12 replies to this topic

[swabs]

Hi Everyone,

Im new to this forum so will be nice to meet everyone.

I am currently living in Side/Antalya and have been for over 10 months altho i am not that keen on the place.

we are really considering moving there as it would be alot better than a small tourisim resort.

My fiancee is turkish and he studied at university in Izmir he absolutley loves it and now is a qualified english teacher so he can transfer his work to izmir.



We are both 24 and i have found it very hard to find many friends within side and so i was just wondering if anybody could give me some information about how they find living there.

Are there many friendly english people, is there much to do in izmir aswell as any other knoweledge and advice you could give me so that we can look into moving as soon as we can.

Thank you so much for any replies i may recieve

Kirsty

[Abi]

Hi and welcome to our forum Swabs, I have only been to Izmir twice so far having moved to Cesme recently so not really familiar with the area yet, However we do have members who do live there or round and about who can tell you a lot more about it then me and hope they will be along soon to give you some information.:)

[sunny]

You will certainly find more going on in Izmir than where you are now. There are English speakers working at the English language schools and derhanes and there is an International Women's Association that holds coffee mornings and other activities. http://www.iwaizmir.com/

[swabs]

Agh Brilliant thank you so much, i will have a look at that now! Yes there is nothing going on in side and i now have become very lonely so would be great to move somewhere with a better community.

Can i ask, what are the best areas to look at living in izmir? x

[Ken]

İzmir is a great city to live in. Lots of things to do and see. The expat population is quite large, but strangely enough they don't get together very often like in other towns populated by expats. İzmir isn't a holiday destination, it is a working city. So in the summer, lots of people LEAVE İzmir (typically for Çeşme at the end of the peninsula) rather than go to it. Personally, I would much rather live in İzmir than Side. Side would bore me to tears in the winter and the commercialization of it would irritate me in the summer.

As an American, I would compare İzmir to San Diego, California or New Orleans, Louisiana. I don't know how much you know about those two places, but they are both cool places to live. It is very Europeanized, and has a wonderful amalgam of cultures.

Send a PM to Bushman, a member here and a very good friend, he lives in İzmir and has probably lived there longer than anybody I know. I think you mentioned in another post about teaching English, those jobs are easy to find in İzmir. I have seen English teachers come and go, some properly certified and some not, and I've heard few complaints about the schools there.

I am sure you will like İzmir.

[Ahududu]

oops wrong post!!

[swabs]

Brilliant thankyou! Yes side bores me aswell, in the summer its so busy with tourists and just about the markets etc and in the winter there is nothing there so apart from my friends who our scandinavian reps there isnt much to do apart from playing Okey and Backgammon (both i love) and drinking cay x

[PhillipB]

IZMIR is AWESOME!!!!!!!

[ammo]

did you already decided where in Izmir ...i mean inside or more outside Izmir ?

and you want to buy a house or live for rent ?

[libbyxoakdogan]

Ah Swabs, I think we must have spoke about Izmir on facebook at some point But yes, I love Izmir. I prefer it to any of these typical holiday destinations full of clubs...Izmir has a lot of culture to it, a lot to see and do, plus a lot of history. All of Kaan's family are from Izmir, and even though Kaan hasn't lived there in 8 years, only going back to visit, he is very much still in love with his home city and when he finishes the army, we are going to settle in Izmir

I highly recommend moving there - plus you'll be there for when me and Kaan arrive back next February! Ha ha xxx

[swabs]

Haha yeah that would be good libby,

to your question ammo no we havent decided where abouts yet.

Me and Haluk were talking about it last week and think it might be better staying where we are for a little while whilst we can to save money. We have a 2 bed apartment we dont pay rent for as long as haluk works the season for a hotel, so we think we will bare it for the moment to be able to save the other half to buy a property then look at it again.

We will sometime this year be going over to Izmir to visit and see some places tho so that should be good xx

[PhillipB]

Where I would consider:
Alsancak/Konak - The mainstream/business/party center (Gul Sokak in Alsancak is where I lived for 2 years), EVERYTHING is available to you in close proximity.
Karsiyaka/Cigli/Mavisehir - Very nice area, easily accesible to everything vis Ferry.
Bornova - Also a very nice area, but on the outskirts...nice highway connects everything though.
Bostanli - Mostly on the hillside & offers some AWESOME views of the bay...

Best bet is to do a weekend trip & have a look around.
Ciao.

[sunny]

As well as those that you've mentioned Philip I would also consider some areas of Balcova and Narlidere. If you don't mind living a bit further out where the air is less polluted in winter you could consider Guzelbahce.