A better life
First, they found the charming semi-detached house, built in 1912. Then they both found jobs and their children were accepted at their new preschool. In January 2011, Ulrika Nyhammar and Arne Karlsson and their children Arvid and Liv moved from Stockholm to their new home town of Karlstad.
Text: Katarina Averås Photo: Øyvind Lund
After five years studying medicine at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Ulrika Nyhammar started looking around for a hospital where she could work as a house officer. Her partner Arne Karlsson, a civil engineer, already had a job in Stockholm.
But they thought that this would be a good time in their lives to make the necessary changes which would allow them to enjoy a quieter family life and to find jobs that wouldn't involve commuting and stress.
"The coordinators working with the house officers here in Karlstad treated me really well, much better than anywhere else," says Ulrika. "They understood that we wanted to move to Värmland and that this was our long-term plan."
"And I saw that there were a lot of interesting companies here, a good labour market for technology consultants," says Arne. "Now I work at Sweco here in Kanikenäset."
They wanted to live centrally, close to their workplaces, preschool and other services. When they saw the house, it was love at first sight.
"We'd never have been able to afford to live like this in the Stockholm region," says Arne. "It's a well maintained house in the old style."
"Moving house with the children, who are three and five now, has gone really well," continues Ulrika. "Karlstad is a fabulous town. Our lives are a lot better here."
They still feel that they manage to save time every day: Arne avoids a one-hour commute, Ulrika, two hours. Now they can get to preschool in five minutes and are at work fifteen minutes later.
