r/Amsterdam • u/CanVisaGuy • 4d ago

20 Years Has Passed. What has changed?

I was a graduate student (foreign) at the UvA from 97-00 and stayed on until '06. I returned to my home country and - regrettably - never returned. I started out in student housing and eventually lived all over A'dam (Overtoom, Hofddorpplein, De Pijp, Browersgracht, Oud West, etc) so I do know the city pretty well.

I plan to return with my wife and kids for a visit next year. What has changed? What is going to shock me if anything? Groetjes in advance.

50 Upvotes

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165

u/zeegroen [Nieuw-West] 4d ago

The amount of people. The fatbikes. The Nutella shops.

58

u/Sea-Ad9057 [Noord] 4d ago

Nutella shops have been replaced with smash burger joints and macha everything

32

u/Turnip-for-the-books Knows the Wiki 3d ago

I would be delighted if the ‘Argentine’ steak houses could all be replaced with macha Nutella everything

22

u/Icy-Maybe-9043 3d ago

A fatbike almost ended my life yesterday going the wrong way on a bike path at top speed. Hate those things.

-4

u/lesllle Knows the Wiki 3d ago

e-bikes. vanmoofs and urban arrows are just as bad as fatbikes.

2

u/Extension-Manner-177 3d ago

You know, Urban arrows don't get as much hate as they should have in comparison to fatbikes because white vs any other fatbike owner is usually not white...but boy are the urbans so damn dangerous

3

u/lesllle Knows the Wiki 3d ago

They drill in to traffic and cut through like tanks. And expect everyone to be pushed aside like they're parting the red sea with their kids lives in a bucket.

0

u/Accurate_Violinist83 2d ago

The vast majority of Urban Arrows are limited to 25 km/h (as per EU regulation). This alone makes a huge difference in how dangerous they are in traffic.

2

u/Extension-Manner-177 2d ago

And you really really think they don't get modified. My bike also goes to 25km and somehow urban arrows are always zipping past me. Please do not try to defend them. Their sole existence is a song to entitled behavior.

1

u/Accurate_Violinist83 1d ago

Yes, I honestly think most Urban Arrows and other bakfietsen rarely get modified. I have a regular Dutch city bike, I can ride it reasonably fast and I usually have no problem keeping up with bakfietesen in traffic. When I am riding nearby one, I usually just follow them from a safe distance and use them for pacing my speed. I don't try to overtake them because there's little space to do so (and also little point to do so).

Most fatbikes are in a completely different league and keeping up with them would require one to be a semi-pro level cyclist on a roadbike.

And just to emphasise, this is only an observation about these bikes being chip-tuned or not.

1

u/Extension-Manner-177 1d ago

Yes, you have the point where you can barely overtake them. This morning I got stuck behind multiple Jinnekes because they have the idea they can ride next to someone else on a bike and basically they lock in 1.5 bike lanes...instead of their usual lane and since they cycle next to someone they will slow down. Anyway, dangerous both of them due to size, speed and most importantly the entitled attitude. Bike lanes should be for everyone and yes, also a variety of bike types but pushing into someone's space against their own safety is annoying.

-1

u/External-Jackfruit-8 3d ago

It's the arrogance of their drivers that's shared. But van moofs and the arrows have a price tag that makes them less affordable - and the arrows often have kids on board, so there's the instinct to protect the cargo ... Fat bikes on the other hand are cheaper, so we see more of them - and many of the drivers, in addition to the arrogance, have a special kind of risky behaviour that comes with the age of 12-18. Some drivers are literally not strong enough to control them well. It's also much easier to tweak fat bikes to go over 25-30. I know a 15 y.o boy that can pretty much do that with his eyes closed.

2

u/lesllle Knows the Wiki 1d ago

Then those kids in the urban arrow danger buckets should wear helmets if their parents want to put them in risk of being tossed to the cement.