A warm welcome to glocals and the Geneva area.

Do click on the “Groups” button because this will help you find like-minded people with whom you can share experience s and activities.  There’s also a Canadian Club in Geneva so you’ll also meet compatriots there.

Best wishes, R. 

Just FYI, we can view Morges directly from our house on the French side of the lake.

It has quite a heavy rainfall. There is a gap in the hills and this seems to attract rain like a funnel. Must have one of the heaviest rainfalls of the surroundings districts. That said, there are some beautiful places in and around the area and if you need more help or information, just send us a PM. Additionally, the likelihood of finding an apartment in Geneva is remote as the availability, the last we heard was 0.01%. You could always try to find a house/apartment in France - we adore it here!

Welcome to Geneva,

Nyon is a fantastic area to live in and the public transportation in Switzerland is also fantastic. You can reach from Nyon to Geneva in twelve minutes by train. Morges is just a few minutes more. Both are lovely little towns. You are definately looking in the right places. Switzerland is a wonderful place to live and work.

P.S. Don't worry! The weather is just fine on this side of the lake. So is the currency.

Best regards

Welcome...this is a great site...I am sure you will find it very useful

Hey Kelly,

Welcome to Geneva!! I am from Vancity as well and moved here last year. Hope you guys can find reasonable accomodation or have help from your husbands work place. I am sure Geneva will remind you a lil bit of the wetcoast!! :)

Welcome to the forum Kelly.

If your husband is working centrally in Geneva, Nyon and Morges can be interesting options to live and possibly better value for money.

If his work isn't that well connected by public transport, though, Geneva has lots of nice areas. If you give a general area of where your husband is working and an idea of what you would be looking for in regarsd to housing, I'm sure you could get tailored advice and shared experiences that could be of help.  

@Sheila - those who seek entertainment on this board recognize you love France and whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone looking for advice on where to live, but please support your case a little better and stop fear mongering. 

Explaining (very scientifically, I might add - reminds me of Sarah Palin saying she has international experience because she could see Russia from Alaska) that Morges rains a lot to someone coming from Vancouver to discourage them to live there is like telling someone coming from the desert that the French Riviera might be too hot of a climate for them. I'm sure she'll wear her waterproofs while strolling through the vineyards and maybe give you a little wave across the lake.

Your statement ' the likelihood of finding an apartment in Geneva is remote as the availability, the last we heard was 0.01%' is utter rubbish. Availabilities on the market in Geneva are the highest since 2003 and, depending on area and category, can be closer to 0.4 - 0.5%. Still not considered a 'healthy' market, but not as hopeless as one would be led to believe. Non-EU members don't always have the choice to reside in France, as some are legally bound to stay in CH and some even only in the canton of Geneva. It would be pertinent to find out if Kelly and her family have any of these restrictions before bashing Geneva and bigging up your part of the lake.    

That's the joy of an open friendly? forum like this one Matthew

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but 'fear mongering'?

a little far-fetched don't you agree? Have a good, sunny day

Hello,

I'm leaving in Pays de Gex (the french part 01 where you can find Divonne les Bains), and it is at about 25 minutes by car from Geneva.

The best option if you want to rent something cheaper than in Geneva.

Forums can be a great resource, especially in this case to someone seeking advice from a distance. Opinions are great - such as you love Evian because you’ve lived there x amount of time, etc…

Statements like ‘it has heavy rainfall and it MUST have one of the heaviest rain falls of the surrounding districts’ don’t help much as you don’t define what heavy rainfall is to you nor provide the OP with the actual rainfall data. You also have no idea what the OP considers heavy rainfall. You're providing your opinion as fact, which is where people can be misled.

Your comments about the Geneva market are flat out wrong and uninformed, which I find irresponsible on a forum and have nothing to do with your right to have an opinion. What if the OP has a 15,000chf a month budget? Or 6’000? She would have more than a few options in these categories as there are quite a few houses sitting empty…  If I had a budget like that, I would happily be closer to my work (and subsequently my family) on the outskirts of the city and not have to commute 1 hour + from certain parts of France. If the OP gave a budget of 3’000chf a month for a 4 bedroom house with a garden and a 2 car garage, she would obviously not be likely to find something like that in Geneva, so a responsible forum would help set her expectations and maybe a helpful member would know of something meeting her criteria around where they are and help explain the pros and cons of where that would be.

Fear mongering, I agree, is an extreme label, but I wouldn’t say farfetched from some of your friendly? participation on the forum. 

I think we are loosing sight that some one is asking for help/advice and opinions of others that have already made the move she and her family are about to make the move here. There is no fear mongering or far fetched ideas as what has been stated so far is to a great extent true. I can vouch for that as i have lived in both places. And since when did people self appoint policing this website.....so please share your opinions no matter how versatile . Basing your opinion on assumptions is just that an assumption. Better share experiences and leave it at that.

Hi Kelly,

Best wishes with your move to Switzerland.  I hope it goes well. One thing you may want to look into as you get your permits settled is where you are entitled to live legally. For example, when I moved to Switzerland in 2002 I was informed by my employer that as a Canadian on a "B" work permit I had to live in the canton (or province) that I was employed (in this case Geneva). I am not (and emphasize I am not) sure if the situation has changed and you can live outside of the canton if you have a "B" permit. I thought I would share this in case you did not know this and that the situation I faced is still valid today. You may want to ask this question to your husband's company.

If you have any specific questions, please feel free to message me.

Chris

Hello again everyone, 

Thank you all who replied for the advice, thoughts and comments. Yes, coming from Vancovuer I certainly know rain well:)

My husband will work right in downtown Genava I think. The EA office. 

We have about a 3000chf budget for a flat and are looking for three bedrooms. Would love something cheaper so we can look at pre-schools for my eldest, but that is our max. Our relocation package has given us a person for 2 days once we arrive who will have already done some research for us based on our requirements and will set up appointments for us to look at apartments. After the two days, we are on our own. With no car and two little ones. Freaks me out a little but we'll work through it....right? ;)

Kikiriki, I have heard of that for a B permit, but have also heard that we can live outside of Geneva if we just fill in some paperwork once we are there. Hope that is case. 

Hoping the visa's come next week and then we can leave in about a week/week and half after that. Tired of all the thinking about everything and just want to go!!

Again, thanks for the responses.

Kelly