If it still helps:
So I grew up in Zurich, now I know Palo Alto pretty well. When I came to Palo Alto, I found a lot of things pretty cheap, in particular food (about half as expensive as in Zurich) and transportation (about 2/3 as expensive as in Zurich). I found housing to be quite expensive, though, it might actually be about 1.2 as expensive as in Zurich.
Quality of life is extremely high in Zurich, safety is never an issue. You find everything you could ask for, lots of green spaces, lots of different kinds of food, a vibrant party scene, international artists visiting... and particular for Americans, for whom I suppose 1.5 hours is a quick drive, about half of Switzerland is close by.
Really the only two things that could potentially make you unhappy is the hight prices and the lack of sunshine in the winter. But for the latter there's always the mountains where the sun shines much more often.