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RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-10, 1:15 pm

a9g7dom
Posts: 153
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The reactionaries who seem to control dutch politics these days are enjoying two big wins.

RLD

Observations and feedback I got from the girls:

- The kamer rents are too high and "I'm moving to Den Haag by August".
- The hordes of tourists led by a "tour guide" are interfering with commerce by constantly standing in front of the kamers.
- There are less girls and more kamers for rent than I have ever seen.
-The "gentrification" of the RLD is going on at a quick pace as more kamers become designer offices. Latest one on Doleb.
- The Sex Palace is due for "remodeling" within a couple of years.
-Some RLD coffeeshops gone within two years.

My take on all this is that the reactionaries would hope the kamers would go away and the girls would work only in brothels or do escort service. At the rate things are going it seems to me that the RLD will be substantially changed or gone in 5 years.

COFFEESHOPS

- A third of them gone in Amsterdam.
- Weed pass for the other cities.

The owners I talked to are nervous about the future.

Stopping the changes will take new progressive blood in the national and local jurisdictions. Although the dutch don't seem to like to play american style politics we would all benefit by these:

1) a good lobbyist,
2) a great public relations firm to convince the voting public of the necessity and positive aspects of keeping these activities,
3) and advertising of some sort (medical benefits of weed, etc) would be needed.
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-10, 5:47 pm

greenhoffSupporting Member
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Posts: 3070
Location: sunny dorset uk
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As i said in a post a few months back .......................

ie
I sincerely hope in a few years time the Amsterdam Council will stop and think
" Where all the tourists" ? " What the fcuk have we done" ?..... " De Wallen is deserted, the bars are deserted "
" everyone is going Utrecht/Alkmaar "

The RLD has changed, is changing far quicker than i imagined, get over there quick for a final fling, it will be gone very soon.
Such a crying shame, from the one of the worlds best RLD"s years ago to this !!!!!

regards

_________________
Need to be arrested by a tall,blonde female politie !!
STOKE CITY FC
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-10, 7:31 pm

grimnul Power Kat
Posts: 1538
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I doubt the RLD will ever go away entirely. Yes, I think things will get worse before they get better, but it think things will get better. I admittedly don't know Dutch politics too well, but what I do know about politics in general is that money always wins.

The fact is, without the RLD and the coffee shops, what does Amsterdam have going for it as a tourist destination, really? A couple nice museums? Nice architecture? Friendly people? Ok. That's most of Europe. Ok, you'll get groups of seniors who want to do a canal tour and see the museums, you'll get people doing tours of Europe just passing through for a day or two. You lose people like me coming over for several weeks specifically to have fun, you lose all the people who come for a weekend, or a day or two, once a month or so, just for the ladies and the weed. The government will see what happens when their tourism income takes a 90 degree plunge off a sheer cliff. The dollars (or Euros, I guess) will speak for themselves. When half the bars and restaurants in the city close due to lack of business, they'll see the error of their ways.

I don't know, maybe I'm being optimistic here, but Amsterdam has a golden goose, and everyone knows you don't shoot the golden goose. I think common sense will prevail eventually.
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-10, 11:17 pm

a9g7dom
Posts: 153
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I wish it was a simple matter of economics. The politicians who are perpetrating this don't give a damn about who loses a job, what businesses go under, theirs is a moral quest not an economic concern.

Unfortunately we (the ones who like the rld and coffeeshops) are really not that important to the economy, sure we spend a lot but we can be replaced with other tourists, this is the hope of the moralistic reactionaries.

The solution is to elect the right people...
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-10, 11:20 pm

greenhoffSupporting Member
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Location: sunny dorset uk
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grimnul

No, the RLD wont just " disappear ", what im trying to say is, that in my 40+ yrs of visiting, its only the last year or so ive seen such a dramatic decline, and to get over there quick, before Dolleb, or Stoof become streets of restaurants, clothes shops etc !! and sadly, it will, mark my words
Ive been chatting to a lot of girls who have worked there for many years, and are getting ready to pack up and go.

