Having previously opinioned that nothing would change with the city despite the current mayor's best efforts to shut down its tourist trade (starting with the coffeeshops, always goes nowhere), I stand corrected. It seems that the pandemic has given the neo-puritans the cover they need to move the red light district somewhere it won't offend their middle class sensibilities: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... rism-reset

I suppose it is more sensible than trying to ban prostitution outright (like some daft countries we shall not name here, coughFrancecough). But it is indicative of a sad turn towards illiberalism in Holland's capital, previously a bastion of live and let live culture on a European continent that has taken a sharp turn towards the worse since the 1960-90s on things like free speech. I first went to Amsterdam in 2005 and I can tell you that the city is much calmer than it was in the 1995-early 2000s era, when the post-Cold War glow sent Generation X and the older millennials a bit crazy across the West (the spirit of times being captured for me personally by the video of Techno Viking at the 2000 Fuckparade in Berlin).

I'm glad now that I was able to fit in one last trip to Amsterdam in end-2019, ironically because of Brexit. It turns out I'll still be able to visit Holland without a visa after all that upheaval, but it was the beginning of the end of Amsterdam the classic international mongering paradise it seems. Now as is the way with all places that become wealthy enough to gentrify, the notoriety has become embarrassing to the bourgeois (though I image that plenty of them have enjoyed a little chemical recreation or Reasonably Priced Love at the weekend).

Oh well, I suppose we shall see how long this lasts. Who knows, perhaps the tide of post-Covid unemployment will causes a rethinking of priorities after all.

Wow, this is big news. It has significant political support including the Prime Minister's own party. Seems fairly certain to happen now.

I was entirely of the same opinion as you - I never believed this would actually happen. I'm a bit shocked to be honest. I agree that the city is much calmer than it was 10 + years ago. Having been numerous times including weekends and weekdays, I have never been of the opinion that the tourists are that rowdy but I know others disagree.

The beginning of the end as far as I'm concerned, Amsterdam will lose its appeal for me. I like the atmosphere around De Wallen, and its great central location. Very sad times.

The media certainly seem to be treating this like its a done deal given broad political support. I wonder when they would implement it? When they shut the boats in Utrecht they said there would be a new red light area created but it never emerged, partly because no neighbourhood wanted it.

Exactly; the RLD is an ancient survivor of older times. The city wants to take over all its nice central locations and turn them into wafflehouses for visitors to Amsterdam's museums and parks; I can't see any part of the city being set aside for a formal hooking zone like there is now. Of course prostitution is not going to disappear from Amsterdam, anymore than it has from places like the US or Sweden. It will move online and into private residential houses like it has in London, where Soho is a shell of its former self. But Amsterdam will have lost something which once gave it a certain panache, like 1920s Berlin, and I fear it is already a done deal. The spirit of the current age is a kind of intolerant puritanism it would seem, perhaps as a reaction to the more libertine 90s and 00s.

Ouch, that hurts. An account in DutchNews dated Jan. 29 gave a few more details.

Looks like the City Council reached a consensus on the issue last week, but no official final vote or substantial implementation plans beyond that at present. But yes, looks like de Wallen as we know it is doomed. One is tempted to tell the burgemeester to shove a sticky stroopwaffel up her snatch (its probably wide enough)- but no, that would be rude.

Customs officers would sometimes riffle through my passport and ask why I visit Amsterdam so often. My go to lame reply (in my best George W. Bush accent) was "Ah lahk ta see the Rembrandt payntins! Ah'm a Rembrandt fan!" I reveal myself to be a philistine, but one trip to the Rijksmuseum was enough...

I only know about the RLD in Antwerp and the Villa Tinto from what I have read; it looks like the model Femke & Co. have in mind. If they could do something similar AND keep it in or reasonably near the Wallen I might still be interested- I want the ladies, food, drink, and lodging all within easy walking distance of each other THERE. Does anybody think it might be possible? I don't want to be shunted off to some rebuilt old commercial structure in a crappy industrial zone on the outskirts of town. The centuries long tradition of prostitution in de Wallen needs to be honored, not uprooted.

