AUDREY 49

Living in Tilburg West for almost one year and she is from the Netherlands. She is living in an apartment with her daughter.

Why did you move to Tilburg West?

I divorced from my husband and I had to move out of my house, unfortunately.

What do you think of the neighbourhood? Are you comfortable here?

Yes, actually I am. Beforehand I didn’t really know Tilburg West that well. That’s also because the neighbourhood has a bad name, a lot of criminality, a lot of foreigners. But hey, multicultural how good can it be I thought. It wasn’t as hard as I was thinking beforehand. I really like the neighbourhood and the people who live here.

What is better, the neighbourhood you lived in previously or this neighbourhood?

I think this neighbourhood is a lot more fun then ‘De Reeshof’. That neighbourhood is more like a place where people only come to eat and sleep, if you know what I mean. This neighbourhood is a lot more cosy and there is a lot more green. It’s not like a big grey brick, there is happening a lot more in Tilburg West.

How is the relationship with your neighbours?

The contact with all the people who live next to me is a lot better, we talk with each other and we are know negotiating about a neighbourhood committee. But to make contact with the people who are from other countries is a little bit harder, because they talk in another language. But on the other side, there are people were it is going a lot better with the contact with other people in the neighbourhood.

What do you think is the best thing about Tilburg West?

The park, wandelbos, is nearby and all the green things there are in Tilburg West. The trees, the gardens and all the bushes make it a great place to walk around when the weather is good.

Is there something you would change or improve about Tilburg West if you could?

For me I think that it’s good to get to know more about Tilburg West, what exactly is Tilburg West, which organisations are there besides WijWest. Because where I live, apparently there is another organisations like WijWest, but I’ve never been there before. So I think it’s good for the whole of Tilburg West to know what kind of and which organisations are there in Tilburg West. What activities are there? How can I explore those things? Those kind of things I would like to Improve.

Is WijWest popular enough in this neighbourhood in your opinion?

Where I live it isn’t, what most people do know is Contour De Twern, but WijWest is for the area where I live quite new. But maybe it’s because I live with a lot of elderly people who are not participating as much as normal adults are offline and online.

What do you think about a newspaper or a folder for the people in Tilburg West to read about the activities in the neighbourhood?

Yes, I miss that. I think that will help to give people information about what activities they can go to and what the possibilities are here.

Are you active on social media?

Yes, mainly Facebook, Instagram a little bit less. But yes, maybe it is better to be more active on those platform will work for WijWest. But what I said before, I live with a lot of elderly people who are perhaps not very active on social media. But maybe they also want to go outside and do something, so in my opinion not only social media can be better, but also reaching the elderly people who also like to attend some kind of activities in the neighbourhood.

Are you curious about the stories of other people who live here in Tilburg West? Would you like to hear more of those stories to get to know the people from Tilburg West better?

Yes, for sure! I would love that actually. Some people don’t like to speak up and tell their story, but I would like to hear all sorts of stories from different backgrounds. But that’s for me personally, because I am very interested in people and communicating with people. But I don’t know if there are more people like me, who like to hear all the different stories there are in Tilburg West.

Are there enough people in Tilburg West who are proud of their neighbourhood?

That’s a difficult question I think. Maybe there are some people with a lower income that prefer to live outside of this neighbourhood were the social status is better because this area has the reputation that a lot of poor people live here. But because of their financial situation they can’t. But for me personally, I’m feeling very comfortable in West. Even if I win the lottery, Tilburg West would still bother me you know. I don’t want to leave this neighbourhood. Because the area I live in is just very enthusiastic and people say ‘Hi’ to everyone, it’s just a nice place I think. And for me it doesn’t matter what colour you have or how you look, everyone is part of the community and greets each other.

Do you feel save in this neighbourhood?

I must say, sometimes I find it a little scary to park my e-bike in a public place. But that’s for me the only thing. I have to admit that I’m not going outside at midnight and I am locking my door every evening. Because in the past there were a couple of robberies in my flat, but they were mostly targeted on scooters for older people, so I’m paying attention to that matter. But I think that every neighbourhood has places where you prefer to not come at night. So, for me it does feel safe.

You live in Tilburg West for a year now, has your opinion about Tilburg West changed in that time?

In the beginning I found it a little scary to come and live here. Because I only heard people speak about the bad reputation of Tilburg West and what was happening there according to the people outside Tilburg West. You’ve grown up for years hearing that Tilburg West is a no go zone. But now that I live here, I feel very comfortable and safe with all the good people that live in Tilburg West. I enjoy walking around at the Westermarkt or at the Paletplein or the Wandelbos, so my opinion has changed in a good way.

How much time did you need to settle yourself in this neighbourhood?

A couple of months, I would say. From the moment I began to discover the neighbourhood and started talking to the people who lived here, I started to feel at home in Tilburg West. But for me it helped that I did some things for ContourDeTwern. So it took a little while to settle myself.

Do you know about the website of WijWest?

Yes, I know there’s one. But I can’t tell you how it looks like because I visited that site only a couple of times.

What would help to improve the connection between the different cultures that live here?

I think it would be helpful for everyone to speak a language they can communicate in, you know. It doesn’t matter if that language is Dutch or English, but it’s important that people can communicate with each other. But therefore you also need the will to connect with other cultures. Because now a lot of cultures stay together, with the people who speak their own language. And because of that, it’s not necessary for them to meet and communicate with other people from other cultures. So, I think it’s important to make people speak to each other and help them with learning English or Dutch.