Oude Westen

The Oude Westen is a lively neighborhood with its own identity: cozy and intimate, young and cosmopolitan. The ethnic composition of the neighborhood has always been diverse. People who find attractive cosmopolitan living environments feel immediately at home in Rotterdam West. The Oude Westen offers space to pioneer and invest in living and doing business. This value increases the attractiveness and attraction of the Old West for people outside the neighborhood. It forms the basis for the marketing of the Old West as ‘the other center of the city’.

History:
The Oude Westen is next to the center of Rotterdam. It was built more than 100 years ago by speculators. Within 15 years after the Second World War, there was the plan to demolish the Oude Westen in order to expand the new center (the ‘old’ center was bombed at the beginning of the war), which was prevented by protests from the residents. This resulted in the De Oude Westen Action Group, which has influenced the development of Het Oude Westen. The Oude Westen is regarded as a laboratory for urban renewal. A lot of houses have been renovated. That had to be cheap to keep the rent low. The result was that at the end of the last century the renewal actually had to be repeated but this time much better.

Residents of Oude Westen:
Purebred Rotterdammers, international students, young entrepreneurs and international families. People from all over the world live and work in the authentic Oude Westen. So you live here as a quirky web designer in a modern apartment next to a Moroccan family. And all that within walking distance of Rotterdam Central Station. The mix of cultures is what most people like in this area. Residents from different cultural backgrounds live here together in good harmony.

What is there to do?
The residential environment is as diverse as the population is. You will not only find pleasant shopping streets full of special shops such as the Chinese supermarket Wah Nam Hong, clothing boutique Knetter and bakery Koekela. It is also bursting with cafés, clubs and small concert venues. And there are several museums such as the NAI and Boijmans van Beuningen within walking distance. At the same time, the Oude Westen is rich in quiet streets and squares. Children are playing in the large playground on the Weena or in one of the many other playgrounds in the neighborhood, while you take a dip in the nearby swimming pool in the Oostervant. The Oude Westen is a place for worldly people, with good facilities and excellent public transport.