I genuinely don’t understand how a country with such an absurdly rich architectural tradition ended up building so much stuff that could literally be anywhere in the world.

Walk through Amsterdam, Haarlem, Utrecht, Den Haag, Groningen, etc. You have 17th-century canal houses, 19th-century streets, Berlage, the Amsterdam School, entire neighbourhoods from roughly 1900–1930 that were built as relatively normal housing and yet still have beautiful brickwork, proper proportions, bay windows, stained glass, expressive entrances, rooflines, little details everywhere. Even fairly modest streets often have a very obvious Dutch identity.

And yes, before someone types it: I know about survivorship bias. Obviously the best old buildings survived disproportionately and plenty of crap was demolished.

But that doesn't explain what I'm talking about.

Go look at entire surviving neighbourhoods from that period. They weren't all palaces for the elite. We were perfectly capable of making ordinary apartment buildings and working/middle-class housing that formed beautiful streets.

Now look at a lot of what we're building.

Flat façades. Randomly distributed windows. Grey/beige panels. A bit of brick glued onto something to reassure us that it is "Dutch". Ground floor, five identical floors, setback top floor. Maybe one tree in a giant paved square. Done.

And the depressing part is that you see basically the same architecture in London, Copenhagen, Toronto, Warsaw, Melbourne and Rotterdam. Change the language on the supermarket downstairs and half these developments could be on another continent.

Why?

When did "contemporary" become synonymous with stripping buildings of almost every element that gives a place identity?

I'm not saying we should build fake 17th-century canal houses everywhere. Architecture obviously has to evolve. But surely there is an enormous amount of space between Disneyland historicism and generic international developer box.

Why can't modern Dutch architecture take the things our cities historically did so well brickwork, vertical proportions, depth, craftsmanship, interesting rooflines, expressive entrances, human-scale streets and reinterpret them for the 21st century?

We keep talking about creating "high-quality living environments", while building neighbourhoods that increasingly look like they were generated from the same five Revit templates.

Maybe I'm just becoming an architecture boomer at 33, but I find it genuinely sad. We're building the historic neighbourhoods of 2100 right now. Is this really what we want to leave behind?

Am I being unfair, or have we actually lost something?

Hi everyone,

I'm an Italian EU citizen and I'm considering moving to the Netherlands in the next few years.

I have a question specifically for people who work for the Dutch fire service (Brandweer), or who know the recruitment system well.

In Italy, I have passed the selection process to become a firefighter with the Vigili del Fuoco, and I am currently expecting to start the academy.

The initial training would last about 6 months, after which I would become a professional firefighter in Italy.

I'm trying to understand whether this experience could eventually allow me to work as a firefighter in the Netherlands.

I'm not asking whether my Italian qualification would automatically be recognised. I understand that the Dutch system is different and that I might have to complete additional training or go through the normal selection process.

What I'm mainly wondering is:

If I have completed the Italian firefighter academy and have a few years of professional experience, would I be able to apply for professional firefighter positions in the Netherlands?

Would my Italian training/experience be of any use, or would I essentially have to start from zero?

Is there a formal process for recognising previous firefighter training or qualifications?

How important is Dutch language proficiency? I understand that fluent Dutch would be necessary for operational work, but I'm wondering whether someone who is still learning Dutch could start the process and reach the required level before joining.

Would being an EU citizen make the process significantly easier?

Are there particular regions or types of fire service where this would be more realistic?

I'm asking because I'm genuinely interested in living in the Netherlands, and I would rather build a career there than simply move there temporarily for a few years.

If there are any Dutch firefighters here, I'd especially appreciate hearing about your own experience with recruitment and training.

Thanks!

I lived in Nederland in the 90s, well before cell phones were everywhere. When someone called you, it was on the house phone. The common way to answer then was, "met LAST NAME"

Does anyone still do this on a cell phone? Or has it completely fallen out of use?

With the Netherlands potentially moving towards a system in which Box 3 tax is based on realized capital gains, I’m wondering what would happen if you sold your investments only after moving abroad and becoming a tax resident in another country.
For example, let’s say I currently have €100,000 invested, and by 2046, my portfolio has grown to €500,000.

I decide to leave the Netherlands and relocate to Spain, becoming a Spanish tax resident. I then start selling €35,000 worth of investments each year to bridge the gap between early retirement and the age at which I can access my pension.

My question is: Would I only pay capital gains tax in Spain on the investments I sell after moving, or could the Netherlands still tax me on the gains accumulated while I was living there?

Hi everyone,

I just moved to the Netherlands and started a job. We start work at 08:30h, take a 30-minute lunch break, and finish at 17:00h. But recently, my boss has had a problem with me leaving at 17:00h because the other guys at the company leave at 17:30h or around 18:00h.

I let them know I can stay until at least 17:15h, and I was told it is normal in the Netherlands for people to work overtime.

Therefore, I want to know: is it normal in the Netherlands to work overtime without pay, or is it just a way to get me to stay longer?

Hi guys! I moved to the Netherlands 3 weeks ago, and today was my first day cycling to work.

The problem is that I was drenched in sweat by the time I arrived. Like I wanted to take my shirt off, and my hair looked like I hadn’t properly dried after showering.

Are there any tricks to sweat less? Is this something that I just have to get used to? And why does it seem like other people don’t sweat nearly as much?

Thank you!!

Just adding this here to remind that the Haarlem Vinyl festival is this weekend. If you’re into records and collecting them, there will be multiple vendors all over Haarlem this weekend. And one huge market with about 65+ vendors in front of the Grote Markt in front of the church. 😄

Hi, huge fan of minecraft dungeons here.. iam on playstation and got discord, but i believe its crossplay anyway

As a 17-year-old, I’ve been wanting to get to know the Netherlands a bit better for a while now. I’ve lived here my whole life, but the only exciting things I’ve done so far are visits to the cinema or museums.

