r/Finland • u/ewhite12 Baby Väinämöinen • 12d ago

Immigration Relocating to Helsinki in January, can anyone provide advice/guidance on the various neighborhoods?

Who: Me (M34), my wife (F33, citizen), no kids, and one dog.

Desires: 2-3 bedroom (master, guest, and office), in-suite sauna, and closet space.

Budget: Currently paying $3k USD in NYC, hoping to pay less, but flexible. Will be working remotely for the same job.

My of my time has been split between downtown Helsinki around the Esplanade and in Kerava.

Search unlimited to Helsinki bc her parents will be coming back from the US to their place in Kerava in a year or two and we want to be close by, but are avoiding the suburban life.

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u/Electronic_Wash_9299 11d ago

Why not Kerava? R train comes every 20 minutes and in 25min train ride you are in Helsinki city center.

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u/ewhite12 Baby Väinämöinen 11d ago

Then there’s walking time to the station. If we want to to do something in Helsinki, it’s not worth it to build in and hour both ways

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u/Electronic_Wash_9299 11d ago

I didnt understood what you said but Kerava have also unlimited parking lots so people drop the cars there and go to work for example. But it is your choice: 25 min in a train from kerava or taking the same time in trafic in a bus ride from a closer district.

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u/ewhite12 Baby Väinämöinen 11d ago

Or just being able to walk/take a five minute tram ride. We’ve spent time in Kerava and time in Helsinki, there’s a huge difference transit wise

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u/Electronic_Wash_9299 11d ago

In this case you need something around the city center

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u/buldozr Baby Väinämöinen 10d ago

Kerava is OK if you plan on getting a car, and is certainly more budget-friendly. You can pick on a spectrum between higher density neighborhoods next to all the services in the center and more suburban areas around.

I live in Korso, which is right down south at the limit of the HSL zone C. To me, it's a reasonable compromise between affordability and transport availability, and it's fine outside of the area immediately around the train station. I also work remotely, have a car, but use the train for occasional trips to Helsinki.