Almere Haven is the oldest part of Almere

Almere

Almere is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, the Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde. The municipality of Almere comprises the districts Almere Stad, Almere Haven, Almere Buiten, Almere Hout, Almere Poort and Almere Pampus .Almere is the youngest city in the...

. Although Almere Haven does not have its own railway station, it is well-connected to Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 and the rest of Almere by a good bus rapid transit

Bus rapid transit

Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...

 system.

Almere Haven has a small harbour with ferry connections to the Dutch mainland, and is surrounded by large forests of poplars containing buzzards, foxes, small deer, and owls. The closest forests 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

Flevoland

Flevoland is a province of the Netherlands. Located in the centre of the country, at the location of the former Zuiderzee, the province was established on January 1, 1986; the twelfth province of the country, with Lelystad as its capital...

. 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, car pollution, and road noise because all roads are cul-de-sac

Cul-de-sac

A cul-de-sac is a word of French origin referring to a dead end, close, no through road or court meaning dead-end street with only one inlet/outlet...

s connecting to a well-hidden ring road that provides the only car access in and out of Almere Haven. The bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

 road system also forms a ring and most residents are no more than a few minutes walk from a bus stop

Bus stop

A bus stop is a designated place where buses stop for passengers to board or leave a bus. These are normally positioned on the highway and are distinct from off-highway facilities such as bus stations. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage...

.