A Small Northern Town

A short overview of our town in northern Sweden. I’ll try to improve this article over time.

In summary our town is about one thousand people which is large enough to have some facilities but small enough the the residents know of the major happenings in the town and can support each other.

Landscape

The landscape around the town is of small hills on all sides, to about 200-220m height, with a sea inlet between the hills. The inlet allows for a harbour, a seasonal ferry service to neighbouring islands and towns on the coast, and a large sawmill service that originally would have transported goods by sea, although now everything comes in via the main road that I have seen. An important main road cuts through the middle of the town, connecting the north and south of the country.

Tourism

A well known tourist walking trail called the highcoast trail comes through town and the nearby hills so there are tourists. A national park lies a 15 minute drive to the north.

Most tourists come during the summertime, but also for specific events such as the rally events in Umeå. A summertime ferry service takes people to a nearby island and stops at other towns on the coast.

Other Towns

The other villages/small towns nearby about about 10km, so there is a clear edge to our town, and then small villages or outlying farmhouses. This is compared to towns I’ve lived in the UK where the towns are pressed up against each other such that its really only a postcode change.

Three much larger towns are all about 40km away in three directions.

The nearest cities are 2 hours drive north or south, although the drives are a lot less effort than a similar-times distance in the UK. It’s one long straight road which alternates between single and dual lanes on either side, with relatively light traffic.

Crime

There is not much crime and when it does happen it is big news. Some diesel thefts were happening from the lorries at the local transport depo but the car involved was recognised and the exact person known. A couple of months later it had stopped. I’ve not heard of anyone having their house burgled. I’ve heard of one bike being stolen.

Services and Facilities

Because the town sits on a major road heading north to South through Sweden, it has some facilities that are greater than the town size would normally support. Specifically the town has a small hospital, and the ambulances for the area wait in a building next to the main road.

There is a fire and rescue service building with roughly 2-4 vehicles and volunteer crews. For an individual to be part of the rescue volunteers is a respected sign although the service supplements a paid-rescue service in the larger town approximately 35km away.

The town supports a supermarket, a hardware shop, a paint and outdoor goods shop, hotels/restaurants, petrol stations, hairdressers, a nail salon, a car repair garage, a tyre change business, metal fabrication companies, a delivery depo, and a small factory. There’s many smaller non-premises business such as plumbers, electricians, cleaning, forestry services and similar.

As you might imagine for a snowly location, there is a lot of snow clearing machinery present which is also useful year round for heavy lifting., moving and similar for local industry.

Forestry

The local forests are all managed for forestry, usually by a forest management company on the landowners behalf. A typical investment can be to buy a some forest land and then subcontract the management as a long term investment.

Up on the hills in among the forests are also some quarry services, which provides material for building materials, industry, and road construction.

The forests have large paths cut through them for the main powergrid electricity pylons. Helicopters from the power grid come around in the summertime, as a spotter to check the power lines condition and clearance to local trees. Sometimes they come by with a large saw attachment underneath and cut back trees near the power line.

Leisure

The local hills make for great cycleable and walkable spots from the town, but it can sometimes be hard to make a loop as many of the smaller routes are for forestry access, or might not be mechanically cleared of snow in the winter.

The town has a series of snowmobile routes through it, one of which comes right by our house. I like seeing the snowmobiles and think they are exciting. In general all winter sports you can think of are represented locally or within a easy 40km drive.

Occasionally light aircraft take off or land from the fields nearby, either in the summer or during the winter – the later with skis attached.

The town has a sportsground and a smaller indoor school hall that is rentable. In the winter there is indoor nordic floorball (Innebandy) on Sunday evenings.

During the summertime there are many lakes to swim in, and fishing is popular. There is a good lake, walkable within 1km, however the quietest lakes are slightly inland, a little away from the tourist route.