I rent an old-ish flat near the center, and for the last 2 months there has been construction on the roof/facade.

The scaffolding/net covers all of my windows so I haven’t been able to have a good look outside of any of my windows since then, which is depressing and frustrating.

It’s quite frustrating that I never received any communication this was going to be happening, or an estimate for how long it was going to take.

Is this a common thing in Amsterdam? And, does anyone have an estimate for how long something like this should take? 2 months already feels like a long time.

I haven’t been able to talk to any of the workers since I go to work very early and get back home when they’re done for the day.

It's almost treated like some exotic food. Are potatoes that expensive in Netherlands?

This is the place for anyone to ask questions about Amsterdam. If you are a tourist visiting Amsterdam, you are moving to or recently arrived in Amsterdam, or you just have a basic question about life in Amsterdam and want some advice, this is the place to post your question. This post is refreshed every week on Sunday. Please feel free to repost in subsequent weeks.

READ THE WIKI FIRST. The people answering questions are locals who want to share the city they love with visitors, but only with people who make an effort. Read at least the Essential Tourist Information in our world-famous wiki before you ask a question. Otherwise, you may be told to go back and read it. The wiki is written by us, and updated when relevant. If the entries are old it's because nothing has changed.

You may also check wikivoyage for more general tips on everything that is Amsterdam. Very useful aswell!

HOTELS ARE EXPENSIVE AND WE DON'T HAVE GOOD ADVICE ON THEM. Because we live here, we don't know what the best hotels are. Amsterdam is one of the most touristed cities in the world and has the highest hotel prices in Europe and prices go up every year. The city is deliberately trying to reduce tourism by raising the prices. There really isn't a secret "cheap" solution. Most "Airport" hotels are not connected to the Airport and will be more trouble getting to than it's worth.

TOURISTS CAN PURCHASE MARIJUANA, DESPITE WHAT YOU READ IN FOREIGN PRESS. Understand that the coffeeshops are just a tiny part of Amsterdam, so posts that treat Amsterdam like it's the Las Vegas of drugs sometimes get a negative response. We're happy to give you advice about coffeeshops and to discuss drug policy. The experts are our friends at /r/AmsterdamEnts, ask them the big questions.

WE DON'T HELP WITH ILLEGAL STUFF AND WILL BAN YOU FOR ASKING. We will not help you with things that are clearly illegal. Coffeeshops caught selling to minors get shut down and everyone loses their jobs. Authorities check for people smuggling marijuana out of the country. Hard drugs are illegal and so is asking for or selling them on Reddit.

WE DON'T ALLOW TICKET SALES OR TRADING. We do not allow selling, buying, or trading tickets on /r/Amsterdam due to the high rate of fraud. You should do everything on ticketswap.nl. We're aware that is difficult to get tickets to Anne Frank, van Gogh, etc. We have no solutions for you, sorry.

RED LIGHT DISTRICT Please be respectful and keep in mind this is a citysubreddit, and not your personal kink google. You can also can get some good tips from this thread from a sex worker.

DOE AARDIG. There is Dutch directness and there is rudeness. The people coming here don't know how we do things, and are usually well-meaning people who just want to enjoy the city we love. Be kind to them. For the tourists and new residents, please remember that we are not Google; respect our time by doing some basic research first and then asking your questions like you're speaking to a real human who is volunteering to speak to you.

Here is what's on at the major venues this week.

Walked in today after 8 years or so. What the hell happened to that place? Prime location, wonderfull building. Looks like a post apocalyptic movie set. Anyone have any idea what went wrong?

