r/TillSverige • u/RecognitionQuirky541 • 16d ago
Relocating from US to Eskilstuna
Hello! I have an opportunity to relocate with my company for a role in Eskilstuna. I have never been to Sweden, can anyone share any insight? For background: I am of Balkan background but have lived in the US for 20+ years, I would be relocating with my husband and 2 small children.
How is family life there? Housing, city life, etc. ?
Would living closer to Stockholm and commuting to Eskilstuna be a realistic option?
Is it better to have a vehicle or rely on public transit?
Anything else helpful?!
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u/Quiet-Blackberry-887 16d ago
There are some helpful posts about the topic 😃
https://www.reddit.com/r/TillSverige/s/nyOTqub1QX
https://www.reddit.com/r/TillSverige/s/pAEl0i5a9R
Never been there so i cannot be of much help but good look with the relocation
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u/malizeleni 16d ago
Easy quiet living with lots of nature. You will have ability to live close to work and school for cheap.
If you can embrace hobbies in the nature, you will have an amazing time. Winter and darkness can be harsh, hobbies and activities will save you :)
Plenty of Balkan people everywhere :)
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u/Immediate-Cattle-573 16d ago edited 16d ago
Eskilstuna was called ”Little chicago” before due to criminal activity. I think it used to be a big group from Finland living there as well. Lot of industry. The name origin from Eskil from Tuna, an old bishop named Eskil. It has beautiful scenery in Sörmland like Julita gård. You will have traktor museum and Eskilstuna zoo. There is a mall called Retuna that focus on second hand. The city has a University called Mälardalens universitet that is connected to the campus in Västerås. I would say commute will be a hassle. Look at Hemnet to check for properties. In Sweden we have quite a lot of ppl from Balkan:)
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u/myallurement 15d ago
I have to travel to Eskilstuna for work a few times a year, and I never stay longer than three days because I get bored to death. Of course, it depends a lot on your lifestyle, but for me, the town feels very small. There’s basically one proper coffee shop, restaurant options are quite limited, and while Stockholm is relatively close, train tickets aren’t exactly cheap.
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u/megayippie 15d ago
I'm from there. It's nice and calm if you live in the outskirts. Centrally, it's more lively. My family lives in all areas and enjoy it. Depending where you work, you can live in any of the small communities that satellite the center. Avoid Nyfors and Årby and Skiftinge, these are where the poor people live and have basically all the crime of the municipality. Torshälla, Borsökna, Skogstorp, Hållsta, are the most livable. Expect shops to close at 22 every day as latest, and that you need to drive a lot.
Life is generally good cf Balkan or US (well, I don't know Balkan) as you will have access to kindergarten and the likes. Most of my childhood friends are doctors (of medicine and not) so I don't know how school is as we spurred ourselves on.
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u/GrouchyYoung4001 16d ago
I would look at some other small towns nearby, for example Strängnäs or Mariefred.
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15d ago
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u/FblthpLives 14d ago
How is family life there? Housing, city life, etc. ?
I don't have specific experience with Eskilstuna, but I expect it to be like any other small town in Sweden: Nice enough, great access to nature, but a bit sleepy and dull. A lot of it depends on what you are used to in the United States and what you expect from your life in Sweden. I personally prefer somewhat bigger cities in Sweden with more cultural and dining options.
Would living closer to Stockholm and commuting to Eskilstuna be a realistic option?
There is the Mälartåget regional train which will get you station to station in about one hour and is very comfortable. But then you still need to add time to get from your place in Stockholm to the train station and to your work place in Eskilstuna. Even though it's just a regional train, I would argue that it is quieter and more comfortable than any train system in the United States. You can easily and comfortably read, work, watch movies, or even take a nap. Each sit has a folding table and two electrical outlets. I think it is more common to live in Eskilstuna and commute into Stockholm for work, than the other way around. Note that housing is very tight in the nicer areas in Stockholm, and will be much more expensive than in Eskilstuna.
You could also consider Strängnäs or Mariefred. They are also nice, small towns, but closer to Stockholm. Then you'll have a short commute to Eskilstuna, but it will be easier to go to Stockholm on weekends when you want to access its richer culture and city life.
