london78

Hi - I may have a work opportunity to move to Milan. I am currently mid 30's, living in London with a young family (kids 5 and 2).

I am in a fortunate position where by I would come over on a decent salary, and my employer would also pay for some of the additional living costs (eg school fees). I am visiting a couple of the British schools there (SJH and St Louis) to see what they are like.

My main concern is around understanding what sort of quality of life i should expect if I were to make the move, specifically housing - ie with two young kids, I would want to live in a house of good standard and with outside garden space and a community feel. It wouldnt have to be close to Milan as I'd be prepared to drive to work (which would also be on the east side of Milan) but probably no more than 30 mins drive (as wife would be doing a similar commute to school 2 x each day).

Where in the outskirts of Milan would be more suitable based on this brief? And what would rough house rental costs be?

Also what is the expat community in Milan like?..... ie how easy would it be for my wife to build a life and friends?

Any thoughts / advice appreciated!

Thank you

primularossa

I would rather stay in London.... :-)

well, to be honest I have been living in Milan for 6 month when I was 32 and "kidless". The right moment to be there, lots of things to do in the evening, an excellent cultural life, lots of young people, interesting job....but, with two small kids, you will take all the worst of Milan without having the possibility to enjoy the best side.

HAve you visited it? Well, if you look for a place outside, first choose the school and then choose where to live as you would not want to get crazy with commuting. Also consider where is your job.

If your job and or schools are in the North (porta Garibaldi) consider going to Monza.

good luck!

london78

Thanks for that

Job location would be in the south east, close to the A1 (looking at google maps!). School (eg SJH) also appear to the on the east side - north east, near the A51.

I will be visiting on my own to check it out on a day trip, and was looking to get any advice ahead of that to know what to look out for!

Any other thoughts welcome....

primularossa

Will you work in San Donato Milanese?
Have you ever been?
If you expect suburbs like London, full of nice cottages and villas, forget it.
I find the surroundings of Milan really ugly and dirty, nothing to do with the rest of Italy.
If you work and live in the centre, and you have some money in your pockets, Milan can be an interesting city but it will not offer more than London. Also restaurants are expensive and many times you find a bad quality compared to the rest of Italy.

During we all people escape and you will find yourself packed on the motorway together with other millions of people who had the same idea, irrespective if you choose the seaside or the mountains or the lake.

If you don't know what is Milan and what to expect, go for some days, visit the area where you think of living and work, see houses prices, immerse yourself in the traffic and judge yourself.

This is my opinion.....I judge Milan the worst place in Italy where to be, apart for many many interesting job positions.

If I had to choose a big european capital or big town, I would rather go for Barcelona.

ciao Primula

SirTK

I hadn't realised Milan was so bad!

In fact, it isn't. It's a very nice city with lots to see and do, and some millions of people are living there very happily.

Estate agents will point you to the best places to live, where you will be around like-minded people, and with the best possible commuting options, as you will find when you do your exploratory visits.

Sounds like a great opportunity to me, hope you enjoy it.

TK

Patty

London78 - my daughter lives in Milan very happily. Ok , she doesn'thave children yet but she 's always trying to get me to move down there
There are good and bad points as everywhere - but I think each of us have to experience things in life and make our own judgement. So while we can all give you our opinions I think that if you have had a good job offer then it will be 'your experience'. I wish you good luck and dont forget theres always here to come and either moan or cheer once you get here

ps. forgot to add that I also lived there for about 5 years and have happy memories !

london78

Thanks for the comments and feedback.

If i were to drive around on the east side of the city, can anyone suggest which places I should look at? I have heard of "Milano 2" on some forums - is that worth looking at as a "nice" suburb? Anywhere else?

Pinco Pallino

I'm not sure if there's such a thing as a 'nice suburb' on the eastern side.

Would Monza be too far north for you?

37100

Can't reccomend it either way. I've only been there to visit friends. A lot of foreigners chose to live there or Milano 3. It is more open a lot of Milano. Built as a new town it now looks a bit dated.

Angel75

Hi everyone
I'm a newbie, I've just found this forum! I've been living in Milan for a few years now and i really like it here. Like all cities there are some lovely areas and some not so lovely areas. Perhaps you may want to consider somewhere on the metro line for easy access to the city centre? I'm not so sure about the east side of milan, but the north east areas of cernusco sul naviglio, gorgonzola and many other places along the green line are lovely and despite being on the metro line are very pretty! Milan is very multicultural and full of people who find themselves here for work like yourselves or for a partner so i'm sure your wife will have no problems making friends. There are also lots of various groups for english speaking people (have a look at the online magazine easymilano) and i know there's also a group called Moms and Tots. Hope this helps a little, best of luck!

ItaLondon

Hi London78,
I hope you are well! Did you move at the end? I can tell you my story. I am Italian but I have lived the last 10 years of my life in London, and the last few years in a nice green are in the surrey/london area.We have a 2years old daugther and there is a new baby coming soon.
We have now been living in Milan for two months and to be fair the shock was quite big. In short, I would say the key differences are:
- Working environment: Even if it is a multinational company I guest most of people will be Italian - so the work culture is quite different from the UK one.
- Nursery: Italian nurseries are much cheaper than the one in the London, however they will not teach any English. There are a couple of English nurseries (from the age of 6mth up to 3 years), however they are considered quite exclusive and hence much more expensive - between EUR1000 and EUR1200.
- The schools you mention are from children from the age of 3 I think.
- There are flats in the center of Milan with terrace and they are quite nice. But rental prices are very high (c. EUR1,800-EUR2,000 for a 90-100 square meter)
- There is not a lot of green in the city (the biggest park is Parco Sempione) but you are very close to lake Como, Alps, etc.
-Restaurant prices in Milan are quite similar to the one in London
- Public transport are ok, and much cheaper than London (monthly pass is c.EUR35 per calendar month).

Anyway, the list is very long, all in all we still feel as outsiders to the city and we are on a "discovery" mode.
I hope this helps!
Good luck

Juvefan

I found your response interesting, you are Italian by birth, and you spent the last 10 years living in London, can I ask how old you are?
did you leave italy right out of school?

you feel like an outsider in Milan? or in Italy?

britaly00

Driving into and out of Milan in rush hours is horrendous. Better use metro/train if possible. Milan has its nice quarters but, in my op., is a rather ugly city with too much horrible fascist-era architecture. Good for shopping and foodie culture no doubt though.

Juvefan

I found this too with Milan, what I think Milan needs to do is gather a couple of hundred fashion designers and architects and redesign the city.
of course you can't touch the hundred year old buildings, but the 1940's fascist , workers dwellings need to go, the city is a HUB for fashion and culture in the world, DESIGN, the city needs a serious overhaul! and I mean serious.

sunnysider

Hm juve

I know what you mean about Milan. A fair while since I have been but I never warmed to it, much as I love the railway station.

Not too sure about your idea of letting fashion designers loose on it though. Many of them can't design a practical set of clothes.