Hello Reddit and good evening

I work as Uber Eats for Randstad as second job to try to earn some money, as all my money from my first job goes to paying bills and rent. It's tough but we do it a bit by bit

Today I was doing a shift and my bike got stolen, it was around Biljmerplein, between the 5 minutes I went up in the building to deliver the order, when I came back, my bike was not there anymore, even tho I locked it properly (the keys are with me), Im not sure if someone moved the bike or took inside the appartment, but they probably saw I was from UberEATS and still did this, as they say, there ain't no rest for the wicked

Now I don't know what to do, as Swapfiets is charging me 720€ for the bike + battery, do I really need to pay this? Cant they just track the bike via GPS? I dont have that much money 🤡 hopefully I can split the payment throughout some months, idk

If you had a similar experience, please let me know how it went, maybe Randstad/Uber have some kind of insurance, as I was working for them, and they make you go inside the building to delivery the other (which dont make sense to me, cuz its not safe for the driver, not safe for the customer and not safe for the other people that live in the building). I remember Thuisbezorgd had insurance for those situations.

I already filled a report in the police

PS: if you perhaps see a locked Swapfiets e-bike black/brown with a transparent phone holder, pls let me know, maybe you save my life 🥲

Hoe vaak vallen jullie van je fiets? Ik ben 26 en ben al minimaal 7 a 8 keer van mijn fiets gevallen, echt hard ook. Een aantal keer uitgegleden over ijs, de beruchte tramrails heb ik wel eens gehad, nat en glad wegdek en ook een keer omdat mijn voor spatbord losliet en tussen het frame en het wiel kwam. Nu ben ik zeker een snelle fietser, maar vaak had het daar niet eens mee te maken, soms wel. Meestal kom ik er wel goed vanaf en kan ik na wat vloeken gewoon doorfietsen. Hoe vaak valt de gemiddelde Amsterdammer van de fiets?

I’ve recently moved houses within Amsterdam, and it seems that the corridors of my new building are too narrow for my bed to pass through. The moving company suggested us to rent out an elevator service to move the bed to our apartment (2nd floor). Has anyone used such a service in the past? Are these elevators able to park in the street? I’m worried that I would need to ensure that a parking spot is free in front of my building for the elevator, as the street is also too narrow for two cars to fit in. Note: The movers company said that we don’t have to worry about permits.

Beste, in januari 2024 zag ik bij Muiderpoort zo'n 114 zelfgerolde, deels opgerookte sigaretten liggen bij een prullenbak op het plantsoen voor station Muiderpoort (Oosterspoorplein heet het, het was bij die bankjes aan de kant van het fietspad aan de kant van het station, bij een openstaande prullenbak aan de voet van een boom). Het opmerkelijke vond ik dat het er zoveel waren, dat ze zelfgedraaid waren, en allemaal maar voor zo'n klein stukje opgerookt. Wie doet dat nou? Het beeld liet me niet los en ik schreef iets over de fascinatie voor die 114 peuken: https://heemkunde.substack.com/p/over-de-ongeveer-114-deels-opgerookte
Mensen reageerden onder andere met de vraag of ik daar vaker zoveel deels opgerookte peuken had zien liggen, maar omdat ik er eigenlijk nooit kom (woon in West), is mijn vraag hier: is er hier iemand die vaker bij Muiderpoort op die plek is, en daar onopgerookte sigaretten ziet liggen? En zo ja, weet je dan misschien ook nog iets meer van de toedracht van die peukies? Ik heb er geen echt heel goede reden voor het te willen weten, behalve dat er nu een blogje over geschreven heb en ik nieuwsgierig ben naar dit soort dingen. Mijn eerste gedachte was: een psychiatrische episode, maar de eerste gedachte van anderen is: rokende chauffeurs of werklieden. Ik bedoel, wat kan het anders nog zijn? Maar toch zit er plezier in de poging het min of zeker te weten, in plaats van slechts te vermoeden, dus, vandaar deze vraag en post. Fijne dag nog

Have you ever visited it?
It's a free Museum (actually it's a private residence, but they have an agreement with the Dutch Government and they open their house every day for visitors, only week days and only in the morning).

