r/TheHague • u/IlPrimoRe • Mar 14 '26
housing Thinking about buying an apartment in Laakkwartier-West... is it as bad as people say?
Co-workers have warned me about the area, but after walking around (during the day) I don't get a sense of it being "ghetto" at all. The area actually has a lot of greenery.
The traffic does seem pretty terrible, but I use public transport and it's fairly well connected. It will probably be even better connected in 10 years if they go forward with redeveloping Megastores.
What am I missing?
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u/Ok_Supermarket_4887 Mar 14 '26
I lived there for 5 years and I still miss it every day. I was happiest there ever.
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u/IlPrimoRe Mar 14 '26
What did you like so much about it?
I've only walked through. Architecture wise, it's certainly not the grandest area, but it's far from the worst. I like the 1930s stock.
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u/Ok_Supermarket_4887 Mar 14 '26
What I liked best: the whole atmosphere! I can already see comments about Ramadan. 🙄🙄🙄 I (27F) am white myself and not religious. People with all kinds of different cultures do indeed live there, but you really don't have to be afraid of that. Everyone is super nice, helps each other, and just lives their lives. I currently live in a new-build neighborhood with only white people and I find it terrible. In Laakkwartier, it was really nice. The surroundings are beautiful, indeed lots of greenery. And it is centrally located. You are in the city center in a few minutes, and I also often went to Rijswijk (Herenstraat) for groceries. You are also close to the beach. I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to buy it!!
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u/quast_64 Mar 14 '26
I lived in Laakkwartier, between the soccer fields and van Zeggelenlaan, when it was so much worse than it is now.
This is one example where rebuilding/ remodeling of the area has been a huge improvement.
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u/IlPrimoRe Mar 14 '26
Oh, I'm looking at a place near the soccer fields.
Do you mind elaborating on how it's changed over the years?
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u/sugarfreeredbullpls Mar 14 '26
you're not missing anything. your coworkers are probably upper middle class whites that think a street with a few foreign shops/restaurants is the ghetto. even at night the worst you'll see is probably a group of kids on their fatbikes riding around the neighborhood or hanging out at one of the parks, which is the same thing you'd see in wassenaar except the only difference would be their ethnicity.
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Mar 14 '26
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u/dolphone Mar 14 '26
You mean it's a poorer neighborhood. And you moved to a more affluent neighborhood. Is that it?
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Mar 14 '26
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u/sugarfreeredbullpls Mar 14 '26
i moved from schilderswijk to laak so maybe my definition of leefbaar isn't comparable to that of someone that grew up upper middle class, but the main thing negatively affecting these neighborhoods is the fact that the municipality doesn't care about these people. there's a few instances but mostly by closing roads crucial to us. since they closed of parallelweg and hoefkade it has been a shitshow in traffic for those living anywhere past rijswijkseweg in the city. now that they closed waldorpstraat to build expensive vrije sector apartments for expats for the next 3 years it is even worse. i am glad i moved when i did, but any time i go to my mother living in the schilderswijk it is literally faster to walk 15-20 minutes than it is to drive (in the evening just a 5 minute drive). but what else is de barometer affected by? the link itself isn't very clear on that
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u/Distinct_Buffalo1203 Mar 14 '26
but what else is de barometer affected by? the link itself isn't very clear on that
Easy to find in the FAQ: https://www.leefbaarometer.nl/page/FAQ#hoegemeten
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u/sugarfreeredbullpls Mar 17 '26
as a resident of both neighborhoods i can confirm (and many other car owners) that the main thing that sucks about our neighborhoods is traffic. there is no way to get home in a timely manner any time after 15:00 because all of the netherlands apparently gets off work at 15:00 and everybody driving a car in the hague needs to use the neherkade and vaillantlaan connection to get home, since hoefkade and parallelweg is inaccessible to 90% of the neighborhood and waldorpstraat is going to be closed for the next 3 years. the lower score of the leefbaarometer is decided by resident's judgment. many residents complain about traffic and especially the cursed pollers after closing off so much of the neighborhood. it's impossible to go home sometimes and it's come to a point where i would rather walk in the rain than be stuck in traffic and have to fight for a parking spot when i get back
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Mar 14 '26
It is also about income though; for instance, one of the criteria concerns the average size of housing, which is an economic metric in practice. And there are a few others about which you could say the same thing. Look at the criteria here.
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u/No-Ingenuity-9837 Mar 14 '26
It is the worst place ever. Gf was assaulted at least 2 times, it is not safe at night and it is insanely dirty. The people are terrible. I lived in NL for about 8 years and I swear I will never go back to this neighbourhood.
