Ommoord

Last updated
Ommoord (light green) within Rotterdam (purple). Rotterdamse wijken-ommoord.PNG
Ommoord (light green) within Rotterdam (purple).
View towards high rise buildings in Ommoord, standing on Ommoordseveld, a protected field next to the farm for children Zicht op de stad van buiten af - panoramio.jpg
View towards high rise buildings in Ommoord, standing on Ommoordseveld, a protected field next to the farm for children

Ommoord is a neighbourhood in the former borough Prins Alexander, part of the municipality of Rotterdam, South Holland, the Netherlands. Ommoord is surrounded by the neighbourhoods Zevenkamp, Het Lage Land and Terbregge. It has around 25.000 inhabitants across 12.500 households. Ommoord shares postal codes 3068 (south of metro line) and 3069 (north of metro line) with Zevenkamp. [1]

Contents

The river Rotte flows along the northern border of the Ommoord neighborhood and the former borough of Prins Alexander. Two recreational areas lie on the other side of Rotte river, Lage Bergsche Bos and the area around the artificial ski mountain, based on a former landfill, belonging to Bergschenhoek, now part of the combined municipal council for Lansingerland.

Local administration

Ommoord used to be governed by the borough of Prins Alexander, but the system of deelgemeentes (boroughs) has been abolished in March 2014 and powers have been returned to the central administration in Rotterdam town hall. Neighborhood committees have replaced borough administrations, but with very limited budget, the neighborhood committee for Ommoord has become window dressing, if not completely irrelevant.

Neighbourhoods

Street sign of Geluksklaver (lucky clover), street in Ommoord, with lower houses Geluksklaver street sign, Ommoord, Rotterdam (2022) 03.jpg
Street sign of Geluksklaver (lucky clover), street in Ommoord, with lower houses

Ommoord has 15 neighbourhoods: Bloemenbuurt (flower-neighbourhood), Bremmenbuurt (broom), Distelbuurt (thistle), Doornenbuurt (thorns), Grasbuurt (grass), Heidebuurt (heather), Bessenbuurt (berries), Klaverbuurt (clover), Kruidenbuurt (herbs), Middengebied-West (Middle area-West), Middengebied-Centrum (Middle area-Center), Middengebied-Oost (Middle area-East), Mossenbuurt (moss), Rozenbuurt (roses) and the Varenbuurt (fern).

There are official names for neighborhoods in Ommoord like Machielenkamp, Willenskamp, Zwansnesse, Buitenlust, Baersmeer, Romeijnshof-Noord, Boekholt, Hoogerbrugge and Keizershof, [2] but these names have never been in popular use. For streets within the high rise area, people often refer to the closest metro station. Those who live in a house refer to plants, if they do not mention their exact street name.

Four avenues surround a middle area where high rise buildings (8, 14 or 20 floors) dominate the urban landscape. [3] Much of Ommoord's social housing can be found in flats in this middle area, surrounded by President Wilsonweg (north side), Martin Luther Kingweg (east side), President Rooseveltweg (south side) and John Mottweg (west side). The two metro lines run through the centre line of this middle area.

Many streets in the middle area of Ommoord have been named after Nobel prize winners, most of them ending in -plaats, meaning square, but often being just parking lots. All streets named after plants lack the 'straat' (street) in their name. People living in low houses in streets named after plants tend to be mostly home owners, richer than people renting flats in the central area of Ommoord. [4]

Ommoord was built at the beginning of the 1970s. Until well into the 1990s, lower class and middle-class people were living rather mixed in the high rise buildings in Ommoord's middle area. Increases in rent for people with higher incomes and the obligation to provide housing to refugees, forced upon social housing corporations, has caused a shift in population of flats, increasing the number of lower class inhabitants.

Sculpture of wooden chicken, signalling start of walkway to Ommoord's farm for children De Kip, Ommoord, Rotterdam (2022) 01.jpg
Sculpture of wooden chicken, signalling start of walkway to Ommoord's farm for children

De Ommoordse kip, a large wooden chicken, is positioned next to a parking lot at President Wilsonweg. [5] It started as advertisement for De Blijde Wei (in English: the happy meadow), a farm with animals meant to visit with children, but de Kip has become a monument in its own right, adopted by the community, after having suffered from football hooligans painting it orange for Euro and world football tournaments.

