My sister lives in the Hague; I’ve visited her often and she reports on neighborhoods there that are best left off the tourist itinerary. From Auckland to Amsterdam and Atlanta I’ve seen neighborhoods that, but for the language, are virtually interchangeable.

Who goes to The Netherlands just to hang out on the piers of Rotterdam? Nobody. There’s nothing to see, no tourist sites and, like any dockyard around the world, is surrounded by rough territory.

Amsterdam is a huge city and, like any large city, has neighborhoods that are at least best classified as “no reason to be there” since there are no tourist attractions. The new stadium was built in a part of town intended to receive attention due to lack of jobs and opportunities.

Even the “Red Light District” receives a caution for pickpockets and potential muggings during the late hours and if some fool happens to be wandering alone.

Larger American cities do have areas where even the police will not travel without combat gear, this is true. The common sense part for the international tourist is built in: Those neighborhoods do not have popular attractions and they’re never mentioned in guide books so there is, again, “no reason to be there.”

There’s more to any country than what’s listed in a guide book. The smart tourist will do well to ask about a particular part of town anywhere in the world, no matter what country he’s in. If the desk clerk says don’t go over there, listen to them. In some cases they live there and know what they’re talking about.

The Dutch Ministry highlights my point exactly. No where in the world should a foreign tourist venture in to the rougher areas of a city, certainly not without a knowledgeable and trustworthy escort.

The underlying message here is for those who might still have a “land of milk and honey” vision of the US. It warns them NOT to believe that every street and neighborhood in the US is safe. Just as they would hardly enter “the ‘hood” in their own hometown they should exercise the same caution in the United States, nothing more than that.

Fortunately in cities across the planet the most popular attractions, restaurants and hotels are not in the dangerous sections of town.

JayB – I believe our “ancestry” is similar but look a little farther than home. The fear of foreigners you describe is practically the same story all over the world.

Your points certainly make sense. Travel our country and you will see some crazy things the way we look at each other and at those outsiders. Surprise, surprise, you’ll find much the same in other countries. Strange how we can so easily recognize hypocrisy in others, yet so difficult, in ourselves!

someone please tell me if travel guides about the United States warn foreigners not to go out at night in major American cities! “Don’t go out at night on South Beach.” Right!

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs says (liberal translation):

Some parts of bigger cities are known unsafe. Ask for information in your hotel.

On the same page they have several warnings about the Department of Homeland Security; most importantly: “Joking at TSA checkpoints is best avoided. It may cause more trouble (arrest) than it is worth.”

Rather than improving the Customs & Immigration experience, this proposal taxes visitors, sets up new complexity for “visa waiver” travelers, and sets up a new government corporation, which will likely try to perpetuate itself forever, whose job it is to tell people that our Customs & Immigration process isn’t as bad as it seems. How can our lawmakers do that with a straight face? It’s nuts!

To be fair, this is not a government corporation. It’s just chartered by them and half-funded by them. Hmm.

Gary Leff wrote:

We have always been at war with Eastasia.

No, we have always been at war with Eurasia.

Rather than improving the Customs & Immigration experience, this proposal taxes visitors, sets up new complexity for “visa waiver” travelers, and sets up a new government corporation, which will likely try to perpetuate itself forever, whose job it is to tell people that our Customs & Immigration process isn’t as bad as it seems. How can our lawmakers do that with a straight face? It’s nuts!