While Paris has maintained the crown as the first place for Americans who move to France, they are increasingly opting to move to the city of Nice of French Riviera. There is more on the coast of Azur than the sun that seems.
NICE might need to change the name of his famous “Promenade des Anglais” as “Promenade des Americains”, given the city of southern France in the Mediterranean has become increasingly the place to move to the Americans who begin a new life in France.
Traditionally, Paris has been the most popular place for Americans. The capital city and its surrounding suburbs house more than 40 percent of US citizens who live in full -time France, cord about the 2020 census data.
The central region of Auvergne-Rhone-Alps occupies the second place to organize US residents, while Provence-Alpes Côtes-D’Azur (Paca), the region is Nice’s home, came in third place.
Almost 3,000 Americans call Paca his home, and almost half of the Americans living there are headquarters in the coastal department Alpes-Maritimes, which is the pleasant home.
Read more: Folder: Where do all Americans live in France?
The real estate agency, Adrian Leeds Group, who promises “French property The American Way” has seen a significant increase in interest in Nice.
“I’ve seen [Nice] Absolutely exploit. When I bought an apartment for the first time here in 2011, I was thinking of building a community that really did not exist at that time, so I started writing about Nice, “said Adrian Leeds, a resident of France for a long time to The Local.
“Once we started talking about that, we saw our community grow,” said Leeds, who divides his time between Nice and France.
“Every year, this year, this year we will probably triple it. We have more demand than we have time,” he said.
What do Americans say in Nice?
To have an idea of why people choose Nice, the place spoke with several Americans who have recently moved, and it was not only the promise of sun that attracted them (although around 300 days of Sun annually does not hurt).
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After years of visiting the French Riviera with his wife, Billy Lindville, from Atlanta, Georgia, finally decided to make the move permanent last, the couple bought a house in the city and Billy began a trade and tourism.
“I have traveled widely in my life, and Niza is unusual because it is a city really works. You see it in public transport, its safety, its sustainability and commitment to the environment. It seems that it was AAAAAAAAAAA PASTALALALALALALING,” Billy explained.
For many people, the key factors were the affordability and habitability of the city. Gone were the days of the inaccessible tourist city that could have only one leg suitable for Grace Kelly.
Jacob and Carla moved to Nice from Nashville with their three children after rejecting a possible move to the French capital.
“Paris was a contender, but Nice was much more affordable, and in Paris we did so we could get both outdoors. With three children, we wanted a place where they could easy to leave and exercise,” Jacob explained.
As of April 2025, the average price per square meter for an apartment in Paris was € 9,418, in contrast to € 5,130 in Nice.
The family has been in Nice for almost a year. “I love here (…) We are three minutes at the sea. We don’t need a car, I think we only have Uber tasks perhaps three times.” Carla said.
Other new and good residents also pointed out the ease of life, partly thanks to an extensive public transport and an international airport.
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Patty Sadouskas, who has been in France for more than 10 years and lived in Paris, Nîmes and now pleasant, said: “It is very easy to move. Public transport is phenomenal here. Every Saturday my sister and I go in an adventure, and there are unlimited travel opportunities, more than I experienced in Paris.
“Everything seems more work in Paris.”
“What is also so attractive is that it is one of the three cities of France that has a true international airport. We are also close to Italy, which is pleasant,” he added.
The city of Nice has great expansion plans for its international airport, with the aim of increasing its annual passenger capacity from 15 million to 18 million by 2030.
Currently, there are six flights a day for US cities in the summer months.
Read more: direct flights between the French Riviera and the United States this summer
The growing international community was also a benefit to Jacob and Carla.
“[I’ve noticed] The strength of the English -speaking community here. Nice has a fairly large community that we have had a leg present in other narrower cities in France, “Jacob said.
“Every Friday, there are about 40 of us who gathered. In the summer, we measure on the beach. That is the leg our biggest group of friends where we fall immediately. We have also with people through the conversation and length classes,” he added.
Patty also shared this feeling. “There is a great community of expatriates in Nice. As much as people think ‘Oh, I don’t want to be other Americans’, they are people who are like you.
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“They have the same life experience as you, they left their lives in the United States, so they are not like your neighbors at home,” he said.
Adrian Leeds said he describes well as “a small, but not small mind.”
“I tell people who will make more friends in 90 days in Nice than they have had in their entirety,” he said.
“I will make that bet! All are birds of a pen, they all came for the same reason and have much in common.”
Is it the good part of a largest trend or American engines?
According to several measures, more Americans in general are reaching this side of the Atlantic.
In 2024, 13,000 American nationals received a residence permit ‘Carte de Séjour’.
These figures have leg escalation from the Covid-19 pandemic, and year after year, it has a 5.3 percent increase in Americans who obtain French residence cards.
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As for Americans who seek to buy a second house in France, but may not move here yet, these figures also remain strong.
Based on the last 2023 figures, Americans were the main non -European nationality of non -resident real estate buyers, and were the only group among the six main nationalities to see their properties of properties in 2023 remain stable, while he saw decreases.
The readers of the Americans of the premises have given several reasons why they moved to France recently, including the choice of Donald Trump, as well as the simple desire for a better quality of life,
Read more: ‘Trump was the final straw’: why Americans move to France
A former New Yorker, Gregory, who now lives in Cancassonne, told the premises: “The current political situation was enough for us to make a change.
“France has always been a country that my wife wanted to live, so for us it was the only place to move. We love the French and the kindness that the French have shown us has been incredible. France lives.”
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