Moving to Helsinki.

llwyd

Registered User
Feb 22, 2006
1,434
489
Helsinki
I think that it will be the darkness that is the hardest thing for foreigners. In North American terms Helsinki would be situated in the middle of Hudson Bay - it gets very, very dark in winter time... The winters are though very mild compared with a continental climate (this can also be a negative, as the south coast can be pretty depressing without snow to light it up a bit, I always hope for a relatively cold winter for Helsinki because there is more light then). And of course the sub-arctic summer is mad: all that sudden light and greenness, the natives go quite crazy then and Helsinki will be a completely different city...

Yep, we do drink quite a bit and tend to be on the silent and non-social side, but these things are much stronger in the older generations, and Helsinki anyway is still quite a cosmopolitan area even though it is not a big city. Living abroad can at times be frustrating (nothing works "normally" and everyone is speaking strange gibberish), but with an open and positive mind it's really a great experience.
 

Nordiques1979

Registered User
Nov 29, 2009
3,942
350
Laval QC
-This is an expensive city
-Natives are shy and can appear rude
-Winter is long, dark, cold and harsh
-Downtown is small and in winter it can feel pretty dead if you don't know where to go. People spend most of the time indoors.

Welcome to Helsinki.

081123_1359.jpg

Actually i'm very curious about finnish winter, i'm used to ontarian winter, ****** snow and cold wind !
 

JabbaJabba

Registered User
Dec 22, 2010
7,540
2,765
Finland
Actually i'm very curious about finnish winter, i'm used to ontarian winter, ****** snow and cold wind !

I think you'll be just fine here. Only thing that bothers me during winter is slipperiness. I hate to fall over and during last winter the uphill road that I usually use when I go home was completely frozen. It wasn't fun way to walk when you constantly had to watch your step.
 

llwyd

Registered User
Feb 22, 2006
1,434
489
Helsinki
Actually i'm very curious about finnish winter, i'm used to ontarian winter, ****** snow and cold wind !

Well, darkness will be the main difference (and lack of reliable snow and freezing weather): in December Helsinki will have three hours less of "daylight" than Toronto (bit over 5hrs altogether, and it's likely to be cloudy, windy and wet, with no sun visible). If you have normal work hours, you will go to work and come back home in quite complete and dismal darkness. This also shows in people: many are tired and subdued.

In contrast, of course, Helsinki will have 19 hrs of daylight in June, and the remaining 5 hrs are not very dark either. This also shows in people... Of course Lapland is even more extreme: quite soon the northernmost places will begin their over one month long night.
 

Jersey Fan 12

Positive Vibes
Nov 20, 2006
5,854
2,485
And they speak mostly Swedish, which is a lot easier to learn than Finnish :p

Not for me it wasn't. Though when I tried to speak Finnish the players told me to stick to English. Should I have been insulted?
 

W75

Wegistewed Usew
Oct 22, 2011
8,765
380
Winland
Well i have 2 young kids (5 and 9 years old), so i need to find a friendly place, with schools near the house.

Well my vote goes to Tikkurila / Hiekkaharju area (Vantaa). This is near Vuosaari (Kehä III) and a child friendly place. But yeah, it depends, there are different areas in every city and district. Areas can vary in a very small range. I've also got two kids, 7 and 9. And certain parts of eastern Vantaa are far better them than a downtonwn Helsinki.

It's very easy to get to Vuosaari here. From Helsinki city - not that fast by car, but subway is better there. .
 

FiLe

Mr. Know-It-Nothing
Oct 9, 2009
6,897
1,260
Should I have been insulted?
Unlike e.g. the French who become greatly pleased if a foreigner tries to speak French no matter how bad, Finns are just another kind of birds, wholly practical. If they knew English better than you knew your Finnish, it was simply logical for them to stick to the form of communication that gets things across as easy as possible.

Hope I just didn't answer to a rhetorical question.
 

edd1e

Registered User
Sep 11, 2004
2,206
68
Helsinki, Finland
Welcome to Finland and foremost Helsinki!

To me these are myths

-Finns are shy

Well if you are a shy person it will seem like that. Talkative people dont find this to be true (people do talk back when you talk to them) Many foreingers have said to me how helpful and kind finns are.

-Helsinki is deserted of people during winter (not a myth but red it from here)

Downtown is certanly not deserted during winter. I walk every morning/evening thru Kamppi-Central Railway Station and there certanly is a lot of people like in any other bigger city.


In reality Helsinki to me is a summer city with loads of things to do at that period. Winter is not that bad and can sometimes be quite short too (still no snow).

To me Helsinki was easy to learn, quite simple infrastructure. Subway is super simple and public transports tend to be very easy to use.

