Living in Zürich

Living In Zürich

One of the great things about traveling and seeing new places is that you get to see how people in other places have made different choices that lead to everyday life being just a bit different than home. I'm living in Zürich for a year, and being here has kicked up all sorts of ideas about how things are done here, and the ways that is different than back home (Pacific Northwest US). We face similar challenges, and sometimes come up with different solutions. All the decisions, large and small, add up and it's fascinating to see. If you're interested, read on! And let me know what you think.

Arriving At Home

Our new place is a one bedroom apartment in a new development in Zürich, Switzerland. It's infill development, and I don't know what was here before. What I noticed right away is that the main entrance is a pedestrian walkway. There is a way to drive to the building, there's a short driveway from the street to an underground parking garage under the complex, but the main entrance is for walking or biking. Even though we're right near a major street, you wouldn't know it. It's very quiet and relaxing when you are walking out of the building, in comparison to stepping out onto a busy sidewalk with cars whizzing by.

With all the talk in Seattle about trees & new buildings, I noticed that there really aren't any big trees right by the building. The building next door is older, and it does have a number of medium sized trees, while our building has plantings with young trees and bushes. Possibly because we're on a hill, there's a fair amount of greenery. This will fill out over time, Overall, I would say it is very pleasant.

Getting Around

Switzerland is famous for public transit, and the transit here is the best I've seen. The big cities: Zurich, Basel, Bern all have streetcar trams  as well as buses that go all over. Frequent trains connect cities, and even rural places are often accessible by bus.

Beyond that the bike infrastructure is pretty good too, with bike lanes in urban areas, a fair number of bike paths, and a comprehensive and well marked system of recreational bike paths. And you can take your bike on the train, which extends its range considerably.

Our apartment in Zürich is within 5 minutes walk of two small train stations and two bus lines. Within 8 minutes walking distance there are 3 tram lines. Pretty much the entire city, no matter where you go, is no more than 30 minutes away by public transit. The train is on a dedicated line with few stops and gets downtown in 5 minutes. The tram is on a (mostly) dedicated line, but has many more stops and takes 20 minutes. The bus is mostly used for getting to tram and train stations.

For comparison, our house in Seattle, at a similar distance from the city center, is 5 minutes walk from 2 bus lines.

There is also, of course, a comprehensive road system. The difference is that at every level of road - highway, city street, rural byway - the actual road service is much smaller. What might be a 4-lane city street in the US is a two lane road in the city here. And it works because so many fewer people are driving because they have other options. Driving is just one choice among many. I've often been walking on a country lane that looks to my eye like a bike path, because there's only room for one car with occasional turnouts. 

I think the availability of transit has a positive effect on social life. Kids are much more independent, they often take transit to go to school and other activities. I've seen groups of 20 four year olds going on and off the trains with a couple of teachers to look after them. There's no need for schools to provide transportation, and arranging field trips is much easier. Elderly people also can get around on the bus or train. Maybe because I ride the train I see more groups of people doing things together. It's not unusual to see twenty or so retired people get off the train, go for a walk, end up in a cafe, then go home on the train. You can have group activities without arranging carpools and rides for everyone.

Transit

When we arrived we purchased an annual pass to Swiss rail that entitles us to go anywhere in Switzerland with no further fees. That cost about the same as the insurance on our car in the US. Since we arrived, we've been living a completely car free life, and have not even needed any taxis.

The trains in Switzerland are not high speed, unlike trains elsewhere in Europe. But they are very well-connected and the emphasis is on the network. Most trips require multiple connections, and the connection times are relatively tight, so you may have only 3-6 minutes to get out of one train and into the next. Many train stations have connecting buses, so you get off a train and head for a bus that is usually already waiting and fills up with people coming off the train. Scheduling is tight but very dependable. They've made it easy to go anywhere, rather than optimizing around a few high volume lines.

Every village in Switzerland that has over 100 residents is required to have bus service (or cable car or chairlift) at least once an hour from 7am to 7pm. This ties the rural and urban places together and makes it easy to live in a rural place but still be well-connected to the city.

The government is continuously investing back into the system to improve it. They are not shy about closing down an entire line for 5 or 6 months in order to make it faster, improve the stations, or carry more people. Often they don't even have to run an alternative shuttle service because there are alternative paths, and people will simply use other pathways until the one being repaired and improved is back on line. This also means that if one line has to be shutdown for some sort of emergency, like a traffic incident, people just route around it and use alternatives.