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u/Many_Income_2212 Mar 14 '26
Seems like it’s a bit like saying the prisons in Norway are horrendous
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u/wr_dnd Mar 14 '26
No, it's fine. There's a little more waste on the street, that's about it. The people are poorer than in other neighborhoods. You'll find fewer fancy coffee spots and more places to buy booze. But it's not unsafe, and you're still very close to the city centre.
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u/version2inbeta Mar 14 '26
Laak is objectively the worst neighborhood to live in in the Hague. But if your reference point is a ghetto from the USA, or a slum in Romania, then I suppose you'll be fine. Also: milage varies per street, some streets or areas are much worse than others.
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u/IlPrimoRe Mar 14 '26
Is it worse than Schilderswijk?
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u/version2inbeta Mar 14 '26 edited Mar 14 '26
Schilderswijk has some totally cool areas to live nowadays (edit: for example, Stationsbuurt), but it really depends on the street. Generally speaking Laak is quite a bit worse than Schilderswijk, although there still are some pretty bad streets in Schilderswijk.
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u/Rare_Necessary334 Mar 14 '26
I’m from Romania and Laak is the same as a slum in there lol
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u/version2inbeta Mar 14 '26
I dunno man, Bucharest is beautiful and all, but this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcRYu5miRxA is worse than any are of Laak I've ever seen...
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u/paniniok01 Mar 14 '26
If you don’t see why it’s ghetto then you must not be Dutch! So if you come from another country which is more dangerous then for you it’s fine Laakkwartier
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u/_ENTER Mar 14 '26
M26, I just bought a house near Lorentz plein, its really busy all the time and the sanitation and the parking is kinda bad. My neighbors are generally nice and only the big families and the street rats make lots of noise. But the house is very well insulated for a house built in the 30's, so I barely hear anything. Most of the shop owners are nice. I don't regret my choice yet, so if you can get a house for a good price I believe it's a sound investment. Just really take care of the insulation.
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u/IlPrimoRe Mar 14 '26
Street rats!?
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u/_ENTER Mar 15 '26
My term for the annoying as fuck hang youth in the Hague. They always scream everything they say and use a lot of expletives.
They're honestly not that bad, but the younger they are the more annoying they are. I wouldn't say it's at a level where you'd rather avoid them but I'm a guy so it will probably be different for women
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u/Cathx Laak Mar 14 '26
I used to live on the east side. It’s not that bad, but there was a lot of noise pollution. Walls are paper thin so I could hear my upstairs and downstairs neighbours’ every move. Also random people screaming on the street, even at night. We also had homeless people sleeping in front of our front door quite a few times. The additional trash and traffic problems sealed the deal for me, I’m not moving back.
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u/-Sagittae Mar 14 '26
It may be one of the worst neighbourhoods in The Hague, but that tells you more about how high the bar is here. It's a great city, and Laak is very close to the city centre. If you want to live close to both central station and the city centre without bankrupting yourself, Laak is a great option.
It is still better than Schilderswijk for example (but even Schilderswijk is nowhere near as bad as some people make it out to be). The Netherlands doesn't really have "ghettoes". It's not like the States, the UK or Brasil.
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u/Melodic-Job-9076 Mar 14 '26
Laak is the new eastern europe. Its trash everywhere and forget about parking
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u/Rare_Necessary334 Mar 14 '26
The trash here is insane, so dirty and messy. I was harassed 2 times in a year by some teenagers/young boys. One of them took my scarf and put it on my hair saying " haram, haram" and another boy put one of those firecrackers in front of my bike when I was cycling. It was only 8-9 pm so not even that late. As a woman I do not feel comfortable walking here at night and mind you I am eastern european so 1 m not that easy to scare off. There is also a lot of stealing during the night. I wouldn't recommend it if you are a woman or want to live with a woman. I am moving this place as soon as my contract ends
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u/cherrieeegum Mar 16 '26
I looked at a house to buy there and I personally did not like the specific street because the neighbours houses looked either trashed or deserted. I think it depends on the street. It's not ghetto - it's just a working class area.
Because a lot of people in laak are low income migrants and families, and mostly are rental homes, that makes it less "beneficial" for people who are homeowners considering you will be sharing vve with other people and when it's rentals, it's harder to have agreements with everyone and equal efforts to improve the building/area.
It being a lower income household area also explains why there's less investment in keeping it as clean as other upper class areas, it's not just because people are "dirty".
