Happy Fins

FINLAND DISPATCH

It’s Cold, Dark and Lacks Parking. But Is This Finnish Town the World’s Happiest?

A choir rehearsing at the Adult Education Center in Kauniainen, Finland.CreditLena Mucha for The New York Times

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KAUNIAINEN, Finland — Jan Mattlin was having what counts as a bad day in Kauniainen.

He had driven to the town’s train station and found nowhere to park. Mildly piqued, he called the local newspaper to suggest a small article about the lack of parking spots.

To Mr. Mattlin’s surprise, the editor put the story on the front page.

“We have very few problems here,” recalled Mr. Mattlin, a partner at a private equity firm. “Maybe they didn’t have any other news available.”

Such is the charmed life in Kauniainen (pronounced: COW-nee-AY-nen), a small and wealthy Finnish town that can lay claim to being the happiest place on the planet...

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