Next to the metro station lies community building 'Romeynshof', housing a library. [6] Many clubs and organizations forming the social infrastructure of Ommoord neighborhood have been chased out of their rooms in the Romeynshof when the central town administration started to charge commercial rents to volunteers who could not afford this. The Covid pandemic gave them the last blow. Romeynshof will be demolished and rebuilt. [7]

Sculpture of white bloodcells, opposite to health centre and library in Ommoord, before it got set on fire, forgotten and rebuilt Rotterdam kunstwerk de bollen.jpg
Sculpture of white bloodcells, opposite to health centre and library in Ommoord, before it got set on fire, forgotten and rebuilt

Ommoord has six supermarkets and two shopping centres, Binnenhof, on the western side of the middle area and Hesseplaats, on the eastern side of the middle area. An even larger shopping centre is next to Prins Alexander railway station, just outside of Ommoord. A market is held every Wednesday on the west end of Hesseplaats, but its popularity is declining, as Ommoord's population is changing.

Transport

Public transport

Metro terminus at Binnenhof Metrostation Binnenhof.jpg
Metro terminus at Binnenhof

Two buslines extended into Ommoord: 34 en 35. Bus line 34 was made part of bus line 95 and lo longer exists. Bus line 35 still exists in 2023, [8] but with more limited service hours than before the Corona pandemic.

The Calandlijn line of the Rotterdam subway extends into Ommoord and has 4 stations in it:

All metro stations and the metro lines lie above the ground and have level crossings, protected with signal equipment. Many accidents, some fatal, have happened in the past, when people started crossing the tracks after one metro train had passed, getting hit by a second train from the other direction, showing up from behind the first train. Signal equipment at level crossings has therefore been replaced.

Public transport in the Netherlands in general is no longer available for people who can only pay with cash money. Those who insist on paying with cash money should save up their 2 Euro-coins, walk (15 or 20 minutes) to Rotterdam Alexander station and buy a train ticket from the machine. From there you can travel to Rotterdam Centraal (10 minutes), Utrecht (30 minutes) and places beyond, or Amsterdam (70 minutes).

Road connections

Construction project for extending A16 motorway and connecting it with A13, drawn on map of northern part of Rotterdam. A13-A16 trace.PNG
Construction project for extending A16 motorway and connecting it with A13, drawn on map of northern part of Rotterdam.

Currently (2023) Ommoord can be accessed from A20 motorway (Hoek van Holland-Rotterdam-Gouda), at junction 16 for Prins Alexander. From there you take Capelseweg and end up at the eastern end of President Rooseveltweg. Those living on the western side of Ommoord may chose to exit A16 motorway (Breda-Rotterdam) at junction 27, take Terbregseweg and end up at the western end of President Rooseveltweg. Local traffic arriving from Rotterdam town centre will also enter Ommoord on this western side. Local traffic arriving from other parts of the former borough of Prins Alexander can enter Ommoord at Prins Alexanderlaan, an avenue that runs alongside the metro railway line. Bridges that cross Rotte river in Ommoord are only for cyclists and pedestrians. The closest bridge to cross Rotte river by car is Irenebrug, part of the Molenlaan, a heavily congested corridor linking Hillegersberg neighborhood with Terbregge and Ommoord.

Construction project for extending A16 motorway, where A16 will cross the western end of President Rooseveltweg in Ommoord. President Rooseveltweg A16 Rotterdam construction, Ommoord, Rotterdam (2020) 03.jpg
Construction project for extending A16 motorway, where A16 will cross the western end of President Rooseveltweg in Ommoord.

Motorways A16 and A20 form a T-crossing until now (2023). There have been plans to build an extension for the A16 motorway since the 1970s, but for decades these plans never made it beyond a project on the Rotterdam city map. Eventually it has been decided that the A20 and A13 motorways, prone to traffic jams, leading to heavy traffic through the Molenlaan corridor will get a bypass, by extending A16 motorway from Terbregseplein around Hillegersberg and creating a direct link towards A13 motorway and Den Haag. Construction of this new motorway has started in 2019, after heated debate, as people in the roses and ferns streets will be suffering from more noise and air pollution after the A16 motorway will be opened for traffic in 2024 or 2025, as the tunnel for the new motorway ends at Terbregsepark. Half-junction 27 of A16, now only useful from/towards the south, will be extended and made complete with slip roads from/towards the north, improving travel times. [9]

