Anyone with info about Hakaniemi/Merihaka

by **dave1974** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 2:55 pm

Hi all

I will be moving to the Hakaniemi/Merihaka area in September. does anyone have any interesting info/stories about the area places to go, (cheap!) bars etc. I know some comedian is gonna write some kind of horror tale about the area - but give to me anyway!!

Cheers D

**Sponsor:**

by **darklady** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 3:06 pm

Hakaniemi and Merihaka are really nice areas and lots of cheap rock bars (to meet nice girls and boys :lol:

) and take-away places! Stockmann's not far and transport connections are great. Good choice!

by **karen** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 3:16 pm

About five years ago, I was driving in Hakaniemi. I was stopped at a red light and there were no other cars around. A drunk blond man and a drunk blonde gypsy woman (at least she was dressed like a gypsy) crossed the street in front of me. The man crossed completely, but the woman stopped and approached my car. She tried to open the back passenger's door, but it was locked. (Yes, I'm a paranoid American and drive with my doors locked in Helsinki.) She knocked on the window and motioned for me to open the door. I shook my head. She then moved up to the front passenger side and tried to get in there. Locked. She knocked on the window and I shook my head again. She started shouting and banging on the roof. The light turned green and I drove away.

This is not a joke and there is no punchline.

Karen

by **Richard** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 3:19 pm

Tadpole'sMommy wrote:About five years ago, I was driving in Hakaniemi. I was stopped at a red light and there were no other cars around. A drunk blond man and a drunk blonde gypsy woman (at least she was dressed like a gypsy) crossed the street in front of me. The man crossed completely, but the woman stopped and approached my car. She tried to open the back passenger's door, but it was locked. (Yes, I'm a paranoid American and drive with my doors locked in Helsinki.) She knocked on the window and motioned for me to open the door. I shook my head. She then moved up to the front passenger side and tried to get in there. Locked. She knocked on the window and I shook my head again. She started shouting and banging on the roof. The light turned green and I drove away.

This is not a joke and there is no punchline.

Karen

Did your car look like a taxi?

by **haahatus** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 5:08 pm

http://www.digicamera.net/galleria/viikonkuva/images/04_06_merihaka.jpg
http://www.digicamera.net/galleria/viikonkuva/images/04_21_merihaka2.jpg

You propably have seen these images already about Merihaka . It's built abit like Pasila. It's houses are on top of a platform. Merihaka means only the platform and the houses on it. The down level has parking places . The houses are ugly but they CAN have a good view.

Personal experience is the platform can sometimes be alittle windy. Platform has signs about camera surveillance and iirc walking out dogs is forbidden on the platform. Hakaniemi metro is very near and access trough a bridge onto the platform. (cars different way). Hakaniemi and Merihaka is near the central places and services are near.

by **llewellyn** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 6:10 pm

Merihaka in November should be, hmm, quite an experience: those lovely sea breezes... This said, an excellent location next to Kallio with its lively scene. Hakaniemi and Siltasaari are of cource the historical bastion of the Finnish Labour Movement. If only you would recognize the great retired SDP and SKDL leaders that will be your neighbours. Siltasaari I think was the last area in Reds' hands when the Germans took Helsinki in 1918 - they surrendered on Pitkäsilta.

by **penelope** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 7:09 pm

Hakaniemi has the best food market in Helsinki. Best butcher. Good bakery/pastries. When I have time I go there to do my shopping but it isn't exactly local for me. Walking up Hameentie from the market hall you will find all the ethnic (mostly Asian) supermarkets where you can buy lots of foodie things that you won't find anywhere else (eg PG Tips, Birds custard powder, Marmite, etc etc :roll:

) plus wholesale rice and pulses and herbs and spices.

Just in case you didn't know all that already.....

by **Hank W.** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 2:33 pm

Merihaka = A concrete bunker ghetto in the best place of the city that nothing but a few flyovers by a B-52 would improve aesthetically. Then again, if you live there and don't have to actually look at it, not bad at all. All the best places are just a 10 minute walk (up the hill) but getting home is easy (downhill all the way). The seabreeze in winter is really meat-off-bone stripping to Hakaniemi market square, the square doesn't help, and then you need to get lungful of cold air so you can run down the 1st level as the automatic doors opening and the warm air with "eau de wino" and "odeur de pee des hommes" is quite brutal...

Ahh... such memories, used to live there in the 1990's. :lol:

by **Piritta** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 7:52 am

We lived in Hakaniemi right on the market square for a couple of years & I loved it.

Every imagineable public transport connection is mere minutes away - metro, several key tram lines, buses to here there and the airport. And all take you to the main RR station where you can hop a train to anyplace else you want to go. If you need a taxi, there is a 'tolppa' next to the Hilton so you can always quickly get a ride. And where you can't go by public transport in the city, you can walk to it in 10 - 20 mins. Parking was also never a problem.

the market square, market hall and ethnic food shops were par none in the city. If you wanted just the basics, a big Sokos/S-market is right there as well. And if you're into sports, the underground sähly hall and an indoor courts center are there as well.

The nuevola and private doctors are across the market square (OK, right next to alko and the drunks, but still...)

Then, there's the sea, Töölönlahti and Tokionranta nearby for strolling or just hanging out (OK, there are some of the drunks from the alko in these places, too)

I thought the population was a mix of people in mid-20-30 and then skipped to those who had lived there forever.

The only downside to the area was a higher concentration of drunks who sometimes sleep in the bus shelters, bushes in front of our house or on rare occassions sit on the doorstep. Annoying - sometimes - occassionally shouting strange things to my non-finn husband, likely to pee on the streets/walls/trees - yes, but i never found them threatening. I was always more worried about them stumbling into the water or on to the tram tracks.

by **Tosti** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 9:19 am

It doesn't look nearly as bad as everyone says. I hadn't even seen Merihaka before I moved here, so I was a bit worried when everyone told me it's so ugly and all that, but I was relieved when I got here... It could be a lot worse.

I noticed it's a bit windy...but I won't let that worry me until it's winter and my ass will actually freeze off. :roll: