Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

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Pursuivant
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Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

Post by Pursuivant » Mon Jun 06, 2016 9:58 pm

Well, the other 400 goes to fill the tank :lol:


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Something wicked this way comes."

Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

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Shedlock2000
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Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

Post by Shedlock2000 » Thu Jun 09, 2016 6:10 am

betelgeuse wrote: Which campus is your faculty in? If it's not the center campus, you can't reach them with railways. Kumpula can be reached with a tram but that's only from the center. Your search becomes easier if you drop down to one bedroom.
I think I am at the Helsinki Universtiy City Campus -- at the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Shedlock2000
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Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

Post by Shedlock2000 » Thu Jun 09, 2016 6:14 am

betelgeuse wrote:
Pursuivant wrote:Also make note that if your campus is in the city, there is no parking. If you are crazy enough to try fit a truck in morning traffic through town. So you need to budget that 800-900 in paying for parking fees somewhere in a garage... and still use public transport to get wherever you want to be going.
EuroPark Kluuvi is 400 euros/month and I think it's possible there are cheaper providers as well.

http://www.europark.fi/hki-kluuvi/
Is driving in Helsinki city so terrible? I have seen bad traffic in places (Rome, LA, Moscow, New York, London), is it worse than these places? The parking does sound expensive -- but I can't use busses as I have extreme motion sickness (I can tolerate about 5-7 minutes before I barf all over everything); trains I don't mind so much -- especially if I can stand. Having looked on a map, though, the two towns on the outskirts of Helsinki do seem like they might not have a direct line to near the university.

betelgeuse
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Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

Post by betelgeuse » Thu Jun 09, 2016 12:02 pm

Shedlock2000 wrote: Is driving in Helsinki city so terrible? I have seen bad traffic in places (Rome, LA, Moscow, New York, London), is it worse than these places? The parking does sound expensive -- but I can't use busses as I have extreme motion sickness (I can tolerate about 5-7 minutes before I barf all over everything); trains I don't mind so much -- especially if I can stand. Having looked on a map, though, the two towns on the outskirts of Helsinki do seem like they might not have a direct line to near the university.
In comparison to places like LA there are no traffic jams. However, to the center public transport is often the cheaper and faster option. My parking quote was for the most expensive place you can find. Our neighboring building has a garage place for rent at 240€/month. Which two towns do you talk about?

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Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

Post by Upphew » Thu Jun 09, 2016 12:41 pm

betelgeuse wrote:Which two towns do you talk about?
Espoo and Vantaa most likely.
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Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

Post by adam7 » Thu Jun 09, 2016 2:38 pm

Shedlock2000 wrote:
betelgeuse wrote:
Pursuivant wrote:Also make note that if your campus is in the city, there is no parking. If you are crazy enough to try fit a truck in morning traffic through town. So you need to budget that 800-900 in paying for parking fees somewhere in a garage... and still use public transport to get wherever you want to be going.
EuroPark Kluuvi is 400 euros/month and I think it's possible there are cheaper providers as well.

http://www.europark.fi/hki-kluuvi/
Is driving in Helsinki city so terrible? I have seen bad traffic in places (Rome, LA, Moscow, New York, London), is it worse than these places? The parking does sound expensive -- but I can't use busses as I have extreme motion sickness (I can tolerate about 5-7 minutes before I barf all over everything); trains I don't mind so much -- especially if I can stand. Having looked on a map, though, the two towns on the outskirts of Helsinki do seem like they might not have a direct line to near the university.
To see how public transport works from any address to any address in Helsinki and its vicinity you can check
http://www.reittiopas.fi/en/

Route maps are at the same site at
http://linjakartta.reittiopas.fi/en/

The Metro line opening in August from current last stop Ruoholahti (west from centre) westward to Matinkylä isn't yet included. You can read abt that at http://www.lansimetro.fi/en/home.html

Shedlock2000
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Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

Post by Shedlock2000 » Thu Jun 09, 2016 4:38 pm

Upphew wrote: Espoo and Vantaa most likely.
Yes.