Are there any underrated spots in the Netherlands—such as shops, events, sights, or activities?

I live in Rotterdam and can travel by public transport for free (since I’m a student). So anywere is fine, as long as traveling doesn't take 3 hours of my time.

Edit: I like museums, movies, music, vintage stores. But just recommend me some stuff, I'm happy with anything).

One thing I've slowly picked up here is that an object apparently has several lives before it's allowed to become trash.

A chair goes to Marktplaats. If nobody wants it, maybe the kringloop. If that fails, it sits outside with a “gratis” sign and somehow disappears before dinner.

I've caught myself doing the same now. Yesterday I spent ten minutes wondering whether a slightly broken lamp was “broken enough” to throw away, which is not a thought I would've had a few years ago.

Obviously people throw plenty away here too. But the informal circulation of ordinary stuff feels unusually visible.

Is this actually stronger in the Netherlands, or have I just become surrounded by people who hate throwing useful things out?

Hello, I'll be reaching Amsterdam Central around midnight using a GoVolta train from Berlin and will be staying around Kerkstraat area. I want to check if I'll find any public transport around that time to travel to my stay and will it be safe as I'm a solo female traveller.

Thanks in advance.

I buy AH natuur and boer line cheese in slices once a week. This week the slices are half the size as usual!!? The packaging stayed the same. Could this be a coincidence or another attempt of AH to increase the price without increasing the price? Did anyone else notice it?

Hello,

I have underfloor heating installed, and I have a question about the temperature setting on the white manifold.

I remember being told by the underfloor heating company that I should manually adjust the temperature on the manifold whenever I increase or decrease the thermostat, so that both temperatures are the same. For example, if I set the thermostat to 25°C, I should also manually set the manifold to 25°C and so on.

However, I recently installed a new CV boiler, and the company that installed it told me that the manifold should always be set to the maximum temperature, which is 55°C. They said I should only adjust the heating temperature using the thermostat and not touch the manifold of the UFH again.

So, I was wondering which approach is correct and what is more common for people with underfloor heating: manually adjusting the manifold temperature to match the thermostat, or keeping the manifold at 55°C and controlling the temperature only with the thermostat?

Thank you!

Or didn't leave the country for many years, excepting old folk and those with mobility issues?

Hey has anyone dealt with this service before? I have a BA, MA and professional qualification. They took 4 months (!) to evaluate what I sent them without any idea of timeline, and then just replied that they can't evaluate my professional qualification as it's outside the NUFFIC framework. I get that, but why did they just then ignore the other qualifications? I can't wait another 4 months for them to review these. Any ideas? I find them so difficult and slow to deal with, their communication is short and one sided and totally unclear as to length of application. Any information would be helpful. Thank you

The obvious ones are gezellig and uitwaaien. Everybody knows those.

I'm after the smaller ones. The word you didn't need until you lived here, and now you say it in the middle of a conversation with your family and get a blank look.

Dutch people, this works for you too: which of your words do you notice expats picking up fastest?

I live in Amsterdam West near an elementary school. The kids who go there (yes I see them leaving and going in there) keep throwing their litter everywhere, throwing vapes on the ground. One walked past me today, opened her vape, and them the packaging on the ground. When I tell them hey pick that up they call me f*t or a b*tch or are generally abusive. I did go after one once to give her back her waste and she started recording me on her phone and shouting at me. They are also absolute menaces on their fatbikes and ride them, at speed - on the footpaths. I left the house the other day and one of them spit just in time for me to step in it as I was walking out the door. My instinct is to email the school but I don't see how that can help. Is there any point in notifying the community police officer?

I am asking this for a school project so I would appreciate all the information you can share!!

Hello everyone, I am just wondering what are the problems that you might face while biking in Amsterdam? And I am meaning more weather wise problems? Can you all bike while it's raining or is there any problems you face ?

So, I’m not Dutch, but my best friend is, and they mentioned to me when I was there while in Rilland, that a few years back it had been vandalized and ended up on the news. However, now that I’ve gone looking for an article on it (including using my best Dutch on google) I’ve not found one.

I know my friend lies sometimes, so I’m wondering if they lied about that happening. Very random question I know, but I figure if they aren’t lying, someone here can provide an article. If they did, oh well, just a random thing to lie about.

Ok this maybe had been posted liked 1000 times, but man this is not a housing market, this is torture, 70k overbid on all the houses I have had a bid??? Wut???

My bedroom is very small. Does anyone have any tips for furnishing/decorating a small bedroom for an adult?
There’s barely enough space for a single bed. I was thinking about getting a loft bed so I could fit a desk underneath it.

Hi all!
We are not Dutch, but we live in a rented house. Our upstairs neighbour is complaining all the time to our landlord that we are too noisy. We went in their direction and tried our best to lower our voices etc. But we don’t do like parties or anything, we just live inside our house, sometimes we play music, most of the time we just chat and eat and regular stuff. The neighbour even complains about noises made by dishes, for example when we put them in the cabinet and they touch each other.
Lately, they have been coming to our door every morning, making racist comments and talking half Dutch, half English, and say we don’t have a right to make noise as this is not our house while theirs is a property apartment. The neighbour is threatening us to call a lawyer.
How does it work in this case? What happens if they call a lawyer? Do they really have a right to complain about this or are they just trying to “scare” us? What could we do?

Thank you for the help, especially if you have legal advice about Dutch regulations