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What is Den Haag like to live in? |
Travel Info May be moving there and would like as much info as possible. Travel Tips I live in Den Haag and have lived here most of my life so I could write a book on it... Don't have time to write one right now though, so give me an idea of what kind of information you're looking for please, and I'll do my best to help.... Of course you're already familiar with http://www.denhaag.com and http://www.denhaag.nl/smartsite.html?id=... I suppose... If not, you can find a ton of info there... To answer your question briefly for now though, Den Haag is pretty much the Netherlands' second capital... It's the seat of government, residence of the Queen, 3rd largest city in the country, Den Haag has a very rich international community with literally people from every country in the world, and then some, being home to pretty much all the embassies and a large number of major international organisations etc... There's a British School, an American School, a French School, a German school and the list goes on and on... The flag of the United Nations can be found at the Peace Palace...etc etc etc... Although Den Haag has it's share of bad neighborhoods it's also home to some of the country's most expensive and nicest and has a bit of a "posh" atmosphere/reputation sometimes...(that definitely does NOT go for the local professional football team though, their supporters have one of the worst reputations, and not without reason, although it's better than it used to be and their games can be fun to go to, most of the time!!) Scheveningen, Den Haag's biggest beach resort has had a major makeover in the last 2 decades and Den Haag's city center is about halfway through one now with some very interesting modern architecture in place and some being planned/designed/built over the next years, combined with some very nice and very old architecture... There's lots of sports (although this season there won't be any "major league soccer" as ADO finished last season as last and was relegated, 2007-2008 will be the first season in the brand new stadium though, with hopefully another second division championship), you can practice pretty much any sport you want, there's even indoor skating, skiing and karting, various museums, a great symphony orchestra, a great modern dance theatre/company, Europe's largest free of charge pop/rock festival, many other annual music and cultural/art festivals (they're marketing Den Haag as city of festivals with 300 or 400 a year), shops, nature, parks, beaches, caf茅's and restaurants, etc etc etc Den Haag can be the best city in the world to live in, if it's right for you... The last few years there's a lot of security everywhere though, police, army, private security, etc... I think that's part of why a lot of people seem a bit grumpy lately, especially a lot of bus drivers... The general atmosphere is still very friendly though, there's not an unreasonable amount of crime or agression. I consider Den Haag a very safe city in general. Anything specific you want to know more about? You're welcome to add me to your contacts if you like... here's some more interesting links, some are in Dutch only, sorry; http://www.parkpop.nl/ http://www.koninginnenach.nl/ http://www.zeeheldenfestival.nl/... http://www.thehaguejazz.com/ http://www.residentieorkest.nl/... http://www.ndt.nl/?lang=en http://www.mauritshuis.nl/ http://www.gemeentemuseum.nl/ http://www.paard.nl http://www.deuithof.nl/ karting http://www.deuithof.nl/8-kartbaan.html... http://www.adodenhaag.nl the new stadium http://www.adodenhaag.nl/adodenhaag/nl/h... http://www.kleinzwitserland.nl/pages/hom... small local community website http://www.archipelbuurt.nl/index2.htm... (if you follow any of these links within 6 hours after posting your question, check again cause I edited) and sorry for not being as brief as I promised. ---------------edit-----------... Yes, I'm afraid that's not very realistic if you want to live in the city... If you're thinking single house, forget it... it will get you a decent 3, maybe 4 bedroom appartment in a decent neighborhood, nothing too fancy though, and it will take a bit of work... Here's some options in "the less nice" neighborhoods http://www.vestia.nl/index_tekoop.asp?in... and this is pretty much the region... http://www.funda.nl/woningaanbod/koop/re... (if it says 's-Gravenhage, that's just another word for Den Haag, we love being slightly confusing here in Den Haag...) The best place to live in the city is the Scheveningen side of the centre, scheveningen itself and most places in between and to the sides. Kijkduin, the second beach resort and the area around it is also very nice. Generally, the closer to the beach the better, with a few minor exceptions... Many houses are in the 500K to x millions region though.... If you don't mind living outside the city, there's several brand new suburbs, just ready or almost ready with very modern houses for sale and rent and there's some smaller neighbor towns and smaller cities were prices can be a bit lower too... Public transport is excellent and as long as you're not commuting to Rotterdam or Amsterdam car traffic is reasonable, parking is pretty bad though, usually enough parking garages but pretty expensive... It all depends on what you're used to of course... -------edit----- these look ok... http://www.funda.nl/woningaanbod/koop/de... http://www.funda.nl/woningaanbod/koop/de... This one is in Rijswijk, that's almost as close to Den Haag centre as Scheveningen is, I guess...3/4 bedrooms and front and rear "garden"... http://www.funda.nl/woningaanbod/koop/de... I'm not in real estate though, sorry, you'll have to find one yourself :) There's lots of nice neighborhoods, I love the one I posted the link too earlier... lots of expats there... (the last link in the list) This one is only slightly above your budget but worth a look I think :) http://www.funda.nl/woningaanbod/koop/de... or this one http://www.funda.nl/woningaanbod/koop/de... wow! hehe, this is fun! :) Here's a better search I did, it includes gardens, 3+ rooms and is closer to Den Haag... only 58 pages this one... http://www.funda.nl/woningaanbod/koop/re... ... ... Others Relatively expensive. Great public transportation. Lots of bicycles. Lots of rain. Have been there several times on work assignments. Very multi-cultural. I liked it very much. http://www.denhaag.nl It's one of the MOST WONDERFUL cities I've lived in, though briefly. A bit pricey though... personal experience Wow....that was some reply from Vincent. I thought the place was the same as the rest of the Netherlands.........forever dammed. Vincent's information is obviously correct! I work in Den Haag and the city definitely has many good points. There are a lot worse cities to live in. I love the shopping possibilities and the proximity of the sea, to give a few examples. It is a bit boring though. The other big cities in the Netherlands are college towns with big universities and for some reason Den Haag doesn't have a university. So personally I miss the student life and the atmosphere that usually accompanies it. Having said that, the cool thing about Den Haag is that it's very international: a lot of both expats and immigrants! As a woman I feel safe in Den Haag, also in the evenings (I work shifts, so I am out and about at all times of the day). The only part I'd really avoid at night are the surroundings of the Hollandsch Spoor railway station. ~ edit ~ And I agree with Vincent about the housing issues as well. Don't forget to check out the Funda website he mentioned if you really intend to buy your own house! |
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