How to choose a city to immigrate to - Part #1
10 factors to consider in your selection process
You do not always have full flexibility on where to move to: it might be that you want to follow further education and only few universities offer a study program you are interested in; it might be that you cannot immigrate to a country due to visa restrictions.
This post aims to lay down the main factors that you need to consider before you select a city to move to. Some of them, like in the examples given above, might be already defined for you. The rest are up to you to think and prioritize based on your personal needs.
Basically, the how-to-choose-a-city-to-immigrate-to process, is defined by three clear steps:
Consider all the factors involved.
Rank them based on your own needs.
Pack your bags and get on a plane1.
This post series deals mainly with the first step. To a lesser extend, it provides some hints on the second step, depending on your situation. I will leave the last step to you to figure out 😉.
If you are the get-on-with-it-I-do-not-have-much-patience kind of person, here at the 10 factors you need to consider:
I was planning to include them all in a single post, but that ended up being too long. So I decided to split it in two. In this first post, I will cover the first 4 factors in the list above, i.e. proximity to a good airport, language, vibe and safety. You can find the rest in Part #2.
Disclaimer #1
Even though immigration refers to changing country, this post describes how to choose a city. That is because:
Cities within the same country may differ significantly. That means that, if you try to answer all the questions below having a country in mind, the city you are targeting might not fit that description. To help visualize that, compare a small city in your country to the capital. Are they so similar that you can make the same assumptions for both? Some factors apply on country level though, like for instance the immigration policy.
My experience is mostly from moving to cities and not the countryside, hence that is what makes sense to write about. On the other hand, if you are looking to immigrate to a tiny village or somewhere completely off-grid, then some of these points will either be already answered for you, or irrelevant.
Disclaimer #2
This post -well, this whole substack- is written from the perspective of a citizen of the European Union, which grants the right of free movement between EU countries. That means that, I might be blind to many of the bureaucratic procedures needed to move to an EU country, if you are not a citizen of the union. Please keep that in mind while reading.
So, without further ado2, on to the main part of the post.
Proximity to a good airport
As an immigrant, you most likely need to fly more often than other people. That is to visit family, or immigrant friends that have now moved to other places, or friends who live in a city you used to live. All in all, you will most likely need to be well connected to the rest of the world.
But let's first define what makes a good airport. In my view, there are two decisive features that an airport should have, to earn the title good:
Proximity to the city. In case you fly often for (long) weekend trips, you don’t want to have to take a day off from work, just to travel. For that reason, it is important that your closest airport is actually close, and not 4 hours away by public transport. Of course if your family is in another continent and you anyway need to take time off to visit them, one extra day will not make such a difference. But if you live in southern London and looking for a Friday-afternoon flight to spend the weekend with your friends in Berlin, maybe Luton airport is not an ideal option for you.
Good connections, obviously. It is very nice to live next to a Ryanair airport, but what is the point if you can only fly to Alicante and Bologna? What happens if your family is in Athens or in Hamburg?
If all your friends and family live in places you can easily go by train, then I am jealous.
Language
Language is a factor that can make a country more (or less) appealing to immigrants.
Can you already speak the local language? If so, you can assimilate faster and be accepted more easily as one of the locals.
You cannot speak the language, but it is a language you always wanted to learn? Or maybe you already know a similar language? Then your motivation or background will help you get there faster.
On the other hand, maybe you don't want to put the effort to learn a new language. It could be because you have already put effort in too many other languages; it could be because the specific language is too different from anything you ‘ve been taught so far; or it could just be that you are too old for this sh*t. All these reasons could act as deterrent from choosing a country.
Finally, it could also be that you plan to move to a country that everybody speaks English, even though it is not their native language. That means that you can get around without learning the language. Scandinavian countries are a good example. Not learning the language might have other downsides3 , but it could make your life easier4.
Vibe
I guess the younger you are, the higher this factor will rank up your list of priorities. The vibe of a city describes how alive the city is: does everything close at 8pm? Are there social events going on, like concerts or plays? Are there nice neighbourhoods to walk or have a coffee? Are there a lot of young people? Are there social or third spaces5 where you can hang out and meet people? Are there galleries, museums and exhibitions? Are there clubs for you to exercise your hobbies6?
Depending mostly on your age and on whether you have children, there are different things you would like to hear as answers to these questions. For example, if you are in your 20s and single, you care more about concerts and nice bars, than a family with two small kids. In fact, they might prefer not being close to any bars, but in a quiet suburban area instead. They will also probably care more about having green spaces for their kids to play and clubs to subscribe them to activities.
Safety
This ties to the previous point, and different groups of citizens will prioritize safety differently. For instance, families might value the safety of a city more than its vibe or its weather. Similarly, elderly people might value it more than younger people. In any case, living in a safe place is a plus for anyone, no matter their age and family situation.
How can I tell if a city is safe?
My first step would always be to do a quick search online, especially if I know nothing about the city. There are different indices that can help you with that, such as the Global Peace Index or the Economist’s Safe Cities Index.
Ideally, and this applies to most of the cases that you need more information, you know someone who lives in the city. Even better, after you talk to them, you arrange a short trip to check for yourself, whether the city feels safe.
Conclusion… sort of
This post covered only 4 out of the 10 points of the list, so I will hold on to the conclusions until the next post. In the meantime, if you think there is something missing from the list, please let me know and I will try to include it in Part #2. What would you rank first so far?
-The Naive Ignorant
Or car/train/ship.
Always wanted to say that.
Such as assimilating and socializing.
If you are interested in reading more about learning a foreign language, you can also check out this post about the 3 levels of language fluency.
Third spaces are basically spaces outside your home (first space) and work (second space), where you can socialize with other people. Third spaces with cheap or no ticket to entry, such as libraries and parks, are especially important because they are available to everyone. Hence they also influence the vibe of a city.
I am referring to book clubs, rowing clubs etc., not night clubs.
Language was a big one for me, but ultimately my motivation was 'away from' and I didn't really care where to. I had to buy the ticket first, and panic later. (as my whole substack is about haha)
Hard to say which one out of this 4 is more important for me! I would probably put "access to an airport" last, but just because for most of live I lived 2 and a half hours away for any, hahah. Language is key because it allows you to not only get a job and go about your normal life, but also connect with people. The vibe is important, but more in the sense of it being an environment of people aligned with my values. Safety is obviously key as well; you don't want to restrict your lifestyle out of fear.