6 ms·
Can someone here elucidate the downsides to living in Switzerland, over the US, particularly for those in the HN crowd?
by asdfologist 11y ago
Can someone here elucidate the downsides to living in Switzerland, over the US, particularly for those in the HN crowd?
- intrasight 11y agoIt is very expensive
- Locke1689 11y agoCompared to San Francisco, or Oklahoma?
- dpeck 11y agoyes
- pathy 11y agoSeems moderately comparable to SF. [1] Switzerland is generally considered to be very expensive compared to most places though. [1] http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&city1=San+Francisco%2C+CA&country2=Switzerland&city2=Zurich http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?coun...
- rsync 11y agoYes, it is more expensive in every way than San Francisco. Given the re-float of the Franc, it's even worse now. (I live in SF but one of the rsync.net locations is in Zurich and I travel there frequently)
- MHordecki 11y agoRent is cheaper than SF. Average going rate for a 1 bedroom apt. in places like Zurich is slightly less than 2k (this includes utilites). You can save big time by not having to use a car. Switzerland has an excellent public transport system. This also gives you a lot of freedom in terms of where you want to live (which also influences rent prices). There's an ubiquitous Zipcar-like service. Imported goods are usually the same price as the rest of Europe ("Swiss" markup is offset by lower VAT most of the time). Everyday goods such as food are much, much more expensive, though. Expect to pay about 20-25 CHF for a meal in a "hole-in-the-wall" kind of place. For a nice evening out for two, add a zero to this. Groceries cost accordingly, chicken breast go for 13-20 CHF per pound for example. Still not the most expensive place I've lived in, so I can't complain.
- sampo 11y agoIn the richest countries in Europe, Switzerland and Norway, also supermarkets and restaurants are priced to match the general income level of the population. In the US it is easier to have a six figures salary, but still drive over to a cheaper part of town to buy lunch for under $8, or buy cheap stuff from Walmart, ShopRite etc. Whereas if you live in Norway, you have to drive to Sweden in order to buy cheaper groceries.
- alkonaut 11y agoVisiting a country can be expensive. Then you make money in country A, which you spend in country B with higher prices. If you live in a country with high salaries and high prices, it just means there are nominally high prices, not necessarily "expensive". Some parts and some markets of Switzerland are "expensive" for example Zürich housing. The same is true for SF.
- branchless 11y agoThey know too many languages. Bit too pretty in some towns. Too much democracy.
- mercurialshark 11y agoI hardly "lived" there, but I found the culture to be lacking a sense of silliness and in general less personable. It's like what they say about German comedy, it's no laughing matter. I still really like Switzerland.
- mirimir 11y agoIn my experience, Germans (Bavarians, anyway) see the Swiss very much as Americans see Germans ;)
- fla 11y agoIt's important to note that there are 3 different regions (German, French and Italian) which all have their own 'sub-culture'. Behaviors can be quite different ;)
- markvdb 11y agoPlus the Romansh area in Graubünden: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romansh_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romansh_language .
- longjohnbatton 11y agoWhy would you want people to be silly? Do you mean wasting your time and getting in your way kind of silly or something else?
- adrianb 11y agoI believe it's not trivial to get a job there, especially if you come from outside the EU. And soon restrictions will be imposed on EU countries as well.
- chrisper 11y agoWhat type of restrictions?
- huhtenberg 11y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_immigration_referendum,_February_2014 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_immigration_referendum,_...
- raverbashing 11y agoWell, if you don't like mountains I don't recommend it The language is a challenge as well, though most people speak English Smaller houses (and places in general) A very demanding society, basically https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/11pcs1/while_i_lived_in_an_apartment_i_kept_a_linksys/c6oqc3m?context=1 https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/11pcs1/while_i_l...
- low_battery 11y agoIf you are american or from a western country you would be probably fine, but if not, there are some caveats. Swiss are not bound by the same EU laws about on agism/sexism/racism. They are surprised when you don't include your photo on the CV. They really can get away with a lot of crap. I have heard a lot of anecdotes about increasing xenophobia as well. Popular political parties with anti immigration agendas can pass surprising laws because young people do not vote.
- flarg 11y agoI spent 25-50% of my time working in Switzerland - rest of the time in the UK. There is literally no downside of Switzerland - it is a truly magical place. A commenter mentioned too much democracy, and it's true that it's one of the most democratic places on the planet - so the harsh side of people come out - but it's fair. Also the languages - there's 3 or 4 official languages, and the German is a special dialect, but in business it's all English so it's not an issue. The prettiness is the worst part in many ways - you either feel like you're dreaming (Lucerne) or you get feelings of disgust when you see rubbish on the ground (Zurich). The actual biggest downside is as mentioned in the article - it spoils you for other countries.
- cjsthompson 11y agoNo, actually it's the only place that's somewhat democratic.
- low_battery 11y agoMake an image search for "swiss political billboards"
- cjsthompson 11y agoAnd what do you expect I should learn from this?
- low_battery 11y agoNothing contradicting with your statement, Just gave some example of bullshit their cute democracy produces.
- cjsthompson 11y agoYou completely misunderstood my statement because you have no idea what democracy is.
- andresmanz 11y agoIt's too expensive. In regards of programming jobs, sometimes it's like living 40 years ago. Racism is annoying, but normal here. And you must be proud of being Swiss. Switzerland is tiny. Finding (and keeping) friends here can be hard, because if you even dare to fart, the whole village knows about it within seconds. And you shouldn't use your brain too much, so you can keep up with the others. But I'm pretty sure that doesn't only apply to Switzerland, so you may safely ignore this one.
- PopeOfNope 11y agoIt's too expensive. So's SF. In regards of programming jobs, sometimes it's like living 40 years ago. You program with punch cards? 40 years ago was 1975. Racism is annoying, but normal here. And you must be proud of being Swiss. You say that like it's a bad thing, but it's a big reason I like Switzerland. Life's too short to be ashamed of who you are. Switzerland is tiny. Finding (and keeping) friends here can be hard, because if you even dare to fart, the whole village knows about it within seconds. Same with any small town in the world. You say that like you're afraid of being drug out into the street and shot. And you shouldn't use your brain too much, so you can keep up with the others. But I'm pretty sure that doesn't only apply to Switzerland, so you may safely ignore this one. I don't think you'll have any problem with that one.
- rhodysurf 11y agoDont act like SF is the average place to live in the US
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- vacri 11y ago... most people do consider racism a bad thing.
- PopeOfNope 11y ago
- fit2rule 11y agoXenophobia. Cultural intolerance. Very 'always know best'-oriented culture.
- eps 11y agoIt's expensive. $20 for a chicken expensive. $50-70 for a mid-week not-so-fancy dinner for two w/o wine expensive. Basically, you go grocery shopping and you'll pay about 40-60% more than you'd pay for the same across the border in France. English is not commonly spoken at all, not in the French part at least. In fact, if you ask if they speak English, you'd get a surprised Non. Just as if you asked if they spoke Mongolian. In retail there'll be always someone who speaks English though, but he'll be there because people like you exist between customers and not because he is a natural occurence. Residence permits are a bitch if you are not a EU citizen. It's twice the pain if you are trying to run your own company there as you'd be expected to hire locals in droves, who (as you have just read) tend to cost an arm and a leg and come with very high expectations. Otherwise it's a superb country. High quality food, excellent roads, tons of places to visit and very close to everything in Europe (3 hours by TGV train to Paris).
- nota_bene 11y agoYou can't enslave workers with a minimum wage of $7.5/hr.
- zantana 11y agoHarry Lime: Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long Holly.