Living in Chandigarh with family for 6 months?

SjurE

Hello,

Me and my family (wife, 2 sons age 7 and 9) are maybe planning to live 6 months in Chandigarh or close to this city.

I work together with indian firm in Chandigarh and will work together with them for about 6 months. We are from Oslo, Norway. My wife and I have been in India (New Dehli, Agra, Udaipur, Jaipur) before (10 years ago) and know about the culture.

But about Chandigarh. I need some advice on the following:

1. Where to live:
Our "dream" is to rent an apartment or bungalow within a complex with swimmingpool, playarea etc.
Is this possible inside Chandigarh or is it an option to live outside Chandigarh somewhere nicer with less polution and nicer surroundings? Any advice of where to live?

2. When to go:
Our first plan is to go from november and 6 months. Norwegian summers is about 20-25C and this is ok for us, but it will maybe be colder?


3: Realistic:
Do you think this will be realistic to do, with our kids and everything when it comes to pollution and type of city and everything? I don't know to much about Chandigarh to have a good point of view here.

Thanks in advance for all input.

Best regards

Sjur

LilBoy BigTown

Welcome to IM

I am no Chandigarh expert, but from what I know it is talked about as one of the better managed Indian cities when it comes to traffic, pollution and other yardsticks of human development index.

Since your time frame is a mere 6 months, I don't anticipate any major trouble.

The weather in Nov, and right until March in Chandigarh is usually around low to mid 20's, although in late Dec and Jan it can get quite cold (close to freezing on some nights).

Wait for others to give you more city specific details in terms of accommodation etc.

delhiwala

1. A lot of Gated communities and apartment complexes have recently come up at Zirakpur, just outside Chandigarh.

2. In Winter months temperature may go down even upto 3-4 degrees celsius.

3. Chandigarh is a very claen and green city by Indian standards.

__________________
Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone. - The Dhammapada

GauravChhabra

Hi!
Im Dr Gaurav from Chandigarh.
Weather
Nov- mid dec are pleasantly cool.
Mid dec - Mid Feb is cold /extremely cold.
March is comfortably warm.

Pollution is not much as compared to other cities.. and actually nothing worth worrying of.

Regarding renting a bungalow, it depends on your budgets etc. you may get some nice places..but people usually are looking for long term tenants.

I can put you in touch with other foreigners here in the city who are spending 6 months or so here for their opinion about the city.

Peace n joy
Dr Gaurav
medimedia@gmail.com
Chandigarh

SjurE

For all input so far, still want more of course:-)

What do you mean with extremely cold from mid december / mid feb, what are day temperatures in that period, is it warmer outside chandigarh in other cities nearby?

I would love to get intouch with other foreigners that have lived in Chandigarh for some months. thanks.

Sjur

puchoo

Chandigarh is pretty much like Delhi when it comes to weather , so the kind of clothing that would be applicable here during the course of a year would be what you require there as well.

Owing to its closeness to the mountains , there is a certain degree of influence which Chandigarh receives - but all in all HOT during summers and COLD during winters

__________________
Cheers!


Indiamike Mod team............

puchoo.wordpress.com

SjurE

I am from Norway and here cold is about - 10 to - 20

So what is day temperatures in winter, is it normally up to + 15 to + 20 and then cold during the night or is it like + 5 to + 10 during daytime as well?

I think that we have other scale for cold than native people from india, so please tell me temperatures if possible...

I found this site that probably gave me the answer about temperatures

http://www.mustseeindia.com/Chandigarh-weather

Does anyone have any more tips on where to live like any nice new gated communinities or apartment complexes like in Zirakpur. I have problems finding these examples on the internet. So if any have some good links to find such places I will be very happy.

GauravChhabra

oh yess!
Extremly cold here is ~ 5-6 degrees celsius.
Temp doesnt fall below this in chandigarh.
Not a big deal for you then.
day temeperature is like 12-18 c in winters

SjurE

Also how much time will it take to drive from Zirakpur to Sektor 47 b?

GauravChhabra

Oh gated communities liek those in zeerakpur are far off from the centre of teh city chandigarh and might not give u teh exact flavor of the city.
these apartments are probably not even inhabited completely as these r newly made. ( as far as my info )
disctance wont be a problem for sure as 47 is one of the nearest sectors to zirakpur

puchoo

Zirakpur is a mess and even i would suggest you live in main Chandigarh

sam_ester

Chandigarh is the cleanest, greenest cities in India.. Lots of Parks, open spaces and not the filth and congestion of Delhi or Mumbai.
Avoid zirakpur or any other outskirts of Chandigarh.. u will miss the orderliness and cleanliness on the outskirts..

But if you are keen on living only in "Gated community", then you wont have much options within the City (City Beautiful, as locals call it), because much of the city was built before 80's, when there was no concept of Co-operative Housing Societies or Gated-communities, and all we have are individual bungalows, Row Houses, etc.
But while searching for rented accomodation, you can be sure that rents are quite low and you usually dont have to deal with Brokers, who charge hefty brokerages, and neither you have to pay lumpsum amounts as advance payments (as is done in metro cities in India, where they ask for 6-12 months of rent in advance).

For Gated communities and Flats though, you might have to look at outskirts like Zirakpur, Mohali, Panchkula, etc.

obione980

Reading all this makes me regret having not included Chandigarh in our itinerary for the 8 weeks we spent in India last Oct to Dec. Have to go again!! What a bummer!! :-))

sam_ester

Obione, Chandigarh, as such does not find a place on the tourist map of India. And, if you are one of those many tourists, who visit India to either savour the culture, history, diversity, spirituality(Rishikesh, etc), fun (Goa), Colours, Confusion(or Ubiquitous Indian Slum-Poverty for that matter), you will find none here.

IMO, Chandigarh is just a surgically planned city built in 70's as a Pensioners Paradise. With ample parks, minimal pollution, open spaces and a Lake, world class medical facilities, civic amenities, infrastructure, overzealous police, it is a good city to live in, but then it doesnt have much to offer to a tourist.

Moreover, it is a small city, and you can travel from one end to the other in less than an hour. No wonder that it is considered nothing more than an overnight stop-over for those proceding onwards to hillstations (like Shimla)

obione980

Thanks sam ester.

I have always wanted to visit Shimla (and have yet to go to Kolkota). They'll probaly justify another visit to India. I tried to explain to my eldest son (34yrs), today why India was both the most appalling, and most enjoyable of all our overseas travels over 30 odd years of travel all over the world!

I don't think I succeeded - but most non-Indian readers of this forum probably would understand it very well!