To be or not to be? Resident vs. Cross-border worker.

This is one of the most tricky questions.  And then again it isn't.

When considering moving to Luxembourg, one of the first things potential immigrants (let's call a spade a spade, shall we, that is what we are, although I know a lot you prefer to think of yourselves as 'expats') will do is to google 'Luxembourg Property' (if you're British) or 'Luxembourg Real Estate' (if you're American) or even more likely, 'Where the heck is Luxembourg' (if you're either).  Bizarrely, as far as the first two are concerned, Luxembourg's most visited property website, athome.lu, doesn't even appear among the top results.  But there you have it, athome.lu, mediocre as it may be compared to what you're used to from back home, is the one-stop shop for property in Luxembourg.  A few web portals are trying to compete, but, although I hate to admit it, they just offer regurgitated subsets of what you can find on athome.lu.

Most people have a similar reaction when they visit athome while still living abroad:  Surely there must be something wrong with the webpage, all the prices seem to have a zero too much.  Welcome to Luxembourg.  Like a Luxembourg-based French lawyer recently put it on prime-time French television:  In Luxembourg, a normal house will set you back some 900,000 to 1m euros and it will be the kind of house you can have in one of the neighboring countries for about 250,000 euros.  Follow the Moselle river into Germany for about an hour (on a Sunday) and a similar house might be yours for under 100,000.  Inevitably, this makes a lot of people consider living in one of the neighboring countries and commuting in for work.  Some websites may even recommend this, especially the real estate agency propaganda machine.  I'm always amused, when properties in Germany are advertised as being '25 minutes drive away from Luxembourg City Centre'.  Chances are that if you're driving from Luxembourg City Centre during rush hour, 25 minutes later you'll still be in Luxembourg City Centre or very close thereto, so take my advice, don't let yourself be fooled.  It's tempting, of course, to consider the options.  A quick surf on immoweb.be will show you that for 400,000 euros you can have a large house with a swimming pool and lovely garden in Belgium, only 50km away from Luxembourg City.  Similary, a visit to seloger.com will show you all the amazing places you can getin Thionville and Metz for a similar price.   Or immowelt.de for some eye-candy (at least relatively speaking in Germany).  I have only one thing to say:

DON'T DO IT.

I mean absolutely no offense to the cross-border workers or the proud residents of Arlon, Thionville and Trier when I say this, but I want to warn people that they may seriously end up regretting their choice if they decide to live outside Luxembourg.  As someone who's lived here for 11 years and seen traffic getting worse every year, and who, like most people here, has the pleasure of working with numerous cross-border workers (or 'frontaliers' as they're known as over here), I am very confident that what I'm telling you is good advice, not least because many cross-border workers themselves tell me so.  They thought it was expensive here ten years ago and settled for cheaper, and often larger, lodgings in the neighboring countries.  The fact that property prices in those areas have stagnated whilst those in Luxembourg have more or less exploded since is only a minor point in my view.  The key thing here is the significant drop in quality of life that you must reckon with if you choose to live outside the borders (or close them as the case may be).  What's the point of a large house with a large garden and a pool if you don't have any time to enjoy it all?  What's the point of bringing up a family if you hardly ever see your kids during the week?  Or of waking up in the morning stressed about what your journey to work will be like and spending the last two hours at work worrying about what a nightmare the evening traffic will be on the way home?  I see this at work every day.  Coffee machine conversation among the frontaliers in the morning is about the latest roadworks, crazy drivers, accident or unexplained traffic jams.  How there's really no point in driving to work anymore unless you leave at 5.30am.  And how the trains are useless or on strike, or both.  The traffic situation in Luxembourg is getting worse by the day - only beaten by Brussels, as far as I know - and the statistics are there to prove it.  It was only yesterday, that the overall competitiveness of Luxembourg was downgraded, one of the contributing factors being the poor traffic and public transport situation.

The traffic situation is one thing and it should be enough in itself.  Then there's a host of other reasons.  If you're Belgian wanting to settle in Arlon, or French looking for a place in Thionville, or German taking up residence in Trier, I can sort of understand it for reasons such as proximity to family and friends, the wish to remain within your own country and culture.  But for the very same reason, I would strongly dissuade a foreigner from another country from moving there.  The fact that a lot of the residents of those countries are already 'settled' so to speak means that more often than not they already have well-established social networks and are thus less inclined to seeking contact with new arrivals.  In Luxembourg, however, and especially Luxembourg City, you can expect the majority of people you meet to be in a similar situation to yours and even if they've been here for a while, such as I, they will appreciate what it's like to be an outsider.  You will probably get more lunch, dinner and play-date invitations than you got even in your own country.  It's absolutely marvellous and even pretty unique, I would say.  True melting pots, such as London, cannot really compare, as they lack the intimacy of a small place like Luxembourg.  Some people might not like the fact that Luxembourg is so cozy, but I dare say that if you're family with kids, you will be happier here than in London or Paris and integrating, even if you only speak English and no French, a rather easy task.

There is a host of other benefits too, such as certain fiscal advantages and unemployment benefits reserved for residents, excellent healthcare, a well-funded State school system with small class-sizes, relatively good international school alternatives, a higher level of consideration by the native population and a safe, clean and green environment.

So if you're foreign and moving to Luxembourg and hesitating about where to live:  Don't.  Choose Luxembourg City.  You won't regret it.  Everywhere else is too far away these days.