Suburb appeal

Suburb appeal

It was back in the early days of the century that quite a few of my neighbours abandoned our leafy late-1960s suburb to move to one of the large residential areas (VINEX) that were being developed at a grand scale at the time. They got brand new, larger homes but not always larger gardens, just like one exchanges an older model car with the latest thing. All claimed to be happy with the move. I did not consider it. The new suburbs didn't appeal to me for a number of practical reasons. Above all, O wasn't yet ready to leave my still current home (the first I have bought in my life) after just a few years.

These days I often cycle through VINEX suburbs (they have rather good cycle paths that serve as shortcuts between places worth visiting) and ten to fifteen years after their completion, I retrospectively start seeing their charm. Space there has a filmic quality: broad horizons, bare surfaces, little green yet and few people around. It feels like an environment for pioneers who came here to tame the polders. As so often one tends to forget that the scene is in the Randstad, one of the densest and busiest areas in the world. I'm still glad I haven't moved here and don't suppose I'll ever do so but I can imagine the thrill of children growing up here. Maybe we'll have a generation or two of brilliantly visual people out of the VINEX business.