As someone who previously lived in several global cities and now in Zurich for a decade, I am convinced that Zurich is becoming London/ New York/ Paris from an affordability standpoint. For a long time Zurich was one of those rare global cities where somehow numbers worked at the end of the month. Rents were high, but salaries were high too, and if you were reasonably employed you could follow the old 1/3 rule without too much stress and rent a nice flat for yourself from a relatively young age. That changed in the last 5 years. The income-to-rent ratio is moving toward what people in London and New York have just accepted as reality of living in a global city: spending half of income or more on rent. And in those cities, the change happened slowly over decades. People gradually built their lives around long commutes from suburbs, flat shares in their 30s, the assumption that the city centre was basically for bankers and tourists. Zurich is getting there, but much faster. So if Zurich is becoming London/NY/Paris, should we just accept that living in the city will become an option for very few people? Is this change inevitable at this point? Did we have it “too good” before Covid and now is the city now catching up to “global standards” of affordability (or lack thereof)? Just a few thoughts, I am eager to hear people’s opinions. submitted by /u/LallieDoo
Originally posted by u/LallieDoo on r/Switzerland