Haystack In Depth

At the center of the web of one of the densest public transportation networks in the world lies Zürich's Hauptbahnhof (main train station), an enormous turn-of-the-century structure housing 52 train tracks (we verified this one night by running from Track 2 where we had just missed our train home to Track 52 for the next train leaving in 6 minutes). The main station deposits most of its arrivés south onto the Bahnhofstrasse (train station street), one of the world's most glamorous and expensive shopping avenues--mostly fancy watches, diamonds, and fancy watches inlaid with lots of diamonds.

Bahnhofstrasse burns a bright but brief 3/4 mile south to dead end at the lovely Zürichsee (Lake Zürich). The city center, i.e., the area in which we're struggling mightily to find housing, fans out around the Hauptbahnhof (HB) a radius of ~1.5 miles with the Zürichsee situated at the 6 o'clock position (we initially considered but were dissuaded by our relocation company the idea of living on the lake bottom).

Our apartment search started with Steph's first day at work, Monday, November 5, three weeks ago; the time passed could be three days or three months in our minds. That week I visited 3 potential apartments; the second week provided an encouraging 0 new listings (but plenty of time to blog!); last week the floodgates broke with 5 new candidates! We haven't closed any deals yet, but if the apartment search process here is akin to eating an elephant, last week I ate up to at least the first foreleg knee.

As an exorcism of pent-up frustration and/or celebration of patience, I've compiled a summary of each property thus far, starting roughly from the city's 7 o'clock position and proceeding clockwise. As a frame of reference, all relative property sizes (large, medium, small) are about a 25% decrease in square footage from Chicago large, medium and small apartments. The location names are cryptic code, either neighborhoods or streets or landmarks:

Bahnhof Enge 1 - Steps to both Lake Zürich and a major train station, an excellent modern large apartment. Ours was one of 70 (!) inquiries; we attended an evening open house that felt more like a mosh pit. We were one of ~30 applications submitted. Status: rejected!

Bahnhof Enge 2 - Another awesome large, open apartment in the same vicinity with an incredible rooftop deck featuring 360-degree city views. Listed for less than a day with over 15 applicants. Status: rejected!

Wiedikon - Large new apartment in a residential neighborhood, looks nice enough. Status: appointment on Tuesday

Zürich West - A large inexpensive unit in one of the few old residential buildings in the otherwise ultra-modern, post-industrial Zürich West neighborhood renowned for nightlife--a sprawl of cosmopolitan restaurants, pubs and clubs among steel-and-glass living complexes. Status: application submitted, we're probably not cool enough.

Wipkingen - Saw it Friday. A medium-sized, medium-priced new unit in a quaint old building; a residential neighborhood nearby a train station, the river and urban access. Refuse further comment to avoid jinxing it. Status: prayers appreciated.

Bahnhofstrasse - Jaw-dropping location, amazingly affordable small apartment on the famous street boasting astronomical property values; they could easily charge triple. Window displays of diamonds flanked the apartment front door (definite con: dangerous daily temptation for Steph). Ours was one of surely countless submissions. Status: as yet unconfirmed rejection!

Altstadt - Another dream location in the fantastic Old Town in a 700-year-old building (luckily since renovated). Our plans to attend the open house evaporated after confirming no pets. Status: we didn't want it anyway.

Seefeld - Arguably the most sought-after locale for (relatively) young professionals, a neighborhood feel yet with its own nightlife vibe akin to Chicago's Lincoln Park. The open house for the small apartment lasted exactly one hour one weeknight and received 15 applications including ours. Status: as yet unconfirmed rejection!

Römerhof - We probably could have landed this one. Good location just "up the hill" from Seefeld. Excellent patio and skylight city views. As the top floor unit, virtually every room had maddening sharp ceiling angles limiting its utility; even marginally-tall visitors would suffer frequent cranial contusions. I actually visited twice (unheard of!) over the three-week period as the ongoing gut-rehab made visualizing its finished state nearly impossible. Despite the flaws, we probably would have pulled the trigger but...overpriced. Status: no application submitted.

Burgwies - Small older apartment way up the hill from Seefeld and Römerhof in the quite residential but purportedly desirable "Gold Coast" area. Genial landlord. Phenomenal lake views (you could actually see water) added at least 500 CHF to the monthly rent. Simply too remote with no car and only single tram-line access, and my daily bicycle ride home from the grocery store
would conjure images of Lance Armstrong conquering France's torturous La Mongie mountain (difference being he reached the top). Status: no application submitted.

Whew! Well, I feel better. It's obviously a numbers game and at least we churned some last week. The good news is that due to our current mega-flexible living arrangement, our fortunes can and will literally change in a day--the inevitable day soon that some benevolent and perhaps desperate landlord finds the one "Accepted!" stamp in his/her drawer of fifteen "Rejected!" stamps.