Moving to Izmir

Hi,
Your concerns are mostly right. Izmir is a nice residential city with warm weather, flexible people, delicious food and close beaches in the summer time. I think you're talking about ACI as the only international school. There might be MEV as well. Sources are limited in every means but people like living here. I'm from Izmir, have lived in Istanbul for 22 years and moved to Izmir 3,5 years ago but still struggle to understand the business mentality of people here which is out of the scope compared to Istanbul.  If you're an easy going person, then you might get used to living here quickly otherwise I'd recommend to find opportunities in Istanbul. Difficulties in renting houses ( you see the house, don't expect more and don't bother me... see you next year when it's time to increase the rent), dealing with people, no commitment to punctuality, parking cars on 2 lanes , lots and lots of pecularities which you've never seen elsewhere. Good luck

Izmir is one of the peacefull city of Turkey. Urla is a bit far from center but nice to live. İt is up to what you expect actually.

Are there other areas aside from Urla that you might recommend? My husband and I are looking to move to Izmir next year and start a family.

We currently spend half our time in Istanbul where we work, and half in Kent.

Since we will still need to commute to Istanbul 2 days / week, it would be good to be near airport or the new road. But being English, my main priority is lots of space and a garden...