Anyone in Stuttgart?

[Ruthchan]

Hi
There is a possibility that we may be moving to Stuttgart.
Can anyone offer any advice about schools, areas to live, standards of living etc?
We have 2 DCs aged 7 and 5, who currently go to an international school here in Belgium.

Thanks in advance.

[TheKitchenWitch]

Me! I'm in Stuttgart! (or just outside of it, about 15mins away).

I got all excited and now realise I'm probably not going to be very much use to you exactly because of that and because my DH is German so our ds goes to a local German school.

I can tell you that I really like it here, I think the standard of living is very good, it's clean and safe, the people are friendly, public transport is excellent, shopping is (imo) great - the city centre is pedestrian and has pretty much everything.
I find it very family friendly, there is lots to do especially at the weekends with children. Childcare options vary very much depending on where you are and what you want/need. I'm a SAHM, so can't really advise much there.
Some people moan about the shop opening times (everything is closed on Sundays, and in smaller places lots of shops shut on Saturday afternoons already, some still do the Wednesday afternoon shutting too), but I actually quite like it. At least most of the big shops and supermarkets are open later now than when I first moved here (18 years ago!).

I know a big group of expat mums (all english speaking, but not all from UK), scattered all around the region, and I could ask if there was anything specific you wanted to know (esp. regarding the international schools).

[Ruthchan]

HI Kitchenwitch

Thank you so much for your reply. It all sounds very positive!!
I would be a SAHM too, so childcare is not a problem for me. Any work I do tends to be part time and I keep it within school hours.

With regards to the shop opening hours etc, that sounds pretty similar to here in Belgium, so I wouldn't find it hard to adapt to the German version.

It's great that there's such a big expat community there too. I don't speak any German (yet) so I would certainly reply on English to make friends in the beginning.

DH's company office is in Göppingen, to the east of Stuttgart, so we would probably be looking to live somewhere to the south of the city which would be accessible to there and the international school. Would that be a nice area to live?
Do people usually live in houses or apartments?
We're used to living in leafy suburbia to the south of Brussels now, but I'm aware that might well change if this move does happen!

It's interesting that your children are in German local schools. Are you happy with that system? I presume that German in their first language then? Do those schools make much provision for children who come into them without speaking much German in the beginning?

Thank you so much for all your help

[TheKitchenWitch]

From reading lots of threads on here, I think there are enough similarities between Belgium and Germany that it wouldn't be a MASSIVE culture shock!

I'll ask about areas to live in South of Stuttgart etc.
Lots of people live in flats (we do!), but of course there are also houses to rent too. There are some lovely areas around Stuttgart - I guess like with any city.

I lived here before I met DH and we had DS, so while English is our home language (and was ds's first language), we never really considered an international school (no plans to leave here, at least not to go to the UK).
The kindergarten was fantastic, because of course ds's German was way behind his English. They had an extra language tutor come in for all the children who have what they call a "migration background" ie a second language at home.
The school where he is now also offers language help (though he doesn't need it any more) and has a homework club specifically for "migration background" children who either might have a bit of difficulty with the work or whose parents perhaps can't help them at home (again because of language). I don't know how it would be with someone with no German whatsoever though.

I think it's very friendly down here - Stuttgart is a town, but a small one. It's rare that I'll go into town and not bump into someone I know :)

I'll get back to you re: living areas and international schools!
When do you think you'd be moving?

[Ruthchan]

That's great!
You make it all sound so nice there!
It's very encouraging to hear that your DS was given the help he needed with his language.
Thank you for all the information you have given me.
We have no idea when the move might happen (if at all!) but probably next year.