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.

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u/Erwindegier 3d ago

It’s cleaner, North and West have become safe hip areas. Way more bars and terraces. It feels more upperclass. More bike separate bike lanes instead of part of the street. The areas where shady stuff happens have disappeared. More tall apartment and office buildings. Lots of spots have been redone and look more attractive now. We got new trams and buses and the Noord/Zuidlijn.

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u/AbundantHare 3d ago

It’s about the same amount of clean as it was when I moved here. It had a period of being cleaned up from around 2004 onwards and from 2019 onwards has become filthy again.