I think this system of continuous investment also lowers the cost. It means that the government can do more of the work in house, because there is always some work going on somewhere, rather than contracting out to a company that may have to staff up for a particular large project. Our system seems to be more of a boom and bust cycle, where companies have to compete with each other during boom time for workers and capital equipment, and then the people and tools all sit idle during bust periods.

There are various ways to pay for transit, it is not free. You can have a pass, of various sorts, or you can buy individual tickets either on your phone or at a ticket machine. There are no fare barriers, it's all on the honor system. But there is fare enforcement, and if you are caught without a ticket the fine is large. Unlike in Seattle you don't get off with a warning. Fare enforcement is not on every bus, tram, or train, most trips you won't ever see them. But if you ride regularly, you will certainly get checked, so the number of people evading is relatively low. I think this has been a long process, and that they started with much more fare enforcement and lower fines, and as the residents got used to the system have been able to back off the enforcement but make up for it by raising the fines. Residents do pay much lower fares than visitors, I think they change tourists more the same way we have high taxes on rental cars.

One other thing I've noticed is that transit traffic comes in pulses, rather than than continuously. So if you are at a train station, a train can pull in, hundreds of people get off all at once, and then its quiet until the next train comes. By contrast, if you are on the side of a road, it will have cars going by continuously, each one with just a few people but no quiet times in between.  It's just a different rhythm of life.

In the early 70s, Zurich was poised to begin building a subway network when the referendum to approve it failed, probably around the same timeframe as Seattle Forward Thrust. After it failed, rather than concluding that the city didn't want transit, designers went back to the drawing board and came up with a plan for a street level streetcar system. The trams that resulted from this were much cheaper, and they are ubiquitous now, in most places running in dedicated lanes. They are in fact so ubiquitous that they can make extensive service changes and connect existing stops in new ways, in response to changes, for example, in employment patterns. Having trams at street level with lots of stops means they are good for local businesses: people can look out the window and see what's there, they can hop off, explore, and hop back on the next one. At the same time, the trams are much higher bandwidth than buses, they can hold maybe 2-3 times as many people as a bus with a single driver.

Trams and buses have their own signaling system. Sometimes on the bus it seems like they are running red lights, the bus will just pull around a whole line of stopped cars and go through a red light. We're getting this now too in Seattle, and it makes a lot of sense. Often the buses are packed, and although the cars take up a lot of space, usually there's only one person in each one, so it's giving priority to more people. Even so, the bus will sometimes run late, and if the bus is only two minutes late it can make a big difference if you have a 4 minute connection time.

Lots of the train stations, bus stations, cable car stations, etc. have rest rooms, and many of the trains have them as well. The ones in stations are maybe about half paid, half are free.

Overall, the transit system works really well, and people seem to like it. I haven't heard about big protests over, for example, the disruption caused by infrastructure improvements. People value the infrastructure, they want it to be good, and they have faith that the government will do the right thing.

Delivery Trucks

A lot of the delivery trucks are quite small and can be parked on the sidewalk temporarily. Below are pictures of a post office e-bike truck, and a small landscapers truck.

Shopping

Shopping is another thing that is very much changed by cars. In the city, grocery stores are relatively small by American standards, and stock standard things but not all the reams of alternatives that we get. So you can buy onions, but your store may not have scallions or shallots, just for a random example. Stores tend to be near trams and bus stops, and people stop on their way home to pick things up. Most people don't have more than about 5 or at the most 10 minutes walk to a store. So it becomes more of a thing that people do all the time, and less of a planned once a week activity as it is for many Americans.

Out in the suburbs, where more people have cars, grocery stores do tend to be a bit bigger.

Everything is closed on Sunday, except restaurants, so you have to buy what you need for the weekend on Saturday. If you mess up, or if you are returning home from abroad on a Sunday, there are some stores in the main train station and at the airport that are open Sundays and will have groceries. 

Sidewalks

I've been walking all over the city, and my impression is that the sidewalks are wider than typical sidewalks in Seattle. I think they also tend to have more people walking on them. That's probably partly because the city is denser, and there are more people on each block, but also because people tend to walk more because fewer people are driving. They are either biking, or walking at least far enough to get to the bus, tram, or train. Almost all the basic things we need are within about 5-8 minutes walk: supermarket, bakery, drug store, restaurants.

The sidewalks are also much more likely to have outdoor seating, often for restaurants, but sometimes just as simple built-in amenities like benches.

