Young family moving to Florence-advice please

Hi and welcome on Expat.com kirstykoo

I hope other parents will be able to give you some good advices

Regards
Armand

Hi & welcome in Florence !

I am French & I moved in Florence with my family (husband, 2 years old twins + pregnant with twins again) for a few month.
We are here until at least july, possibly more.
So far Florence is a great city to live in, even if I found out there are not many things for children. A few play areas, a toy library, that's about it - or I missed something !
I can't tell you about schools & nurseries because I am not concerned so far... But if we happen to stay here for a few more years I will need information too !
At least people here are very children friendly, they don't have many of them (lowest natality rate in Europe I was told !) and seem to be quite tolerant (noise...).
If I were you I wouldn't look for an apartment in the city center, it's too busy, you can't drive or park... And is very expensive.
It's difficult to find a green area in the city, maybe in the south (under the river).

You can write me an email if you want to be in touch when you arrive.

Enjoy Florence !

Hello and welcome to Florence! I am Turkish and single, I can't give advise about the children but one of my close friends has 2 kids and they are doing fine. I live San Niccolo zone which is very close to Ponte Vecchio (I work 50 mts to Ponte Vecchio as well) and I go to the office by bike. San Niccolo there are lots of parks where your son can play. send me an email from zehrabural@hotmail.com so that I can introduce you to my friend.
Ciao
Zehra

Hey!
I'm french and I live in florence with my two kids (22 months and 4 months).
The oldest goes to daycare, they have very good day care and schools here, private daycare (that's all I could find, you have to be on a waiting list for public ones), are not very expensive (about 400 euros a months to go everyday), and great!
There are not a lot to do with kids, that's true, a few parks, but there is this "mondo bimbo " thing, it's a covered play place and it's very practical to bring kids there wjen it's raining, it's open everyday.
It's true that they are very kids friendly.
If you need more info you can write me an email too, I would be glad to meet you , if you're up to it!
I think the best place to live would be a little bit outside the center, we found a flat with a garden, up the hills,close to gavinana, if you have a car, I think it's a good option.

Brousseau : féliciations pour tous ces jumeaux!!!! si tu as besoin d'un peu d'aide, fais moi signe!

Hi. I am living in Florence only 3 and a half months now and I lived in an area Via Belvedere which was close to Ponte Vecchio in fact I could walk there in 10 minutes.This is considered an area that is part of the center and is considered a nicer neighbourhood. It is a bit quieter but still part of the center.(the heart of Florence)  There was some greenery but a luxury for this city.It is a bit more expensive to live there and other areas past the bridge. My former appartment was 1400.00 euros for a 2 bedroom appartment but you could get some for 1000.00 euros a month.

Check out easystanza.com for appartments and a map of the city of Florence to find Via Belvedere and areas around it.All are close to Ponte Vecchio where your husband would have to work.No cars drive on the Ponte Vecchio...everyone walks on that bridge and it is a delightful place to see with lots of jewellery shops that passed from one generation to another. Most stores there are inherited.


I have found Florence downtown area generally safe and pleasant.
If you want a more family like area then you may have to go outside the center as the foreigners live in the center and all the italians live outside of it.I do not have kids so I can not tell you what it is like to raise them in the city. If I had kids,I would probably live outside the city area and I would definately see greenery and more of a community life for raising kids. It is definately more economical to live outside.

You could choose somewhere that you can reach in the heart of the city in 10 minutes with public transportation and from the train and bus station it is a good 20-25 minute walk to get to the end of Ponte Vecchio by foot and only 10-15 minutes to get to the start of Ponte Vecchio itself. I know this as I live  around the corner from the train and bus station and walk to Ponte Vecchio regularly. People do a lot of walking here.

Hope this helps. It is not Manhattan so you can relax.

Hello,
I'm the head master of the Lycée International Victor Hugo and if you want anythings, i can help you.

C Chauvet

Hi Kristykoo, Welcome to Florence.  I have raised my two children here and I run a network for moms in Florence.  The group is called Firenze Moms 4 Moms Network. There are lots of moms here with children and are always willing to answer questions.  You can post your question here:
firenzemoms4moms.wordpress.com

Or also on Facebook the group site is :
facebook.com/groups/FMs4Ms?ap=1

I can also help you out just message me.  klvanzi@yahoo.com

As far as area there are lots of areas but it depends on really what you want.  In historical city is of course city like with a few few parks around. You can find some places that have small individual gardens in the center.  Then there is the outer areas but not so far out so that you can get into the center easy.  Here you can find some housing with gardens at times and there are also big local parks.  But I say ask the moms and see what they have to say. 
Kim

Ciao kirstykoo! Are you in Florence by now? How do you like it here? I'm an Italian mother with a 3 year old boy. I think Florence is a very good place to grow children, especially if you live outside the center. We have a good weather - almost always.  You can go to the seaside or to the mountains in less than 2 hours
My boy speaks English and loves to play with English speaking children because he's very proud of his 2nd language. Write if you need specific information about gardens, kindergartens etc.

Hello, I saw on one of your messages that you work at the Lycee Intl Victor Hugo School. I will be moving to Florence in two months and I am in dire need of finding a suitable school for her. She is three and a half years old. Could you tell me the availability for her in that school and the price ranges? I tried looking for the information on the website but there isn't much there.

Many thanks,

Silvia

Renee, I hope that if you are still in Florence, you have realized that Italians have not moved out of the center.  That was an uneducated comment that is misleading to newcomers.  I live in the exact center of Florence (for two years now) and my daily life is spent interacting almost exclusively with Italians.  Yes, there are many foreigners living in Florence, but while it might seem that they are a high percentage of the residents living here, they are actually a very small percentage.