Notes on Espoon Keskus

My general impression of Espoon Keskus is rather far from good: it’s a huge hostel and bus stop to Helsinki. 

I went there first in September to buy something for a friend, it was close to Kivenlahti, where I used to live and the name Espoo Centre sounded like a place worth seeing. It was not. I vividly remember the overwhelming feeling of nothingness that I experienced there, that made me want to leave immediately.So, so many levels of nothingness: nothing to do, nothing to see, nothing to experience.

People that you can see there divide into 2 groups: one of them is rushing to Helsinki to work/school/hang out, the other one are people, quite often ethnic, who just wander around, doing nothing in particular. There is not much to do, the only seemingly interesting place is the library. Almost no night-life, events, entertainment, for that people just take a train and leave the city. 

I remember that Mikko said during his presentation, that they want to preserve the identity of the place. What identity? It’s a huge mix of people, architecture, plans. Nothing really particular, distinct, not much I can say about the place other than it’s a mess. I would do anything to move out of there, perspective of returning home at night through these alleys doesn’t sound like a good idea. And when asked about the bars, pubs, evening entertainment, Mikko was not really able to answer. That only means that if there would be something, it would close at 23:00, like it usually happens. I really feel like the whole Finland is closed for the night and that makes it hard for people to really become a part of the community in the city’s life. The residents of  Espoon Keskus area differ so much that it’s hard to build any bond between them, any sense of community in this helpless place.

Please excuse me being so critical, I have a hard time adhering to reality in Finland. I live in Espoo and I feel its dynamics with full force, or rather lack of dynamics. It’s a place to sleep, between shifts or classes in Helsinki.