A View on the Nice Tramway

The first apartment we visited on Monday morning was in the western part of Nice in the Quartier des Fleurs, which normally I’d nix for being too far from center…but with the new tramway, all that changes. The apartment overlooks rue de France where the new tramway line is being installed to run from the Nice airport to the Old Port.

The client with whom we’re searching and visiting properties this week in Nice, visited this one first. After visiting several others with similar characteristics, she decided to make an offer on this one…not just because of the apartment’s good attributes, but because the new tramway below is sure to vastly improve the street, the neighborhood and increase the property values.

Everything I always thought about “being too far west from the center,” is no longer true thanks to the tramway. The street will become fully pedestrian, virtually noiseless except for a ding-ding every now and then from the tram, plus the businesses along the route will flourish. This will become the center of commercial life for this part of Nice and without a doubt, will drive real estate values up while making it more and more livable and enjoyable.

The tramway Web site allows you to follow the work in real time and has a cornucopia of information about the project. I need not reiterate it all here, when it’s all there for you to study in great detail, but the bottom line is that by 2018, the East-West line will connect the airport with the Old Port, an 11 kilometer stretch, in just 26 minutes. This new transportation system will make an enormous impact on the city.

Trams are not new to Nice. The first one opened in 1879 and by 1900, was electrified. In 1927 it was partially replaced by buses and by 1953, the tramway was history…until now. Almost 15,000 citizens of Nice chose the color for the new line — what they call “ochre,” a color that ranges from yellow to deep orange to reds or even brown, but in this case, I’d call it Red with a capital R. Alstom is making the trains (of course) — 19, each of 45 meters in length with more expected to be produced for the future.

For now the construction taking place all over town can feel like a big inconvenience, but one has to see it as an investment in the future of Nice. When it’s done and we’re happily riding it, happily enjoying the benefits of the quiet, non-polluting transportation that connects the east of Nice with the west in a matter of minutes, we will be rejoicing and our American clients will have been very pleased indeed with their decision to own an apartment with a view on it.

You can see the latest updates in these PDFs, New Tram and Tram Routes.

A la prochaine,

Adrian Leeds
Editor of Parler Nice
Adrian Leeds Group

Respond to Adrian

P.S. For those who wish to visit Nice, my neighbors and I offer our apartments for vacation (and longer) stays only to our Parler Nice friends. Theirs is a two-bedroom, two-bath luxury space that sleeps up to six and mine is a one-bedroom that sleeps up to four. Learn more by visiting Le Matisse, or inquire by emailing Patty at [email protected].