Schaerbeek: The Brussels Neighbourhood Guide to the City's Most Underrated Commune

Ask a newcomer to Brussels which neighbourhood to move to and you'll hear the same three names on repeat: Ixelles, Saint-Gilles, Etterbeek. Schaerbeek rarely makes the shortlist, and that's a mistake. It's Brussels' second-most populous commune, it has an Art Nouveau streetscape that rivals Saint-Gilles', one of the city's best neighbourhood markets, and rents that are noticeably kinder to your budget. If you're weighing up where to live in Brussels, Schaerbeek deserves a proper look before you sign anything.

This guide covers what the neighbourhood actually feels like day to day, where to eat and wander, how coliving works there, and who it suits.

The Short Version

Schaerbeek (Schaarbeek in Dutch) sits north-east of the city centre, wrapping around Brussels-North station (Gare du Nord) and stretching out toward Evere and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. It's large, diverse, and architecturally rich — a commune in the middle of a slow, steady gentrification that long-time residents will tell you has been "just about to happen" for a decade, and is now visibly underway. Wide boulevards, deep multicultural roots (particularly Turkish and Maghrebi communities around Chaussée de Haecht), a growing population of young creatives and budget-conscious professionals, and some of the most photogenic residential streets in the city.

Why People Are Moving Here

The Architecture

Schaerbeek's claim to fame among architecture nerds is its concentration of Art Nouveau and Art Deco townhouses, particularly around Rue Josaphat and the streets threading off it. It's not curated for tourists the way parts of Ixelles are — you'll stumble on ornate façades on ordinary residential streets, often unrestored and all the more atmospheric for it. Give it a slow walk on a Sunday afternoon and you'll understand why residents get proprietary about the neighbourhood.

Parc Josaphat

A genuinely excellent park — built on a former valley and rail corridor — with ponds, mature trees, playgrounds, and enough space to actually forget you're in a capital city. It's the neighbourhood's green lungs and a big part of why families and dog owners choose Schaerbeek over denser, more paved communes.

Place Colignon and the Market

Place Colignon, in front of the striking Art Deco town hall, hosts one of Brussels' better neighbourhood markets. It's less photographed than Midi or Flagey, which is exactly the appeal — fresh produce, good prices, and a genuinely local crowd rather than a tourist trail.

Place Liedts and Chaussée de Haecht

This stretch is the commune's multicultural heart: Turkish bakeries, Middle Eastern grocers, halal butchers, and some of the best-value food in the city. It's a useful reminder that "authentic Brussels" isn't only found in the postcard neighbourhoods — Schaerbeek's food scene rewards curiosity.

Halles de Schaerbeek

A former 19th-century covered market converted into a cultural venue hosting concerts, theatre, and festivals. It anchors a small but genuine cultural scene that's grown up around it, with bars and independent spaces nearby.

Getting Around

Schaerbeek is well served by tram lines running along its major boulevards, plus metro line 2/6 on its western edge, and — its biggest practical asset — Brussels-North station, one of the city's three main rail hubs, sitting right on the commune's southern border. That gives you direct rail links across Belgium and easy connections into the rest of the STIB network. As with anywhere in the city, check the STIB app for live routes to your specific street, since coverage varies a lot between the commune's southern and northern edges.

Cycling is increasingly viable too, with the wide boulevards (Chaussée de Haecht, Avenue Rogier) generally easier to navigate by bike than the narrower streets of Ixelles or Saint-Gilles.

Rent and Cost of Living

This is Schaerbeek's headline advantage. Compared to Ixelles, Saint-Gilles, or the EU Quarter fringe, rents here run noticeably lower for equivalent space — often the difference between a room that stretches your budget and one that leaves breathing room. If keeping costs down is a priority, our guide to cheapest coliving in Brussels and broader Brussels rent price data both back this up: Schaerbeek consistently comes in below the city's trendier communes.

Everyday costs — bakeries, markets, casual restaurants — also skew affordable, especially around Chaussée de Haecht and Place Liedts.

Coliving in Schaerbeek

Coliving coverage here is real but leaner than in Ixelles, which suits people who want community living without the saturation. A few operators worth knowing:

Habyt has a presence spanning Etterbeek and Schaerbeek, offering standardized, modern rooms with a digital-first, international feel — a solid pick if you want consistency over character.
Comoon operates houses across the Schaerbeek, Etterbeek and EU Quarter axis, packing in amenities like coworking space, a gym, and a cinema room — popular with young professionals working near the European institutions who still want easy access to Schaerbeek's lower rents.

Beyond named operators, it's worth browsing the full directory of coliving actors and filtering by neighbourhood, since availability shifts throughout the year. If you're not sure which house or area fits your budget and lifestyle, the coliving matchmaker is built exactly for that — a few questions and it narrows the field for you.

Who Schaerbeek Suits

Budget-conscious professionals and students who want genuine city living without Ixelles-level rents
Architecture and design lovers who'll actually notice (and enjoy) the streetscape every day
Families and dog owners drawn to Parc Josaphat's space
Anyone commuting via rail, given the direct line to Brussels-North
People who want a multicultural, unpolished neighbourhood over a curated, Instagram-ready one

It's a less obvious fit if your priority is being in the thick of the bar-and-brunch scene every weekend — for that, Ixelles or Saint-Gilles remain the louder, more social choices, as covered in our Ixelles vs Saint-Gilles comparison.

Practical Notes Before You Move

Explore before committing. Schaerbeek is large and genuinely varies block to block — the streets near Josaphat park feel different from those near Gare du Nord. Walk a few candidate streets at different times of day.
Check your specific transport links. Coverage is good but uneven; confirm your commute time to work or study before signing a lease.
Budget realistically, but don't assume it's "cheap everywhere." Streets closer to the Art Nouveau core and Josaphat park command a premium over those further north.
If registering as a resident, the process is the same commune-level system used across Brussels — see our guide on how to register as an expat in Brussels if you're new to the paperwork.

The Bottom Line

Schaerbeek won't show up on many "best neighbourhoods in Brussels" listicles, but it should. It offers a genuine, lived-in version of the city — striking architecture, real cultural diversity, a park worth building a routine around, and rents that make Brussels feel more affordable than its reputation suggests. If you're comparing options through our neighbourhood guides or figuring out where to live, give Schaerbeek a proper visit before ruling it out. It rewards patience, and increasingly, it rewards being early.