Im not sure, but i think someone said Vuosaari is not a good place to live. Closer to the metro yes, thats true (addicts, bums). But when get closer to the ocean for example Aurinkolahti it gets much more safer. For me places i dont want to live are Malmi and Kontula. There are few more where i wouldnt want to raise kids.
 

Eidyia

Registered User
Jan 5, 2011
682
24
Oulu
If you're looking for peace and quiet then Käpylä is your choice as already mentioned. Also Ullanlinna, but it might be a bit expensive.

If you want to live in a hip and cool neighbourhood then move to Kallio or Punavuori. They're both right next to the city centre.

If you want to live cheap and dont care who your neighbours are then move to eastern Helsinki or Vantaa. Somali and gypsy families or drunken Finnish rednecks/addicts wont bother you if you don't bother them (they might steal your car though).

Helsinki is a very peaceful city and there is no really restless neighbourhoods compared to bigger European cities. I would avoid eastern Helsinki and Vantaa though since it might get a bit depressing in there especially during the winter.:shakehead
 
Last edited by a moderator:

stv11

Registered User
Jul 29, 2004
3,187
241
Switzerland
All right guys, I deleted the rants about which is the best place in Finland, now please keep this thread on topic.
 

Panopticon

Registered User
Apr 20, 2004
4,940
0
Helsinki
-If you want an easy drive to work, I would recommend living somewhere close to Kehä 3, east of the airport. Places like Tammisto / Kartanonkoski, Tikkurila, Puistola / Heikinlaakso, Kuninkaala, Kuusikko and Itä-Hakkila (Kuninkaanmäki, Sotunki) provide easy, relatively traffic free options. Places close to Kehä 3 you might want to avoid include Hakunila, Jakomäki and Mellunmäki, but even those places can have nicer areas. And to be honest, even the worst places here aren't as bad as people make them seem. I've lived around the Helsinki metropolitan area quite some time now, including some of the places with the worst reputations (including places like Korso, Havukoski, Kontula and Kannelmäki) and have never had any problems (lived in Korso as a kid, too, and I think I turned out OK and had a pretty good childhood, and can say the same about most of my friends from that time as well). Generally in those poorer areas you'll just have more drunks, unemployed people and those oh-so-evil immigrants and the houses might look more crappy, but you, or your kids, won't really be in any real danger.

-Really close to the harbor is Aurinkolahti. It's a relatively new area, close to the beach and close to the subway as well.

-Other places in eastern Helsinki that are still within a good distance and are pretty good places to live as well are Vartioharju and Marjaniemi (both close to Itäkeskus as well). These are better options than the Kehä 3 options if you want to go downtown often. You might also want to consider the Laajasalo general area (Yliskylä, Kaitalahti, Hevossalmi, Jollas) or Tammisalo which is close by.

As for living with kids, I can't really say. All these places I listed are seemingly pretty quiet and safe, but I really have no idea about the schools etc.

I could also easily recommend tons of other ares, but the closer you get to downtown, the more painful your ride to work will be (and just owning a car can be difficult). Well, except for the Munkkiniemi/Munkkivuori area. That place is the worst place when it comes to traffic in Helsinki, even though it's not really downtown. Same can be said about Espoo. That city has some really nice areas, but at certain times you will be pulling your hair out in traffic, especially on Länsiväylä, Turunväylä (Highway 1) and Kehä 1.
 
Last edited:

JabbaJabba

Registered User
Dec 22, 2010
7,540
2,765
Finland
Oh yeah, I completely forgot Munkkiniemi/Munkkivuori area. Definitely cheaper than Töölö but still quite good connections to downtown and to highways. One or two schools in the area but there are other schools close (in Töölö).

I would like to hear from the op exactly, what kind of information he wants. I mean it's not very useful that we have listed almost every district in Helsinki pretty soon :laugh:.
 

FiLe

Mr. Know-It-Nothing
Oct 9, 2009
6,897
1,260
Talking about schools, perhaps it should be good if there was one in the vicinity that offers classes primarily in English?
 

Latex*

Guest
Talking about schools, perhaps it should be good if there was one in the vicinity that offers classes primarily in English?

Went to a one from first grade till the end of lower secondary in Brändö/Kulosaari. Was pretty decent.
 

Bakayoko Ono

Registered User
Aug 12, 2007
4,659
713
Helsinki
I hate the way some posters here are demonizing the Eastern Helsinki and Vantaa. These places are mostly fine and the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants are just regular, hardworking people. This is one of the cleanest and safest cities in the world and there are no REALLY rough areas in Metropolitan Helsinki. Even Stockholm and other large Swedish cities have neighborhoods that make the "bad" neighborhoods of Helsinki look like super-nice places to live.

