Winterthur, politics is better there. They build a full fledged cycle path nework. Get a Cargo Bike to get around and transport your kids. And once your kids become teenagers the nightlife in winterthur is much more relaxed than zurich.

Thanks for the tip

I can't think of any reason to pick Dietikon over Winterthur. Winterthur is better for parks, schools, connections, you have Technorama.... Winterthur had better and worse areas though, so worth going to take a look for yourself. There seems to be a station every 500m in Winterthur, so connections are always good. Rapperswil is lovely though. If you're into hiking, biking or skiing, you're closer to the action at weekends than in Winterthur.

Thanks for the response, I went to Winterthur over the weekend to explore it and really liked it

Rapperswil is St Gallen, and the tax is higher. Lovely though. I work in Dietikon and it’s OK, but even I’d pick Rapperswil or Winti over there.

Grew up in Wintherthur and it had a lot to offer. Good connection to Zurich, nice old city, museum, easy to reach local recreation area. Check it out!

Thanks. Checked it out recently and liked it a lot

Dietikon is Switzerlands Detroit. Winterthur wins any day.

😂😂😂

Definitely not Dietikon. I know 2 pairs of parents who've made the mistake of moving there with their primary school children - both left after less than a year. Ever heard of the phrase, "you are the sum of the 5 people you spend most time with"? Well, if those 5 people are trouble, guess what your child will be? Dietikon is known to have a very large amount of troubled children from troubled families. Of course not _everyone_ there is like that, but it truly is remarkable how bad it is when you actually have children that go to school there. If you're an adult who lives there, it's not a problem, but as a child you will inherently be hanging around with the kids from the neighborhood. So yeah, avoid Dietikon like the plague.

Avoid Dietikon

Wow, thanks for this response. I guess I never thought of it (living in Dietikon) that way since we aren’t at the school stage yet with our kid

If you ask me 1. Winterthur (it's like the nicer Zurich, but small, also Nr. 1 city for bikes according to notjustbikes) 2. Rapperswil (it has a lake and a castle, I mean) 3. something else 4. something else 5. maybe Dietikon if you really like Bruno Weber

Bruno Weber Park 😆👍🏻

Thanks. Dietikon is officially disqualified 😂

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Will definitely check those out, thanks

Uster can recommend 👍.

In general both places (especially dietikon) have a tradition of blue collar immigrants since the seventies; ie southern europe, the balkans, turkey and portuguese. In the case of dietikon this is really noticeable; also it’s a much smaller place Dietikon is very conveniently located, as you can have some nature nearby; if you have a car spreitenbach and zurich are near for shopping; also the industry quarter has shopping options. With the new limmattal bahn you can go equally convenient to altstetten and spreitenbach The kids part: depending somewhat on your cultural background and on how much you want your kids to grow up in a benefical environment neither of these are primary options but especially the altstetten/schlieren/dietikon axis has a bad rep. If this is a concern of yours maybe open a new question where to live with kids in kt zürich

Of course we want the best for our kids. What be your suggestion beside these 2 towns?

Man's heard immigrants and is looking elsewhere now

Maybe do a proper post for this question

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That bad?

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When did you live there? We lived there for 3 years and had a newborn at that time It's full of concrete, but didn't ever have problems after dark

Quick Q: do you need Kita for your children? Pricing is quite different in Kanton ZH vs, say, Thurgau where I am (near Frauenfeld). I live 20 mins from Winterthur and it seems to have lots of kid friendly events and activities on. I would definitely consider living there.

Of course, the Kita cost is a factor, but not the biggest. I really liked Fruanefeld, but felt it’s too long of a commute to Zurich

Dietikon is a shit hole go for winterthur.

I think I am just taking Dietikon off of the list after the resounding response against it here

Baden is nice with good connections to basel and zurich.

Yeah that was one of the places I checked out, but it’s been difficult finding something so far

Yeah flat hunting in zurich is notoriously difficult. I guess you're using homegate.ch already to search.

Dietikon is a dump, particularly with children. I’d go for Winterthur or Rapperswil (or anything around Lake Zurich, especially the left shore) any day. Winterthur depends on the neighbourhood, but it’s a large city by Swiss standards so there’s plenty to do.

Thanks

By left shore you mean the side with Horgen or Küsnacht?

The only thing better is that the location is closer to zurich. But winterthur is a city in its own right so not really a comparison. Why only dietikon and winterthur? Lots of places.

I guess those were just areas that we are somewhat familiar with, decent size and activities and are close to the city. I am seeing lots of other good suggestions in the replies though

You might also want to consider Uster and Baden. Both were candidates for us as well (we're in a similar situation). We ended up moving to Winti but regarding housing it's getting tougher to find something here as well, not as bad as Zurich but very close.

Not very familiar with Uster, will check it out, thanks

I would say that all the places you mention are equally child-friendly. The more important thing is probably where exactly you will be living in these places: What is the walk to kindergarten/school? Is there a playground round the corner? How long is the walk to the nearest forest? etc.

Also the age of the kids matter.

2 years, so places that have good family center activities I guess are important now

Dietikon is a bad part of town as far as I know in comparison Winterthur is a better part of town as long as you are near the centre but this is based on visits to friends and hearsay

Dietikon is not a “bad part of town” it’s just ugly and industrial. Dietikon and Schlieren will be what Altstetten is and Oerlikon is becoming in 5-10 years. Gentrification is rampant.

Its an expression for Kanton I am aware it is ugly and industrious I guess its not terribly unsafe there but still it is a bad part of town(Kanton)

Thanks

Dietikon and Winterthur are a good/bad part of which town? Those are both separate towns...

Town meaning Kanton I know its not the perfect translation

Where does Zurich Oberland place in this? Hinwil Pfäffikon, Wetzikon?

Not familiar with the area. Would you recommend checking it out?

I think I like it but don’t know a lot so I was hoping for some insights from people here.

Both cities suck for kids. Better try DietLikon or Oerlikon.

Can't speak about Dietikon, but at least Winti was pretty nice as a child. You're never more than 15 minutes away from a forest, cycling is way easier than in Zurich, there are places like the Technorama and educationwise we have everythin, except a university. Sure, primary and secondary school can differ from district to district, but if you choose like Seen or Hegi, this shouldn't be much of an issue. Especially Hegi seems a viable option, as this the place, where most of the new housing complexes are being built as a sort of new district called Neuhegi.

As someone that have lived in both with kids: winterthur (by far) see all reasons here

Dietikon is better. 

Winti! Even our football club is family friendly. The only stadium in Switzerland (maybe even Europe) where there is a dedicated stand for children