# Moving to Amsterdam. Please Advise



## snarfydog26325 (May 21, 2017)

Hello,

We will be moving to Amsterdam from the US in a few months and are deciding between the cities of Almere and Amstelveen to rent a house. We do not know the area and were hoping for some advice about where to live. We have two kids, ages 9 and 7 and will be enrolling them in a Dutch public school. We are looking for a community with good schools, a library (with an English section), A home/townhouse/duplex for rent (3 beds) for 2300 Euros or less. We prefer not to rent an apartment.In terms of city life-- shopping (grocery, etc) and access to easy public transportation are a must. We would like a community in which we can make friends quickly and get our kids involved in activities. Safety is key too. Which, in your opinion, is a better bet-- Almere or Amstelveen? Thank you in advance.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

You may very well want to get in touch with one for the FAWCO clubs in the area - there is one in Amsterdam and another in The Hague. Welcome - American Women’s Club of Amsterdam for the Amsterdam group. AWC The Hague | A FAWCO Member Club for The Hague. These are support groups for Americans living in the area, and they generally have lots of information available on where to live, schools and things to do, including books or booklets on living in the Netherlands.
Cheers,
Bev


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## expat16 (Jun 11, 2016)

The choice is simple: Amstelveen. Almere is a dead town, even my Dutch friends think so (which says a lot)!

Lots of highly educated expats in Amstelveen and well-connected to Amsterdam via tram 5 and metro 51.

I don't have kids but have heard that the Dutch public schools do not necessarily automatically accept non-Dutch speaking school. They are first put into a foreigners school I believe until they have a grasp of the Dutch language.


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