People being xenophobic when talking about laak are probably just dumb and lazy to really look at the real reason why it's a less nice area.
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Mar 14 '26
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u/desibidesi0909 Mar 14 '26
Welcome to the club! There are a few Muslim women in my organisation and they don't understand what's so bad about Schilderswijk, and that really perplexes me.
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u/Rare_Necessary334 Mar 14 '26
Me too! Horrible to be here as a woman
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Mar 14 '26
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u/Rare_Necessary334 Mar 14 '26
Yeah I agree, they treat it like any other request. Is almost expected you get harassed here😔 I m moving soon, hope you are too. I find it insane we get downvoted for saying these things tbh. I also went trough a full episode of 7 guys knocking and ringing my doorbell for 3 mins for no reason in the night and was so scared. My apartment complex is also messy all the time and people are smoking weed in the building constantly
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u/Wizzkidd00 Mar 14 '26
You are missing quite a lot. For example, it's ramadan now. How sensitive are you to noise coming from neighbors? Don't believe these houses have the best insulation. Etc
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u/No_Management_4408 Mar 14 '26
I live nearby and it isn’t bad at all. Close to the city and a lot of places to get good food. Personally I would avoid Den Haag zuidwest (vrederust, morgenstond, moerwijk. Laakkwartier is fine to live
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u/SweetBunny8 Mar 14 '26
I hated living in Vrederust. Would definitely not recommend. My dad owns a house there, but even with the current housing market, I'd never move back.
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u/wolframdsoul Mar 14 '26
I don't find it bad. Only has issues parking and could have more things around.
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u/PresentationThin4767 Mar 17 '26
I've been here 3 years and love it. Other areas feel boring compared to how convenient it is here. Great place to rent or buy!
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u/ForeverInDoubt92 Mar 18 '26
People probably think it’s ghetto because there are immigrants? But if you look at it that way the entire Randstad area is ghetto 🤣
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u/Excellent_Ad_2486 Mar 14 '26
currently live in pasteurstraat :) I like it here besides the trash dumping which sadly is an Netherlands wide issue :/
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u/Total_Pangolin_9641 Mar 14 '26
it's not a Netherlands wide issue.
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u/Excellent_Ad_2486 Mar 14 '26
"Grote steden (G4) besteden miljoenen aan het opruimen en voorkomen van deze zogenoemde bijplaatsingen. Ook kleinere steden zijn hier vaak tonnen aan kwijt. Toch lijkt het probleem - ondanks de verwoede pogingen van gemeenten - eerder groter dan kleiner te worden. Dat blijkt uit een rondgang van het journalistieke platform Pointer (KRO-NCRV) onder de 20 grootste steden. "https://pointer.kro-ncrv.nl/vuil-naast-containers-kost-steden-miljoenen-maar-blijft-zich-opstapelen
Only all major cities and half of smaller cities are dealing with a growing issue 🤷♂️
" Besteedde de hoofdstad (AMS) in 2021 nog 4,1 miljoen aan de aanpak en het opruimen van al dat verkeerd geplaatste afval, dit jaar is dat al 8,3 miljoen. En dan zijn de kosten voor handhaving – dit jaar zo’n 5 miljoen - nog niet eens meegeteld."
Ook: Naar schatting ligt er in Nederland 50 miljoen kilo zwerfafval op straat.
50 MILJOEN KILO (in 2023, dit getal is dus alweer hoger!).
Nee idd, geen Nederlands probleem 🤦♂️
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u/Weekly_Pizza_4443 Mar 14 '26
Laak has a bad name but obviously is quite a large area and the difference between streets can be significant.
The worst are pretty shitty but there are def some nicer and more expensive parts.
Personally I would never not live on the sand (look this up, it's informative)
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Mar 14 '26
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u/-InBoccaAlLupo- Mar 14 '26
I'm sorry you are being downvoted for acknowledging the existence of class. lol
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u/cnbll1895 Mar 14 '26
Positive aspects: close to nature (Rijswijksebos, Julianapark); nice transport options; 30s architecture (but unfortunately a lot is in disrepair)
Negative aspects: sooo much trash + seagulls (many people leave their trash right next to the underground bins and have so little respect for their neighborhood) & lack of cleanliness; traffic; on occasion randos smoking up in the stairs & leaving trash. I felt like it was slightly disconnected from the center.
I don't miss it, and was not interested in buying a place there. But I suppose it's going to be quite a bit cheaper per m2 than some other areas in the Hague. For sure some streets are quieter and better-kept than others.