Website: https://collectiesix.nl/en

Book (ENG): https://collectiesix.nl/en/bezoeken

Book (NL): https://collectiesix.nl/bezoeken

https://preview.redd.it/nururdmnj11e1.png?width=1094&format=png&auto=webp&s=0a621164e35568f962f395db7a28b6e2a046dc3d

Hi I am a cat artist from Belgium. If you like my work, you can find more on my instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/cat.nip.be/profilecard/?igsh=ejJicWtyZTB6dzU2

I know this has been a topic before and apparently a hot one if you’re not native/Dutch but what is the reasoning of them being played around the clock every 15 min even at night? During the days it’s fine but these old houses aren’t very well isolated and in summer it’s even worse when you have to sleep with windows open. And the bells clearly don’t have a function anymore.

Where would you be able to reach out to ask regarding this?

My husband and I are from Colombia and we are thinking about moving to Amsterdam in order to get jobs more in line with what we want. He is a jazz drummer and I basically can do anything, I am an English and Spanish teacher, also a musician (classical pianist) and music teacher, I have experience babysitting children, I am a digital illustrator, I have worked in call centers and currently I have a remote job as an administrative assistant, which allows me to move anywhere without having to leave my job. The issue is that we have not found good job opportunities in the city where we live (Barranquilla), living from Jazz or art here and anywhere in Colombia is almost impossible, the pay is ridiculous, let alone how much of a war it is to get a place in a gig. We had the opportunity to travel to Amsterdam and we absolutely loved it there! We felt like it is a place that appreciates good music and culture. We do not know yet how it would be to live there being foreigners (and we only speak English) but of course we would do everything legally, my husband has Italian citizenship and I am in the process of obtaining mine. It’s complicated but if we don’t try it, we won’t know... I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? We’ve also talked to Dutchs, who have told us to do it, go and try. I don’t know if there is anyone else who shares my concern or has already experienced it or tried it. I would like to read their opinions. Greetings from Colombia!

I recently moved to Amsterdam and am looking for ways to stay informed about different music gigs around the city. I'm not talking about famous bands and artists in renown venues. I'm looking for more alternative, small, not so commercial events. Jam sessions included. Any tips where to look/ what to follow? Any telegram channels maybe?

Any clues will be much appreciated

Hey,

I'm trying to get social housing but in order to get a "voorrangsregel" I need to provide certain documents trough a third party app called myQii. It isn't available for my device however... And as a result i can't realisticly get social housing. Does anybody have experience with this?

The age old tale. My bike got locked to another one and hasn't been moved for 5 days ... Not sure if it's a trick to steal the bike but I'm at the point where cutting it is the only option. Police is also informed. However, it's quite hard to get to an electricity point from where the bike is at. Does someone have a battery operated angle grinder I could borrow? Of course I'd pay you. Thanks!

Did anyone hear it? I woke up to this large explosion, curious what it was

TL;DR fun extension that you can use to comment on houses, sign up for beta here: https://tally.so/r/312Jog (only limited spots available so be quick)

Hey,

I've grown a bit sick of all the stories of terrible landlords, insane rents and hidden surprises after buying a house. Thats why I've developed a chrome extension that allows you and your neighbours to read what other people are saying about houses and neighbourhoods. You can just browse through listings as you always do, but now you have the possibility to open the YapCity menu on the page to see what other people are think about that house or its surroundings.

Not only is it great fun to see what other people share about unique houses, YapCity provides honest insights you are not likely to get from the realtor or landlord. To support that goal I've incorporated a few chatbots that watch the houses listed for a few things such as price changes, noise quality and air quality. It also checks if a house has been part of a legal case at the Huurcommissie, and what the judges verdict was regarding the case.

I know this won't make houses any cheaper, but at least searching for a house is more fun and more informative this way, and I hope I can prevent some people from making a mistake when trying to find a place to live.

The extension (and an example of how it works) can be found on https://yap.city/. You can now sign up for the beta here https://tally.so/r/312Jog . We can only accept a limited amount of users (this is a limitation of chrome extensions) so spots are limited.

Feedback - positive or negative - is super welcome.

Lets make the housing market more transparent together!