Anyone got any views on whether Piemonte region is better than Emilia Romania in terms of living and working

that is a very difficult question.both regions have some terrrible places and some fantastic places,both have equally prestigous cuisine,both have a high standard of living,by italian standards, a hefty slice of italian business/industry/agriculture goes on in both.i don't think it's easier or harder for work in either,both have good roads and adequate comunications.maybe the problem is not so much emilia vs piemonte but town vs. country because,as in any italian region it is very difficult to aspire to graduate level employment or activities unless one is in one of the larger towns or cities,it could prove therefore equally difficult to work living in the countryside in either region.at the end of the day one has to choose on the basis of personal preference/ experiences opportunities etc.of course people who live in either will extol the virtues of one rather than the other but it depends where in each you are considering because both have mountain areas,plains,big cities,small towns,rural environments,differing climatic conditions within both.In piemonte you could be up some mountain around Cuneo or on some rice plain near Vercelli or in a palace in the centre of Turin.In Emilia you could be in the centre of Bologna or Parma,enjoying the mild Adriatic climate of Rimini or up some Appennine mountain near a ski resort...maybe you have to reduce the size of the research to areas you know or like to be more precise or to give better advice,good luck.

I wasn't ready for that. well, yes, i live in italy since 74.Previous to living in the Marche lived in Milano in Lombardy.Due to work and other had the pleasure of visiting almost all of the country (apart from things one knows and reads about). i really do like both the regions (piemonte/emilia romagna) Both are fairly low classed for sismic risks except perhaps for the southern part of Emilia in the Appennines.I would say the warmest/mildest part considering both  regions would be in the area extending from Bologna towards the coast. The coastal towns however are very busy with a fairly massified tourism between may and early september but inland there is very pleasnt rolling countryside with fruit farming etc. road comunications on the main axis of emilia romagna are good probably better than other places in italy,and you can travel thru the region also easily by train.Bologna itself is the most important railway junction in the country and you can catch trains to almost anywhere going from there.it also has an international airport. thru the region themain towns are infact aligned along the main rail line,the main state road (via emilia) and the motorways A1. -A14 etc.these towns which include Parma -Reggio Emilia- Modena -Bologna - Forlì -Faenza are all in their own right lovely well run,good services and facilities ( above average for the country) as are health services.The people generally are very pleasant and quite outgoing ( also compared to the piemontese). The region vants one of the highest standards of living in italy ,so along with the people a lovely albeit rather rich cuisine makes it a pretty desirable venue by even european standards.Most larger italian comunes (municipalities) have on their web sites demographic information,climatic information like average rainfall,hours of sun etc etc which is one way of getting direct information before one even goes there on the Emilia -Romagna regional government web site there is lots of other info ranging from business,agriculture,industries,culture etc and is an interesting way of building up a more complex picture also of the eventual opportunities.However much i like piemonte especially the area of le langhe, personally ,i would tend to prefer Emilia Romagna as offering that something extra especially considering from the point  of view of someone moving there from abroad....don't know if that helps at all, because you'll know full well that everyone is different,but as mentioned i'm not ringing my own bell because i don't live in either of the regions so i think this was all quite impartial as one can be.good luck....antonietta.

Thank you for your posting, always really helpful to get other views and experiences.When you say you live in one of the warmest places in southern Piemonte whereabouts are you located? I am familiar with a bit of it as we did a lot of travelling on our holiday 3 weeks ago. What is your general perception of Piemonte as a region?  Which part of South Piemonte has more to offer, in terms of services etc. What is it like in your opinion to be self employed in Italy? The winters are another of my concern, more in terms of driving around on ice and snow, when you say even though it was hard, are you referring to cold temperatures? or renovating in winter, which must of been horrendous anyway, especially having to go outside to use the essentials!  I also heard that Piemonte had their worst winter in over 15 years. When you say you ate out Christmas eve, was it warm enough in the sun?Sorry for my list of questions, just really useful info that have not been able to research so far.Antonietta  

Hi Natasha,Firstly thank you for all the information you offered. Love the story about the air ambulance! Whilst researching I did read on many different sites that Italy is ranked very highly in terms of it's healthcare provision, so that highlights it.I looked on the map to see where Merana is, as curious to see if we had been close to it and funny enough we did, we went to Cortemilia which was quite a nice town and there seems to be some affordable properties around there, from what I could see in my searches.We did get to go to Acqui Terme, but I am sure we missed a lot of it out, as when we went was on a Sunday and there was not many people around, we completely missed a big chunk of it where the terme are, so it is probably worth another visit. We loved Alba and Asti and drove through Cannelli and agree have a lot to offer.In answer to your questions I do have children, or should I say a child of 8 years old, who can speak Italian but just needs to practice it more at home. My expectations of a school are difficult to define, as I do not know what the school system has to offer in Italia. I want my daughter to have a good all round knowledge of the essential things, learn new skills and most importantly have a good network of friends that she gets on with and include her in things. Some british children are not very inclusive and we seem to come across issues constantly about this, whereas I noticed when my daughter played in Italy with many different children, they were really inclusive and encouraged her to go and play with them, even she said she preferred the children over in Italy! We also noticed how advanced and worldly wise the children we met were, not sure if this is a generlisation, but just in our brief 2 week experience that is what we noticed. I am assuming you asked this question as you may have experience of the school system? If so any information would be greatly appreciated.We are planning to come over in June/July next year for 6 months to live and see how we find it and make our decision based on this experience. The reason we have decided on this is because although England has a lot to offer in terms of opportunities, it also is becoming quite an unsafe place to live in. I work in the prison service and see this every day and my husband is a policeman so we probably get a one sided view!  It is also very expensive, I know Italy is as well at the moment, but there is the quality of life that you do not get in England and the way people relate and integrate which I miss over here, people are just too busy to live and enjoy eachother. It came to me one day, I thought it was important to explore the future and my daughter's future and examine if there would be a better life for us all. We are both Italian and understand some aspects of the culture, mainly southern and want to learn more about the good and bad parts of living in Italy compared to England.Hope that answers some of your questions?   I was curious to know, when you say you were a psychologist in Belgium, what area of psychology? Is that something you are going to continue to do in Italy?  What made you move from Belgium to Italy?Best wishesAntonietta