Slowly planing a move to norway, if you live there i could use some advice :D

Hi :slight_smile:
So, i have been looking at norway with big eyes a hope for a couple years now, and will start to move toward that goal very soon.

I am a sysadmin, so obviously i like tech and work with it every day. If youā€™re here, chance is that you do to !

This is why my first question for you is, what city would you recommend to visit first ? (keep in mind i am not doing some tourist thing, i am looking for a place to live :wink: )

In the next couple month i will plan a big trip across the country to checkout Big city and there border, cost of living, mentality of the people ā€¦ thing like that.

I have a list of the 4 bigest city right now

  • Oslo
  • Bergen
  • Stavanger
  • Trondheim

Because i am leaving the Paris border in order to find more ā€¦ ā€œcivilizedā€ people, i am not sure i could live happy in or around Oslo

Do you have anywhere else good to checkout ?

I do not worry about finding a job immediately, as my current company is willing to sign a 2Y freelance contract for me to settle and find a job locally. But the area still need to have some tech job and fiber.

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Eg e fra BƦƦƦƦƦƦƦrrrrrrgeeeen

Translation:
ā€œI am from Bergenā€.

If you lived in Norway, youā€™d laugh at that one :stuck_out_tongue:

From that list of cities youā€™ll learn one thing pretty quickly: they are very different places. If you intend to learn the language then maybe Oslo would be best, as if you learned the Trondheim dialect it would be really hard for you to understand other dialects. Itā€™s not as bad if you learned the Bergen dialect, but there are still huge differences in east, west, south, mid and north Norwegian language. The further off the beaten path you get, the harder it is to learn the language.

Trondheim is sort of our technological capitol, thanks to the NTNU university. Oslo is a business central, so if you want to work with international companies chances are youā€™d want to move there. Bergen is a good city for startups, especially when dealing with IKT (ā€œinformasjon & kommunikasjons teknologiā€, or "information and communication technologu) businesses. Bergen is also under heavy development and will grow within the next decades. Stavanger is quickly becoming a nice place for culture and music, but Iā€™m not sure how much IT work you could get there besides standard admin work. There are however datacentres in all of these cities.

As for cost? I need you to sit down for this oneā€¦ Norwayā€™s spensive. Mui spensive. Like the cost of rent is not favourable, though it is not as bad as say San Fransisco or parts of California. But housing prices are also regulated and values canā€™t be easily manipulated here, so we got that going for us. Last year and the beginning of this year is when utility bills in Norway flew through the roof, thanks to offshore cables selling electricity to the greater European area via England (no matter how much the energy sector claims there are ā€œmore complex mechanics in playā€ā€¦ itā€™s supply and demand really). This is a problem, because itā€™s FUCKING COLD IN NORWAYā€¦ scusĆØ. We sort of need electricity so we dont freeze to death and the bills were so outragous this year that some people had to decide between eating and having a heated home. Yeah, itā€™s not all rosy red up here either. Weā€™ve got some issues, thatā€™s for sure. The funny thing is that the whole energy sector is subsidised, up and down, some electric companies are co-ops which regulates prices heavily, but the previous administration sort of went after these co-ops because ā€œitā€™s not a pure businessā€. The funny thing is that these co-ops are now mostly in remote places (so not in any of your previously mentioned cities, except maybe Stavanger). In some cases they live in such remote, inhospitable areas, that the government will literally pay you to live there and youā€™ll get your electricity for free.

A little bit of a tangent there, but I thought Iā€™d give my Norwegian take on it. My account may not be complete, as I have limited experience with Oslo and have personally never been to Trondheim. I was in Stavanger as a kid, but thatā€™s ancient history. As for Bergen? It rains here - like a lot. So youā€™d better like the cold, storms and wind that can cut through bone. Not the greatest endorsement, but Iā€™d like to end on an old Norwegian proverb:

ā€œThereā€™s no such thing as bad weather - only bad clothingā€.

Hope this helps a little in your decision making ^^ Safe travels!

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Thank you very much for your input on this, it is exactely what i was hopping for

I request the judging of another Norwegian on that one :stuck_out_tongue:

This is why i want to see them, Norway isnā€™t a city and i need to feel good in the place i will live ;).

I wasnā€™t aware of the different language. my goal is to lean it when Iā€™m there and not before because i suck at learning them. mimetic is the only thing that work for me.
I need to find a some video of the different dialect to see how much of an issue it will be.

Aside from the price, i am worried that this actively make Oslo a bad place.
I am moving to norway for norway ā€¦ not another huge poly-cultural mismatch city.

