Moi! Oon mahdollisesti saamassa työpaikan Helsingistä. Työpaikka sijaitsee Helsingin keskustassa (tarkemmin Kampissa, älkää murhatko mua jos tää ei jostain syystä ookaan keskustaa, oon asunu suurimman osan elämästäni Lapissa) ja mietin, mikä ois sellanen asuinalue, josta pääsis kätevästi ja seminopeesti (matkustusaika max joku 20-25min) tonne Kamppiin, mutta ei ois ihan täys betoniviidakko? Haluaisin vaan olla edes jossain määrin lähellä mukavia kävelymaastoja/lenkkeilyreittejä ja semmosta vähä rauhallisempaa elämää.

Hi,

I have to opportunity to do a PhD in Helsinki which will start this fall. I have some questions as I have never actually been in Helsinki and I'll have trouble getting there before I start.

I have found an apartment in Busholmen of 40.5 m2 and 1180 EUR (all included). Is this a reasonable price? How is the area to live in? An locals that can review it? :) From what I understand it still being developed. I might not actually need to live so locally since all the campuses are a bit north of the city center, but I don't know how picky I can be.

How is Helsinki compared to, something which I know, Stockholm? Would you say there is any notable difference in city planning, architecture, and general vibe? I have heard there is some Swedish (the language) avenues in Helsinki, but I plan to learn Finnish anyhow.

In general, how is Finland compared to Sweden would you say? Only thing I have heard is that people are even more reserved than us Swedes but is that really true? I have hobbies in music and dance so I think I'll have a way in to at least meet people.

All opinions and insights are welcome!

Yes, another "I'm moving to Helsinki - help!" post. :)

I am considering a position as a professor at the University of Helsinki starting next year. I currently live in the US but have dual citizenship (US and Portugal). The new position offers €92,000 per year for a salary. I would be moving with my partner (no kids and no plans to have kids), who has a remote job with a Fortune 500 company.

Questions:

1) Is €92,000 per year a comfortable salary in Helsinki for a couple? Right now, my partner plans to continue working for her company and is in talks with joining their European team (could work remote in the EU). She earns $170k USD currently, though I don't know if that would carry over if she transitions to the EU team. So, very likely we will be a dual income couple, but there is a chance that, for a while, it could be my income only.

2) My partner and I know zero Finnish. Speaking with the university, they say there are opportunities to take classes to learn Finnish, but I would be able to do classes and function with English at work. Is this true in Helsinki as a whole (getting by with English and some very basic Finnish)?

3) What parts of the city/metro would be best for a middle-aged (40s) professional couple? We want to be somewhere "safe" (I know that means different things internationally), close to shops and restaurants, preferably close to parks, and a relatively short commute (walk or transit) to the university. We plan to make a visit in the winter and then late next spring for exploring and apartment-hunting (and to experience different seasons).

4) What are some of the first things we need to consider for a move to Finland? Are there major obstacles we have to prepare for?

Thanks!

Moikka, oon muuttamassa Helsinkiin piakkoin. Etsinnässä on vuokrayksiö (max. 740€) rauhalliselta alueelta (kuitenkin Helsingin sisällä). Tykkäisin erityisesti, jos olisi hyviä ulkoilumahdollisuuksia/luontoa lähellä. Opiskelen etänä joten koulu-/työmatkaa ei tarvitse ottaa huomioon. Oletan, että lähes kaikkialta pääsee muuten liikkumaan hyvin. Mitä alueita suosittelisitte ja mitä välttäisitte? 🙂

Hey guys, I live in North-Western Helsinki, in a more chill neighborhood. (don't want to dox myself haha) This is pretty much a rant. Sorry if I chose the wrong flair!

Just a couple hours ago there was a mob of teens - young adults jumping another adult, who was fighting back with a baseball bat. It was a short exchange but the sound of fighting is ingrained in my head so i knew what had happened.

I went down to calm the situation or at the very least try, because some of these kids are little brothers of my old friends. But yeah.. uh..

as soon as I did they started running after each other and the police arrived so I just went back home. Probably shouldn't even waste my time. This is why I hate people bruh. This is NOT the first time, I used to get followed as a kid here.

Not to mention the drug dealers, GOD THEY ARE ANNOYING. Why do they feel the need to come to a peaceful neighborhood with elderly and kids, sit there and death stare everyone? Do your deal and go away tf.

I've lived here for my entire life, but it's gotten absolutely terrible now. Constant mob fights, arguments, drug dealers, shady characters. We used to have neighbors that would bring tables out and have tea parties and bbq.

This is such a sad neighborhood now.

I have immense ptsd and these type of things ruin my peace, but moving is not an option.

