And, oh my goodness — abandoned houses!? What are we waiting for?
7 comments:
Suzan
said...
In my heart I have always wanted to live somewhere cold. I hate the heat but I have only lived in the cold for a few weeks at a time. iT is stunningly beautiful
It is very beautiful and I love frost in the trees like this, it really makes all of nature sparkle and if the sun comes out it is really one of the most beautiful things to see. That is really the best side of Swedish winter when it is like that. I am not a big fan of Swedish winter at all but seeing those frosty trees make me long for this phase of winter. Where I live we are not there yet but we have had some early snows already but it won't stay on the ground and is often gone after a couple hours. There will be plenty more of that in the months to come though.
Houses in the country side with no farmland are often very cheap in Sweden and updating it will not really be something you will get any money back from so unless you want to do it to live there yourself for the rest of your life it will not be worth it. Sadly, I might add. Even in a village like the one my MIL lives in which has a school, pizzeria, library and small convenience store there are abandoned houses because they only sell for about 200000-400000 SEK and it might be easier to just hold on to a house than to sell it if you say move into town when you get older. It also doesn't really pay to update the house beyond things that are necessary for it not to fall into disrepair. Also, the sad part is where houses are cheap there is little to offer when it comes to work and you either have to make a very long commute or be prepared to take any job available. In places where there are tons of jobs however there is often a housing shortage and prizes to buy are very high. A house below 3 million can't more or less be found in my town and that might not even get you an apartment in Stockholm while as I said, 300000 might get you a house in my MIL:s village. Our housing market is very varied and explains some why you can see empty houses here.
Elin — that's very interesting! Here in the UK, we also have this disparity of property values. I live in Hastings, which is a pocket of poverty in the county of East Sussex, which in turn is a pocket of poverty in the south east. As a consequence we have some very interesting people living in Hastings — poets and mystics, artists and people who have come from other countries; because settling here is more affordable than in the surrounding towns. We also have a community consciousness and a thriving music scene, both linked to the poverty and to some extent arising from it. In recent years the increase of electronic communication has helped us, because it's now possible to live in Hastings and work at a distance. There are plenty of writers and journalists in Hastings for that very reason — we send our work in electronically, we don't have to go in person to an office. The woman whose video I posted in this blog article has a shop (Northern Heart) where she sells beautiful prints and traditional Sami cups online. That's how she's finding a way to make her isolated location work, though her health issues pose steep challenges for her. Again, the electronic revolution has helped people with disabling conditions to find a way round poverty and marginalisation. The emptying of the farms and villages alongside the rise of electronic connection is like a snapshot of the modern world with its griefs and joys, its blessings and sorrows.
Oh, I used to drink from such cups as a child, I know just the way the wood tastes with different drinks, it doesn't taste the same all the time. When I was in school I made my own in wood shop class when I was about 11-12. It wasn't that pretty but I guess it was a functional cup. I don't still own it, it probably disappeared when we cleaned the house out after mom died. It was fun to make one and maybe I will do that again at some point but not today... Haha!
Yes, electronic solutions can help but not all work places will accept that you work 100% from home so it might still be a bit tricky to do so. My work place is as a teacher working with distance learning so I can work from home or other places but they ideally want people who work from the office in town at least part of the time. We do have some that only work from house except for a couple of conferences and such but they are a minority.
That model of work is similar to what my husband has been doing the last few years — he works from home but goes in to the office one day a week — he's found it helpful to attend meetings and keep in touch with colleagues, and working from home has maximised concentration and output. It's been good.
7 comments:
In my heart I have always wanted to live somewhere cold. I hate the heat but I have only lived in the cold for a few weeks at a time. iT is stunningly beautiful
Yes, is it not! I'm so glad she posted that video. What a lovely place. And the chickens free to wander in the lane. Makes me happy.
i'm ready to move right now!
It is very beautiful and I love frost in the trees like this, it really makes all of nature sparkle and if the sun comes out it is really one of the most beautiful things to see. That is really the best side of Swedish winter when it is like that. I am not a big fan of Swedish winter at all but seeing those frosty trees make me long for this phase of winter. Where I live we are not there yet but we have had some early snows already but it won't stay on the ground and is often gone after a couple hours. There will be plenty more of that in the months to come though.
Houses in the country side with no farmland are often very cheap in Sweden and updating it will not really be something you will get any money back from so unless you want to do it to live there yourself for the rest of your life it will not be worth it. Sadly, I might add. Even in a village like the one my MIL lives in which has a school, pizzeria, library and small convenience store there are abandoned houses because they only sell for about 200000-400000 SEK and it might be easier to just hold on to a house than to sell it if you say move into town when you get older. It also doesn't really pay to update the house beyond things that are necessary for it not to fall into disrepair. Also, the sad part is where houses are cheap there is little to offer when it comes to work and you either have to make a very long commute or be prepared to take any job available. In places where there are tons of jobs however there is often a housing shortage and prizes to buy are very high. A house below 3 million can't more or less be found in my town and that might not even get you an apartment in Stockholm while as I said, 300000 might get you a house in my MIL:s village. Our housing market is very varied and explains some why you can see empty houses here.
Greta — yep!
Elin — that's very interesting! Here in the UK, we also have this disparity of property values. I live in Hastings, which is a pocket of poverty in the county of East Sussex, which in turn is a pocket of poverty in the south east. As a consequence we have some very interesting people living in Hastings — poets and mystics, artists and people who have come from other countries; because settling here is more affordable than in the surrounding towns. We also have a community consciousness and a thriving music scene, both linked to the poverty and to some extent arising from it. In recent years the increase of electronic communication has helped us, because it's now possible to live in Hastings and work at a distance. There are plenty of writers and journalists in Hastings for that very reason — we send our work in electronically, we don't have to go in person to an office.
The woman whose video I posted in this blog article has a shop (Northern Heart) where she sells beautiful prints and traditional Sami cups online. That's how she's finding a way to make her isolated location work, though her health issues pose steep challenges for her. Again, the electronic revolution has helped people with disabling conditions to find a way round poverty and marginalisation.
The emptying of the farms and villages alongside the rise of electronic connection is like a snapshot of the modern world with its griefs and joys, its blessings and sorrows.
Oh, I used to drink from such cups as a child, I know just the way the wood tastes with different drinks, it doesn't taste the same all the time. When I was in school I made my own in wood shop class when I was about 11-12. It wasn't that pretty but I guess it was a functional cup. I don't still own it, it probably disappeared when we cleaned the house out after mom died. It was fun to make one and maybe I will do that again at some point but not today... Haha!
Yes, electronic solutions can help but not all work places will accept that you work 100% from home so it might still be a bit tricky to do so. My work place is as a teacher working with distance learning so I can work from home or other places but they ideally want people who work from the office in town at least part of the time. We do have some that only work from house except for a couple of conferences and such but they are a minority.
That model of work is similar to what my husband has been doing the last few years — he works from home but goes in to the office one day a week — he's found it helpful to attend meetings and keep in touch with colleagues, and working from home has maximised concentration and output. It's been good.
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