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Zurich to cut number of car parks

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This week, Zurich City’s executive tore up an agreement between opposing political camps on parking, according to RTS.

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The agreement, known as the “Parkplatzkompromiss” which came into force in 1996, was a simple agreement to maintain the status quo. No new parking would be added and no existing parking would be taken away.

Now, with more Green Party members in the city’s government, the political balance has shifted, and the executive has decided to make some changes.

With the “Parkplatzkompromiss” agreement gone, the city plans to cut 700 parking places in the centre of town to make way for more bicycle parking and green space.

Some are unhappy the move and warn it will hit retailers who are already struggling from the rise of online shopping. Members of the Swiss People’s Party are considering a referendum on the issue.

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RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now

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Zurich city launches initiative to allow foreigners to vote

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Last week, the city of Zurich filed a cantonal initiative to allow foreigners to vote at a municipal level in the canton.

Zurich city launches initiative to allow foreigners to vote
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In July 2019, Corine Mauch, Zurich’s mayor, announced her plan to launch the initiative.

If the initiative is successful foreign residents with B or C permits who have lived in Zurich for at least two years will move one step closer to being able to vote on local matters.

The initiative aims to change the canton’s constitution to allow municipalities to grant qualifying foreigners the right to vote and the right to be elected. The change would not force municipalities to offer these rights. Each local authority would be free to choose.

Around 42,000 foreigners in the city of Zurich would currently qualify, according to a press release by the city.

Foreigners living in the French-speaking cantons of Vaud, Fribourg, Neuchâtel and Jura can already vote and be elected at a municipal level. In Geneva, foreigners can vote but not be elected. In German-speaking Switzerland the cantons of Graubunden, Basel-City and Appenzell Ausserrhoden allow municipalities to give their foreign residents the right to vote.

More on this:
Zurich city press release (in German)

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Swiss taxis Europe’s most expensive

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In a recent comparison of taxi fares across Europe, Geneva and Zurich were the most expensive.

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In the study, which focused on the total cost of a taxi journey from the airport to the centre of town, Geneva (€36 – CHF40) and Zurich (€63 – CHF70) fared better than Milan (€105) and London (€104), which had the highest total journey costs. However, this is only because Zurich and Geneva airports are close to the city centre.

The per-kilometre taxi costs in Zurich (€5.25) and Geneva (€6.00) were roughly double that of the most expensive airport journeys in Milan (€2.02) and London (€2.85).

The 52 km trip between the centre of Milan and Bergamo airport (€105) was the most costly, but cost only €2.02 per km. The trip from Stansted to London, the second most expensive trip, cost €104 (£95) but only €1.65 per km.

The high cost of an airport taxi can be easily avoided in Geneva by picking up a free train ticket from the machine in the baggage carousel area. The ticket is valid for 90 minutes and covers all public transport in greater Geneva.

Uber is cheaper too. From Geneva airport to the city centre costs around CHF26 (€24) and from Zurich airport around CHF 27 (€25).

More on this:
AirMundo survey (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now

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Zurich’s mayor wants to let foreigners vote

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Speaking to the newspaper Tages-Anzeiger recently, Corine Mauch, Zurich’s mayor said she plans to launch an initiative to give foreign residents the chance to vote at a municipal level.

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Mauch, whose mother Ursula Mauch was the first female federal parliamentarian from the canton of Aargau, said that while foreign residents live, work and pay taxes in the city, they cannot vote.

In the city of Zurich, close to half of residents (47%) are foreign.

Mauch, a member of the Socialist Party, said she will send the proposal to the canton after the summer break. The plan, which has municipal government support, needs to win the approval of the cantonal government before it can be presented to the canton’s Swiss voters. If it wins the support of the canton’s government it will be put to a public cantonal vote in a few years time.

If successful, foreign residents in the municipality of Zurich would be able to vote on municipal matters after two years of residence in the city.

In 2013, a similar initiative to allow foreigners who had lived in the canton for 10 years to vote, was rejected.

Non-Swiss residents in 8 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons and in several hundred municipalities can already vote on local issues, mainly in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.

More on this:

Tages-Anzeiger article (in German)

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Rents have risen in Switzerland’s main cities, according to rental website

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The website homegate.ch has compiled data on rental prices in Zurich, Basel, Bern and Geneva over the last two years. The data shows how rents have risen in these cities and presents them on maps showing prices rises by suburb in each of these cities.

Paradeplatz Zurich_© Denis Linine _ Dreamstime.com
Paradeplatz Zurich_© Denis Linine _ Dreamstime.com

The data presents rental prices for a 70 square metre three-room apartment. The most expense location in Switzerland is Paradeplatz in Zurich where the average rental price is CHF 3,760.

The average for such an apartment in Zurich ranges from CHF 1,370 to CHF 3,760.

Click here for data on Zurich, Geneva, Basel and Bern.

More on this:

Homegate press release (in German)

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A family apartment in Geneva close to twice the price of one in St. Gallen

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On average, renting a 4.5 room apartment of 100 to 110 m2 costs CHF 3,820 a month in Geneva. The same apartment in the Swiss city of St. Gallen costs CHF 2,004, 52% of the price, according to a report on rents in Switzerland’s ten main cities by the price comparison website Comparis.

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For an apartment of this size, Geneva (3,820) is the most expensive, followed by Zurich (3,073), Lausanne (2,850), Basel (2,660), Bern (2,600), Luzern (2,430), Winterthur (2,400), Lugano (2.110), Biel (2,050) and St. Gallen (2,004).

High rents are driven by low supply and high demand. Vacancy rates are particularly low in Geneva and Zurich and relatively high in Biel (2.4%) and St. Gallen (2.3%). The Swiss average is 1.62%.

