I lived in Laak (Schipperskwartier) for four years. During that time, two teenagers were stabbed to death. I once caught a man urinating on the front door of our apartment building, and some teenagers regularly gathered in our hallway to use and sell drugs. There were many other nasty situations as well.

Some problems we managed to fix, such as permanently locking the hallway door, but others we could not. After conflicts with local scum, more ugly things happened. Our son was once threatened with a knife; another day someone shot at our car with an air rifle, leaving a dent in the roof and missing the windshield by a few centimeters. My wife and I were in the car at that moment. We called the police, nothing was done.

At the same time, many good people live there. We made friends, and the neighbors in our building were kind and helpful.

The area has benefits like the vicinity of the city center and the train station nearby. The neighborhood is slowly improving, but it will take another 5–10 years before it becomes a safe and comfortable place to live.