I am aware of this, but when looking at the cost of living compare to france, it didnā€™t seam that much.

My plan is in 3 step. Visit, Move and rent to make sure iā€™m where i want to be, buy a house and try to build a social life.
So as long as i can rent for a bit with a 6Y sysadmin salary, i should be ok :slight_smile:

I do have very high ambition money wise, and no idea if i will every reach half of that. But one thing is sure, i cannot go forward the way thingā€™s are now.

I mean ā€¦ i have a lab that eat 800W/h ā€¦ and an EV ā€¦ That would be nice XD But i need a social life, iā€™ve miss one for the last 8Y.

This is actualy what i want.
I feel physically better well-wrapped in warm clothing than with a tshirt and a short at the beach.

Could you tell me how you feel rent/house price decrease when you leave city center ?
I will not live in the center, and i donā€™t mind a 45mn drive ā€¦ but traffic and house price are usually deeply linked together.

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Could you tell me how you feel rent/house price decrease when you leave city center ?

Like there is a huge difference. Letā€™s say you wanted to be close to Bergen, a relatively small city (some would say it barely qualifies as one). You could move to Sotra, which means less bus access but like half the price in some cases for the same size house.

I will not live in the center, and i donā€™t mind a 45mn drive ā€¦ but traffic and house price are usually deeply linked together.

So again, maybe Sotra is not the thing. Check out Voss! Itā€™s the extreme sport and jazz central of Vestlands :stuck_out_tongue: Though it is a small town focusing on tourism and such - which is where Iā€™m going when Extremsportsveko (ā€œthe extreme sports weekā€) kicks off with skydiving, river rafting, skiing, downhill biking and concerts. That being said, a friend of mine pays a little over 10k for a three story house a little outside of the town centre. For that same house in and around Bergen weā€™re probably talking something like 30-40k. If youā€™re just moving some place temporarily and donā€™t want to live in a city: Voss is a place I can highly recommend.

Stavanger Iā€™m not sure about. Iā€™m going by Bergen because this is the place i know. BUT! If youā€™re not afraid of using social platforms I can recommend asking in r/Norway, as youā€™ll get a lot of helpful tips there too :slight_smile:

SkƄl!

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Oh, you guys have ftth right ?
Does some of your internet provide offers static ip without port restrictions?
Iā€™ve heard its more or less common based on the country and didnā€™t look at this yet.

I can confirm :wink:

I live in the Stavanger area, and let me just say its sooo much better than the rainy Bergen :joy: /s

We have a website in Norway that has almost a monopoly for jobs, second hand stuff, buying/renting houses etcā€¦ Its worth checking out.

www.finn.no

Feel free to ask if you need any translation done.

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Fiber is being developed around Bergen and can be pretty much found anywhere, Some blindspots however provide either 4G or xDSL connectivity, both for a price premium. The latter is just smaller companies taking over cobber from the big actors and then increasing the price for having access to it, because ā€œitā€™s high riskā€ (i.e xDSL is not as populare). Cable internet is still pretty fast, but yeah; youā€™d prefer fiber.

There are plenty of consumer portals in Norway (like fornye.no) that helps you make a more informed decision.

Actually, 2021 was dry :confused: like people I know in Voss couldnā€™t do river rafting because the rivers had literally dried up. But yeah, last year was not a rainy year and this year was not a rainy year. One wonders why :thinking:

Thingā€™s are moving forward !
A 2 week trip is planed for the 7th of may !

The travel agency told me that itā€™s really not in the mentality there to have guest house, and that it will only be hotel.

Any input on that @Hopland or @qtwork ?

Itā€™s not about the cost, but more about getting to see how people are, not stuck in a hotel room

I think this is mostly right. Its not very common for Norwegians to be open for that unfortunately.

If you happen to be in the Stavanger area I can hook you up with an apartment to stay in where I live. I live in a apartment complex where we have one apartment available for us to rent out to family and friends that are visiting.

That is very nice of you.
I will spend 4 day in Stavanger if Iā€™m not wrong. If this isnā€™t to much for you it would be very nice to save a bit on hotels.

Iā€™ll send you a PM when i have the date more or less locked so you can tell me if its possible.

I am also cutting down on local guide, 400ā‚¬ (3800 NOK) is a lot for half a day, and I canā€™t afford it at every location.
Iā€™ll probably take one in the biggest city and find my way in the more manageable once. Especially since I am not after history or tourism but lifestyle and housing.

So, after Stavanger and Bergen, i am in Trondheim for a couple day on foot, and nothing planed.

If you have any idea please do share