Gimo

Gimo is the second largest built-up area in Östhammar municipality, in Roslagen in Uppland, with a little over 2,800 inhabitants. The town lies a couple of tens of kilometres from the coast and about fifty kilometres north-east of Uppsala. The big employer is the Sandvik Coromant factory, one of the world's largest for cemented carbide inserts, and industry lies a couple of minutes' walk from most houses.

Everyday life is close. Most people live side by side with a main road and the forest is across the road. It is walking distance but not close to grocery store and school. There are two grocery stores, ICA Supermarket and City livs, a shopping centre, two bakeries, a handful of restaurants, a pharmacy, a health centre and a library. There are a handful of schools and two preschools, and plenty of playgrounds and parks. Gimo damm and the nearest bathing spot are within walking distance but not close.

The downside is the distances. The nearest railway station is several tens of kilometres away, so a car is needed, and a power line runs near the housing. About thirty registered soil contaminations are in the town, the nearest a few minutes' walk from the middle.

To the municipality's main town it takes about a quarter of an hour by car, and to Alunda a little over ten kilometres. Stockholm is nearly two hours away. The area around the town has both families with children and pensioners, about a quarter at each end. Gimo has the municipality's highest share of households with a tight economy.

Gimo suits someone who works in industry or wants a town with broad everyday services for its size. Anyone who wants to commute by train or live near the sea will have to look further.