Amsterdam is a city that embraces change. In recent years, the city itself has been the object undergoing the most change. A city-wide metro project has left the city's main arteries under construction for years longer than projected, and of course the project has cost much more than was originally budgeted for it; however, the city now has a super-efficient and lightning-quick underground mode of transportation. Another significant way that the face of Amsterdam is changing is in the numerous building projects which, instead of producing suburban sprawl beyond the edges of Amsterdam, is resulting in the city itself sprawling against its borders.

The main area of the city that this is affecting is the northern edge of Amsterdam. For those who have visited the city, Centraal Station lies on a body of water called the 'Ij'---this body of water is the city's northern border. Across the Ij, you are no longer in Amsterdam, but in Amsterdam North. On the Amsterdam side of the Ij, building projects have been going strong for years and some of Amsterdam's trendiest neighborhoods are now listed as these newest additions. From the eastern extreme of the Ij, where Ijburg has become a hot new neighborhood where residents can pay a little less for a house and have a fantastic view over the water to boot, to the western extreme of the building projects, where the Silodam attracts tourists interested in architectural innovation, the city's northern edge is changing.

In previous decades, this northern border was not residential, and the water's edge was, quite frankly, not somewhere that one would walk alone at night. Nowadays, the newly built houses (some are converted factory buildings) are coveted addresses and trendy cafes have started popping up along the water's edge. Perhaps most notable is the Muziekgebouw, which has a fantastic indoor and outdoor cafe to visit even if you are not attending a musical performance in the theater.