Almere

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Almere

Country	Netherlands
Province	Flevoland
Area	248.77 km²
- Land	130.47 km²
- Water	118.30 km²
Population (2006)	178,884
- Density	1,340/km²

Almere (pronunciation (help·info)) can mean:

A large lake that in early times was in the area of the southern part of the Zuiderzee, which see for more information. In "Almere", mere means "lake" or "lakes".
A new town and municipality in the central Netherlands, in Zuid-Flevoland, which is a polder reclaimed from the IJsselmeer. It was named after the old lake. Its first house was ready in 1976.

The municipality of Almere consists of these city parts: Almere Haven (the oldest part), Almere Stad (including downtown), Almere Buiten, Almere Hout (a villa park on the far outskirts) and Almere Poort (which is currently still under construction).

Railway stations, from southwest to northeast:

Almere Strand (only open for special events on the beach near the station)
Almere Poort (will be opened in 2007/2008)
Almere Muziekwijk
Almere Centrum
Almere Parkwijk
Almere Buiten
Almere Oostvaarders

Almere has a network of roads dedicated for the use of buses. The system is called Maxx, and has 8 lines.

Zilverstrand, in the southwest corner of the municipality, is partly an official nudist beach.

[edit] Almere Haven

Almere Haven is the oldest part of Almere. Although Almere Haven does not have its own railway station, it is well connected to Amsterdam and the rest of Almere by a bus rapid transit system.

Almere Haven has a small harbour with ferry connections to the Dutch mainland, and is surrounded by large groves of poplars containing buzzards, foxes, small deer, and owls. The closest wooded areas are Het Beginbos and Waterlandsebos.

Almere Haven features the most idealistic architecture in Almere, when the goal was to build a model city on the newly reclaimed land of Flevoland. The city was planned before increasing population pressure in Almere and rising property prices caused compromises on the original vision.

All housing developments are built to provide views of greenery and open spaces, and each group of houses is clustered around a little park, usually with easy access to the surrounding forests, so residents of Almere Haven do not have the sense of living in a crowded urban area.

Almere Haven does not have the inconveniences of busy traffic and car pollution and road noise because all roads are cul-de-sacs connecting to a well-hidden ring road that provides the only car access in and out of Almere Haven. The bus road system also forms a ring and most residents are no more than a few minutes walk from a bus stop.

[edit] Almere Stad

Almere Stad is the largest town part of Almere. The central railway station is located in Almere Stad as well as other main facilities (head office police and fire wear, town house, cinema's theaters and all main shops). The centre of the city a located near the weerwater. This lake is the geographically the centre of Almere. The townpart Almere Stad is located like a half moon around the lake.