Amsterdam’s Czaar Peterstraat voted favorite Dutch shopping district

Czaar Peterstraat in Amsterdam was voted the favorite shopping street in the Netherlands in an online election by NL streets. Voters could chose from 10 streets, which were selected from an earlier vote in which 30 streets competed, NU reports. Czaar Peterstraat came in first place with 776 of the about thousand votes. Spegelstraat in Bussum ended in number two and Amsterdam's Haarlemmerdijk- and street. The organization pre-selected the streets in the election based on the number of independent entrepreneurs in a street. The election was meant to give their businesses and position some publicity. According to Eva Ruijter, initiator of the election, the character of shopping is changing. Dutch are increasingly getting the necessities online. "Dutch no longer go to a shopping street for daily needs, but for a fun outing." she said to NU.nl. "We have nothing against chains, but independent businesses make a shopping street special. They are often specialized and thus bring something extra. For example Czaar Peterstraat has a sausage shop, a children's shoes shop and since this week, a peanut butter shop."