Born and raised in Karakallio – a bond that never breaks
Childhood friends Sylvester Kainulainen and Otto Vuolle still spend time with a group of about twenty who grew up together in Karakallio, a district known affectionately as “Kartsi”.
Sylvester Kainulainen, 34, has lived in Karakallio his whole life. Otto Vuolle, 33, spent a few years elsewhere in Espoo, but moved back to his old stomping ground seven years ago.
“We have a large group of friends, almost 20 guys, that has kept in contact since primary and lower secondary school,” Kainulainen says.
Most of the boys were on the FC Kasiysi football team and, in winter, they’d get together for casual outdoor hockey games.
“We still do it. We were out there on the ice this past winter, too.”
“Growing up in the 1990s, we didn’t have smartphones. We’d meet up outside and play sports together. That made us a close-knit group,” Vuolle explains.
Most of the group still live in Karakallio, and those who don’t are just a five-minute drive away. Nowadays, their shared interests also include darts, board games, spectator sports and, in summer, the Finnish throwing game mölkky.
“When the old shopping centre was torn down, we lost our favourite meeting spot, Restaurant Karkelo, which had a pool table and a dartboard. These days, we have to take our darts and go to Viherlaakso,” Vuolle says with a laugh.
New housing was built at the site of the old shopping centre, and construction in general has been quite active in recent years.
“The landscape has changed radically over a short period of time. New buildings have gone up, trees have been felled and the rocky outcrops that held so many of our childhood memories have been blasted away. Services were meant to improve as the population grows, but we are still waiting for those promises to be kept,” Kainulainen muses.
His enthusiasm for the game of mölkky is a big reason why the group of friends became active members of the local residents’ association, Karakallio-seura.
“The association had mölkky as one of its activities, and I was involved in it. When a few active members moved elsewhere, the chairperson asked me if I’d be interested in joining the board. I jumped at the chance to do something for the neighbourhood I love so much,” Kainulainen says.
The following year, he persuaded Vuolle to join the board as well. They have now been the youngest members of the board for a couple of years, participating in activities such as organising events.
“We are the association’s jacks-of-all-trades — we step up when there’s a job to be done,” Vuolle adds
Karakallio
- A district in eastern Espoo, along Turuntie
- Part of the Greater Leppävaara area
- Swedish name: Karabacka
- Population at the end of 2024: 5,863
Text: Katariina Krabbe.
This article was originally published in the Espoo-lehti magazine 1/2026. Read other Espoo-lehti articles.