Why is south part of Van Woustraat neglected?

[u/hacasa]

I live close to Van Woustraat, and I’ve been noticing something odd. The northern part of the street has been fully renovated with proper bike lanes, wide sidewalks, and generally a much nicer layout. It really feels like the municipality invested there to improve both traffic flow and the overall quality of life.

But once you head further south, it’s a completely different story. The municipality once had plans to renovate that part too, but they were cancelled. The contrast is striking. Where the “cute” Amsterdam houses are, everything feels well taken care of. But as soon as those houses end, the street changes drastically, it’s like night and day. Biking there is a nightmare.

Honestly, it feels like the city is prioritizing infrastructure that benefits tourists (nicer spots, picture-perfect houses). The newer part of De Pijp seems neglected in general, and it makes me wonder if this is an intentional choice or just something that fell off the agenda.

Does anyone know why the southern part was left out? And if there are any new plans in the works?

[u/TT11MM_]

Because the southern part was renovated few 15 years ago. And not every street can be renovated at the same time. I'm sure it will be at some point.

[u/ThreeDaysNish → u/TT11MM_]

Love your flair! 😂

[u/hidde88]

Project manager in civil engineering dpt of the city here.

In addition to what TT11MM said above about the programming of these projects:

The upper part was budgeted pre covid, when there was quite some financial room for "nice things". Ever since, city income has gone done somewhat and building costs have skyrocketed with the war in ukraine and the rising energy costs (which directly impact production cost of things like steel, asfalt and concrete).

Also, a new direction has actually been taken by the city, dubbed "ongelijk investeren voor gelijke kansen". You can google this for more depth, but it basically comes down to the city investing more heavily in "nice things" outside of the traditionally better areas. Southeast, new west and north is getting the investments in public infra now, instead of the inside of the ring A10.

[u/Khabba → u/hidde88]

Oh dat is inderdaad heel interessant. Ongelijk investeren voor gelijke kansen

[u/ElSupaToto → u/hidde88]

You have a real cool job, congrats! I live close to the Overtoom and just wish there were more trees, do you know if anything is in the plans?

[u/hidde88 → u/ElSupaToto]

There arent any plans to renovate the Overtoom afaik. There is a wish for it from the stadsdeelbestuur though, but central city needs to budget for it first, after it's estimated end of life is reached. Not sure when that would be, normally every 30 years.

[u/fredlantern → u/hidde88]

Noord is inside the ring (except for landelijk noord).

[u/hidde88 → u/fredlantern]

You're right of course. I saw the error after writing it up and figured "they'll understand" :p

[u/Shogun_Amsterdam → u/hidde88]

I am happy that they invest more in the lesser areas of the city. What I don’t like is the constant renovations on the Ring roads with constant traffic jams. How many times do you need to renovate the Coen tunnel?

[u/dullestfranchise → u/Shogun_Amsterdam]

constant renovations on the Ring roads

renovate the Coen tunnel?

That's not the municipality, but Rijkswaterstaat/ministry of infrastructure

[u/Shogun_Amsterdam → u/dullestfranchise]

Is there a thread on Rijkswaterstaat yet?

[u/hidde88 → u/Shogun_Amsterdam]

We're not too happy with the RWS works either. Complete disregard for the impact on the city :(

[u/martybad → u/hidde88]

Doesn’t seem like a great idea to neglect the front door of the city to invest in the part that is treated poorly by its residents anyway

[u/RazendeR → u/martybad]

Good thing they're not doing it to look nice then, but to provide better living circumstances to the worse bits. (read; comparatively equal circumstances to all)

[u/martybad → u/RazendeR]

My point is they should invest in making the part of the city that is most used and seen nice

[u/Kitarn → u/martybad]

Because fuck those other people?

[u/martybad → u/Kitarn]

Because limited resources and priorities

[u/blahehblah → u/martybad]

American comes to Europe because it's a fairer society then complains it's not run like America

Story as old as time

[u/brokenpipe]

So the southern part was actually redone before the northern part

[u/bucktoothedhazelnut]

I think you might have gotten your answer, but here’s a website with the planned renovations around the city. 

Something to keep in mind is that (a) tourist areas get the most wear and tear, and that means that renovations need to be done more regularly, and (b) when I arrived in 2011, I remember hearing that the city would need to shore up the canal walls but they decided not to do it at the time for costs. In 2020, a canal wall collapsed into the water… and now it’s time for us to focus our resources on this huge issue. Plus, Amsterdam is renovating tram tracks around the city. 

It’s not about one side not being ignored, it’s about what needs to be prioritized. 

https://www.amsterdam.nl/verkeer-vervoer/wegwerkzaamheden/

[u/vincents-dream]

That’s the Diamantbuurt, between just before the bridge when the Van Wou turns into the Rijnstraat. I believe it’s a former Vogelaar wijk, one of the bad neighborhoods that got special attention a while ago. You’d expect the gentrification would catch up, especially considering the location, but it’s still a bit rough.

