Comment on living at Kitarakuja 1, Helsinki

Hataiwan · Post by **Hataiwan** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 6:39 pm

Hi,
I'm a international student and I don't know much about live in Helsinki. I will get a room in shared apartment from student housing (HAOS) in April. Everything seem to be OK for me except my friend told me that Kitarakuja area is not a safe place to live. Is it true/seriously? I'm quite worry because I have a class everyday and I may have to travel in late evening. Any suggestion and comment are welcome.

Thanks in advance

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Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 4:46 am

Yes, there are rabid man-eating reindeer that come to lick your salty armpits in the bush in front of Kitarakuja 1, you are advised to wear a jinglebell to ward them off.

jahasjahas · Post by **jahasjahas** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:11 am

For those who can't be bothered to check the map, it's in Kannelmäki.

There are no dangerous areas in Helsinki. It's true that there are probably some youngsters and drunks hanging around the Kannelmäki train station, but it doesn't make it dangerous.

ritan7471 · Post by **ritan7471** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:02 am

I've found that what some of my Finnish friends think is a bad area is not a bad area. It usually means:
drunk people out at night
Groups of young people hanging out and being loud
dark-skinned people/foreigners

I live by Puotila metro station which is near enough to Itäkeskus to make some of my friends urge me not to buy a flat there. So far, here is what I have witnessed in this "bad area":
Some non-white immigrants
some teenagers hanging out in the greenspace of my apartments at night in the summer
Some loud teenagers walking in the same direction as I'm walking home from the metro station.
I once saw a police car at the bus stop in front of my building.

I really think you don't have to worry about living in Kannelmäki.

Compared with the gang area I used to live in back in the States during college, I feel perfectly safe out alone at night here in Finland. It's a very safe place to live.

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:12 am

ritan7471 wrote:Compared with the gang area I used to live in back in the States during college, I feel perfectly safe out alone at night here in Finland. It's a very safe place to live.

I would agree that asking what area is bad from a Finn will give a slightly wrong idea, in a global scale.

Hataiwan · Post by **Hataiwan** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 11:04 pm

Upphew wrote:
ritan7471 wrote:Compared with the gang area I used to live in back in the States during college, I feel perfectly safe out alone at night here in Finland. It's a very safe place to live.
I would agree that asking what area is bad from a Finn will give a slightly wrong idea, in a global scale.

Yes, I think so. I quit believed that Finland is one of the most safety country I have known. Thank you everyone for sharing your experience

biscayne · Post by **biscayne** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 12:39 am

I actually lived on Kitarakuja in one of those student "boxes" back in the '90s. It was perfectly fine then. Full of students(duhhh), all totally harmless. The area itself is supposedly not great in terms of the non-student residences, but I was never aware of any hassle. Towards the end of my time there they started to house immigrants, mainly Somali, in the empty student apartments. Clothes went missing from the communal drying areas, quite possibly completely coincidentally. Groups of bored Somali youths starting hanging around the entrances of the flats, talking loudly and animatedly, no crime in that, but it was very "unfinnish" back then. It was a handy place for the train, boozing in town etc. Would not want to live there as a "grown-up" - no real facilities. As a student, it was great.

Irish Adam · Post by **Irish Adam** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 3:44 pm

I've been living in Kitarakuja for 5 months and I have no complaints. As others have mentioned before me; the only real danger that exists here is potential harassment from drunkards. There are a couple of bars beside the local shops, and the drunkards can usually be found hanging around that area day or night. Overall, they seem pretty harmless. My girlfriend has been living here for about 2 years and the worst she's had to deal with is a drunk inappropriately hitting on her at the nearby train station. It's actually fairly common for police to patrol the area and park outside the bars just in case some fights do erupt.

I feel safe here. The only advice I would offer is to avoid going out late at night by yourself if you can, as the students can get pretty rowdy over the weekend. The chances of anything happening are slim, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

alexander.pitt1990 · Post by **alexander.pitt1990** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 5:46 pm

my mates live here, i'm there every weekend.

Massive student community so its safe as anything. If you like drinking, always a bonus but if you dont then the students generally keep to themselves.

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