🇳🇱 What’s it like to grow up in Amsterdam? | American Couple Reacts to Dutch culture

[@adpop750]

It's difficult to get your own place for young people in The Netherlands because there are just too few houses available. This has a number of reasons: not enough houses are build, growing population, relatively high numbers of immigrants, households getting smaller (growing number of 1 person households), demolishing old apartment buildings/flats and replacing them with luxury detached or semi-detached houses (which can house much smaller numbers of people). Also Amsterdam is THE most expensive place in The Netherlands, it's the LA of The Netherlands in terms of housing prices. In other regions you can rent or buy for a fraction of what it is in Amsterdam. In other cities you can rent something 4-5 times as big for 1/3 of the rent what that student is paying in Amsterdam.

[@dannydejongh9408]

U vergeet dat vroeger huizen gebouwd werden door de overheid. Dat moest anders. VVD, PvdA en CDA hebben de woningbouwverenigingen privaat gemaakt en marktwerking geïntroduceerd. Sindsdien is er een probleem. Marktwerking werkt namelijk altijd het best met schaarste. Dat drijft namelijk prijzen op. Hier is voor gewaarschuwd….maar niemand wilde luisteren. Alle andere redenen zijn met afstand ondergeschikt aan de oorzaak van marktwerking in de huizenbouw.

[@hunchbackaudio]

The Indonesian connection is real, there are about 1.5 to 2 million people of Indonesian or Molukkan descent or about 8% of the total population. Also a part of the Surinamese are Indonesian. So there is Indonesian food everywhere. Most famous are the brothers who founded the American rockband Vanhalen. They had a Dutch father and Indonesian mother.

[@h.rutten2187]

You see no horse carriages now but you saw them as the main means of transport on land next to the boats in the canals for centuries. Its the minimally needed infrastructure build in order to provide passage for these two forms of transport. And it was build to supply the pack houses for storage with goods from around the world and to provide space for people traveling through the city. The city got bigger and got more public spaces with parks etc. but the center is the oldest part. The first document mentioning Amsterdam was in the year 1275.

[@daribull1601]

Free Palastina

[@thedutchhuman]

Amsterdam is also EXTREME with the rental prices, if you look in my area (province of Overijssel) most houses (via housing associations so not in the private sector!) are around 700.- and then you also have a single-family home compared to a small apartment/loft in Amsterdam for 2300.- 🤯. It may be the capital and touristic, but still a LOT of money.

[@DenUitvreter]

Technically the associations are in the private sector. Government has sneakily appropriated them to do policy with but it's private property once build not for profit with a social mission with private money.

[@thedutchhuman]

@@DenUitvreter How many former rental houses of the housing cooperatives are not sold/rented for ridiculous amounts of money and certainly in the west of our country, but I understand where you are going. But one thing is certain, it is unaffordable for the average person. But I still do not understand how a child of 19 can ''just'' cough up 2300 euros for an apartment the size of a shoebox. 🤔

[@DenUitvreter]

@@thedutchhuman They were sold to tenants too, for like 150.000 in the early 2000s to then be resold for 800.000. Where I am going is that we had great private social housing and those were paid for to serve a certain statutory purposes, these purposes, like elevating the working class families, were robbed of their property by government.

[@MartindeLusenet]

I lived in Amsterdam for 10 years. I really enjoyed it. I even had the plan to buy a house in Amsterdam. But because of the ridiculous housing prices it was not an option. My children also had to leave Amsterdam because of this. Rents sky-rocketed and buying a house was impossible. I visit Amsterdam every week. I'm now at an age I don't miss living there. Amsterdam people are loud mouthed and the city center is the domain of the tourists and overcrowded. . And remember: Amsterdam is not the same as the Netherlands ! Only 5% of the Dutch population is living in Amsterdam. So Amsterdam is not the standard.

[@Whistler4u]

"I didn't see no horse carriages" He said "The streets were built for it" We don't use them anymore for a long time.

[@r.m.97]

I would never choose to live in Amsterdam (or any other big city), i'm quite happy in small town Landgraaf (province of Limburg) with very low crime rates, very low real estate prices, cleaner air, free parking and we got everything you need: medical centre, schools, several supermarkets, gas stations, plenty bus stops, railway station, restaurants, bars, snack bars, etc. Our longest traffic jam in rush hour is probably less than 100 meters😅. What's not to like?😊

[@gerbentvandeveen]

I, gro uo in a small city? Part of Bunschoten-Spakenburg. Bunschoten, is a frames town, Spakenburg is a fishing town. And I was born in Eemdijk! A Frames Frames town. Noow, it's 1 city. And Eemdijk is now the GOLD COAST! houses whit land! And a river in the back yard. Whit a private hauber for 2 ore 3 boats. I'ts not Holland! I'ts what the Netherlands in totale is. I work at a Prefab concreet factory. Making balkons and galerie 's walls. For appartements in Amsterdam! 50m2 €500,000,- and then the bigger appartements are 1.2 miljoen euro. This are new bild prices. Now? 2014, in Amsterdam-Zuid. 28 m2 was €250.000,- and Top appartements €1.2- €2.7 miljoen. 197 appartements. 2 day's! A new bild. 95%was going in in 3 ours. Greetings from Bunschoten-Spakenburg, Eemdijk and Zevenhuizen. The Netherlands.

[@TheDemouchetsREACT]

Thanks for sharing. We would love to see more of what The Netherlands have to offer.

[@jurgenkersjes2150]

Amsterdam is expensive. Like living in Manhattan - New York. It is not a culture thing. It is a choice to stay or leave to less expensive places.

[@michalovesanime]

3:12 its not the norm, 18-19 used to be the age that kids moved out on their own, into student housing for example. So this is not a cultural norm but a necessity

[@gerbentvandeveen]

Bedankt

[@TheDemouchetsREACT]

You’re welcome!

[@jasper46985]

2 words: Housing.. Crisis 😅

[@omervandenbelt]

The sex workers, as they are called here, are a normal profession and they also pay taxes.

[@gerbentvandeveen]

His parents, are loaded. Normal people can't pay that! I hat jobs from I was 11.

[@anouk6644]

Or, when they have lived there for a few decades, the rent can still be quite reasonable.

[@1336mg]

It seems there is no father around. She tells when she got pregnant she already lived there and she stayed there. Propably more than 20 years ago. When houses still were afordable.

[@bertkassing8541]

Please don't think that the life in Amsterdam of such a guy is a model for life outside Amsterdam. We live just outside Amsterdam and I can guarantee you that our life is different. Probably our way of life (except for the frequent cycling) is much closer to yours.

[@kvas101]

This poor guy unfortunately dont live in germany, so no fresh crispy Brötchen at breakfast ☝️ He can choose between (untoasted!!) white bread with something or Frikandel Am I right, neighbours?? 😁 Im joking, we love you guys in the west ✌️

[@KeesBoons]

He has a bit more to choose from, but you're not wrong. Although frikandel for breakfast :o(? All the best from the West.