What is Hoofddorp like?

guys im planning to move out of Amsterdam, yet somewhere nearby that i can go to work easily. some people have recommended hoofddorp as the place to me, do you have any ideas on what this dorp is like? is it a poor area with so many criminals? are there many foreginers? what are the facilities and shortages in the area...which parts are better and which parts are the worsts? any help is very much appreciated.

Hoofddorp is a nice area and although still expensive (same as all Ranstad area) you can get more for your money than in Amsterdam

The shopping centre has recently been renovated and we often take a trip there for the shopping (although parking in the centre is a bit of a nightmare still)

Criminality - far less than Amsterdam. It is an predominantly an area with housing for young families and older alike. There are quite some international companies based in and around there (Schiphol) and as a result if you walk about you can hear quite a lot of different languages

The only thing I would advise you to take into account when looking for housing is to look at a place several times at different times of the day as because it is close to Schiphol depending where you live, noise from planes could be somewhat annoying. (I am not sure how good your Dutch is but you can look at the following link in Dutch and tap in the postcode to view if it is in a certain flightpath and how often --> http://www.schiphol.nl/nomosonline

btw - Amstelveen is another nice area to move to if you want a bit of green and quiet but want to be close to A'dam area for work. Many Japanese & Americans live in this area.

If you have any questions feel free to send me a Email

Hoofddorp is a nice place to run and close to Amsterdam.
Hoofddorp is vert close to Amsterdam. Just about a half hour with the train because you DO NOT want to go with the car. Hoofddorp is on the other side of the main highway from the dutch airport Schiphol. Very handy by the way when we go abroad. Hoofddorp has a very diverse serie of houses varying from large to small, apartments of all sorts and everyone can find something they are looking for. They haven't forgotten the green side of the city as we have a few large recreational ponds that can be used for swimming, windsurfing or just enjoying the beautifull view. There are plenty of other options like a golf course , several football clubs also for women, hockey, baseball you name it, we most probably have it. The most important option is the possibilty to run around this nice, green city.

See more about this city in wikipedia:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoofddorp