Vienna at a Glance
Moving to Vienna
FotoliaVienna is Austria's political, economic and cultural center.
Moving to Vienna: Neighborhoods
Vienna consists of 23 boroughs (Bezirke) and numerous suburbs within the metropolitan area. After moving to Vienna, you will typically encounter street signs indicating the number of the borough where you are right now. This gives you a rough idea of where you are in relation to borough 1, the city center: Numbers 2 through 9, the former city limits of 1850, are arranged counter-clockwise around the center, with number 2 starting in the east.
Typically, the Viennese will call their borough by either its proper name or its number. Anyone moving to Vienna is well advised to familiarize themselves with the names in order to make getting around town easier. Moving to Vienna’s one-digit boroughs will most probably ensure short commutes to and from your workplace, as most businesses are located there.
When moving to Vienna, chances are you will first arrive at either the airport, located in nearby Schwechat, or at the Westbahnhof. We have listed public transport options to and from these locations in our article on life in Vienna, so you will not have to worry about these things when moving to Vienna.
Move to Vienna: Population
As we have outlined before, a move to Vienna has always been a popular choice for migrants both from Austria and abroad. Most popular reasons for moving to Vienna are, of course, academics, work, and the overall quality of life.
For both historical as well as current reasons, there are currently residents of virtually any ethnicity and culture living in Vienna. The percentage of immigrants living in a given borough ranges from 10 to 30%. The different cultural influences have helped shape everyday life in Vienna into a multicultural experience.
In contrast to some other cities of comparable size, immigrants moving to Vienna usually settle evenly across all districts. It is very rare that a district in Vienna will gain a reputation as immigrant neighborhood, or Ausländerviertel. Terms like these are most often used by right-wing populists for inflammatory public debates, but they are not necessarily rooted in reality.
Similarly, the difference between ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ parts of town is a lot less pronounced than in other cities of roughly the same size. Thus, there’s no need to shun certain districts when moving to Vienna; your choice should rather be based on factors such as commute and general infrastructure. Of course, your future residence is an extremely important factor when you move to Vienna. Please see “Accommodation in Vienna” for further information on housing for expatriates moving to Vienna.
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