Deciding Where to Live

Living in Switzerland

Many people initially concentrate their efforts on finding a place to live on the Canton of Basel-Stadt. As the search continues, however, experience has shown that the search radius quickly expands to the neighboring cantons. It is possible to choose between an urban environment (Canton of Basel-Stadt) and the Basel metropolitan area:

Basel-Stadt is divided into 19 districts. All districts are very well connected by tram and bus and are ideal for bicycles. The municipalities of Riehen and Bettingen, which have a more rural character, also belong to the Canton of Basel-Stadt.

The Basel metropolitan area consists of a network of suburban municipalities in the Canton of Baselland. This includes Birsfelden, Muttenz, Münchenstein, Reinach, Arlesheim, Aesch, Bottmingen, Binningen, Oberwil, Therwil, Ettingen, Biel-Benken, Allschwil, etc. Oberbaselbiet is also a popular area, in addition to Rheinfelden and the Fricktal region (Canton of Aargau) and Dornach (Canton of Solothurn). Housing tends to be somewhat less expensive in these cantons.

They are popular places to live and are easily reachable by public transportation in 30 minutes or less from Basel-Stadt. Thanks to the country's excellent public transportation service, many people in Switzerland commute long distances each day, for example, between Zurich or Bern and Basel (100 km takes about one hour). University of Basel students and staff therefore live all over Northwestern Switzerland. The entire catchment area encompasses the Cantons of Basel-Stadt, Baselland, Solothurn, Aargau and Jura (French speaking) as well as the Cantons of Bern, Zurich and Lucerne. We strongly recommend being conscientious as you go about choosing your canton of residence as rent prices, taxes, school systems and costs for health insurance sometimes vary greatly from canton to canton.
 

Living in France or Germany

It is also possible to move to neighboring France (Alsace) or Germany (Baden-Wurttemberg) and commute across the border to Switzerland. In this case, the usual region on the French side of the border spans from Colmar or Mulhouse to about Altkich, Ferrette and Leymen; on the German side, the region spans from Freiburg in Breisgau in the north to the Lörrach area and all the way to Waldshut-Tiengen. Public transportation connections (along the Rhine) range from good to excellent. In the more rural areas, however, the public transportation infrastructure is less developed than in the rural areas of Switzerland.

What goes for the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Baselland also applies to the Basel metropolitan area in France and Germany, namely that the attractive working and living conditions have also lead to immigration, which is noticeably reflected in a tight housing market and higher prices.