A high number of well paid jobs in Zurich and Geneva increases the price people are prepared to pay in those cities, increasing demand.

The housing supply is being increased, but in less desirable regions such as Huttwil where nearly 15% of the apartments are currently empty. An expert at Comparis says this has been driven by low interest rates and a strategy of developers building where they can rather than where people choose to live.

More on this:
Comparis article (in German)

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Swiss vote could cause chaos at Swiss airports

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A referendum aimed at rejecting changes to Swiss gun laws scheduled for 19 May 2019 could cause major disruption at airports in Zurich and Geneva if it succeeds, according to various newspapers.

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If the vote is successful it might eventually lead to the exclusion of Switzerland from the Schengen area. If this happened, immigration staff at Swiss airports would need to check the passports of all those entering from and departing to other Schengen area countries.

The vote aims to reverse new rules on gun laws introduced by the Swiss government in September last year in response to changes in EU gun laws. According to RTS, Switzerland’s broadcaster, if the referendum succeeds, Switzerland’s membership of the Schengen area will automatically expire after six months unless a committee of Swiss and EU officials agrees to extend it within 90 days, an unrealistic scenario according to some commentators.

The Schengen area is the world’s largest visa free zone, covering most of the EU and the non-EU nations of Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Lichtenstein.

In Geneva, this would mean checking the passports of an additional 5.5 million passengers, around 60% of the number passing through the airport currently, according to André Schneider, Geneva Airport’s director, who spoke to the newspaper Le Matin.

In addition, because of the way airports are currently configured, there isn’t enough space to do the checks. According to EconomieSuisse, the required reconfiguration at Zurich Airport would cost between 65 and 125 million francs.

Mr Schneider said the cost of a similar reconfiguration, which would involve removing some retailers, would cost around half the cost of the work required in Zurich.

In any case, the change wouldn’t occur quickly. “We would have to endure a long transitionary period with endless queues for passport checks”, said the airport’s director.

More on this:
Le Matin article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
RTS article (in French)
Swiss government information on the vote (in French)
Tribune de Genève article (in French)

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Three Swiss cities ranked in world’s top 10 most livable

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Mercer’s 2019 livability ranking looks at 231 cities across the globe. Vienna comes top for the tenth year in a row, while Bagdad ranks last.

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Three Swiss cities are among the global top ten. Zurich is 2nd, Geneva 9th and Basel 10th. Bern, a fourth Swiss city, is not far behind in 14th place.

No other Swiss cities were included in the survey so there is no way of knowing where Lausanne Winterthur, Luzern or St Gallen might have ranked.

The ranking is based on the price and availability of consumer goods, economic environment, housing, medical and health considerations, natural environment, political and social environment, public services and transport, recreation, schools and education and socio-cultural environment.

This year’s top 10 were:

1 Vienna
2 Zürich
3 Vancouver
3 Munich
3 Auckland
6 Düsseldorf
7 Frankfurt
8 Copenhagen
9 Geneva
10 Basel

None of these cities are large. Vienna, the largest of the top 10, has a population of around 1.9 million people. Munich (1.4 million) and Auckland (1.6 million are the only others with populations in excess of one million.

A similar ranking done by the Economist Intelligence Unit last year also ranked Geneva and Zurich highly. Zurich came 11th and Geneva 14th in this survey.

More on this:
Mercer ranking 2019 (in English)

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Zurich and Geneva make Europe’s top 5 most livable cities

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This year the world’s most livable city was Vienna, which knocked Melbourne, the leader for seven years, off its top spot. The annual survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit looks at 140 cities around the world.

Zurich © Denis Linine | Dreamstime.com

Zurich and Geneva both rose in the 2018 global ranking. Zurich from 15th to 11th place, and Geneva from 18th to 14th.

1. Vienna 99.1
2. Melbourne 98.4
3. Osaka 97.7
4. Calgary 97.5
5. Sydney 97.4
6. Vancouver 97.3
7. Toronto 97.2
8. Tokyo 97.2
9. Copenhagen 96.8
10. Adelaide 96.6
11. Zurich 96.3
12. Frankfurt 96.0
12. Auckland 96.0
14. Geneva 95.9
14. Perth 95.9

When the field is narrowed to european cities, Zurich (3rd) and Geneva (5th) both make the top 5.

1. Vienna 99.1
2. Copenhagen 96.8
3. Zurich 96.3
4. Frankfurt 96.0
5. Geneva 95.9

Upwards movement in the top ranked cities was driven mainly by improvements in stability and safety. In the past, cities in Europe have been affected by the perceived threat of terrorism, which caused heightened security measures. The past six months have seen a return to normalcy, said the report.

Cities at the top of the ranking tend to be mid-sized cities in wealthier countries often with relatively low population density. This usually allows for more recreational activities, lower crime levels and less overburdened infrastructure. And while Vienna and Osaka – both in the top ten – are relatively large, their central city populations are relatively small when compared to New York, London and Paris.

Small is livable it seems.

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Aerial photos of Zurich 100 years apart

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The first photograph was taken by Eduard Spelterini between 1893 and 1924. Swiss-born Spelterini was an early aviator who took to the air with his camera in a balloon well before flying as we know it became a reality – the Wright brothers made their first powered flight in 1903.

The photograph below was taken in January 2018 by Patrick Rütimann.

Peaceful and beautiful summer day in Zürich ?

Une publication partagée par Patrick Rütimann (@patrickrutimann) le

The next photograph was taken by Spelterini from his balloon between 1893 and 1924 and the second by BHCommunication in February 2018.

There is surprisingly little difference between the first two images, but significantly more between the second pair.

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