The Old Vaasa grid-plan district borders Torikatu, Rauniopuisto, Kadonneet puutarhat, Kustaan tori, Hovioikeudenpuistikko, Vallit and Puutarhakatu. The grid-plan district is a peaceful residential area where large-grown plants create a park-like and pleasant atmosphere. Kauppiaankatu divides the area into two parts, each with a slightly different character. The eastern area, or eastern district, consists almost entirely of two-storey detached houses built in the 20th century with their gardens, whereas the western area, or western district, is given a different feel by small apartment buildings that line the detached houses. In the western district, along Kauppiaankatu, there is also the Wasastjernan house that survived the fire and today serves as the Old Vaasa Museum.
Old Vaasa began to be built following the 1654 town plan, gradually transforming from a structure that imitated a small village into a grid-planned urban environment. The whole of Old Vaasa was therefore originally a densely built grid-plan area. Old Vaasa was almost entirely destroyed in the fire of 1852. The current residential area, which still follows the pre-fire grid plan, was not rebuilt until the 1920s. In the 1930s the streets of the residential area began to be renovated and construction began to be more closely supervised. Construction started in the Eastern district and the western district was built only in the 1940s–50s. The residential area contains some remnants such as old cellars, foundations and stone walls, and some old vegetation has been preserved; the gardens in the residential areas mainly use traditional plants.
The Old Vaasa grid-plan district is a charming outdoor environment year-round. The atmosphere is mainly created by buildings constructed in the early 20th century and by old trees and shrubs, some of which reach over the narrow streets that run through the residential area. The streets and the plots between them, with their buildings and vegetation, form corridor-like spaces along the streets. Here and there the trees form tunnels and elsewhere slightly more open spaces appear where the street-side vegetation is low. Greenery dominates the entire grid-plan area. To experience the area’s greenery, the best season to visit the residential area is, of course, summer.