I've looked at some generally positive comments here from recent years on the Antwerp RLD- might be worth a post pandemic visit (if I make it that far). I too like the intangible allure of de Wallen's "atmosphere." Can anyone speak to the atmosphere of the Schipperskwartier in comparison to that of de Wallen?

Maybe they could offer the locals who are tired of the crazy tourists financial aid or other inducements to relocate. Been looking at videos of the anti-lockdown riots in Amsterdam and other places in the NL- dreadful behavior by adolescent NL residents. As annoying as the foreign tourists were, at least it was never necessary to power wash them with water cannons!

Well, that’s it I guess. It’s been good, guys. No reason for me to go back to Amsterdam now. I liked staying in Centrum and half the appeal was being able to walk over to De Wallen for sex whenever. I don’t want to have to get up and drag my ass halfway across the city for some (likely mediocre) sex every day. They’ve finally done it. They’ve killed the city for me. I guess I was one of the tourists they wanted to filter out, which is dumb because I’m respectful, I behave myself, and I spend a lot of money. I suspect they may wind up regretting this move in a few years.

Well, gives me an excuse to finally branch out and visit some other cities I guess. Or fuck it, just stay home and enjoy our very excellent escort scene here. Sucks, because Society Service is a great agency and they’ve been very good to me over the years, I’d love to be able to still give them my business, but if easily accessible window sex goes, there’s really not gonna be a ton left for me to do in Amsterdam, at least not for the epic 3 weeks I was typically going before. I guess now it’s maybe a stopover for a few nights on my way to somewhere else.

Good job, Amsterdam city council. You finally got what you wanted. Hope you enjoy the fruits of your labor.

I read nothing here to say this is a done deal.
Fairly typical of the Guardian to report it in this way.
It’s far more tenuous than the tourist ban in coffeeshops.
To start with, they’ll need to find tens of millions to buy up the rooms.
https://www.parool.nl/amsterdam/teruglezen-debat-in-gemeenteraad-over-toekomst-binnenstad~b7884bda/
Don’t hold your breath on this one.
If they were to find a way, it would have to be done over a period of many years.

https://nltimes.nl/2020/11/09/halsema-presents-detailed-plan-new-sex-hotel-amsterdam

Yes I think the news that it had strong political support, caused a bit of a shock. It will take many years to happen, as the mayor says. I'm guessing that they will close the windows in small increments rather than shutting down the whole of De Wallen in one hit - then again it seems a bit bizarre that there would be building sites in bits of De Wallen while other parts continue as normal!

I may be being naive but with the real estate market as it is over there (and in most big European cities), surely finding developers to buy and convert the rooms wouldn't be an issue?

The strong political support is definitely a worry for the medium to long term future of De Wallen. With coffeeshops potentially closing or banning tourists, De Wallen will slowly start to change...

The rooms they bought out before, at huge expense, haven’t exactly been roaring success.
Still HEAVILY subsidised.
Where will their trade come from when there are no more windows?
Unless the city plans to convert them to social housing and right off the expense, just like they want to do with budget hotels.
I doubt the rooms are suited to that.
No weed, no girls, who will frequent all those bars, cafes, burger joints and restaurants in and around the RLD?

Thank you for the solid information and reassuring words! Had a brain fart on all the details of the Mayor's sex hotel proposal from a couple months back; don't get old.

Depressing that in the middle of a global pandemic the politicians priorities are shutting down legal prostitution & weed. Guess it must be because they 'care'.

Hahahahaha, yes, just what needs to be done as jobs elsewhere evaporate; remove the reasons that people want to visit your city and cripple all the other industries that have sprung up (bars, restaurants, tourist guides etc) to benefit from these trades. Because prostitution and weed will just disappear if you shut down the RLD and the coffeeshops lol (yes, I know that the Dutch are taking a more realistic approach than prohibitionists elsewhere, but this will still drive many customers and sellers onto the black market; the change of heart in Amsterdam is a prime example of why soft drugs and the sex trade need to be legalised and not just decriminalised/tolerated). And, as someone else has pointed out above, it wasn't tourists rioting on the streets of the Dutch capitol this week...

