“Why would I leave?”

A twelve-week-old Maltipoo puppy named Wiggo bounds toward the visitor, his fluffy tail held high and tiny baby teeth ready to grab a passing thumb.

The newest member of the four-person family moved into his new home just a few days ago, but he already romps with the family’s boys, 8-year-old Leevi and 3-year-old Luka, like an old friend.

“Everything has gone really well from the very first day,” says the boys’ mother, Anniina Salo.

After a moment of observation, Lilli the cat also makes an appearance. The boys’ father, Joni Salmela, is still at work.

Anniina takes a seat at the large kitchen table in a house she knows inside and out. She once stepped through this very same door on her way to school for the first time. She played here, grew up here, and became an adult in these rooms.

She never intended to stay in her childhood home. Of course not.

“At 18, I was so determined to move to a big city—Helsinki, Turku, or Tampere,” she says, laughing. “But here I am.”

After graduating from vocational school, Anniina was accepted to a university of applied sciences in Rauma. She began her studies while still living in Uusikaupunki, as the distance wasn’t too great.

Just when the idea of renting a place in Rauma started to feel right, life threw her a curveball: Anniina’s brother fell seriously ill.

“Henri’s illness really anchored me to Uusikaupunki. He was sick for just eleven months before he passed away. After that, I just felt—why would I leave?” Anniina recalls.

Anniina and Joni were already living together in the Salmi district when Anniina’s parents decided to sell the family home. Her grandparents had lived in the other half of the house since her childhood.

“I told them not to sell it to anyone else—I wanted to buy it. And that’s exactly how it went,” Anniina explains.

Her grandparents have now had front-row seats to the next generation of family life. It’s meant the world to them to watch the children grow and develop up close.

“They’re so dear to us, and they’ve become incredibly close with the kids,” says Anniina.

“Great-grandma and Luka are an inseparable duo.”

For a moment, Anniina did wonder if the house held too many memories. But everyday life has proven that the familiar walls mostly whisper beautiful moments from the past.

And the family has no plans to move anytime soon, even though they’ve occasionally talked about building a home. Their current location sums up everything great about living in Uusikaupunki: close services and easy everyday life.

Their home, nestled near the red-brick New Church, is literally a stone’s throw from almost everything: 50 meters to Luka’s daycare, about 200 to Leevi’s brand-new school, Wintteri. The town square and hobbies are just a couple of minutes’ walk away.

In Uusikaupunki, proximity to services isn’t just a marketing slogan—it’s reality.

“One evening I rushed from our yard to the pharmacy at 7:57 PM, thinking I might not make it. But at 7:59, I was there hitting the number dispenser,” Anniina laughs.

Anniina never tires of praising the town’s recreational opportunities. Leevi is an enthusiastic participant in ice hockey, soccer, and floorball. And this summer, Luka will be joining his first football club.

“If only more people realized how great the sports opportunities are here. And how affordable!”

If the planned passenger rail service were to return, Uusikaupunki would be just about the perfect place to live.

“The train would serve not just locals but also commuters—many of my colleagues come from Turku, for instance. I really believe functional rail service would raise the town’s value,” Anniina reflects. “It would be an investment in the future.”