Snow for the Euros.

[sqikunst]

Just to be an asshole you guys may have clean water that you wash your streets with but our water tastes better. For me the difference is marginal and that is what I mean by hype, many are thoroughly convinced that CH is the uber shit at everything but for the countries surrounding CH its not like America/Mexico. There is no arguing the trains though!!! The ÖBB and DB are fucking jokes but Scottish_Skier has the right idea ill I wanted to put forward is its marginal and as we can see CH has been suuper hyped in this thread.

No Unemployment - WHATT

No Bums - WHAT

Well shit that sound a bit boring to be honest event the best oysters have a little grit in em'

[klar]

As you seem insistent on arguing, allow me to say,
Are you smoking crack?

no, i just like arguing and i'm a bit dissapointed that you don't seem to

Wow.
Not sure how to really respond to that one.

oh come on! as if installing some bike lanes in naples wouldn't solve all of their problems! (hint: i'm not completely serious)

the point i was trying to express and obviously failed to is along the lines of what teosickrider is saying. it depends on what you want and what you value. for some people switzerland is paradise, for some people italy is, for some people it's somewhere completely different. in general, the whole of western europe is so well off that the discussion is kind of ridiculous.

[klar]

Just to be an asshole you guys may have clean water that you wash your streets with but our water tastes better.

No Bums - WHAT

Well shit that sound a bit boring to be honest event the best oysters have a little grit in em'

no, no, no. WE have clean water that we wash the streets with! i live in innsbruck too. i think THEY may have clean water but i'm not sure they wash the streets with it and as you said, i'm sure it doesn't taste as good.

have you met the three innsbruck bums? there is one that hangs around university, one that wanders the bus stops in the center and one who is like a quaint little bridge troll at the pedestrian bridge in the west of town. totally adds "grit" too our 100 000 people metropolis.

[Scottish_Skier]

Completely true Story.... Several years ago in Zurich Airport train station I once got asked by a tramp for spare change in 3 different languages (first German, then French and finally in English). Even the alcoholic, appenzeller drinking, Swiss tramps are multi-lingual

[Ripzalot]

there's one bum in lausanne. he's pretty clean looking and carries a huge rucksack around. you wouldn't know he's a bum unless you saw him reaching into a garbage can to get an old ice cream cone to eat. (i saw that yesterday) but to be fair, he talks to himself a lot so he probably has a nice room to sleep in at night courtesy of the state.

and yes, they wash the streets every morning in the city center. apparently being swiss isn't enough to keep the drunks from pissing in the alleys around the train station.

[herr_stoiber]

Well shit that sound a bit boring to be honest event the best oysters have a little grit in em'

To further illustrate the European situation for our overseas friends, imagine the following:
you drive up some small road to park your car near the forest, prepare some fresh food on the stove, open a bottle of wine and go to sleep inside or next to your car. Business as usual.

Italy: some elderly people pass by, one of them likely the town mayor or the local chaplain. They will enthusiastically greet you, wish you a pleasant time and walk on.

Austria: some seemingly grumpy guy is going to stop by, crack some jokes and leave after you have proven your sense of humour or complete ignorance of his reputed authority.

Switzerland: people looking out their windows noticed a foreign car driving by and instantly called the cops. You are awakened by ueber-clean officers who act plenty nice but still charge you 100 franken.

Oh, for the sake of completeness, let me add Germany to the list. They also have mountains.
Germany: two old ladies with a dog will tell you that what you are doing is illegal. You ignore them and greet them happily when they walk by the next morning. Problem solved.

As klar has pointed out, the differences are marginal. The quality of life in the whole Alps region is for me defined by the possibility to easily move around and get the best of all the cultures. As for choosing a place to live, some places may offer higher wages; but if you're not completely consumption driven, the choice is more likely to be made depending on how you enjoy the culture and little peculiarities of those places.

[vendul]

I love Switzerland, I'm here every week and even boght a house here, but if I wouldn't know if would want to live here. I lived in Germany, Canada and the US, but here it just seems harder to make friends, they don't really hang out that much exeption made for Ticino and Geneva. One thing against Austria would be, to me, the distance with the rest of western europe, if you are anywhere in CH you are very close to France, Germany or Italy, and that is a nice thing.... Tough choice, but luky you, most people just have to stick where they are!
Good luck.

[klar]

To further illustrate the European situation for our overseas friends, imagine the following:

thanks for the laugh, that sums it up wonderfully.

[TeleAl]

no, i just like arguing and i'm a bit dissapointed that you don't seem to

I lost my sense of humor when they pegged the CHF to the Euro.
My quality of life just got more expensive.

Ok, marginally we can argue anything. So we all agree then, the quality of life over here is pretty good.

On water, I meant the water fountains that you can drink from. But sure, cleaning the streets is a good idea too.
On bums, they exist, but as Ripz mentioned, they sleep in a decent room.


