Crocetta

Turin is among the cheapest large Italian cities: rents and purchase prices are well below Milan, Rome, Florence and Bologna. Winter heating and, for drivers, parking and the ZTL weigh more. Outside the centre rents fall quickly.

There is no «Crocetta» zone in the list of the Osservatorio del Mercato Immobiliare: the data block below refers to the semi-central zone C5 «De Gasperi»; the list also includes C4 «Galileo Ferraris» and C6 «Politecnico». EDISU Piemonte has two small student residences in corso Duca degli Abruzzi and via Sacchi.

The Crocetta market, between largo Cassini, via Marco Polo and vicolo Crocetta, sells upmarket food, clothing, shoes and jewellery. The neighbourhood garden is the Giardini del Fante, in front of the Politecnico.

112 is the single emergency number; 113, 115 and 118 remain active. Low violent crime, frequent pickpocketing and tourist scams in big cities. Civil Protection weather and seismic alerts and IT-alert messages on mobile phones.

Rules depend on who is arriving: EU/EEA/Swiss citizens (no visa, registration with the Comune after three months), non-EU citizens for stays up to 90 days (Schengen rule, type C visa where required) and for long stays (national type D visa and a residence permit within eight working days of arrival).

To reach corso Duca degli Abruzzi, the Politecnico's axis, EDISU suggests tram 10 and buses STAR1 and 58 from Porta Susa, tram 15 and buses 33 and 58 from Porta Nuova. The circular tram 16 runs along corso Sommeiller, corso Einaudi and corso Peschiera.

The whole city falls under ASL Città di Torino (head office at via San Secondo 29), which runs four city hospitals; the Maria Vittoria hosts a DEA with an emergency department. At corso Bramante 88 is Città della Salute e della Scienza, a university hospital trust created by merging three regional reference hospitals, among them the Molinette.

A manufacturing economy in transition: automotive and components, aerospace, ICT and business services, banking, publishing, research. The job market is slower than Milan's but living costs are lower. Coworking spaces and incubators cluster between the centre, Aurora (OGR) and Lingotto.

Two large public universities: the Politecnico di Torino (engineering, architecture, design, many master's degrees in English) and the University of Turin (all other fields, with campuses across the city). EDISU Piemonte runs grants, residences and canteens. San Salvario, Vanchiglia, Crocetta and Aurora are the student districts.

Continental lowland climate at the foot of the Alps: cold, damp winters with fog and temperature inversions, hot summers. In the cold months Turin is consistently among the Italian provincial capitals with the most days above the PM10 limit; Arpa Piemonte publishes a bulletin and anti-smog measures.

A country of strong local identities: dialects still spoken at home, cuisines and festivals that differ from region to region. Formality with 'Lei', rigid meal times, slow paper-based bureaucracy. Non-EU citizens with a long-stay permit sign an integration agreement with credits.