Racial segregation among the elderly

During the interviews we strongly sensed that a lot of the elderly have somehow problems with all the new comers from other countries in the neighbourhood. Some of the elderly even spoke it out very clear. The main problem is that they don’t connect with the older neighbours. With a few interviews we were told that with time passing by a lot changed in the neighbourhood. People got older, some of them moved and some of them died. The housing corporation chose to fill these houses with a lot of immigrants. This led to a neighbourhood with a lot of different cultures and life styles. The elderly didn’t really connect with these new people so the community was no longer what it used to be. Also problems started to increase like demolitions and burglaries. Especially about the youth among the new comers was talked badly. Besides the crimes that people link them to, they also make a lot of noise and stay on the streets until late in the evening according to some people we interviewed. Because of all the changes it was hard for a lot of the elderly to adapt to this new situation and they do not always understand these new cultures. This is probably why a lot of the elderly only relate to the people that came living in the neighbourhood when they did. They don’t want to get involved with the people they assume brought the problems to Woenselse Heide and Tempel. However once a year there is a multi-cultural event in Woenselse Heide. There is a whole day full with performances, food and a market where everyone can contribute with something of their culture. It is well visited and this event is something the inhabitants are very positive about.