Shedlock2000
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Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

Post by Shedlock2000 » Thu Jun 09, 2016 4:40 pm

adam7 wrote: To see how public transport works from any address to any address in Helsinki and its vicinity you can check
http://www.reittiopas.fi/en/

Route maps are at the same site at
http://linjakartta.reittiopas.fi/en/

The Metro line opening in August from current last stop Ruoholahti (west from centre) westward to Matinkylä isn't yet included. You can read abt that at http://www.lansimetro.fi/en/home.html
Excellent links. Thanks!

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Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

Post by adam7 » Fri Jun 10, 2016 7:24 pm

Shedlock2000 wrote:
adam7 wrote: To see how public transport works from any address to any address in Helsinki and its vicinity you can check
http://www.reittiopas.fi/en/

Route maps are at the same site at
http://linjakartta.reittiopas.fi/en/

The Metro line opening in August from current last stop Ruoholahti (west from centre) westward to Matinkylä isn't yet included. You can read abt that at http://www.lansimetro.fi/en/home.html
Excellent links. Thanks!
The new metro will start 2-3 months later. Scandal just broke.

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Pursuivant
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Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

Post by Pursuivant » Fri Jun 10, 2016 10:46 pm

driving in Helsinki city so terrible? I have seen bad traffic in places (Rome, LA, Moscow, New York, London), is it worse than these places?
No, but parking is. Imagine Brighton. Greens in the council. Narrow streets. Hipsters on bicycles. A seagull & parking warden with eyes on your car...
"By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes."

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Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

Post by adam7 » Sat Jun 11, 2016 5:46 am

Pursuivant wrote:
driving in Helsinki city so terrible? I have seen bad traffic in places (Rome, LA, Moscow, New York, London), is it worse than these places?
No, but parking is. Imagine Brighton. Greens in the council. Narrow streets. Hipsters on bicycles. A seagull & parking warden with eyes on your car...
As earlier discussed, the main issue is cost of parking space, which has been discussed in this thread. What hasn't been discussed is what mainly morning traffic but sometimes also afternoon traffic jams are.

In my experience morning traffic jams from south Espoo (on southern motorway Länsiväylä) to the center campus of the University are abt 10-15 mins compared to a time w/o jams. On the motorway from Turku, the extra time is abt 5 mins less, but driving trough the city easily makes the trip as long or 10-15 mins longer. Same applies on coming in from north-west or north. How it works from north-east or east I can't estimate, but Iwould except that from the east there are less extra minutes in the morning, due to the metro and hihger percentage of commuters using collective traffic. Generally, if you need to get to the central campus of Helsinki University, there will be some moderate traffic jams in the city part of Helsinki.

Getting out from the city center during rush our in the afternoon is usually half of the extra time compared to the morning rush, due to a more graded exit.

Generally, its not that bad ;-)

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Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

Post by Pursuivant » Sat Jun 11, 2016 9:52 am

Also problem is its centre Helsinki. If you look at the map it is a peninsula. Like in London you have 'bus lanes', add to that trams, bicycle lanes (in the winter piles of snow instead of the bicycles) and keeping in mind the city "traffic planning" has since the 80's been vehemently anti-private-car and pro-public-transport, and hired planners without driving licences to lead, so it is by actual design to discourage people driving down. They want it to be green and bicyclists (in -20 horizontal sleet) and unicorns farting rainbows...

Espoo was more designed for the car (or bus), and for years the better people opposed the metro, as "it would bring in all the rif-raf from the East" among other things. Vantaa is actually two centres joined by nothing in between, and then you get to the boonies, so there having a car makes sense, unless you live right on the trainline or main road. Though "crosstown traffic sucks" so even if you physically could drive 10 minutes to work, with public it might take an hour and involve several switches.

What I would suggest, if you are wanting to avoid the stress from driving down, as you say you're not good in buses, to look at the tram/train/metro ends and places with the designated commuter parking. https://www.hsl.fi/liityntäpysäköinti
(can't find that in English), maplink= https://hslhrt.maps.arcgis.com/apps/One ... 94d374c607 basically you get free parking with your travel pass. Ah, and they're switching it from city-borders to "zones"...

Say even living "up the track" in Kerava you can get into the centre faster with a train than trying to navigate on your own. Then again the morning/afternoon rush in the trams and trains... meh. After London its "wheres all the people" :lol: VR is almost getting at par with Southern on reliability.

