My husband, 4 boys, and myself are moving to Milan in the fall. They'll be attending the American School and I'll be working in Brugherrio.
We found two places and are torn.
The first one is in the city right near Porta Venezia Metro. Pros: My husband can drop the kids off at the bus stop and have so much to do. Museums, volunteering, etc. We'd really like to experience the city while we're living there. Cons: It's ½ hour away from the school so if he had to drive back and forth for activities, etc. it would be a further drive. Also hardly any space for the kids to play outside.
The other is outside the city in an expat community called Borgo di Vione. Pros: Lots of families with kids going to the same school. Built in friends for us and the kids, huge areas for the kids to run around, community pool. Very close to school. Cons: Could really be a development in the US. My husband is afraid that the kids will be at school and he'll be bored. Further drive to work for me.
Any advice?
Advice on where to live?
Right next to Porta Venezia there is a big park, so should be plenty of space for the kids to play.
It is also an area a lot of families live in, so there is a lot of family friendly restaurants and bars.
I would say the big problem with that area is the noise, Corso Venezia is one of the busiest shopping streets, but the area seems faily quiet at night.
My wife, two sons and I relocated here 2 years ago after spending 10 years in NJ, USA. We opted to live outside of Milan, in Monza and chose the British school of Milan for the boys education.
That's a tough one, but my advice would be to live in the city and experience it. We lived in Brussels, Belgium for two years previous to NJ and lived within an expat community close to the British school. Life was easy with ready made friends, but afterwards we felt it was a missed opportunity to learn a language, integrate and experience a different culture. We have found that once our children become involved within a school, we get to meet plenty of other families in the same position as us.
My second piece of advise would be to keep your commute as short as possible as traffic is awful. If you can use public transport then that would be your best option.
Good luck
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