Van Speykstraat 149E-03

nice place, plenty of entertainment

The neighbourhood has a lot of potential to live comfortably, but due to frequent nuisance from confused people on the street, drug deals, drug use, and even sleepers in the porches in winter, I often feel unsafe. Some neighbourhood police officers are fantastic, but I once spoke to an officer at a municipal meeting who didn't take this seriously at all ("you're a strong girl", "it's the landlord's responsibility", "just finish your studies quickly and move out"), which doesn't help that feeling of safety. I also find the traffic on my street heavy and especially fast and reckless. After moves, the houses often get students or shared households with young people (like mine). That's a shame; the neighbourhood gets many temporary residents with little connection to the area. I hope the Affordable Rent Act will restore that in the long run. I do see elsewhere in the area that there are social housing units, making the composition of residents mixed, and I think that's healthy. In the mid-range segment, however, I miss affordable homes. The residents of the area have a core of neighbours who have good contact. Newsletters are sent out and events are organised. As a tenant, I only heard about this after a few years. Furthermore, the location is close to shops on the Nieuwe Binnenweg, the area is well connected by metro, tram and bus, I live close to the museums, restaurants in the city centre, and despite that it's quiet on my street in the evenings. I miss greenery in the city but find that there are more and more neighbourhood initiatives to green streets and redesigns where parking spaces make way for tree pits, etc. Very nice!