Richard and Berni have been living in one of the Levels townhouses since January 2024, and they’re clearly very happy with their decision. The couple, both in their sixties, moved less than a kilometre from their previous home. They could practically see this new neighbourhood in Leidsche Rijn from where they used to live. “So a lot still feels familiar,” they say, “but quite a bit has changed too. We’ve gone from an old part of town to a Vinex neighbourhood, from one side of the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to the other.”
They lived in a monumental building for 33 years, surrounded by plenty of greenery. Richard says the contrast couldn’t be bigger: “It was a 1922 home full of character, architect-designed, with things like steel-framed single-glazed windows. It was hard to heat and the maintenance was getting a bit much. Now that we’re getting older, we wanted to make a switch—from character to comfort. And we found that in Levels.”
It was Levels that ultimately won them over. “It was mainly the sustainable nature of the homes and the look of them, with all the industrial touches, that appealed to us. But the shared garden, designed by a landscape architect, is also a big plus. We get to enjoy lovely greenery, without having to look after it ourselves.”
Richard lists a few more benefits: “We’ve got private parking underneath the house, so we never have to worry about finding a space. In our old neighbourhood, Oog in Al, the streets were narrow and packed with cars—it was always crowded. That’s a thing of the past now. The streets here are much nicer to look at, and we specifically chose a street where cars aren’t allowed.”
World of difference
That really affects the atmosphere in the neighbourhood, the two agree. “We came from an older, fairly quiet area with a park along the Leidsche Rijn. Now we’re in a much more urban setting, in Leidsche Rijn Centrum Oost. The homes are closer together and there’s relatively little greenery on the street. It’s quite paved. But the trade-off is that we have so many amenities close by: a community office, the shopping centre, lots of great restaurants and cafés, medical services, and—also important—the Leidsche Rijn Centrum bus and train station within walking distance.”
Those are the changes in the neighbourhood, but inside the house it’s a completely different world too, especially compared to their previous home, Berni says. “We really enjoyed living in our listed home for 33 years, but now we’re thoroughly enjoying the comfort of underfloor heating, the cooling system in summer, and the view of the inner garden. The indoor climate is really pleasant.”
That comfortable climate is all thanks to the sustainability goals of the Levels development. “That was a big reason for us to move here,” Richard explains. “Geothermal heating, a heat pump, solar panels, and everything perfectly insulated. It’s a net-zero energy home, and sometimes we even produce more than we use.”
A lot of freedom
For Richard and Berni, this was their first newly built home. An experience they thought was quite special. “We bought the house in December 2019, based on a brochure. That felt adventurous and, honestly, a bit nerve-wracking since there was nothing there yet. Looking back, we feel there was quite a long wait. But what was really nice is that we were able to make a lot of decisions ourselves beforehand: we could design our own kitchen and bathroom, and we had the freedom to choose the layout of the home. There are five identical houses in our street, but inside they’re all completely different. It’s a unique experience to see everything on paper first and only much later in real life.”
According to Berni, one of the highlights was being invited in 2020 by Blink (then still Janssen de Jong Projectontwikkeling) to a buyer’s event during the laying of the foundation. “That’s where we met the other future residents and got to know each other. We immediately exchanged phone numbers, which was great because it allowed us to brainstorm together about things like layout and design choices.”
Hiking club
In the meantime, the sense of community among residents has only grown stronger. There’s now a neighborhood walking group, regular get-togethers, and Berni is part of the garden committee while Richard contributes to the technical committee. According to Richard, it’s both valuable and important to be able to solve resident matters together and close to home.
The story of the new Levels residents sounds unanimously positive. Is there really nothing that could be improved? There’s a long pause. Then, finally, something comes up: “We can fit our two bikes in the shed just fine, but families with kids and large cargo bikes can’t. Those end up scattered all over the place.”
