recommend living Thonon/Evian or near Annecy? I don't have children so don't need to consider schools.
I hope you can help! Thanks.
The best is to ask some of your colleagues/friends here in Geneva who is in the same position.
I have several colleagues who live in Evian/Thonon/Annecy and they said that you should be in Geneva before 8AM to avoid the traffic congestion and they leave work before 5PM to avoid the rush hour traffic.
I've spent a fair amount of time in Sciez where my ex girlfriend lived, and used to commute from there to Grand-Lancy... Commuting on the daily via this road (Evian-Geneva) can be a real headache during rush hours (7.00-8.30 and 5.00-7.00).
It sometimes takes over an hour to cover those 20 kilometers! Let's not even mention traffic in Geneva...
I regularly go to Evian from Lausanne in order to do my food shopping and see a lot of people commuting, which doesn't seem to be anything too bad, as long as you can reach your workplace easily from Ouchy.
Hope that helps.