It’s a trick. Urban planners know all about it. And you, reasonably wealthy citizens, you play a starring role in the neverending story of city development. Your task? Stay put in your newly constructed architecture at the gateway to Crooswijk, a nitty gritty neighborhood of Rotterdam where many streets host garbage and crime. Your presence is proof that the place is now alright. You are the key to making the area more attractive. Comfortable?
Now forget the deep and dark side of Crooswijk. Old apartments will be demolished, giving way to new buildings where the young generations x, y and z will prosper. The architecture will recall the 1930s when elegance was still in fashion. Various designers will make the streets look “organic” again, as homogeneity is out of date. And in the streets and in the bricks we will find the rhythm of this fisherman’s town returning on the banks of the river Rotte. They will have warm hues and new blues. Crooswijk will be slowly soaked with modern ideas until one day this too will be dated like everything that came before. But life always happens here.
So, wanna help? There are new houses and apartments for sale to fulfill your renovating role into Crooswijk´s future. But do not forget to remember! This bustling neighborhood will not let you pass by its past. It will remind you everytime you move past the parklike cementary Crooswijk, where legendary war heroes and famous Rotterdammers lie to rest. That is how in every part of town past and presence are tightly intertwined. And just as we have seen throughout time and Crooswijk: the prosperous will always write both.
Incorporate in your Crooswijk walk/bike tour:
– The old Heineken brewery, Crooswijksesingel
– Cementary Crooswijk
– Kralingse Boos (Kralingse Forrest)
– Oude Dijk & Nieuwe Plantage
– Shopping street Crooswijkseweg
– The many bars at Oostzeedijk