Moving to Helsinki.

[Nordiques1979]

So..... Now you gotta choose between HIFK and Jokerit.

LOL which team play at the Hartwall arena? This arena is big from what i read.

 

[Jolli]

LOL which team play at the Hartwall arena? This arena is big from what i read.

Uhm... Jokerit. You don't wanna go there. Just saying.

 

[Nordiques1979]

All I'm saying is that traveling distances shouldn't be much of a concern, but yeah, there are some suburbs and neighborhood units I wouldn't be taking kids in so it defintely is smart to take a look beforehand.

It's a good thing we have plenty of people here who obviously live in Helsinki or in the vicinity or have lived around there at some point - so don't hesitate to ask us if you find a 'hood that kinda looks good but wish to get a brutally honest insider opinion about it.

Thanks a lot guys, which area are you talking about when you say ''there are some suburbs and neighborhood units I wouldn't be taking kids in"

 

[LOFIN]

Uhm... Jokerit. You don't wanna go there. Just saying.

Lol, don't turn this into a pissing contest between IFK and Jokerit fans come on.

 

[Nordiques1979]

Uhm... Jokerit. You don't wanna go there. Just saying.

Why ?

 

[ChadS]

LOL which team play at the Hartwall arena? This arena is big from what i read.

This is the correct answer. Haters gonna hate. Besides Granlund will be long gone next season so nothing to see in that other team

Ok, this is going to get out of hands very quickly so we better get back to the original topic...

 

[FiLe]

Thanks a lot guys, which area are you talking about when you say ''there are some suburbs and neighborhood units I wouldn't be taking kids in"

Well, the east side in both Helsinki and Vantaa has some. And while a little restless, I'm not saying they're excessively unsafe or anything but can get rather depressing real quick.

I won't be giving any names considering we might have some folks here who actually live in those places and their opinions might vary a little. But if you need to ask once you've actually scouted the ground, don't hesitate.

 

[Nordiques1979]

Well, the east side in both Helsinki and Vantaa has some. And while a little restless, I'm not saying they're excessively unsafe or anything but can get rather depressing real quick.

I won't be giving any names considering we might have some folks here who actually live in those places and their opinions might vary a little. But if you need to ask once you've actually scouted the ground, don't hesitate.

Ok i understand it. Paljon kiitoksia avustanne.

 

[thomast]

Why ?

Blues espoo team. Best junior program but the actual club is full on grinders and strong playoff team. But sooner or later their junior program will pay off.

 

[JYP88*]

Blues espoo team. Best junior program but the actual club is full on grinders and strong playoff team. But sooner or later their junior program will pay off.

No one cares


Some university ad

 

[YARR123]

No one cares

Even though you read in the papers how bad attendance Blues games have had recently, the people that go there care, and it's not like it's always been like that. It's an organization thats been led very poorly, that doesn't mean nobody cares. Don't base your opinions on your local newspaper and don't state your opinions as facts.

 

[Nordiques1979]

I remember 5/6 years ago when i watched the WC, there were this finnish guy Jere Karalahti, man i loved him, badl, goatie, damn he looked like the judas priest singer Is he still with HIFK?

 

[Nordiques1979]

Sorry to annoy you guys again, but one guy working in Helsinki that i chat with send me this site for house hunting, anyone know what it worths? Thanks alot.

http://asunnot.oikotie.fi/hae-ilmoituksia#view=list&module=apartment-sell&offset=0&limit=12&sortby=published%20desc&asprice%5Bsuffix%5D=000&asprice%5Bmin%5D=&asprice%5Bmax%5D=&assize%5Bmin%5D=&assize%5Bmax%5D=&assettings%5Bchanged%5D=0&assettings%5Bcollapsed%5D=1&asbuildyear%5Bmin%5D=&asbuildyear%5Bmax%5D=&asnewdevelopment%5Bnew_development%5D=1&aspublished%5Bpublished%5D=1

 

[CPFC]

Maybe you can run it through Google Translate? If not, here's a brief description of the site. On the left side you can narrow the search for housing. The first one (sijainti) is location (city), second is size in square meters, third one is the type of announcement (myynnissä means on sale, the other one is sort of a "quiet sale", which means that the seller is just checking what kind of prices people are willing to pay), fourth one is the number of rooms and the last one is the type of housing (apartment, detached, "separate house"??, row house, duplex, sort of a loft house and wooden house).

Oikotie.fi is probably the biggest web site for housing announcements in Finland. Another one is etuovi.com. There's also a new service (also in English) that let's you check out housing in many North European countries at http://www.godome.com/godome-web-public/mapSearch?c=FI&mode=map

Another city worth checking out is Sipoo, to the east of Helsinki. The distance from Sipoo to Vuosaari is less than from Espoo or Western Vantaa. It's a pretty attractive area if value nature and space. And they speak mostly Swedish, which is a lot easier to learn than Finnish :p

 

[Nordiques1979]

Maybe you can run it through Google Translate? If not, here's a brief description of the site. On the left side you can narrow the search for housing. The first one (sijainti) is location (city), second is size in square meters, third one is the type of announcement (myynnissä means on sale, the other one is sort of a "quiet sale", which means that the seller is just checking what kind of prices people are willing to pay), fourth one is the number of rooms and the last one is the type of housing (apartment, detached, "separate house"??, row house, duplex, sort of a loft house and wooden house).

Oikotie.fi is probably the biggest web site for housing announcements in Finland. Another one is etuovi.com. There's also a new service (also in English) that let's you check out housing in many North European countries at http://www.godome.com/godome-web-public/mapSearch?c=FI&mode=map

Another city worth checking out is Sipoo, to the east of Helsinki. The distance from Sipoo to Vuosaari is less than from Espoo or Western Vantaa. It's a pretty attractive area if value nature and space. And they speak mostly Swedish, which is a lot easier to learn than Finnish :p

Ok thanks for the tips.