Given what I've read above I am less pessimistic than I was a few days earlier about the city's future. If this is a medium term plan than it will have to take into account the likely years-long hit that employment will take from the current pandemic. Once mass vaccination is out of the way by 2021-22, people are going to want to return en mass (after years of depriving themselves in order to stay safe and protect others), and the city itself will probably need all the hard cash it can get. The end of pandemics is always followed by a big party. Amsterdam might find itself being ground zero again whether it wants too or not lol.

My fear is that if this plan does indeed have federal-level support, they may actually be able to get funding to do it this time.

That said, business owners in Centrum can’t be liking this. What reason do tourists have to come to Centrum if the red light district and coffee shops are gone? Do they think people will come just for Dam Square and De Oude Kerk? All the hotels, bars, and restaurants in the area have to feel like they’re being led to the gallows about now.

If they carryout this ban and remove the red light from the centre and move it to the outskirts the economic consequences will be in the extreme. The question they should be asking is is what city will Amsterdam be like without the coffee shops and the red light? My answer is that Stockholm is a good answer. Well Stockholm gets 5 million visitors a year and Amsterdam gets 20 million.Do they really want amsterdam ro become like Stockholm especially post Covid. These law makers are fuckin mad!

There are plenty of people that really want to visit Amsterdam just because of the historic houses and canals. Yes, fools, I know.

There are, but I doubt they would keep coming back again and again, 3, 4 or 5 times per year, for 25+ years.
Ultimately, if Amsterdammer’s want their city back, that’s their business.
If they make all of these changes at once, it will gut the centrum.

if I wanna see canals ill go to fuckin Venice if I wanna ride a whore I go to amsterdam!

The mayor says she wants to attract higher quality tourists, families, museum visitors, foodies.

Most Amsterdam hotels offer overpriced, sub-standard accommodation, by international standards.
There is fuck all for families to do in Amsterdam
Most of the museums don’t warrant repeat visits.
There are a small number of great restaurants in Amsterdam, most offer up shite for a conveyor belt of tourists, who will never return.
Almost EVERYTHING about the centrum would need to change in order to realise her vision.

Did you look at the list of possible new sites?
What the Fuck?
None of those are areas that I would want to visit. They are all in the middle of nowhere, except for RAI.
They will be hard to get to, there are no places to eat or drink, they are not attractive in any way.
I did see a report about a newly constructed outlet mall near Schiphol that has already lost all of it's tennants.
It is at least on the water, but who the fuck wants to go all the way out there?
I did notice that there was no mention of SIngel or the Pijp.
I like to wander in the Wallen for entertainment. As far as service goes, Singel and the Pijp have been in the lead for a decade. I am happy to go to Alkmaar, Antwerp, Brussels, Duisberg, or even Frankfurt.
If Germany ever legalizes weed, I will spend my time and money at the FKK's.
I don't have any fears about finding weed, and I don't mind escorts instead of window girls, but I just hate to see things go down this way.

I really don’t understand why they can’t just admit that this isn’t because of the girls, it’s because of poor enforcement. The mongerers aren’t causing problems, it’s all the drunk idiots. It’s the football fans, the stag and hen parties, the pub crawls, and just the general meatheads who come and get excessively drunk and/or stoned and use the city as a toilet. These are the people causing a scene and destroying property, these are the people making all the noise and disturbing the residents. The cops never do anything. I see people walking around with open liquor containers all the time and nothing is ever done. Why take it out on the girls? I understand they’re a convenient scapegoat, but unless they do something about all the drunkenness, nothing’s gonna change.

Why not move the precinct back into De Wallen, have more police around, and make an effort to consistently ticket people who are drinking and making nuisances of themselves? The issue people are having is with tourists being rude, disrespectful, and causing a ruckus. Why not just stop them from acting that way rather than not having tourists at all? Take the kiddy gloves off and start making it hurt when people do shit like that. A few thousand euro fine and having to spend the night in jail should do wonders to make even the boorish idiot reconsider their actions. Or they’ll just get pissed off and never come back. Either way, they’re not a problem anymore.