I don't know how many here actually live in central Helsinki, but it's good to remember that many of the neighborhoods are some of the most expensive neighborhoods in Europe. It's not going to be an easy task to find and afford a comfortable, roomy apartment for a family of 4(?) in central Helsinki.

Helsinki is a pretty compact city and it's easy and safe to move around the city, no matter where you live.
 

JabbaJabba

Registered User
Dec 22, 2010
7,540
2,765
Finland
I hate the way some posters here are demonizing the Eastern Helsinki and Vantaa. These places are mostly fine and the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants are just regular, hardworking people. This is one of the cleanest and safest cities in the world and there are no REALLY rough areas in Metropolitan Helsinki. Even Stockholm and other large Swedish cities have neighborhoods that make the "bad" neighborhoods of Helsinki look like super-nice places to live.

I don't know how many here actually live in central Helsinki, but it's good to remember that many of the neighborhoods are some of the most expensive neighborhoods in Europe. It's not going to be an easy task to find and afford a comfortable, roomy apartment for a family of 4(?) in central Helsinki.

Helsinki is a pretty compact city and it's easy and safe to move around the city, no matter where you live.

Yes but the bad neighbourhoods are still the worst ones in Helsinki and if you got the money, no reason to move there.
 

teme

Registered User
Feb 28, 2002
1,137
0
Helsinki, Finland
Visit site
Wellcome, it is a great city. And Jokerit, naturally. :)

It is really hard to give any kind of housing tips with no idea on your budget or needs. Housing is relatively expensive in Helsinki area, and to futher complicate things rents and buying prices behave differently; if you buy you pay more of a premium for a good location and/or space IMO.

That said, more central location, less space and vice versa is a good rule of thumb. If you want say three bedrooms and an attached house (rivitalo) or a house you most propably are in suburbia. Low-rise residential areas are pretty much same all over the area, if you wake up with a hangover in a house and can't remember where you are, simply by looking outside it is near impossible to tell whether you are in Helsinki, Espoo or Vantaa. There are few quite specific neighbourhoods to avoid, there is nothing wrong with Malmi for example outside few corners, so just ask if you have something specific mind. In your case, East Helsinki might be a good option. Say Vartiokylä for example.

Regarding driving, parking can be bit difficult in some ares in the city, but it is not that big a problem, once again ask about a specific area. Trafic flows to center and east to west in the morning and vice versa, if you are going to another direction there is less trafic. Assuming you don't have two cars (gets expensive) I'd look for some kind of decent public transportation if you want to stay married, being stuck in the deep burbia is guaranteed to drive wifey insane.
 

Eidyia

Registered User
Jan 5, 2011
682
24
Oulu
I hate the way some posters here are demonizing the Eastern Helsinki and Vantaa.

I didn't mean to demonize these districts. Hell, I used to live in a one-room apartment in Kontula for three years when I was studying in Helsinki and had no trouble at all, but especially during the winters the neighbourhood looked like it was from a Russian movie from the 70's. :sarcasm:

(And I love old Russian films, it just can get a bit depressing when it's all slush)

Summertime Helsinki is the greatest place on Earth, doesn't matter where you live.:)

But yeah, it's basically safe everywhere in the city day&night if you're not looking for trouble.
 

JabbaJabba

Registered User
Dec 22, 2010
7,540
2,765
Finland
Wellcome, it is a great city. And Jokerit, naturally. :)

It is really hard to give any kind of housing tips with no idea on your budget or needs. Housing is relatively expensive in Helsinki area, and to futher complicate things rents and buying prices behave differently; if you buy you pay more of a premium for a good location and/or space IMO.

That said, more central location, less space and vice versa is a good rule of thumb. If you want say three bedrooms and an attached house (rivitalo) or a house you most propably are in suburbia. Low-rise residential areas are pretty much same all over the area, if you wake up with a hangover in a house and can't remember where you are, simply by looking outside it is near impossible to tell whether you are in Helsinki, Espoo or Vantaa. There are few quite specific neighbourhoods to avoid, there is nothing wrong with Malmi for example outside few corners, so just ask if you have something specific mind. In your case, East Helsinki might be a good option. Say Vartiokylä for example.

Regarding driving, parking can be bit difficult in some ares in the city, but it is not that big a problem, once again ask about a specific area. Trafic flows to center and east to west in the morning and vice versa, if you are going to another direction there is less trafic. Assuming you don't have two cars (gets expensive) I'd look for some kind of decent public transportation if you want to stay married, being stuck in the deep burbia is guaranteed to drive wifey insane.

Do you have experience about this matter? :sarcasm:
 

JabbaJabba

Registered User
Dec 22, 2010
7,540
2,765
Finland
This is Finland. It is not unusual at all if you have familiarity with the said issue. It's more like it if you DON'T have any. ;)

Well I have never woken up in someone random's house. I guess I haven't tried hard enough.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->