I admire your optimism grimnul, and i will still visit Amsterdam, just to mingle and chat with my favourite race of people ie the Dutch

Im just so glad i visited our beloved city many years ago when it WAS the No.1 RLD in the world imho

regards

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Need to be arrested by a tall,blonde female politie !!
STOKE CITY FC
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-11, 12:15 am

grimnul Power Kat
Posts: 1538
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Well, I guess we'll find out. The moral fanatics might not care about money, but everyone else does, and when businesses start going under, they're gonna have some angry people (ie. voters) to deal with. These sorts of things always seem to be cyclical.

Or maybe not. Who knows.

Anyway, I have my next trip booked already for November, so I'll still have some fun before things completely go to shit.
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-11, 12:50 am

Anglofil
Posts: 166
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On my last visits, I did not avoid the kamers next to a fancy fashion store or restaurant (like the one near sexyland viewing old church). Instead I was sharking on like never before.
Cause I guess they've placed those proper businesses there just for the purpose to make both punters and girls feeling akward.
Therefor I think it is important to demonstrate that 'hey this is a kamer area and i'm a proud punter'.
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-11, 1:43 am

grimnul Power Kat
Posts: 1538
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Yeah, I don't care much if a kamer is next to a shop or in a crowded area. Can't tell you how many times I've stepped out of a kamer into the middle of a tour group as is. I live halfway around the world, I'm never gonna see any of those people again, I don't care what they think of me. The only thing that concerns me is the girl. If one of my favorites suddenly has a restaurant spring up next to her kamer, so be it.

I will go on record as saying I would bang Max on a table IN a restaurant, if it came to that.
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-11, 10:14 am

Mister Mingeater
Posts: 85
Location: By the seaside
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The sanitization of de Wallen over the years has made it a shadow of it's former self and for me it isn't as exciting - but to people who have only been visiting a few years or to first timers it is great fun - they've never seen anything like it before.
There are different views to take on the matter depending how many years you've been playing in town because you've seen more.
Without doubt the place became safer and better for all since the mid 1970's but I think around the mid 1990's was at it's peak.
Since then and particularly in the last 10 years it has now gone too far the other way and I would prefer that they but the brakes on the changes right now.
Despite any moral consideration / vote grabbing motivators for the politicians, the RLD features significantly in all destination guides and many people want to visit it - most to see it as a peculiarity/ side show as a tourist.
Whatever politicians say it is a crowd puller and does form part of the attraction for tourists.
In essence it could almost be walled off (Wallen) into a theme park (with unique rides !!!!!) Can you imagine the ticket book - who would you have your 'white knuckle' rides with?
Definitely a big mistake for them to mess any more with the RLD and the Coffeeshops.
Another irony is that often the self righteous wankers making these policies turn out to have less than holy morals themselves, mistresses, financial cheating, caught with a pretty hostess in their hotel etc ...
Undoubtedly the RLD as it is today needs no further action - it rarely offends anyone, it is clean, the shady street dealers in the whole are gone, theres no dog shit, hardly a hustler, there's security cameras all over, the girls are again in the main safe, the bars are more responsible, there's decent clean food on the hoof, you can stroll around in safety, you can have a canna - smoke and chill.
What's the matter with the Amsterdam Council and politicians ???
Businesses need to stand up to them in a collective and proper manner, I know a few of the coffee shop crowd are. Amsterdam led the way with cannabis tolerance and now at a time when parts of the world are legalising it they decide to slide the other way.
The Dutch and particularly Amsterdammers are recognised for their unique tolerance and understanding of many things and they should embrace that and get on with it.
Long live the RLD / Coffeeshops
Well that's my two penneth for now.
Cheers amigo's
Mr M

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I wanna kiss those juicy lips - not those - the other ones ;-)
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-11, 10:34 am

greenhoffSupporting Member
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Posts: 3070
Location: sunny dorset uk
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grimnul wrote:

I will go on record as saying I would bang Max on a table IN a restaurant, if it came to that.


