Change your life – our lifestyle defined in four points
Therefore, we have chosen to define the simple life in four points that we think distinguish our way of life.
1. Choose your dream home and create balance in life
In Skellefteå Municipality, approximately half of the 72,000 inhabitants live in the city center and the rest out in the smaller communities and villages. The city is called the 10-minute city, as you can reach everything you need within 10 minutes. Everything from ski tracks and arenas to museums and swimming pools. Restaurants and recreation areas. Yes even a slalom slope.
As a recent returnee put it:
- Although the range was greater in Stockholm, we and the children do much more in Skellefteå as the distances are shorter and it's less crowded.
But not everyone wants to live in an urban environment. Many choose the countryside because other values. To live with nature and reduce the number of stress factors in life. You both opt out and opt in. Opting out of the city's pulse and hum and opting for views of sea and land. Opting out of malls and opting for wildlife and night skies.
Regardless of the choice between city and countryside, the price picture in Skellefteå is better than in the metropolitan regions, which means that more people can find their real dream home and create balance in the life they want to live.
2. A city with green growth and faith in the future
Skellefteå is the city in Sweden where there is the most investment per capita. Here there is a strong belief in the future and we-spirit. The establishment of Europe's largest battery factory Northvolt, which will produce the world's greenest batteries with power from e.g. Skellefte river, creates thousands of job opportunities and pride in the locality. A kind of pleasant northern pride that doesn't really need to be pronounced.
It's rather Skellefteå's employers who worry about the availability of labor than the other way around. You can call it a luxury problem, but the fact is that Northvolt alone believes it needs to employ at least 3,000 people and, together with other new establishments, the municipality expects a growth of 7,000 jobs.
In the middle of the wooden city's core rises Sara cultural center and The Wood Hotel built entirely from locally produced wood. An 80 meter high landmark that dares to take its place and that has caused media from all over the world to turn their eyes towards Skellefteå. From the Vana Spa on the 20th floor, you can see the forest that the house is built from, as well as the river that heats and cools the building. The house that actually binds carbon dioxide is, surprisingly, climate positive. It's easy to believe in a better and greener future in a changing Skellefteå.
3. Free up time for experiences and activities
There are only 24 hours in a day, no matter where you live in the world. However, how you manage those hours looks very different. Many people who move to Skellefteå from bigger cities do so for the simple reason that they want to free up more of those hours for what they love. Time together with family and friends. Time for sports and outdoor life. Time for recovery and recreation. Less time in traffic queues and for putting together the everyday puzzle. It's like the puzzle has fewer pieces and the environment demands less from us who live here.
Since Skellefteå's wide range of experiences and activities is also easily accessible and you don't have to crowd, it's as if the hours of the day last longer. In the middle of the city is the recreation area Vitberget. Here, during the winter, there are several miles of ski tracks and a slalom slope, and during the summer, hiking trails and a nice outdoor pool at Skellefteå Camping. In addition, one of Scandinavia's most complete bike parks.
Skellefteå is a coastal town and there are many nice guest harbors to dock at. Many pleasant harbor cafes to visit during the summer. Hundreds of islands and beaches where you can dock with your boat or kayak to enjoy the midnight light without the crowds.
The countryside is also thriving with enterprising entrepreneurs and creatives who run farm shops, dog sled companies and accommodation facilities. Here there are slalom slopes and fine fishing waters. It's lucky that we have a little extra time to experience everything the place has to offer.
4. Local and sustainable taste experiences
Two of the city's top chefs are originally from Iceland. When they wanted to establish a new restaurant, they looked at Paris, Stockholm, Oslo and the Loire Valley as possible locations. They instead chose Skellefteå as the supply of the ingredients they love was available in our region. The grouse and the moose. The reindeer, the char and the roe. Chanterelles and dogwood. And the cheeses of course, from Burträsk, Svedjan and Kalvträsk. They now run the restaurant Bryggargatan right on the shore of the Skellefteälven.
But here the range is also available for those who want to shop locally and sustainably on a daily basis. During a number of markets, both winter and summer, local producers gather and offer their sausages, cuts, vegetables, mushrooms and berries. It is even possible to order your favorite products weekly and pick them up in one and the same place thanks to the grass roots that run the local store. It should be easy to choose local and sustainable.