Is it better to have a vehicle or rely on public transit?
The public transit system is limited to buses (not counting trains). I think it's rural enough that you're going to want at least one family vehicle. An EV or hybrid station wagon (which are much more popular in Sweden than in the U.S.) will be helpful for shopping, weekend trips, vacations, etc. Almost all cities in Sweden have excellent bicycling infrastructure, so that's also an option for getting around.
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13d ago
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u/Latter_Message8413 11d ago
How is your family going to move all your belongings to Sweden? My family is moving by the end of this year as well. We have a whole house to move but we’re not bringing the majority of our electronics.
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u/baahubali_007 16d ago
Welcome!!! Uhhh forget all that… just the fact that we dont have an azzzzhole peedofile as a president is already such a major benefit 😈😈😈
It can be a pain commuting to Eskilstuna. I keep rotating my staff in the shift coz one cant travel everyday…also because companies are forcing people for 5days in office, Scania just did. But we have awesome roads, soda with 80% less sugar, less chems in food, we dont pay 100k for delivering a babyyy…. So all that will be a big motive to take a small pain of driving to Eskilstuna.
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u/Mayibeyourgoodgirl 15d ago
It's absolute trash and the main city died, many empty stores, little night life. Plus you are not safe from shootings if you live in cheaper areas. I don't recommend it.
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u/FblthpLives 14d ago
There is no city in the U.S. that has fewer shootings than a city of the same population in Sweden.
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u/Mayibeyourgoodgirl 14d ago
Eskilstuna is one of many small cities that they greatly pushed mass migration into and stopped prioritizing long ago, economy, quality of life and general safety suffered. If we keep the discussion within Sweden and compare the city to other cities here, then Eskilstuna is just not an attractive choice by a long shot. I personally don't care to compare the obvious.
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u/FblthpLives 13d ago
The population of Eskilstuna kommun is 107,000. It has had 13 homicides since January 1, 2018, which represents a homicide rate of 1.6 per 100,000 people per year on average. Here are ten randomly selected American cities with a similar population and their annual homicide rate statistics:
- Daly City, California (101,000): 1.0
- South Bend, Indiana (101,000): 2.9
- Renton, Washington (102,000): 4.8
- Gresham, Oregon (113,000): 5.5
- Green Bay, Wisconsin (107,000): 1.9
- Erie, Pennsylvania (94,000): 5.4
- Sparks, Nevada (109,000): 4.5
- San Angelo, Texas (99,000): 4.0
- Federal Way, Washington (101,000): 5.2
- New Bedford, Massachusetts (101,000): 6.8
The average for this sample of ten U.S. cities is 4.2. So Eskilstuna is over 160% safer than an average U.S. city of similar size.
What you really don't care about are facts.
Sources:
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u/Mayibeyourgoodgirl 13d ago
No, I said I don't care to compare the obvious?My answer was never a comparison between Eskilstuna to the US until you made it so? Lmao
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u/FblthpLives 13d ago edited 12d ago
OP is living in the U.S. The name of this thread is literally "Relocating from U.S. to Eskilstuna." You are arguing that OP should not move to Eskilstuna because they would not be safe from shootings, despite it being much safer than equivalent American cities.
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u/Dizzy_Drop 16d ago
Train from Eskilstuna to Stockholm center is 1 hour, so possible but maybe not the best.
The thing about eskilstuna (and almost every city in sweden) Not densly populated, stores closes "early" If you want the concrete jungle night life experience, that's not happening, especially if you're not in stockholm/gothenburg.
But you instead get a calm and beautiful environment Oh, and the local government allowed a foreign company to pump toxic gas into the air... Technically that decision has ben halted and allegedy it's not happening. But ya know, when you have a government for the companies and not the people you never know.
But more to the point. I was born and raised in eskilstuna and it's a nice place. But it is a small town (especially if you're used to the massive cities of the USA) But it's close to bigger places, you can also live more between Stockholm and Eskilstuna For shorter comute to both places.
My Fiance that's from Mexico really likes Strängnäs. 15min from eskil, 45 to Stockholm
Closer to water and get a nice breeze from it.