Dear all,

Could your share your wisdom about the subject? I am currently looking for a house in Helsinki/Espoo. The main criteria is family friendly environment, socially homogenic, availability of daycares and schools nearby and possibility to spend on commuting to Helsinki not longer than 40min.

I understand that entire Espoo may qualify but I would like to know the most wanted/unwanted locations.

Rent or buy?

Buy... I've being dumping money into rent for too long....

Not sure what that means...
My Dictionary:
Main Entry: homo·gen·ic
Pronunciation: homa-'jen-ik
Function: adjective
: having only one allele of a gene or genes:

"homogeneous" = consisting of people or things that are all of the same kind.

Yes but what are "socially homogenic" and why is it important?

People who all do the same thing....or who have the same interests....Or are you really asking for an area in which, all are of the same race and/or religion?

If so, there are very few areas in Finland where there are "problem" areas.
Most of which are in East Helsinki.

West Helsinki, Most of Espoo and SW Vantaa are probably the "nicest" socially. But the price of property is always a good guide.

few points - what are the places with bad neighbourhood? Homogenious - meaning same level of income, good quality schools, good connection to downtown.

Price can be misleading - some of the spots are priced high e.g for having a seaview, which i don't care about. To me developed infra and services would be more important.

Helsinki has tried to avoid the develpment of "bad neighbourhoods" by mixing City Owned/Rented properties in with Private Owned properties.
Even to the extent of buying properties and renting them to those from lower income levels.

What you say about Sea Views..does apply on some areas on price maters..e.g South Espoo... West End/Tapiola...
But if the property is not on the sea front...the access to public transport then has some effect.

I cannot think of any bad neigbourhoods in Espoo...
Matinkylä used to be, but..it has been sorted out now.

In Helsinki...
Kannelmäki has a lot of student accomodation. it is a bit old style and looks a bit tatty...but it is not "rough".

But....
If you look at this map.
http://kartta.hel.fi/opas/main/?lang=en
Refer to The large Map...check the right hand side...you will see a triangle made by three roads.. near an old airfield.
The area to the south is not very socially desireable, unless you are a Somali ..but if you are, then you will find a lot of your friends there.

Well, you know. We've discussed this one over before. The bit when Vantaa city buys flats from "respectable" houses and gives them over for "social housing"...

And yes, I've lived in Helsinki & Vantaa council flats...

I wouldnt like to live in Espoo Centre myself. I have a friend that lives there and she doesnt like it so much.

if you can afford it, west end is always a nice bet and close to the bus connections to downtwon Helsinki.

I just recently moved to Leppävaara. There is a train station and the area from what I have seen is very nice. It takes me about 15 minutes to downtown by train. Where I live there are mosstly families with young children and many daycares.

Given that there are few "nasty" areas in Espoo then you need to look closely at your other criteria. One of them was schools and day care. If you are looking for English language schooling (ala-aste) then you have two choices: Leppavaara (Postipuu school) and Olari (Komeetta school). If you want more details about those schools then say so.... There are also bilingual schools scattered around Espoo such as Tähtiniitty (also Olari) and Jalavapuisto (Espoon Keskus area)... and others. Check schools on www.espoo.fi under education.

If access to town is a priority and you plan on using public transport then you need to look at bus routes. Buses heading into Ruoholahti on the Länsiväylä are fast (20 mins from Matinkylä) as they use the bus lanes. A metro is planned for southern Espoo.... IMO it WILL happen soon. This will keep property prices buoyant in Tapiola, Niittykumpu and anywhere south of the Länsiväylä. But they are buoyant anyway.

If price or space is an issue then you really need to go further north or further west.

Sound points all, though that "bus routes" (the boldface is mine) thing is a sure sign the poster is (hey, I KNOW she is) a "South Espoo" type. There is of course another Espoo - "Railway Espoo". There's "North Espoo", too, but that is mostly forest and pasture land so it's more for people who are humanophobic, childless, or happy telecommuters. Anyway, the train service isn't bad, and the plans are to extend the current rapid transit link (H:ki-Leppävaara) out to Espoon Keskus, which would mean something like a metro service to and from town, as well as the faster trains that stop in only two or three places.

In my view at least, the most interesting prospect on the Espoo horizon (apart from the Western Metro, and I'll believe that when I see the trains) is the Suurpelto development to the west of Kehä II between the north end of Olari (Olarinniitty) and Turunväylä. If this gets built up bigtime, with a measure of office space and light industry - Nokia are said to be sniffing - then it will to some extent pull the northern and southern sides of the city together. Transport-wise, it will be right next to Kehä II (which will presumably get extended northwards around to the Tampere motorway when Espoo, Vantaa, and Helsinki have done the necessary arm-wrestling), and it would also not be impossible to run a rail link north from Matinkylä, if the Metro ever gets there, and through to the mainline in Kauniainen.

But this is all very forward-thinking. If you want to buy now, forget it.

Yes there was something in this morning's Hesari about Suurpelto.... my realtime Finnish translator is away this week but I think it said the first building rights had been sold, approx 300 homes (I guess rivitalo but not sure, I doubt it will be high rise, but I'm guessing) to some construction/property company. Once this kind of thing gets going then they whizz up. The large campus area (Opinmäki ?) is still AFAIK on the drawing board but Matinkyla Ammattikoulu (wrong spelling) is being knocked down this year.... there will soon be a dire shortage of high school/further ed space in Espoo. How fast the infra-structure will catch up is another matter. Look at Saunalahti. Homes are still going up there by the hundreds but there are almost no buses, no shops, or anything else. The place is pleasant enough but you definitely need a car and satellite TV.

I have nothing against the "northern" corridor I just don't know it so well.... But Keha I is a pain so I would avoid a commute that involves that on a daily basis. Trains are great as long as you don't have to drive to get to the station.