Woonbedrijf sees an increase in reports of nuisance in the neighbourhoods where the Eindhoven corporation is active. In recent years, the corporation has had to deal more often with aggressive behaviour and too much noise.
“We notice that people have shorter fuses and experience more nuisance”, Ingrid de Boer, of Woonbedrijf, says. “Colleagues also notice this when they walk in the neighbourhood, they are approached rudely”. Local residents in the Tivoli neighbourhood also notice this. There is more vandalism, more noise, more quarrelling. “Two days ago there was a big quarrel between neighbours here”, a resident says, “It has really deteriorated in the last few years”.
Responsibility
According to De Boer, part of the responsibility lies with the municipality. “Everyone should be able to participate in the rising prosperity in the region. There is now sometimes a large gap between people who are doing well and a part of the population that cannot keep up, she says. “Extra money because of energy poverty is already a good start.
But people should also come closer together, with help from institutions. “Someone could visit his neighbour because his knows he is lonely, for example. Social institutions are important for that”.
Not everyone experiences more nuisance, but that the neighbourhood has changed is perceptible. “I have never felt unsafe”, a resident who has lived in the Tivoli neighbourhood for almost forty years, says. “But the neighbourhood used to be closer, you’d go to someone else for coffee every day”.
Crime
In addition to a lack of social cohesion, crime also plays a role in many neighbourhoods. In Tivoli, residents say they are also bothered by it. “They tried to break open a fence belonging to a resident. Someone a block away had had his catalytic converter stolen from his car. I used to have the courage to walk the streets at night, but not anymore”, one resident says.
Unlike Woonbedrijf, the Eindhoven housing corporations Wooninc and Trudo do not receive more reports of nuisance in their neighbourhoods.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