[u/deliciousuterus → u/vincents-dream]

diamantbuurt used to be a notorious area because of the top 600 (a list of the most high-risk criminals in amsterdam), and authorities cracked down on it between 2009 and 2013 (van wou-aanpak). and yes, it's still a bit rough, especially when compared to the more vibrant 'oude pijp'. i personally like this area much better though.

[u/sloshjosh]

I think a major part is the bike lanes and safety. That part already has a protected bike lane separate from the road from when it was previously renovated. The most recently renovated part was quite sketchy to bike on, no protected bike lane, and not clear where the bike lanes were. It was infamously one of the worst roads for biking. After the renovation it’s much better, and the other side on Rijnstraat doesn’t face the same issue

[u/hacasa → u/sloshjosh]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/mobdgAMoysEws7Kn7

Is this part renovated? I think this is still not a good biking lane considering the size of the street.

[u/sloshjosh → u/hacasa]

This part is still quite wide versus what was renovated- you can see on satellite at the Tolstraat intersection where the renovation starts the street also immediately narrows at that point, what you point out is just after the street widens and isn’t so had compared to what Van Wou was before, it was widely known as the worst street in the city. https://bikecity.amsterdam.nl/uitdaging-hoe-verbeteren-we-amsterdams-slechtste-straat-voor-fietsers/

[u/applepies64]

They recently renovated rijnstraat not sure what you are talking about

[u/hacasa → u/applepies64]

South of Van Woustraat (from Tolstraat to Vrijjheidslaan) not Rijnstraat.

[u/applepies64 → u/hacasa]

It looks fine

[u/JCCampo → u/hacasa]

Vrijheidslaan is already Rijnstraat, it’s from the bridge and further south.

[u/ninasmolders]

You dont mean de reinstraat do you? Cs not the entire continuation of that street is de vanwou

Eitheror, i see nothing wrong with any part of it, functions as it should, good enough.

I was born here like, in the pocket of social housing within, zuid. Its always been a weird combination tbh and rn it looks fine. People ánd the municipality have better things to worry about

[u/hacasa → u/ninasmolders]

I mean the part between Vrijheidslaan and Tolstraat.

[u/ninasmolders → u/hacasa]

Yeh the last part of that is already rijnstraat, everything past the bridge there is,

I truly see nothing wrong with it. it's exactly how the whole street used to be bar the volksbuurtness the nice people and afordable shops, and as another commenter said who got downvoted for it, it is roughly the hight where theres more social rentals.

But hey, if you wanna gentrify it even more be my guest ya know, not like i or anyone i know can afford it anymore anyways

[u/hacasa → u/ninasmolders]

I just don’t get the logic of “let’s not invest in neighbourhoods with more social housing so that they are not gentrified”

[u/ninasmolders → u/hacasa]

Oke so, what exactly about this "lack of investment" do you think looks so bad about this part of the street? The pavement and cycle paths arent broken are they?

[u/hacasa → u/ninasmolders]

Yes, it looks worse than other part on which they spent millions of euro’s. I was trying to understand why other half and I got my answer. Btw, the bikepaths are almost non existent on that street and cars park partially on the bike lane.

[u/ninasmolders → u/hacasa]

They broke that part up because the asgelt had to be renovated at that point but if yoy want to know the link between this shit and gentrification theres alot of articles and research about the kinds of shops and the rate at which renovations are deemed necessary.

"Nonexistent" bike paths as you call it were the norm no longer than 10 years ago if you know how to cycle this isnt an actual problem.

Dyou have any clue how many parts of amsterdam are about to collaps? Prioritising something that isnt broken is silly

Edit: oh and just to add, you think it looks worse then the rest, thats an opinion, i think it looks like amsterdam and the newer parts look unfitting

[u/onedwin → u/hacasa]

Wait just to clarify, you’re saying that Van Woustraat becomes drastically worse starting from Tolstraat (heading south)?

I live close by and never really picked up on it. Will pay extra attention next time I pass by with your comments in mind.

[u/hacasa → u/onedwin]

It is like the Dutch-Belgian border :) This is pre-renovation but you can already see the difference 2 years ago.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Se1nuEaJykKD8FKo9 (after Lutmastraat)

[u/onedwin → u/hacasa]

Ahh yes the stretch where the bike path is on the road. I guess it is a bit weird that the bike path goes on the road for a bit and then goes back to normal a lil further on.

[u/smikkelhut]

Well, I for one don’t like the renovated part of the van Wou. It just looks and feels like a bicycle fastlane now.

The Rijnstraat is gezellig. It used to be a little sketchy but not anymore

[u/AmsterdamReddFan]

Oh the ghetto you mean? Well, yeah

[u/Illustrious-Exit290]

Budget. Was planned but nothing left after inflation of lot of products after Covid and Ukraine war.

[u/Beatnutz_]

The fact that it is the same street has no relevance. One part has alot of money moving around (businesses and housing) and tourists, the other part does not. Nothing strange really.

Gentrifying the other half would only push "normal" people away even more and make room for the wealthy which is probably not great for Amsterdam in the long run. Too many areas suffered the same fate already.

[u/Zwinsky]

Social housing