 

[JabbaJabba]

I wouldn't move to districts around the Vuosaari harbour (except Sipoo maybe) since they are somewhat restless areas (especially Kontula). If you want to live close to downtown, I suggest Töölö. Prices should be decent in the Northern part of it (Taka-Töölö), downtown is walking distance away (or you could go by bus or tram if you like), beautiful neighbourhood, a lot of schools and cultural activity in the area, close to HIFK's and Jokerit's arenas, few hospitals (if you get sick). I would want to live there.

 

[Latex*]

I have the impression that there are quite a few young guys working at the Vuosaari harbour, at least I know a couple who have been or are there right now. So they should know how to speak English quite well. Where in Helsinki are you going to live?

I wouldn't be too worried about the language, my father (who is Irish and first lived in the States for about 20 years before moving to Finland 25 years ago) has been here for quite a while and still does not speak even close to fluent Finnish but he's been fine with English. Being social should help a lot.

Good luck and hope you don't get too depressed with the darkness of the Finnish winter

Oh my dear lord, I think I know who you are! Such a small world... Well this is amusing.

But on topic; I'm not sure if it's wise to get a car in this town. Never use the car to go to the downtown at least. The public transportation is excellent. It's basically faster, cheaper and better in terms of getting to know to this town. Plus it keeps the streets clean for joy of us all.

 

[Nordiques1979]

Oh my dear lord, I think I know who you are! Such a small world... Well this is amusing.

But on topic; I'm not sure if it's wise to get a car in this town. Never use the car to go to the downtown at least. The public transportation is excellent. It's basically faster, cheaper and better in terms of getting to know to this town. Plus it keeps the streets clean for joy of us all.

yes but unfortunately i'm stuck with it, as the company who hired me wants me to have my own car to move inside the harbor.

 

[Latex*]

No one cares


Some university ad

I know a lot of people from that vid actually

 

[Finnpin]

Welcome to Helsinki!

-Living in downtown for a car owner can be hard some times... it's a pain in the ass to find a park for car and always wonder in morning where I left it

-some sites to check out:

http://www.finlandforum.org/ (Many topics in english: Moving/living/housing/studying/etc. in Finland)

http://www.jollydragon.net/ (Find friends, foreigners and finnish people organizing events around different activities, site was founded by Irish man living here).

And now back to work...have to post here more later...

 

[ChadS]

Oh my dear lord, I think I know who you are! Such a small world... Well this is amusing.

My god. This is like my worst nightmare if I actually know LatexiKledjut.

Ok back to the topic; it's not impossible to have a car in the center but you just need to find the right place. I would also try to avoid some of the parts of Eastern Helsinki (like Kontula as JabbaJabba mentioned). It's not that they're dangerous but it can be a bit restless. Especially if you have young kids, that's probably not a good choice.

 

[Nordiques1979]

Welcome to Helsinki!

-Living in downtown for a car owner can be hard some times... it's a pain in the ass to find a park for car and always wonder in morning where I left it

-some sites to check out:

http://www.finlandforum.org/ (Many topics in english: Moving/living/housing/studying/etc. in Finland)

http://www.jollydragon.net/ (Find friends, foreigners and finnish people organizing events around different activities, site was founded by Irish man living here).

And now back to work...have to post here more later...

Thanks a lot, in fact i'm already registered on finlandforum ! Very helpful I think the best way to picture how ****ed up it is in helsinki downtown is to actually go there, i can't wait to go there.

 

[Nordiques1979]

My god. This is like my worst nightmare if I actually know LatexiKledjut.

Ok back to the topic; it's not impossible to have a car in the center but you just need to find the right place. I would also try to avoid some of the parts of Eastern Helsinki (like Kontula as JabbaJabba mentioned). It's not that they're dangerous but it can be a bit restless. Especially if you have young kids, that's probably not a good choice.

Well i have 2 young kids (5 and 9 years old), so i need to find a friendly place, with schools near the house.

 

[Latex*]

Well i have 2 young kids (5 and 9 years old), so i need to find a friendly place, with schools near the house.

Places I'd absolutely LOVE to live in if I have kids some day are Käpylä and Kumpula. Extremely beautiful, nice and peaceful neighborhoods. They have both, nice wooden houses and apartment blocks of excellent quality. Don't know about your price range though.

^^^^
Lots of both of these in Käpylä.

Töölö is ok.

Ullanlinna (I live there woohoo ), Eira etc. are extremely nice, but perhaps a tad expensive for a family in your situation (kids and all).

Puistola is pretty nice. I lived in Laajasalo for a few years and some parts of it are pretty ok.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Käpylä

There's something about käpylä in English.^^

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Töölö

Töölö^^^

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laajasalo
^^^
You can see how Laajasalo i mentioned is located in that wikipedia page. Though this one looks to be close, it's not as well connected as the others. It's an island, with one bridge out of there.

You can also see the location of the area in the map and compare the distances from the places to Vuosaari one right here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vuosaari

 

[FiLe]

This thread has actually got me thinking again that despite not being the biggest of metropols, the capital of Finland is a strangely varied place.

I mean, you can basically have a modern urban business center, then this beautiful and quaint western garden town and finally an unit of concrete boxes straight out of the Eastern Bloc right next to each other.



As an unrelated note, I'm not sure how big of a help playing a virtual tour guide at this stage is going to be, considering most housing issues are not exactly "I've decided to move to location X" (well, unless one's got loads of $$$) but more like "what's available and where".