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I think it equally affects quality of life during non-sleep hours though as well. The incessant horn honking, blaring music and the straight pipe folks actually
by bogomipz 4y ago
I think it equally affects quality of life during non-sleep hours though as well. The incessant horn honking, blaring music and the straight pipe folks actually make walking down the street unpleasant. The sad thing with the horn honking is that the people in the others cars that they're honking at have their windows up, air conditioning and stereo on. They likely can't hear it enough to be bothered by it. The people that pay price are the walking pedestrians i.e they very people who are not contributing to the very traffic problem these people are stressed about. What's the point in a walking city when the walking has been ruined by people in cars.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- pain2022 4y agoWell said, this always bothered me
- withinboredom 4y agoThat’s what I love about living in the Netherlands. Walking around isn’t ruined by cars because there aren’t any cars allowed in most of the city. If you want to go somewhere in the city, you walk or bike. I walk pretty much everywhere within 2-5km and bike or drive beyond that. It’s usually a pleasant walk, especially this time of year with the flowers blooming. When visiting the states, I’ve often found it dangerous to walk anywhere. Even just half a mile to the grocery store will involve walking on some high speed road with barely a sidewalk, half-abandoned acres of parking lots, and people driving who have zero respect for people walking.
- bogomipz 4y agoWhat city are you in? I feel like I still see cars in the city but yes I agree it's much so less of a concern in the NL. Did you move there from a car-centric place?
- withinboredom 4y agoI live in Utrecht. I moved from the US where it was required to drive 500m just to go to the store because walking there would be suicide. There are cars here, for sure. But it is nothing like the US.
- bogomipz 4y agoI see. Can I ask you how you went about relocating? Did you have a job lined up first or did you just decide you liked that city and figured it out after moving? Any advice?
- withinboredom 4y agoMy wife and I visited for a couple of weeks to visit some old friends we'd met at a music festival some years before. We went back to the US for a year and figured it out. If you are a citizen of Japan or the USA, check out the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty. Especially if you're already doing freelance work.
- akgerber 4y agoIf you are not aware of the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty, note that it makes it pretty straightforward for an American to get a visa in the Netherlands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAFT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAFT
- bogomipz 4y agoThanks, do you know if you need to have existing freelance contracts before hand? I've looked at a couple of sites that discuss DAFT but it is not clear.
- akgerber 4y agoMy recollection of prior research is that you do not need contracts beforehand — you need to demonstrate that your business is a going concern after a year to renew your visa.