On Naples and Marseilles, Newark comes to mind.

[sqikunst]

Yea I know of three bums in IBK. Dont forget the one that hangs out by the M Preis.... This is getting boring herr stoiber for the win.

Austria = BUM loving socialists (not the gay kind)

CH = Capitalist follow the letter of the law to the T types

Italy = Well shit from this thread they sound kinda like bandits

France = Do not go out at night cause its dangerous apparently

So really all that leaves us is Lichtenstein

[stantonbum1]

CH is expensive, however, if you live there you also earn significantly higher wages than anywhere else, and pay hardly any taxes. To put it in perspective, someone working in a call center in Zurich can earn around CHF4500/month and take most of that home. Apparantly you can make more than that if you work at McDonalds. In AT, DE, most university graduates earn less than that in their first jobs, and the lose close to 50% of that to taxes and health insurance.

[stantonbum1]

To add to that, an IT graduate straight out of uni, with average marks can get a job working for an bank and earn around CHF90k/annum.

[freak]

one who is like a quaint little bridge troll at the pedestrian bridge in the west of town

his name is wolfgang, by the way!

Yea I know of three bums in IBK. Dont forget the one that hangs out by the M Preis

come on, they get payed to say "hallo" to everyone who enters! theyre not bums

freak~[&]

[Buster Highmen]

So, if I fly into ZRH in late Jan/early Feb, who's going to give me a ride from Varallo Sesia to Alagna? Or Milan to Alagna. Or Arolla to Alagna?

Maybe you clowns can stop squibbling about the same st00pid inconsequential differences that lead to WWs?

Short of that, I'm heading to Andermatt.

[Ripzalot]

interesting...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality-of-life_Index

1 Ireland 8.333
2 Switzerland 8.068
3 Norway 8.051
4 Luxembourg 8.015
5 Sweden 7.937
6 Australia 7.925
7 Iceland 7.911
8 Italy 7.810
9 Denmark 7.797
10 Spain 7.727
11 Singapore 7.719
12 Finland 7.618
13 United States 7.615
14 Canada 7.599
15 New Zealand 7.436
16 Netherlands 7.433
17 Japan 7.392
18 Hong Kong 7.347
19 Portugal 7.307
20 Austria 7.268
21 Taiwan 7.259
22 Greece 7.163
23 Cyprus 7.097
24 Belgium 7.095
25 France 7.084
26 Germany 7.048
27 Slovenia 6.986
28 Malta 6.934
29 United Kingdom 6.917
30 South Korea 6.877

[sqikunst]

Wiki is for jokers didnt you learn that in school!!!! Cant use it as a source

[sqikunst]

Ill throw one back to show how marginal it is:

http://www.smashinglists.com/10-best...-living-index/

Its good to be in Western Europe lets leave it at that.

[Arno]

why are the cities in these quality of life surveys so BORING?

[Boomer28]

why are the cities in these quality of life surveys so BORING?

Because you have lived in each of them/know people who live in each of them? If so please share with the class....

[Ripzalot]

Ill throw one back to show how marginal it is:

http://www.smashinglists.com/10-best...-living-index/

Its good to be in Western Europe lets leave it at that.

that list ruined it's credibility by posting a picture of Château de Chillon to represent Geneva.

seriously tho, i'm with klar on this. the differences are impercievable. except upon retirement when you check your bank account.

why are the cities in these quality of life surveys so BORING?

define boring. and for that matter, define exciting.

if skiing and biking the alps every weekend is boring then bore me to death.

[Arno]

The criteria for these things are all about public transport street cleaning and education. If there was something about how easy it is to line up some hookers and blow I would take them more seriously

[vendul]

One nice thing that hasn't been mentioned about CH, is that there's the highest concentration of foreigners in the alps, to visit and to work, it's always nice to be in touch with people from different places... or at least it's easier to get acquainted with.

[Ripzalot]

If there was something about how easy it is to line up some hookers and blow I would take them more seriously

well then switzerland is definitely not boring.

[McDee]

in general, the whole of western europe is so well off that the discussion is kind of ridiculous.

I think this pretty much sums it up and all the wiki and whatnot lists pretty much underline this point. I am quite amazed how defensive everyone gets as soon as u bash switzerland a little though? But if the worst comeback in all of this is

Are you smoking crack?

then we in the eurothread really are the tamest of the lot on tgr

BUM loving socialists (not the gay kind)

That is signature worthy! Made me laugh, more so because you had to explain it

[klar]

One nice thing that hasn't been mentioned about CH, is that there's the highest concentration of foreigners in the alps, to visit and to work, it's always nice to be in touch with people from different places... or at least it's easier to get acquainted with.

yes, the swiss, much like the austrians, love foreigners, as long as they are of caucasian apprearance and don't stay too long.