Every two years, the “Handelszeitung” publishes a ranking of the best municipalities in Switzerland. In the 2022 vintage, most were German-speaking. The worst? Many French-speaking, including Tramelan, in the Bernese Jura, which came second to last in this ranking. It had caused a lot of ink to flow and caused gnashing of teeth and even anger. But here we go again this week and, once again, the results are not flattering for our side of the Sarine.
The highest rated municipalities, those where it would be really good to live in 2024, are mainly in central Switzerland. Meggen (LU) wins, followed by Hergiswil (NW), Oberkirch (LU), then Cham (ZG) and Zug.
There is not a single French-speaking commune in the top ten and less than the fingers of one hand in the top 50. You have to go down to 13th place to find Lutry (VD), then much further to find Pregny-Chambésy (GE), in 37th place.
Taken the other way, this ranking of some 1000 Swiss municipalities, all those with more than 2000 inhabitants, is therefore again not very encouraging. In the worst places to live, almost all are French-speaking. Worst of the worst, Val-de-Travers (NE), then Chamoson (VS), “2nd”, and Le Locle (NE), “3rd”.
Let us recall that this “ranking” carried out with the Iazi company is presented as very serious, with an evaluation of multiple criteria: taxation, security, transport, employment, education, etc. And let us note that taxation, like the presence of a lake, seems to weigh heavily on the final result.
But in the commune of Val-de-Travers, we pay a lot of taxes, and if the nearest beach is not very far, we are not on the edge of a lake.
Questioned by RTS, the vice-president of the Neuchâtel commune Benoît Simon-Vermot clearly decided to react philosophically and with a smile: “we will never be able to fight against a commune that has a lake,” he commented. “French-speaking Switzerland in general will never be able to compete with German-speaking Switzerland on the level of taxes.”
The elected official also emphasizes that aspects such as “quality of life, the quality of the region, its natural setting” cannot be quantified. But while he says he takes this result with “humor and a little sadness” and clearly does not want to cause controversy, he did slip in a little dig at this ranking: “You can analyze what you want from your office in Zurich or Bern”…
