Laan van de Marel 126

Nice cosy neighbourhood, everyone welcome and not unfriendly

a very good neighbourhood

The neighbourhood is generally quiet, with a drug user here and there, but you get that everywhere. There is plenty of green, shops within walking distance, and the city centre is easily reachable by bus or bike. They've also thought about the children, which is always nice, and we are surrounded by forest, so if you enjoy a walk or have dogs, you can easily go into the woods – what more could you want? Downside: the housing association doesn't consider what kind of people they place. For example, I have a neighbour next to me who causes enormous nuisance, a heavy hard drug addict, spent 13 years in prison, and a TBS patient or ex-TBS patient. The man is 53, has never lived on his own, and is just thrown in without supervision, which is obviously asking for trouble. I've lived next to him for 19 months now, don't get a wink of sleep at night because he's active then, and the housing association says they don't know what to do with him, and the police in Emmen don't even come because, in our opinion, they're simply afraid of him. This is the only downside, but it's probably a national issue, as you see on TV that organisations, housing associations, and the police work at cross purposes, and as a result, help often comes too late. Other than that, I really enjoy living here.