Oh and the new metro scandal... ooops, how could anyone not see that coming. :twisted:
"By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes."

Rosamunda
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Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

Post by Rosamunda » Sat Jun 11, 2016 1:39 pm

We have a 10-yr-old Disco3 and used to get post-its left on the windscreen in car parks from people complaining our car took up too much space. One note suggested we take the bus... We were parked at K- Rauta buying planks.... Hmm not sure you can put those on the bus. Anyway. We don't get so many love letters any more. Helsinki solved the problem by introducing extra-wide parking spaces (extra expensive) but I usually bus into town. If you're only here for a couple of years, probably a lot easier to leave the car behind.

Shedlock2000
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Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

Post by Shedlock2000 » Sun Jun 12, 2016 4:58 am

Rosamunda wrote:We have a 10-yr-old Disco3 and used to get post-its left on the windscreen in car parks from people complaining our car took up too much space. One note suggested we take the bus... We were parked at K- Rauta buying planks.... Hmm not sure you can put those on the bus. Anyway. We don't get so many love letters any more. Helsinki solved the problem by introducing extra-wide parking spaces (extra expensive) but I usually bus into town. If you're only here for a couple of years, probably a lot easier to leave the car behind.
Ooof. that's a bit of a drama. I used to be a truck driver, and I drive everywhere -- I could not possibly imagine being so isolated as to not have a vehicle! It would freak me out; I'd feel trapped. Part of the experience of going to Helsinki would be the opportunity to drive to Norway and Sweden to tour around. I couldn't do that without a car. Plus my current vehicle is rather specific, and I have spent many years building it -- I could leave it in Canada and replace it with something similar in the UK, or ship it with me, but not having a vehicle is a deal breaker, sadly. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =3&theater

When you rent an apartment in Helsinki, does it come with a parking space, or is this what the discussion is about? I was taken to understand that the issue was only parking if I drove into the city to the University for lectures/meetings/etc. Did I misunderstand -- is there no parking with property either?

I have seen a few properties in Kruununhaka, which is close to my Faculty building, I was hoping that I could take up a place there as it is within walking distance of the U. However, It has suddenly occurred to me that parking my Disco may be an issue, as a google image search does not seem to show property with parking areas or similar.

Shedlock2000
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Re: Moving for PhD -- shipping a vehicle from Canada et al.

Post by Shedlock2000 » Sun Jun 12, 2016 5:05 am

Pursuivant wrote: What I would suggest, if you are wanting to avoid the stress from driving down, as you say you're not good in buses, to look at the tram/train/metro ends and places with the designated commuter parking. https://www.hsl.fi/liityntäpysäköinti
(can't find that in English), maplink= https://hslhrt.maps.arcgis.com/apps/One ... 94d374c607 basically you get free parking with your travel pass. Ah, and they're switching it from city-borders to "zones"...
Yeah, this was my thoughts until I saw a couple of properties in the district my faculty building is in. I am not certain what it might be like to live in Helsinki, though. I understand it is a cosmopolitan city with all of the services that a cosmopolitan city has, but I don't know if I could live there without a vehicle to transport groceries, and get out of the city to breathe.
Pursuivant wrote: Say even living "up the track" in Kerava you can get into the centre faster with a train than trying to navigate on your own. Then again the morning/afternoon rush in the trams and trains... meh. After London its "wheres all the people" :lol: VR is almost getting at par with Southern on reliability.
VR? I think, given that some of the properties further north seem to have parking spaces, whether this might not be a good idea. Part of me thinks that I could manage living in a city and never using a vehicle, but I bet I could only do it for a few weeks without needing to bail into the country somewhere to breathe. Property seems to be a little larger and nicer the further out the city you go. I am not actually expected to be at the university at all (other than an odd few things here and there), my only justification for living in the city, was to ease the lack of social interaction and philosophical discourse which is needed in my discipline, but seems to be lacking from the Helsinki way of doing things.
Pursuivant wrote:Oh and the new metro scandal... ooops, how could anyone not see that coming. :twisted:
LOL -- the world over!
Last edited by Shedlock2000 on Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:01 am, edited 1 time in total.


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