Espoo or another area?

[angelageier]

I am looking at possibly moving to Finland in the next couple of months. My office would be in Espoo. I am wondering if I should live there or in Helsinki. I won't have a car and would rather not buy one. I am single, female mid 30s and would like a safe area with great nightlife (sports bars, pubs, cafes etc..) clean and not too expensive.. am I asking too much? Is there a place like this? And if there is what am I looking at for rent.. 1 bedroom or 2 .... The names of the streets and districts are a little daunting.. need help!

Thanks in advance,

Totally lost in translation

[Pursuivant]

The question is WHERE in Espoo?

[angelageier]

I will be working at Rovio if I go there. So I would like an easy commute by train or bike.. or if walking distance is possible that would be amazing


Keilaranta 17,
FI-02150 ESPOO
FINLAND

[Adrian42]

I won't have a car and would rather not buy one.

That's not a problem, but you should ensure that you have a good transport connection to your workplace.

a safe area

There are no unsafe areas in Finland.

with great nightlife (sports bars, pubs, cafes etc..)

You definitely don't want to live in Espoo, you want to live in the center of Helsinki.

clean

Nightlife implies people pissing against the wall.
Apart from that, all parts of Helsinki or Espoo are clean.

and not too expensive..

You definitely don't want to live in the center of Helsinki, you want to live as far as possible away.

am I asking too much? Is there a place like this? And if there is what am I looking at for rent.. 1 bedroom or 2 ....

"bedrooms" are not counted in Finland, what you read is always the total number of rooms (including the living room).

What order of magnitude is "expensive" for you?
If you are looking for a 3 room apartment in or near the center of Helsinki, € 1000-1500 per month is the price range you are looking at.

[Adrian42]

I will be working at Rovio if I go there. So I would like an easy commute by train or bike.. or if walking distance is possible that would be amazing

Commuting by bicycle in winter requires that you don't mind the cold and have studded winter tyres.
(And sometimes the ice is so bumpy that cycling is really no fun.)

Lauttasaari is a nice residential island in the middle between Rovio and Helsinki city center - in cycling distance to both and with frequent bus connections in both directions.

Subway connections from Lauttasaari both to the city center and near to Rovio's office are expected to open in 2015.


Walking distance from Rovio would be Otaniemi and perhaps Tapiola in Espoo.

[Jukka Aho]

"bedrooms" are not counted in Finland, what you read is always the total number of rooms (including the living room).

Terms and abbreviations:

https://www.lyyra.fi/housing_guide/1/1/ ... sing-terms
http://www.expat-finland.com/housing/re ... terms.html

[Pursuivant]

Walking distance from Rovio would be Otaniemi and perhaps Tapiola in Espoo.

Also Munkkiniemi, Lehtisaari direction. You need a set of gold teeth for the latter, but theres buses coming down like the Jokeri 550, though they turn to Otaniemi.

[Adrian42]

Walking distance from Rovio would be Otaniemi and perhaps Tapiola in Espoo.

Also Munkkiniemi, Lehtisaari direction. You need a set of gold teeth for the latter, but theres buses coming down like the Jokeri 550, though they turn to Otaniemi.

She already wrote and not too expensive.., so that's not what she is looking for.

[Pursuivant]

Well, then to Jakomäki and scoot with the metro

[Rip]

Public transportation (Check also different weekdays and times of days):
http://www.reittiopas.fi/en/
(You can also use it to check recommended bicycling routes. I find it likely you don't care to use bike within the November-March at least though)

The new metro connection will change all that, but that will happen only in late 2015 or early 2016.
Map of the extension of the subway. Ruoholahti is the current westernmost station, the Koivusaari station will not open with the other new stations, but probably only several years later: http://www.lansimetro.fi/images/stories ... kartta.jpg


Nightlife is in city center, more reasonably priced apartments elsewhere, so you'll need to compromise.

[Pursuivant]

Well, I lived east of Tikkurila, and went to work to Otaniemi; in teh mornings - walk-fast train - dodging bums - 103 bus took something like 1 and a half, returning evenings - one of the 700 series buses on a scenic route, about 45 min back... so its *doable* ... but you don't like it

[angelageier]

Wow thank you all so much for the responses! So the rooms...3 rooms is what? 1 bedroom, living room and??? bathroom? dining?

[Adrian42]

So the rooms...3 rooms is what? 1 bedroom, living room and??? bathroom? dining?

The bathroom is not counted as room.

3 rooms are 3 rooms.
In one apartment that might be a separate kitchen and 3 rooms that are usable as separate bedrooms.
In another apartment only the first one might be usable as bedroom, and you have to go through the second room to reach the third room, to which the kitchen is attached.

[Jukka Aho]

Wow thank you all so much for the responses! So the rooms...3 rooms is what? 1 bedroom, living room and??? bathroom? dining?

From one of the links I posted above:

[A “room” is] a generic room that could be used as a study, or living room, or whatever strikes your fancy.

And as a bedroom too, of course.

A kitchen, bathroom, sauna, walk-in wardrobe, hallway etc. are not counted as “rooms” but listed separately as they’re built for a specific purpose and you can’t easily utilize them for something different. So they’re not “generic” rooms in that sense.

(One could argue that many 2-room, 3-room etc. floor plans include a designated living room whose layout is such that it makes it difficult to repurpose it for any other use — for example, the living room space might be directly connected to the hallway and it might also be the only way to access the kitchen. But even so, the living room is typically counted as one of the “generic” rooms.)

[Rip]

Wow thank you all so much for the responses! So the rooms...3 rooms is what? 1 bedroom, living room and??? bathroom? dining?

Most likely it would be what you'd call a two bedroom apartment. There is a kitchen, there is a "bathroom" (quite often not a bath, but shower + toilet). There may be a separate toilet, sauna attached to the bathroom or walk in closets (they would be listed in advert). One of the three rooms is likely a living room, almost always the largest room and in most cases in larger apartments located so that people will walk though it to get to (some of) the other rooms, and then the two remaining rooms are what you could consider bedrooms. It's likely that with two bedrooms one is noticeably larger than the other.