Knowing Max, she"d be up for that too !!!!!!

ps, any reason why Max"s website is down ?

regards

_________________
Need to be arrested by a tall,blonde female politie !!
STOKE CITY FC
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-11, 5:54 pm

bobx
Posts: 123
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I agree that the RLD is nowhere near what it used to be.
I still visit Amsterdam around 4 or 5 times a year, but for my last 4 trips I haven't even set foot in the RLD.
I've really gone off it.
I used to always stay at the Kras and last few years Kras apartments, but for my last trips I've rented apartments through Airbnb and stayed in De Pijp. Apartments are way better and cheaper than the Kras, De Pijp is a much nicer area than central, and the small De Pijp RLD is way nicer, some great coffee shops, no crowds, and IMO the girls and the service is also better, at least better than most in the RLD.
I also visit the Single RLD, which I also much prefer.
I don't do much mongering anymore anyway, at most 1 girl a day, more often than not girls that I have visited often and have got to know, an escort here and there, so I really don't miss the RLD at all.
That being said, it's still a great shame that it's changed so much, and will change even more for the worst.
Hopefully the dumb ass, right wing government won't do too much damage before they are replaced.
RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-11, 6:17 pm

george47 Power Kat
Posts: 1074
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a9g7dom wrote:
At the rate things are going it seems to me that the RLD will be substantially changed or gone in 5 years.

Yes, that's the whole point and it's called Project 1012. This subject comes up time and time again. I love Amsterdam as it is but how many people in reality would want their capital city so heavily associated with sex & drugs? The tolerance is intended to best deal with a problem that exists. It's not intended to encourage people to come in and participate. I know loads of Dutch people who hate the whole Amsterdam thing and I can hardly blame them. They would prefer it if Amsterdam was like Antwerp for example where it's low key and not known the world over. For them that side of the city is an embarrassment. Like I say, I love it as it is but these changes are logical and understandable.
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-11, 6:35 pm

Carice Liefde Power Kat
Posts: 2245
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greenhoff wrote:

ps, any reason why Max"s website is down ?

regards



Hi,

It's a problem of her host website as many sites suffer of this in their existence (not enough bandwidth, too many visitors at the same time, etc)
I suppose she's working on it and soon we'll ever have her site back again renoved or she'll open another one (if so, there are chances the datas on her forum will be erased, but that's a risk for another chance).

Cheers
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-11, 7:29 pm

Guilders
Posts: 11
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Cheers for the update OP. The halcyon days are far behind. For me it was the mid 90s, but I hear the 70s were off the scale.

Anyhow, I have trip 14 booked for autumn and I anticipate it will be my last. I have pretty much done each major Dam attraction at least once and prefer other European cities such as Barcelona, Munich and Prague, yet have never repeated a visit there. Dam's draw for me is the weed and RLD. Though I'm not sure that really brings in as much euros as we would believe, possibly even deters visitors?

One question please. Has Singel RLD been adversely affected by the increasing gentrification. I preferred it last visit. I also read Anyday CS is closing this year. Hopefully not before October? Any information MUCH appreciated.

Dank u wel.
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-17, 9:59 pm

doubletree2
Posts: 21
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I feel sorry for myself that my first RLD visit was in January 2014 but it was cold, so not many people were there which I enjoyed. I live far away from amsterdam. I would have never visited amsterdam if it were not for girls and smoking.
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-20, 8:39 pm

jgramos Moderator
Posts: 3434
Location: UK
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Greenhoff knows how it is, totally agree with his comments, as he says, mark his words! ;)
If I had to give it a time frame - 13 months, i.e by the end of July 2015. The RLD bars and all coffeeshops in the nearby area will pretty much no longer exist after that time. The windows will slowly close as the months go by and work will proceed to turn them into galleries, restaurants and up-market bars.
It will be sad to see. :(

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MR PEACE......is still here! ;-)
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-22, 12:12 am

burn out
Posts: 156
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Perhaps I have missed it, but I never see anything regarding Singel or De Pijp. What is to become of those?
Re: RLD/Coffeeshop Wars
Posted: 2014-06-22, 6:57 pm

Carice Liefde Power Kat
Posts: 2245
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It's dated from last year, but still very relevant about what we are concerned about in this thread.
The "view from the inside", if you prefer with this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6FwTY_SGKU
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