There's a reason they called it canton ARRRRGGGGGGau...

So Nora, what brings you there? Are you a farmer?

Oh come on Nora!

Aarau is just a 15 (or is it 20) minutes ride away from Zurich!!

Thanks for your comments so far. I summarise, we got some sympathy, some glee and denial. interesting. 

are there actually any glocals who live in this area? what do you think? 

are you hiding?

Hey there :)

I'm moving to  Aarau (Erlinsbach) on the 1st December.

Looking forward to being more central!

Dave

Hi, I live in Kanton Aargau, and I love it! Was living in a ghetto in Zurich before , but now I'm in the peace of the Swiss countryside, with a view of the Alps and it's less than a half hr drive from the city..bliss to me. I  still work in the city but in the evenings I get to escape to beauty, a perfect balance to me. But then again ,I'm an Irish country girl so I need nature and space around me ;)

Hi!

I live in Kanton Aargau, in a really small village that makes even Aarau look cool! :P I guess it's just fine if you like it nice and quiet and can put up with the very many bünzlis. But from what i hear, Geneva and Zürich are where it's at. :) The one positive about Aargau is it's pretty centrally located, so your quick to Luzern, etc.

Hey girls!

Cool that you enjoy Aargau...I live in Aargau too and I`m going to school in Aarau! we could go out for a drink  some day if we find some girls around here...voddyviyious where do you live?

Fabienne

There's actually a world-class high-tech institute in Aargau - Paul Scherrer Institut. Some of my friends are working there. So there's absolutely no lack of culture there!

- Jouni

Well i've been living on the edge of Aarau for 2 months now and the only negative thing is the lack of sunny weather. (apparently we have more fog & clouds here than anywhere else in Switzerland)

The view down to the river and the beautiful town of Aarau is lovely and the sun setting behind the steam pillar of the power station can be eerie & stunning (especially if you are a scifi geek like myself - it feels like i'm living in an 80s prog-rock/scifi album cover :)

Aarau itself is definitely thriving for its size...clubs and venues such as Kiff, Kettenbrücke, Flösserplatz, Opium Lounge, Boiler Club & Terminus are just a few of the options covering a wide spectrum of live music, parties & events. There's always some live music happening somewhere at the many bars, pubs & eateries too. There's 3 british themed pubs... Penny Farthing, No.6 Butcher Street Pub and Mr Pickwick. Theres 3 chinese restuarants, a Thai House, Spaghetti Factory and many many more.

Tonight I will probably visit Andy's place here in Erlinsbach (10 minutes by bus from aarau HB) which is an american themed bar/restaurant. From 21 hr they will have a U.S rock band, Eddie Angels guitar Party.

There are plenty of classical music & theatre opportunities too, not to mention the Aargauer Kunsthaus & 6 cinemas. (there's always at least one movie showing in english)

Last but not least... the old town is beautiful and its many painted roof/overhangs has earned it the nickname "City of beautiful Gables"

Ok... thats my defence of Aarau, capital of Aargau :)

Loving it!

@ Fabienne: your friendliness and outgoing sense is a refreshing change from what i've experienced thus far here! Keep on being aweseome! :D I live in a really small kaff near Lenzburg :P But I'm in aarau a couple times a week. :)

Wow, until 2 weeks ago I didn't know Aargau existed, now you Aargau folks are taking over the forums! (-:

Are there any big companies in Aargau that employ many expats?

aww :) thx...well believe me you don`t know what Kaff means before u saw my village...it`s called Mönthal...about 400 people live there:D

Yes Aargau rocks;)

have a great weekend guys

@ Nir: if there are, I'm not aware of them. Aargau actually isn't an expat hotspot, because most of the opportunities do lie in Zürich. Hence I have found the Zürchers to be more open minded to foreigners. Of course there are pros and cons to each Kanton, but as far as advancing a professional career, i would not recommend Aargau. Of course, that's just personal opinion. And naturally, an Aargauerin like Fabienne is going to defend Aargau, she comes from there :P

I live in AG (Baden) and like it... Firstly I must admit that Baden is basically a Zurich suburb.  I can zip into Zurich by train whenever I want.. 20 min by train and I don't have to deal with the awful Zurich traffic and my taxes are much less than costly Zurich... After work I have endless trails to mountain bike and run on... and it is easy to get pretty much anywhere in Switzerland or beyond...  A few large companies (ABB, Alstom, Bombardier...) bring in lots of expats...  so there is somewhat of a multicultural offering when it comes to food and such.  

I work in another small village in AG that has more of the small town feel that many people speak of on this thread but the people seem to be friendly.  My advice would be to live in one of the bigger villages if you are looking for more outgoing people (towards expats at least)...

Hi all,

I live in Niederwil now, that's close to Baden / Bremgarten.

I also grew up most of my childhood in Aarau, so keep your criticism about Aargau in check! *gg*

;-)

Mark

hello All,

I am intending to move into Oftringen in Late October and I would kindly like to request anyone who would be willing to tell me more about the town. e.g

what is the average rent for a studio,

good agencies to check with for untermiete

generally info on the town.

thank you in advance.

Hello to all the glocal Aargau clan out there, 

I am about to move to Villigen which is about 5 kms from Brugg where I will work as a winemaker for one of the local wineries. From what I saw on my last visit I am really excited I know aargau cops a lot of critisim for being a bunch of farmers (which I kind of am ;)) but the close proximity to Zurich, Lucern, Basel and Bern I am hoping will make it a great place to live. Also there is a large expat community there mainly due to the PSI insitute so plenty of different cultures represented. In addition to this from what I have found out it has a really big wine culture with in an 8km radius of where I will be working there is over 200Ha of grape vines which is really huge for Switzeralnd. There is also a big grant from the Canton to develop all the old castles and Churches and creat a history trail through the region and in additon to that the European parks association is also launching a big promotion for local cottage produce for the region of Aargau so plenty of things to have a look at!

If any one is keen to drop by the winery to do some wine tasting let me know always happy to talk wine. Also am really keen to meet up with fellow mountainbikers, hikers or just meet up for a drink. Maybe a glocal wine tour could be organised if people are interested??????

take it easy Chris

Hi all

Thanks for all your posts. I now live in Basel, 30 minutes north. I do prefer it to living in Aarau, no doubt. Part of my bad opinion stems from going to school with some real bünzlis. If you have just moved there, you won't have the bad associations I have. 

I can recommend http://www.baslerweinmesse.ch/ to all wine lovers (Chris). 

Nora