Okay, I’ll admit it: I have no idea whether Amsterdam really is the best city for meeting new people because I personally have no way of comparing it to every other city in the world, just the ones I’ve visited or lived in. Business Week declared it Numbe 13 in the world in 2006 and again in 2007, and, according to an Amsterdam tourism site, it ranked 13 in 2008, too (they noted, not suprisingly, that it ranked even higher in the past–however, recent construction projects have caused unusual traffic problems, making it a bit less livable. Short of paying several thousand dollars to obtain this year’s ranking, I can safely assume that the city’s still up there. These “official” rankings naturally take into account education, health, climate, crime, and such, but I think sociability– how easy it is to connect with people — should be considered, too. (Granted, if citizens are healthy, happy, well-educated and not worrying about getting mugged, they’re obviously going to be more willing to engage!)
I only spent three days in Amsterdam–another reason I’m not expert! Still, there are many reasons I have for suggesting that it is a high on the CS index. Note how appropriately the café (above, left) is named. (And by “café” I don’t mean a cannibus coffee shop!). The fact is, Amsterdam seems to have been designed for schmoozing.
Amsterdam’s storybook city center, with its concentric rings of canals (designed and built in the 17th century), might have gone the way of many post-war cities that made room for cars by demolishing old neighborhoods and dotting the landscape with highways. Amsterdam started going in that direction, according to this article on Wikipedia, but such “modernization” was met with major protests–the Nieuwmarkt riots of the mid-seventies. As a result, the city planners stopped building the proposed inner-city highway, stopped tearing down existing buildings to widen the narrow streets. In short, they valued bikes and pedestrians over cars–and, thereby, ensured the livable Amsterdam we find today.
The people are uber-friendly in Amsterdam. They talk and walk; talk and ride. They enjoy new people; they like to hear what life is like for others. They seem proud of their city. “Is it as nice to live here as it seems? ” was invariably met with a “yes.” Several Amsterdamers (if that’s a word) told me that it Amsterdam was not the Netherlands; in other parts of the country people have a more closed–provincial–mentality.
What gives the people of a city their “nature”? Maybe in Amsterdam’s case, it’s diversity. You have all types of people living in a very dense area–an ethnic mix and a ideological mix as well. Pot smokers seem to peacefully coexist with more conservative factions. And because most of the people are at least bi-lingual in the city, they can talk to each other. Conversations flow. And because every block is dotted with places to hang out–benches, the edges of the canal, restaurants, coffee shops, parks–it’s relatively easy to connect.
And then there’s this: the book fair in Dam Square every Friday. A city that cares enough about books to have–and can support, a weekly book fair, what does that say about its populace?