Just like many other cities in the Netherlands, most blocks of Ommoord are only accessible by car using the main road that goes around the outside of those blocks, while pedestrians and cyclists can take the shortest way, [10] using their separate network of walkways and cycle paths, or following the lanes parallel to the metro lines. Travel times can be significantly shorter by bicycle than by car, especially when you include the time needed to find a free parking spot. During rush hour, it is often a faster solution to shop for groceries by bicycle, then to drive around by car and get stuck in traffic. Despite the infrastructure in Ommoord being perfect for cycling or walking, [11] most elderly people and some women avoid to cycle or walk after dark, because they feel unsafe doing so. After office hours, some parking lots at high rise buildings tend to fill up beyond their maximum capacity, with people parking on illegal spots, just to avoid walking in the dark.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hook of Holland</span> Place in South Holland, Netherlands

Hook of Holland is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; hoek means "corner" and was the word in use before the word kaap – "cape", from Portuguese cabo – became Dutch. The English translation using Hook is a false cognate of the Dutch Hoek, but has become commonplace. It is located at the mouth of the New Waterway shipping canal into the North Sea. The town is administered as a district of the municipality of Rotterdam. Its district covers an area of 16.7 km2, of which 13.92 km2 is land. On 1 January 1999 it had an estimated population of 9,400.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rotterdam</span> City in South Holland, Netherlands

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the "New Meuse" inland shipping channel, dug to connect to the Meuse at first and now to the Rhine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capelle aan den IJssel</span> Municipality in South Holland, Netherlands

Capelle aan den IJssel is a small city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of 67,319 in 2021, and covers an area of 15.40 km2 (5.95 sq mi), of which 1.26 km2 (0.49 sq mi) is water. It is situated on the eastern edge of Rotterdam, on the Hollandse IJssel river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street</span> Public thoroughfare in a built environment

A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable surface such as tarmac, concrete, cobblestone or brick. Portions may also be smoothed with asphalt, embedded with rails, or otherwise prepared to accommodate non-pedestrian traffic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benito Juárez, Mexico City</span> Borough in Mexico City, Mexico

Benito Juárez, is a borough in Mexico City. It is a largely residential area, located to the south of historic center of Mexico City, although there are pressures for areas to convert to commercial use. It was named after Benito Juárez, president in the 19th century.

The Randstad is a roughly crescent- or arc-shaped conurbation in the Netherlands, that houses almost half the country's population. With a central-western location, it connects and comprises the Netherlands' four biggest cities, their suburbs, and many towns in between, that all grew and merged into each other. Among other things, it includes the Port of Rotterdam, the Port of Amsterdam, and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. With a population of approximately 8.4 million people it is one of the largest metropolitan regions in Europe,[b] comparable in population size to the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region or the San Francisco Bay Area, and covers an area of approximately 11,372 km2 (4,391 sq mi).[a] The Randstad had a gross regional domestic product of €510 billion in 2022, making it the second most productive region in the European Union, only behind the Paris metropolitan area. It encompasses both the Amsterdam metropolitan area and Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area. It is part of the larger Blue Banana megalopolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Median strip</span> Reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways

A median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also applies to divided roadways other than highways, including some major streets in urban or suburban areas. The reserved area may simply be paved, but commonly it is adapted to other functions; for example, it may accommodate decorative landscaping, trees, a median barrier, or railway, rapid transit, light rail, or streetcar lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in Los Angeles</span> Complex multimodal regional, national and international hub for passenger and freight traffic

Los Angeles has a complex multimodal transportation infrastructure, which serves as a regional, national and international hub for passenger and freight traffic. The system includes the United States' largest port complex; an extensive freight and passenger rail infrastructure, including light rail lines and rapid transit lines; numerous airports and bus lines; vehicle for hire companies; and an extensive freeway and road system. People in Los Angeles rely on cars as the dominant mode of transportation, but since 1990 the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has built over one hundred miles (160 km) of light and heavy rail serving more and more parts of Los Angeles and the greater area of Los Angeles County. As a result, Los Angeles was the last major city in the United States to get a permanent rail system installed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Street/Midtown station</span> Light rail station in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Lake Street/Midtown station, also referred locally as either the Lake Street station or Midtown station, is a Blue Line light rail stop in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The station is located on a bridge over East Lake Street adjacent to Highway 55.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prins Alexander</span>

Prins Alexander is a borough in the northeast of Rotterdam, Netherlands. As of 2017, it had 94.905 inhabitants, making it the most populated borough in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Militari</span> District of Bucharest, Romania

Militari is a district in the western part of Bucharest, in Sector 6. It is home to more than 100,000 inhabitants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillegersberg</span> Neighbourhood in the City of Rotterdam in South Holland, Netherlands

Hillegersberg is a neighbourhood of Rotterdam, Netherlands. Primarily a green residential area with lakes, canals and parks, it was incorporated into the city of Rotterdam in 1941. Settlement around its Hillegonda church was first established here in 990.