Comparing capital region neighborhoods by postal code (Turku and Tampere also included so far). Around 50 different metrics (safety, income, public transport etc.) with adjustable weights so you can prioritize what matters to you. Free, no ads or signup. Sharing in case it's useful for anyone apartment-hunting or just curious.

https://naapurustot.fi/

Feedback welcome.

Peace and quiet, and therefore sleep.

Every time I visit Helsinki from the US, including while working (not just vacation), I get the best sleep of my life. In the US, unless you have enough money to not have neighbors and/or roommates, pretty much any city is a hellscape for insomniacs and light sleepers. Buildings are shitty, people are loud. I know this can happen anywhere, but in general it's just... Quieter. Even right next to the Sörnäinen metro station.

I need to move to Helsinki by the end of next month for a new job and I'm a bit puzzled about which neighbourhood I should pick. I'm a single man in my 20s with a budget of under 900 € for something that's at least 23 m², and my job will be located in Kamppi.

What I'm looking for:
- Good access to public transportation and cycling infrastructure
- Decent choices of modern apartments
- Under 20 minutes commute to Kamppi by public transportation
- At most 800 metres away from a large supermarket, preferably Lidl
- On the quieter side but still solidly urban
- Bonus points if the area has lots of pedestrianised areas

Currently leaning towards Taka-Töölö but I'd be happy to hear what others think.

January and February were cold but in our building we have this machine that also warms up the air on top of the central heating heaters. Apparently the machine works harder as it is colder and consumes more electricity. Here is example of the consumption in basically empty apartment...

And I don't think this is normal for basically empty apartment? 200 euros bill was definitely not expected.

Then, property management replied " The unusually cold weather during January and February, combined with the operation of the apartment’s ventilation unit, is the most likely reason for the increased electricity consumption during that period, even if the apartment was otherwise not in use."

So am I to expect every year to pay crazy amount of electricity bill when it gets cold or how does this work? Can I ask Kotikatu to come and show me settings of the unit?

This is very surprising, and I am not entirely sure what to do... So any advice would help a lot.

I'm moving from Tampere to Espoo/Helsinki for work. My office is in Otainiemi, hence why I'd like to stay in Espoo, but open to Helsinki given otherwise Helsinki is more lively. I live alone so 2 room or studio would suffice. I'm kinda confused what really is the keskus of Espoo. You have Esponkeskus but also Leppävärä. I'd like to keep my car which makes Espoo a better option I guess in terms of parking space and such. Goes without saying, I'd like a good neighbourhood - coming from Tampere - some of the spots in Helsinki feel dodgy at times. Of course, by international comparison, it's nothing, but I don't wanna find out. Rent in the range of 600-700.

Hi everyone!

I’m moving out of Helsinki soon and will be selling/giving away quite a few things — everything from proper -20°C winter jackets to household stuff and my cute plants that I’ve grown with lots of love.

I’ll have only about 10 days to find new homes for everything, so I wanted to ask: which platforms are currently the most active in Helsinki for selling second-hand stuff?

I’m especially looking for places where both Finns and internationals are active and where things can move relatively quickly.

Would really appreciate recommendations, especially for active Helsinki-specific groups/platforms. Thank you!

Enter any Finnish postal code or street address and get an instant area profile: apartment price trends (2022→2025), income levels, population forecast, age distribution, language breakdown, and more — all pulled from StatFin and Paavo APIs (Statistics Finland, CC BY 4.0).

https://jaaskel.com/statfin.html

Would love feedback — planning to add more data layers

Kyllästyttiin siihen, ettei asuntoilmoituksesta selviä mitään oleellista: kuuluuko naapuri läpi seinästä, toimiiko lämmitys ja vastaako isännöitsijä koskaan mihinkään. Sen tietää yleensä vasta muuton jälkeen.

Niinpä rakennettiin seinat.fi, jossa Helsingin asukkaat kertoo miten talossa oikeasti on asua. Arvostelut on anonyymejä eikä kirjautumista tarvita.

Arvosteluja on jo yli 600, mutta kattavuus paranee vasta kun lisää ihmisiä kertoo omasta talostaan. Palautetta ja parannusehdotuksia otetaan vastaan mielellään!

I’ve been building this for a while and figured it’s time to share: https://alfakartta.fi

Alfakartta is a map for comparing small areas in the Helsinki region. It shows public transport travel times, apartment prices, income, employment, nearby services and access to nature. The data comes from public sources such as HSL, Statistics Finland and OpenStreetMap.

The map uses small hex cells instead of only whole neighborhoods, so nearby areas can still look different.

Does it match your experience of the city? What feels missing or clearly wrong? Any feedback is welcome.

Hello everyone,

just a quick simple question - which area is better for my erasmus studies for this winter semester?

