Many Amsterdam residents think city center is getting dirtier, more crowded

Many Amsterdam residents and entrepreneurs think that the city center is deteriorating. Two-thirds said the trash on the streets is increasing, and half experience more nuisance from crowds in the area, according to an annual survey by municipal research agency O&S among 7,337 Amsterdam residents and entrepreneurs.

In General, the city center scores well on beauty, bustle, and general safety. But it is getting dirtier and increasingly crowded, despite the city's attempts to combat that, the locals said.

Most (92 percent) noted the issue of litter on the street despite the city deploying more people for enforcement and cleaning. Two-thirds (66 percent) said the trash issues have increased since last year.

Locals also haven’t noticed any effect from the city's multiple attempts to manage crowds in the city center, including banning smoking weed on the streets, earlier closing times for cafes and bars, discouraging British party tourists, and deploying extra hosts to manage visitors. Half said they experienced more issues from crowds on the streets, and 30 percent said the nuisance was about the same as last year.

Smell and noise are also still a problem in the city center, according to the locals - 38 percent said this nuisance increased in the past year, and an equal amount said it remained the same. Forty percent haven’t noticed a change in nuisance from people behaving badly, drugs, and alcohol, but only six percent said misconduct decreased, and 24 percent think it increased.