Bentley is an area in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall located around Junction 10 of the M6 Motorway. It is also a rural village of houses towards its eastern sides. It shares borders with the areas of Willenhall, Beechdale, Ashmore Park, Pleck, Darlaston and Alumwell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romero Rubio metro station</span> Mexico City Metro station

Romero Rubio metro station is a station of the Mexico City Metro in the colonias (neighborhoods) of Moctezuma and Romero Rubio, in the borough of Venustiano Carranza, Mexico City. It is an elevated station with two side platforms served by Line B, between Oceanía and Ricardo Flores Magón stations. The name of the station references the colonia of the same name, which in turn was named after Manuel Romero Rubio, who served as the Secretary of the Interior between 1884 and 1895; its pictogram depicts his bust. The station was opened on 15 December 1999, on the first day of service between Villa de Aragón and Buenavista stations. The station facilities are partially accessible to people with disabilities as there are tactile pavings and braille signage plates. In 2019, Romero Rubio metro station had an average daily ridership of 8,014 passengers, making it the sixth least used on the line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nesselande</span> Neighborhood in Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Nesselande is a new extension on the east side of the city of Rotterdam, in South Holland, the Netherlands. It is part of the borough of Prins Alexander, formerly Zevenhuizen-Moerkapelle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rotte (river)</span>

The Rotte is a river in the Rhine-Maas-delta in the Netherlands. The Rotte is the eponym of the city of Rotterdam: the city was founded in the 13th century when a dam was built along the river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kleiwegkwartier</span> Neighborhood of Rotterdam in South Holland, Netherlands

Kleiwegkwartier is a neighbourhood quarter in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It is in the southern part of Hillegersberg with origins dating from the early 1600s.

Terbregge is a neighborhood of Rotterdam, Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noord, Rotterdam</span> Place in South Holland, Netherlands

Noord is a borough of Rotterdam. The municipal portion is formed by the Delfshavense Schie, the Highway 20 (A20), the Rotte and the rails. The borough had 51,796 inhabitants in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Road signs in Denmark</span> Overview of the road signs in Denmark

This is a list of road signs in Denmark.

References

  1. Postcode.nl You can check any street in Ommoord and Zevenkamp and compare its position and postal code with a street map to verify this information.
  2. OpenStreetMap, focused on Ommoord neighborhood
  3. Picture of Ommoord from early 1970s, before trees had grown up Architectuul, website about architecture, retrieved 30th of January 2023
  4. Funda, general information page about Ommoord You can check housing prices for the lower houses in Ommoord (postal codes 3068 and 3069) at Funda, the most important website for real estate in the Netherlands. Apartments in high rise tower blocks, that have to be sold back to social housing corporations, will not be visible on Funda retrieved 30th of January 2023
  5. 'De Kip' on Google Maps, with Streetview and reviews
  6. Rotterdam Libraries, Ommoord branch retrieved 29th of January 2023
  7. Lola Architects presenting their building plans for the Romeynshof area retrieved 30th of January 2023
  8. 9292 public transport planner, set to English Try to travel from Brantingweg bus stop to Rotterdam Alexander train station; It will show a bus during daytime, but the planner sends you walking towards the metro station in the evening
  9. Official map of construction project to extend A16 motorway Please click on 'Terbregseplein' to focus on the area touching Ommoord (texts in Dutch), retrieved 30th of January 2023
  10. Video of cycling trip from the west of Rotterdam towards Ommoord In this dashcam/handlebar video, filmed by Michael van Heijningen, from the 27th minute onwards, the cyclist takes a shortcut between Molenlaan/Terbregseweg and President Rooseveltweg. At 29 min 30 sec. he reaches Ommoord, with the Rozenbuurt (roses streets area) on his left. The video finishes at the roundabout Marshallweg/Nieuwe Ommoordseweg/President Rooseveltweg. Video published 20th of May 2020, retrieved 30 of January 2023
  11. Den Hoed, Wilbert (2020). "Where everyday mobility meets tourism: An age-friendly perspective on cycling in the Netherlands and the UK". Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 28 (2): 185–203. Bibcode:2020JSusT..28..185D. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2019.1656727 . S2CID   203157840.

51°57′44″N4°33′02″E / 51.96222°N 4.55056°E / 51.96222; 4.55056