Helsinki in Nov 2014....many questions

It's a small city so almost anywhere will be pretty convenient to the center. The main sites are focused around the harbor, north and northwest from there around the train station. Staying anywhere in those areas will be perfect.

One really nice Art Nouveau neighborhood is Katajanokka, which is an island just east of the harbor. The Russian church is there and the streets are residential with fabulous architecture.

The area just southwest of the harbor, Kaartinkaupunki, is also pretty nice and close to everything.

I guess what we really want is a feel of the people and also stay in a neighborhood with local restaurants, etc.

My view of Finland was only a small snap shot a number of years ago and one of two counties. The first being a few days in Helsinki, a modern first world urban center with a history. The second was rural Finland north of the arctic circle. You may want to split your time between Helsinki and some smaller towns. Try the Lonely Planet guide book.

And you must try a sauna.

Thank you both. Plan to pick up a guidebook soon. Did book an apartment near the train station and it has a sauna. Also looking into a tour or just travel on our own out of the city for a day. Temps cool here in northern MN today. Finnish husband has sauna heated up and soon he'll be cooling off in the lake.

As others have said, Helsinki is pretty compact. You can stay pretty much anywhere in city center.
I am not sure of your budget and I have not stayed there but I heard great things about : http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g189934-d232148-Reviews-s1-Solo_Sokos_Hotel_Torni-Helsinki_Southern_Finland.html
The view at the top is great!
I hope you are not a vegetarian...because you should try to eat some reindeer. Many restaurants will have it. Or you get get a really yummy plate at the market near the harbour. I enjoyed their National museum as well. Turku is a nice day trip if ever you decide to take one.
Enjoy Helsinki and do try a sauna!

Some web resources:

Finland's travel bureau website: http://www.visitfinland.com/

Article on the King's Road: http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/border-crossing-april-2005

The topic of food is interesting. Alcohol is expensive. Breakfasts at hotels/hostels are robust. Good Finnish food at restaurants could be a problem finding because if Finns wants to eat good Finnish food they just eat at home. Our Finnish guide (a minority Swedish speaking Finn) in responding to our question about his favorite restaurant in Helsinki, liked the Santa Fe Bar & Grill. That said, we had an amazing Easter buffet the Monday after Easter at a Russian (Bellevue?) restaurant near the Uspeski Cathedral. We did experience an interesting Finnish traditional Easter pudding, Mämmi. Our guide told us a funny story about relief workers sending post-war relief to Finland seeing Finns eating Mämmi. http://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A908912 (I enjoyed the Mämmi experience, but then again I enjoy anything sweet.)

Russian food brings to mind the historic and current Russian influence on Finland. Your husband probably knows about the heroic Finnish stand against overwhelming Russian forces during the Winter War and the subsequent consequences to Finland. During our visit a few years ago we saw a lot of apparently well to do Russian tourist wandering around Helsinki with rather expensive looking fur coats. (And again, the north has a lot of stories about less well dressed Russian ladies touring the country in busses).

I'm going to be somewhat contrarian... Helsinki is actually a fairly large city. But most of it consists of mid-century apartment blocks and industrial zones. The core of the 19th century city (the part that most visitors come to see), though, is fairly small. The immediate suburbs are rather modern.

If you want to get a taste of old Finland, you can consider a daytrip to Porvoo. Most of the town is modern, but it has a few blocks of preserved mostly wooden buildings from the 18th century. It'll take you longer to get there than it will to see the town, though.

Like Sweden and Norway, Finland has a very low population density. Once you get outside Helsinki and it's suburbs, the countryside between the towns is mostly forest, farms and very small hamlets of only a few houses.