Comparisons: Zurich and Seattle

The population of Zurich is 436,551, which is more than half the size of Seattle: 780,995. In land area, Zurich is 33.93 mi², which is less than half the size of Seattle: 83.78 mi². That means Seattle has a population density of 9321 people per square mile, while Zurich has 12866 people per square mile. Zurich seems a lot more dense. About 12% of Seattle's space is dedicated park land; I haven't found numbers on Zurich's park space, but it may be around a third of the overall city space, which means that the population density if you excluded park land would be even higher. Put another way, if Seattle had the same population density as Zurich on all our non-park space, we'd have a population of 1.34M, a little less than double our current size. 

In Switzerland, taxes are about 28% of GDP overall; in the US it's 27% so pretty similar. GDP per capita in Switzerland is $103,669.87 and in the US it's $85,809.90; so Switzerland is certainly a richer country.

Swiss culture is similar to the US in many ways. The right to bear arms is important. The military is well-funded and plays a central role in Swiss life. All men are trained for the military, and take refresher courses up to age 40. Health insurance is mandatory but private; you get to choose which company insures you.

The culture is also different in many ways. Someone who came here from elsewhere, stayed many years, and then moved away again told me "living in Switzerland is a lot of work." Another person I know here describes it as a "gentle police state". There are rules, you are expected to follow the rules, and there are consequences, often fines, if this is not done. When you rent something, you are responsible for giving it back in the same condition it was in when you received it. When you live here you may find that your building has rules about when you are allowed to make noise and even when you can do laundry. The Swiss are often skeptical about adopting new rules, they appreciate liberty, but they also don't tend to have rules they don't enforce. And most people, more than in the US, do actually follow the rules. 

While making sure that you are following the rules introduces some stress, especially for temporary residents, it is amazing how relaxing it is when everyone is on the same page. It is much safer, so you can walk around late at night without worries. When you are in the crosswalk the cars stop for you. People are not (usually) playing audible music or videos in public spaces. And, I suspect, much less time & effort spent on enforcement. A small percentage difference in people behaving as expected can make a huge difference in the quality of life.

Immigration

I don't know what the rules are around coming to Switzerland, but I think the common experience for immigrants is that they are invited to come by a Swiss company, who then sponsors them. In our case, we were sponsored by ETH, one of the two major universities in Zürich. They initiated the process, we sent in forms requesting a visa, and then sent off our passports to get them enhanced with visas. The visa we got a was a short-term visa, I think only good for two months. So one of the early tasks was to go to the city hall and request an extension of the visa for a year. Mostly this is a formality, but part of it is you tell them where you are living, get your photo and fingerprint taken, and get an identity card. If you move, you have to tell them you've moved, and I think the landlord may have to tell them as well. I'm sure they have some illegal immigration, but they don't make it easy.

I've talked to some people who either became citizens or are on a path to citizenship. It's done slightly differently in each canton, but generally you have to have a number of years of residency before you can apply. It's shorter if you have Swiss family members. Once you've been in Switzerland long enough by the canton's rules, you can apply for citizenship. You have to pass a written test, covering I think Swiss history and governmental structure, and you have to demonstrate fluency in one of Switzerland's four official languages: German, Italian, French, or Romansch. As long as you can hold your own in conversation, I think you pass, but that requires a fair amount of fluency. And if you are doing it in German, you don't have to do it in Swiss German, high German is the offical language.

Switzerland does offer aslyum, and it does allow family members to immigrate.

Foreign nationals make up 27% of Switzerland's residents, and 37% of Swiss residents have non-Swiss parents. Most of the these people are from elsewhere in Europe.

Swiss people are very divided on immigration. The majority believe that it is overall positive, in particular that it is good for the economy, and should continue. There is a strong minority (45%) who are against it and believe that it is a threat to the culture.

Health Insurance

So far, knock on wood, my experience of the health system is that of a healthy person, which is to say, not much. There is a requirement that all residents have at least basic medical insurance. The government mandates what is included in basic medical insurance, and an array of 20 or more companies compete with each other for customers. Companies are not allowed to turn anyone away. If after a few months a new resident has not signed up with a service, and declared that to the government, one is assigned for you, and you will be billed whatever it charges.

For the insurance companies, their profit margin seems to be all about upselling you to more insurance. Basic insurance includes hospital stays, for instance, but not in private rooms. Interestingly, it doesn't necessarily include accident insurance; that's usually separate. 

One thing I noticed that seems really good; when you do have a medical bill, the doctor's office bills the insurance company, the insurance pays the doctor in full immediately, and then bills you for your portion, and you pay the insurance company back. This makes it simpler for you to understand what you owe, since you are only talking about billing with the insurance company, not with an array of providers and labs. And the doctor doesn't have to wait a long time while the charges are sorted out.

