Are you planning to move, but your destination is still undetermined? Many cities attract you, but you don’t know which one to choose?
Looking for the ideal living environment, a city with little pollution, with little nuisance, affordable rents, pleasant weather, a rich life? In short, a city where life is good! You ask a lot, but we can help you find it. Once you have found your city, all you have to do is organize your move, and for that, we have planned it with our moving checklist
Identify your needs and find out
Your criteria for choosing the right city
In order to begin your research actively and serenely, without spreading yourself too thin, you need to ask yourself the right questions.
What is your budget for the rent or the purchase of your property? The same for the transport budget? Would you like to live in town? In campaign ? Does a tourist city appeal to you? What are your needs to feel good in your place of residence? What is the size of your ideal home?
Many questions to be answered to target your research.
Learn about the different cities
Once you are able to answer the previous questions, your research will already be more precise.
Determining your budget, and in particular your rent or purchase amount, may cause you to eliminate certain cities.
It is the same for the choice to live in town or in the countryside, and for the eternal undecided we have the solution a few lines further.
To find out about a city, you can contact the tourist offices in the traditional way, consult tourist guides… The best advice we can give you is to talk to people who live there . The testimonials of residents will be more real and authentic.
The criteria of a city where life is good: our opinion.
A tourist town
If you are hesitant to live in a tourist town, you need to analyze the positive and negative points. Then all you have to do is make your decision.
- The negative : Living in a tourist town can lead to higher prices during high seasons. This also attracts a larger population and therefore possibly difficulties with parking, traffic, etc. Your peace of mind will also be less during school holiday periods due to the influx of visitors.
- The positive : The advantage of residing in this type of city is an abundant offer of activities all along the seasons, in particular during the holidays. Moreover, if you are managers of restaurants, bars, stores, it is a guaranteed turnover for the time, at least, of the holidays.
A city well served by transport
Tram, Metro, Bus or cycle paths transport are part of our daily lives. It is therefore necessary to make a point of honor to a city rich in transport (and preferably without strikes, hello again Parisians) . The importance of transport is particularly felt if you want to live in an outlying area or if you do not have your own means of transport.
Also find out about transport prices; from one city to another, a simple single ticket can go from 1.9 euros (Lyon) to 1.2 euros (Aubagne).
Also don’t forget to find out about connections (TGV, Plane, etc.) with other major cities. This criterion is important because, depending on your job, you may have to travel regularly to neighboring towns or to the capital to reach your company’s headquarters. Thus, the presence of LGV or direct line ensures you a significant comfort.
A city with a dynamic employment pool
In France, there are cities where the unemployment rate is more or less high. If you are planning to move to a new city, it is important to consider the possibility for you or your partner to find a job easily and in your fields of activities . Some regions, like Burgundy Franche-Comté or Normandy, are not the richest in job offers and target certain sectors in particular.
On the other hand, other regions have rich and diverse employment pools. Indeed, even if the Paris region is full of job offers, it is not the only one to have a dynamic pool. The Auvergne-Rhône Alpes region is also rich in offer. The same goes for New Aquitaine and Pays de la Loire.
A city close to nature
It is pleasant to live in a big city that is close to nature, which allows a perfect combo between active life in the city center and finding a little calm outside the city on weekends, for example. Thus cities like Nantes, Bordeaux or Lyon will delight the undecided. (Besides, we chose Nantes).
For a superior quality of life, you can also find out about the ecological actions put in place by the city . It should be noted, for example, that Nantes is known to be a green city.
A dynamic city
The dynamism of the city is important to enjoy it. Thus, before choosing your future place of residence, it is necessary to learn about the cultural and festive life of this one.
A city with many students, and the famous “Young-Manager-Dynamics”, will ensure you a city in permanent activity.
By consulting the sites of the tourist offices of the cities you will easily find the annual or monthly events within the city. This will allow you to get an idea of the importance given to culture and festive events by the city.
Our final tip: take the time to visit and discover the city before moving there. (It’s like in a romantic relationship, if you don’t plan for it, it’s better not to start.)
Where live ? Choose your neighborhood wisely!
Once you have successfully chosen your ideal city, you need to choose the neighborhood in which you want to settle.
Just like choosing your city, you need to know what your needs and desires are. You can make a list of things you desire and things that are deal breakers. For example: you absolutely want to live in the center. Or, you don’t want to live near the ring road at all…
Then also ask yourself the following questions:
Are you looking for an apartment or a house? The answer to this question can already eliminate certain residential areas (houses are more often found there) or the city center (consisting mainly of apartments).
Do you have children or are you planning to have them? The presence of schools, high schools, leisure activities near your place of residence is necessary. This proximity is also interesting for a single person because at the time of resale the property has more value.
Do you regularly use public transport? In this case, living near a bus or tram stop will make your life easier.
Are you hesitating between living in the historic district or in a new district?
Before living in the hyper-centre you must take into account certain criteria: noise and those of the nightlife, higher rents, older buildings and therefore sometimes less well insulated, etc. But the proximity of shops, transport, possibly your place of work can make you forget the previous aspects.
Living in new neighborhoods allows you to live in houses where the apartments are often better insulated, therefore more economical and ecological. These neighborhoods are generally quieter and have a family atmosphere. The disadvantage may come from the distance from the center, as well as the reduced presence of public transport. Requires owning a vehicle.
How to project?
- First tip : visit the neighborhood in the evening, on weekends and during the week to get an overall feeling.
- Second advice : rent a few months in your new city before buying, to find out which neighborhood we like the most.
To help you apply our advice for choosing your city, we have written specific articles on the major French cities: Lille, Lyon, Nantes.
You are now ready to find the accommodation of your dreams, in your ideal city and your favorite neighborhood!
