The streets at night
Westerpark after dark has two moods. On nights when the gasworks halls hold a concert or a festival, the park paths carry a cheerful crowd toward the Haarlemmerweg until the small hours. On ordinary weeknights the park is dark and nearly silent by eleven, and the surrounding streets belong to residents locking bikes and walking dogs. The Spaarndammerstraat keeps a few restaurant lights on, and the Haarlemmerplein, where the old city ends at a stone gateway, is the natural hinge between the Jordaan's world and this one. The railway viaducts belong to the texture as well: trains to Haarlem and the coast rumble past until late, and a bedroom facing the tracks is worth mentioning, because a slow session is calmer on the courtyard side. Buildings vary sharply. Amsterdam School blocks have small, beautifully detailed front doors and staircases that twist; Staatsliedenbuurt flats have long shared stairwells; the Houthavens towers have lobbies, intercoms and lifts. Tell us which you are in. On event nights, mention the gasworks too, because the crowd leaving at closing time can slow the last few hundred metres to your door.
