The Street Where We Live

The greenest city in Europe, Växjö, is where we live. As we develop a better sense of place here, I thought it would be nice to share a bit about where we are. Växjö is a medium sized city that is in the heart of southern Sweden. The original meaning of the name Växjö is "the place by the lakes where the roads meet." And the meeting of roads results in the meetings between people. Farmers use to meet near Växjö in the winters, crossing the frozen lakes, for the market that later became the city. These days there are many different people coming to Växjö for many different reason.  The city has a young population that is growing quickly and progressively. It has been named the greenest city in Europe because the city has made a lot of progress in taking positive environmental action. The biggest accomplishment has been to reduce carbon emissions 35% since 1993 and the city's next goal is to reduce emissions 70% by 2025. A few positive environmental steps that are being done that stick out to me are collecting household compost to make bio-fuel for the city buses (which are highly used), a newly developed neighborhood with wood houses that are energy efficient, solar panels on schools and a huge bike riding community. So far, it has been a nice city to live in, with a lot of options to reduce our carbon footprint!

One of the many bus hubs to park your bike in the city.

At many bus stops you see bikes that people have ridden to get to the bus and leave there until they return again.

There is a high amount of recreation and many biking/walking paths. The paths are all marked very well just like they would be for cars so people know where to go. We see people of all ages out during the winter walking, biking or running. This is a photo of two women running their babies in strollers, in the winter. Today, while downhill skiing I saw a woman (also skiing) while wearing a baby on her back and guiding her ~5 year old son!

Yet another bike parking lot downtown. Sun or snow, people ride bike!

We live on a street called Mjölnarvägen which translates to Miller Road. We live at the edge of the neighborhood called Öjaby and it is on the biggest lake in the city. The Lake is called Helgasjön and it is 50 square km and has many small islands on it. On one of the islands is the Kronoberg Castle ruin that is connected to the mainland by a bridge. We live right on a small southern part of the lake where it flows into a few different streams. It is the only open water on the lake all winter so there are many birds near our cottage. Mostly we see Gräsand (Mallards) but there are many little birds and talk of a few eagles around (although we have yet to see them). We like to go out and feed the ducks every few days. The first day we arrived, we were walking around the property and got stampeded by the ducks, we did not have any food then or know that people fed the ducks so it was a surprise. We have grown to really like our fellow duck neighbors. 

This is the corner of our street. The house behind is part of the family we are renting the cottage from.

Jasper hanging out with a few of our duck friends by our cottage.

Öjaby is a very old neighborhood in Växjö and has many older and younger people living in it. There are also very old houses and new developments popping up as we are here. As you walk around you can see old run-down buildings that were old lumberyard buildings and an old grain factory. They are often built directly on the canal system so they could be stocked and unloaded easily. You can also see a lot of historic log cottages like our own. Our cottage was our neighbor's great great grandfather's, that was given to him when he was in the military. They would supply the men with homes so they could provide for their family. This property has been in their family for many generations and now we are living here! However, the cottage has been moved on the property (about 20 ft) and updated on the inside. The outside of the cottage can not be changed at all because it is so old and the city wants to protect the historic look of certain old buildings. So it looks the same on the outside as it always has! It is a very nice cottage and neighborhood.

Old Grain Factory in our neighborhood.

Jasper and I explored all around the area.

When we first moved to Växjö, we were really interested in the city because of the progression of positive environmental actions they have taken. However, it is very interesting to learn about where the city began. It is like being in two times at once, learning about the past and also looking towards the future. 

The Domkyran, the cathedral in Växjö's center. The original building was very old but has had many renovations because of various disasters including multiple fires in the 16th century and a lightning strike. The latest renovation was in 1995

The building is very distinctive with its unusual twin green towers in the front. There is a pleasant, large park and playground, called Linné park, next to the cathedral. You can see the historic row houses to the left.

This is the contemporary church alter designed by one of the best known glass designers in Sweden named Bertil Vallien.

The cathedral has very nice acoustics.

We had the delight of listening to a man play a few song on this baby grand piano while we were there!

Meanwhile, we are still trying to learn about the culture and find interesting things to do during our present day adventures. These mainly consist of exploring the outdoors, playing with the neighbor boys, local art museums, and walking through historic places.

Downtown Växjö.

Jasper learning how to count Swedish kronor coins.