Andem

Many thanks again to all those who have replied to my postings - I am travelling down to Parma next weekend to try to line something up and am sure that your tips will be most helpful!

Gastranimy

Hi

We saw this thread and thought we'd ask for some friendly advice.

we're moving to Parma in 6 weeks, and were interested in any info about agencies and finding an apartment in Parma. Any advice you can give us in relation to:

a) good agencies
b) likely expenses
c) good areas to live

would be greatly appreciated!

We're also very keen to know about local work opportunities or good places to look for work.

Thanks very much

K4TY2

Hi there!

So what's bringing you to Parma?

Agencies - do you already speak Italian? There are a limited number which speak English.

For costs, accommodation is relatively expensive over here and you can expect to pay one month's rent to the agency if you find accommodation this way. There are a few private offers around, which mean you save this cost, but they're not so easy to come across. If you have a look on a few websites, like http://www.parma.soloaffitti.it and http://www.tecnocasa.it you can already get some ideas of monthly rental prices.

For places to live, the East part or Cittadella are really nice - residential and green with good parks. The centre of town is also quite nice, but not so many parks (if you have kids).

For local work opportunities, it depends a bit on your skills and language abilities. If you provide some more details, it's easier to give an answer!

If you post 3 messages on this forum, you can send private messages - if you send me your email address I can send some details of agencies over here which I had before we moved (it also gives the languages spoken, though it might be a bit out of date now).

TTFN,
K

Gastranimy

Good morning and thanks for your response!

I have been accepted into a Masters of Food Culture and Communication at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Colorno and my partner is coming over with me. We're both lawyers at the moment (although I'm clearly heading back to being a student for the next year!) but Anthony is happy to use his many skills in a non-legal role while we're in Parma.

We don't have kids so access to parks and so on is not such an imperative. We've been learning Italian all year and could hold a basic conversation but I am guessing that the intricacies of taking out a lease are probably way beyond our current vocab!

I think this should be our third post, so I'll send you my email address. Thanks again for your help.

Rani

ShelleyMan

My husband's cousin lives in Parma, he speaks broken English, will get his details, he should have some good advice for you.

sproofer6

Hi Ive been living in Parma for 25 years, if you would like any help in find accomadtion my wife is in real estate and speaks very good english.

art123

Hello, I am Italian and I grew up in Parma, although at the moment I live abroad. My mum is a brit and my dad from Italy. After having lived in different cities and places in the world I think overall Parma offers a great quality of life. Yes, it is a bit provincial and the mentality can be a bit closed minded sometimes - but this is due to cultural differences perhaps - but, a part from that, I think in general Italian people are quite open and friendly to other foreigners...if you manage to get into the Italian social networking, you'll make great friends and have lots of fun.

Parma is a small city with very little crime - compared to other cities in Italy and in the world. Its climate is good - hot in the summer and mild in mid seasons, cold in the winter. The countryside and hills around Parma are also lovely and the see is only about a couple of hours away. The food is among the nicest in Italy: Parmigiano cheese, prosciutto, anolini, pasta Barilla, Porcini mushrooms and much more! If you like art and culture as well there is plenty to do and see with all the nice theatres, art exhibitions and monuments...

Italian cities are usually pretty old, that is why perhaps the buildings can look run down sometimes, but, don't be fooled, never judge a book by its cover! Run down buildings can be very nice inside and be beautiful homes...most Italians tend to live in apartments in cities, it is quite common because there is not so much space for everybody to have their own independent house, but nevertheless, there can be some very attractive apartments and quite desirable/expensive ones in the city centre. If you want to live outside the city, I would suggest you looked at areas such as Collecchio, Noceto, Fidenza...You should be able to find a higher number of indipendent homes or semi-detached properties there. Parma, however, is a very liveable city, you can get around easily with a bicycle or a scooter. There are 2 main parks, the Parco Ducale and the Citadella. I think it is a great place for families, it's overall a safe relaxing place and is among the places with the highest quality of life in Italy - it was votes as such in many rankings.

Most young people do speak English but, Italy being Italy, the local language is indeed Italian, so rather than looking for English speaking agencies, institutions etc, I think that learning the language is a must!

I hope this will help a little!

sproofer6

hi art I agree parma is a great city to live, its totally diff from the other cities in Italy, the local goverment has made a lot of improvements to the city.how long have you been living in Parma? I have been here foe over 20 years