The one advantage of Geneva vs other Swiss cities if you are cost-conscious is you can commute across the border and live in France, where living costs diminish

The one advantage of Geneva vs other Swiss cities if you are cost-conscious is you can commute across the border and live in France, where living costs diminish almost proportionally with commuting time. Ferney is perhaps half Geneva rent, if you're willing to go all the way to the villages at the base of the mountain (20 minutes drive if your office is near the airport), you can get a 3-bedroom house for what gets you a rat-infested studio near Cornavin (been there done that, thought about the French house VERY hard). This is without mentioning things like cars or groceries which are a LOT cheaper especially since the peg was removed. And of course you keep paying tax in Switzerland as a "frontalier" (25%, it's the highest canton...). And you can use GVA which is an EasyJet hub to jet around Europe on weekends on the cheap. I believe some Germans do this with Zurich and Zug from Konstanz, although that is a bit more hardcore with a 45 minute drive without traffic. Konstanz is another frontalier city with good quality of life, ultra low costs (4 euro ostrich fillet steak delivered to your office! don't ask...) and plenty of culture and food options. Mountains-wise I might be biased, but I've yet to meet anything that beats the biodiversity, food, low cost and incredible variety of options in Haute Savoie. Just stay away from the tourist hubs and start from the smaller village resorts. The Swiss side just feels more barren, more touristy (or friendlier to non-hikers, which are there in force) and definitely a lot more expensive.