My love for Dutch streets (straatjes)

In my former life, I was an urban designer in the U.S. I worked for a dreamer, Peter Calthorpe. The author of several books, one of them, “The Next American Metropolis” provided a template for designing walkable communities inspired by European neighborhood design. The Netherlands was always mecca for us ‘Calthorpeans’: Charming streets, human scale, mixed use, walkable neighborhoods, effective public transit and GOOD planning.

Our main walking and biking street into Haarlem Centrum.

Visiting Amsterdam and Den Haag on past vacations gave me just a taste of how amazing Netherland streets were. But now that we live here, there’s so much more to love. I could try to explain it to you but I think Not Just Bikes YouTube channel sums it up and admits that Haarlem is what won him over and inspired him to start his channel.

It’s hard to describe just how a decent street design can have a tremendous impact on community. With the Polder Model of communication in the Netherlands, everyone has a say in how things are designed. And if someone has an idea that is good, increases safety and is cost effective (even if only in the long run), the government will actually implement it, no matter how crazy it sounds. Like the Fish Doorbell.

Since we’ve moved, I’ve already witnessed our tiny village of Overveen completely redesign the major through street to make it friendlier for bikes and pedestrians. I’ve also watched them move a pedestrian crosswalk only half a block away because it makes more sense there.

This is the main street in Overveen BEFORE they ripped it up to make it even better! It was a bit confusing as there were ‘two’ bike lanes in each direction, one in the street (the red pavement) as well as the left side of the sidewalk. Note how car parking is elevated, so even if there are no parked cars, the street remains narrow.

Look at all the brick or, klinkers, as the Dutch call them! They have found klinkers to be more cost effective in the long run instead of asphalt for several reasons. The biggest reason is ease of access to underground utilities but it’s also sensible because the Netherlands is sitting on reclaimed land from the North Sea and the earth is constantly shifting. I’m currently watching a crew lay klinkers just down our street. It’s charming to watch because it’s quiet and not smelly compared to laying new asphalt, though they do love to blast early Madonna hits from their little boom box. I suspect our own street will be torn up soon to sport the latest street improvement, elevated parking spaces. If you want to nerd out on why Dutch streets are SO beautiful, watch this episode of Not Just Bikes.

We live one block away from the Haarlem city border. I didn’t realize that just six months prior to us moving here, cars were still allowed in Haarlem city center. The city government introduced retractable street bollards that block through traffic daily between the hours of 11 am and 6 pm. If you live in the center or are making deliveries, you have a pass card that allows you to retract the bollards and slowly drive through. When the bollards are up for everyone else, Haarlem center streets become pedestrian and bike streets. It works beautifully!

If you’re a tourist here though, be careful. Because bikes are silent compared to cars, you have to be really careful crossing the streets in the center of town because bikes do whiz through. Look both ways before stepping off the sidewalk! Even though pedestrians have the right of way, you still aren’t going to risk walking in front of a bike if you can help it and be loudly cursed with horrible diseases.

This is the center of Haarlem, adjacent to the Grote Markt. Not a car to be seen!

After years of designing, drawing and dreaming about walkable streets, my urban planning brain is completely satisfied every time I step outside. I also annoy everyone with me when I say nerdy things like ‘Look at that beautiful bike lane!’ I’ll post soon about how my love of Dutch streets inspired an entire body of quilts and textile designs.