Taxes

Like the US, Switzerland is a federal system, and they have federal taxes and cantonal taxes, just as we have federal and state taxes. They also have different taxes in different cities and towns (the US does too, but I think NYC is the only place that has its own income tax). So the level of taxation depends on where you live. 

Switzerland has income tax and payroll tax, very similar to what we have in the US. There is no capital gains tax but Switzerland has a wealth tax, so part of paying your taxes is declaring your assets, and then paying a percentage of their value in that year. These are payable to the canton and to the city and vary from .13% to 1.1%; the tax is progressive so the more assets you have the higher a percentage you pay. Each jurisdiction decides how much to tax, so people do move around in order to get a better rate, just as some wealthy Americans move to different states to reduce their taxes.

If you are a member of a registered church you have additional church taxes to pay.

And, this is not a tax, but when the government levels punitive fines for traffic offenses, they are scaled to the level of wealth of the offender. So if you are a speeding millionaire, you will pay much more than if you are at the median income level.

Garbage

Garbage disposal is defintely a bit different. At a high level, the same basic distinctions exist between compost, recycleables, and garbage, but under that it's all different.

Compost is put in compostable bags which go into large compost bins, just like at home. Unlike at home, compost is the food waste only and doesn't include, for example, paper or cardboard with food waste on it, which would count as compost in Seattle. Dirty paper or cardboard is treated as garbage.

Housing

Zurich's housing shortage is even worse than Seattle's. They are building more housing all over the city, and it is still not enough. And from chatting with people, I think the residents have mostly the same attitude about it that Seattlites have: they want people to have what they need but they are not happy about old buildings coming down for newer bigger buildings. One thing Switzerland has done well is to (mostly) avoid sprawl. Almost all development comes in the form of multi-family buildings in existing towns. There are plenty of green areas and farms between towns. 

Most people rent rather than owning their home. Rents are very high when compared to other global cities, but salaries are even higher so that the salary-to-income ratio is better in Zurich than in most other European cities, and better than many North American cities as well. However, it can be hard to find an apartment. From reading election leaflets, housing is one of the biggest issues for candidates running in city elections.

When a lot is up for a building permit, they put up poles on the lot to show where the building will go: where the edges of the building will be and how tall the building will be. That stays up for a month or so to give local residents a chance to understand and (if they wish) to complain.

Homelessness

Given the high cost of housing, you would expect a high level of visible homelessness, but this is not the case. There is pretty much no visible homelessness in Switzerland: I think it's just not allowed. I did once see a tent while I was riding the train, and that's all I've seen in an entire year of urban living and traveling all around. The constitution requires emergency assistance to be available: "Anyone who finds himself in need and is unable to provide for himself is entitled to assistance and care, and to the means that are indispensable for a dignified existence”. So they have to provide shelter, but there is no universal right to housing. Housing assistance is provided mostly by cities and cantons. I haven't found any good statistics on the level of homelessness, and there seems to be no federal definition of it. I don't know much about what the experience of poverty is here, compared to other places.

Hiking

I'm really into hiking, and for me this is the core of what's wonderful about being in Switzerland. You have beautiful mountains, a network of footpaths: right of ways for walkers that go across private lands, and a ubiquitous transit system. Combine those together and there is nothing like it. You can get up in the morning, head out on the train for a hike, walk as long as you want, maybe stop at a cafe, and fetch up somewhere else at a bus or train system and go home. Except for the trails in the really high mountains, you can do this all year.  

Why does this seem like magic to me? I don't have to drive a long way, I can just ride the train. The time is the same, but the attention and stress required for the train is much less. I hike very much less at home because I would have to drive and its just too much trouble.There's no concern about getting to the trailhead and finding no place to park. I don't have to worry about my car getting broken into while I'm hiking or not starting when I get back. And there are literally thousands of different trails.

Outdoor activity seems like a core value for Switzerland. In the winter you see people on the train with skis and snowshoes, and in the rest of the year they're there with climbing ropes, daypacks, bikes, and even paragliders. The government in the thirties started encouraging city dwellers to go walking on the weekends and encouraged farmers to set up outdoor cafes and little produce stands, in order to bring together rural and urban people and share the wealth. The transit system means that its easy for people to organize to go out together in groups. I often see groups of retired people walking together; they don't have to have cars, they don't have to be concerned about parking for everyone in groups, or organize rides for everyone, they just all ride transit. It's a good way for all people, but maybe especially older people who have more time, to stay active and healthy.