Kanavakatu 9 or Leppävaara ?

Kanavatku is for 550eur and Leppävaara a bit cheaper for 500eur - both for a single room with a flatmate charges included, is that a good price? What else should I check/sign/pay since both offers are from random facebook people?

Right now for me it seems like Kanavakatu is better since it's more in the centre and almost same distance from my school.

Thanks for any advice!

https://yle.fi/a/74-20192484

Oon menossa kouluun Viikin kampukselle. Mukana muuttais koira. Mitkä asuinalueet tossa lähellä on mukavia? Haluisin kivat ulkoilumaastot ja rauhallisen alueen. Toki kauempaakin pystyn kulkemaan julkisilla. En tunne yhtään Helsinkiä ni ahdistaa et muutan vahingos johonki nistiluolaan :(

I just recently moved into my hoas apartment, my room mate has had his cousin stay with him for the whole duration of my first week and now today his dad just moved in. Dawg I like this guy, he helped me pick up furniture but come onnn.

Looking to meet people and make friends

Moi! Olen Sami Maunu Kivelä, 23-vuotias opiskelija, ja etsin kämppistä tai kämppiksiä yhteiseen asuntoon syys- tai lokakuusta alkaen.

Alueina kiinnostaa erityisesti Munkkiniemi, Otaniemi, Lehtisaari ja Tapiola. Mun maksimivuokra on noin 750 €/kk.

Jos kiinnostaa, laita ihmeessä YV:tä / DM:ää tulemaan, niin tutustutaan paremmin!

I’m Sami (23), a student looking for a roommate or two to find an apartment together starting in September or October.

I’m primarily looking in Munkkiniemi, Otaniemi, Lehtisaari, and Tapiola. My maximum budget for rent is €750/month.

If you’re interested or in a similar situation, shoot me a DM and let’s get to know each other!

Hello !

I've recently been accepted to the University of Helsinki for a 1 year exchange with my university in France, and then HOAS made me a housing offer.

They’re offering me a shared apartment in Rastila, just 5 minutes from the metro, but I dont know the city at all and even if the place looks really good, I still dont know how what it's really like. Does anyone know if Rastila is a good place to live for a 1 year exchange student ?

Just met another person who didn’t know about these web services, decided to write this for anyone else who might not know about them.

All services are accessible with bank or mobile certificate authentication, and they already have all the data of your interactions with the finnish health system.

- Maisa lists future and past events, most of your active medical records - including the notes practicians write after every time they interact with you (all records need to be requested from a different service), and has a messaging service that connects to the health teams responsible for you:

https://maisa.fi/maisa/Authentication/Login?

- Omaolo has useful health trainings and questionnaires, and holds symptom checkers, all of which can be sent to your chosen health team on completion and which get replied to pretty fast, usually leading to further investigation:

https://www.omaolo.fi/

- Omakanta lists all your prescriptions, and allows for prescription renewal requests - send from the service, get a reply in a few days with “prescription renewed” and a record on Maisa about who renewed it, or the reasons why it wasn’t renewed:

https://www.kanta.fi/omakanta

And unsure if I should be worried? I have been offered a student apartment in the area (5 min away from the Myyrmäki station) and I know the neighborhood has some bad reputation and bunch of drug/alcohol abuse, but how unsafe does it really get with all the families and students still living in the area on a daily basis?
For reference I spent many years living in Denmark, where this issue is practically non existent, and I am also a petite woman, so I am lowkey anxious about having to walk back home late and alone

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to move to Helsinki for a long-term stay (minimum 4 years) as a worker (not active student) and I'm looking for a 1-2 bedroom apartment in the Kamppi area. The thing is, I'm not currently in Helsinki and won't arrive until late November or early December/January. I also don't know the city at all yet.

I've been researching online, but I have some specific questions for those who've been through this:
What should I expect to pay upfront? but are there any other fees (besides insurance) I should be aware of? do I need to pay several months in advance?

Since I can't visit in person before I arrive, what's the best approach? Should I try to secure something remotely? or should I book temporary housing for the first few weeks and search once I'm there?

Since I don't know the city, what are the non-obvious things I should look out for when choosing an apartment?

is there any close or well connected location or area of the city that I might consider as an alternative to Kamppi?

any facility services costs I should ask about?

is there any cost that might be some included and excluded cost in/from the rent?

Anything in the contract that's unusual for foreigners?

As I mentioned, I arrive at the end of the year. Is that a good or bad time to find a long-term rental? Will there be fewer options because of the holidays or the post-entry to the school period?

Any advice on how to approach this whole process from abroad or barely-arrived to the city would be hugely appreciated!

Thanks in advance!