Harlem (New York) vs Haarlem (Netherlands)

The map above compares the Manhattan neighbourhood of Harlem with the Dutch city of Haarlem which it was named after. Surprisingly the two have very similar populations and median incomes as the table below shows:

	Harlem (New York)	Haarlem (Netherlands)
Population	197,052	162,543
Area	3.63 km2 (1.4 sq mi)	32.09 km2 (12.39 sq mi)
Density	54,284/km2 (140,590/sq mi)	5,572/km2 (14,430/sq mi)
Median Income	$52,708 (€46,243)	$49,589 (€43,500)

More general comparisons:

	Harlem, New York	Haarlem, Netherlands
Type	Neighbourhood within New York City	Independent city and municipality
Origins	Established by Dutch colonists in the late 1650s as Nieuw Haarlem	Medieval settlement granted city rights in 1245
Setting	Northern Manhattan, beside the Harlem River	On the River Spaarne, near Amsterdam and the North Sea
Best known for	African-American history, jazz, literature and the Harlem Renaissance	Dutch Golden Age art, canals, historic architecture and flower-growing
Typical architecture	Brownstones, apartment blocks, churches and broad avenues	Gabled houses, canals, cobbled squares and medieval churches
Cultural symbol	A global centre of Black American culture	A classic historic Dutch city

The connection began when the Dutch controlled New York as New Netherland.

Peter Stuyvesant’s administration founded an outpost in northern Manhattan and named it Nieuw Haarlem after the Dutch city. When the English seized the colony in 1664, Nieuw Amsterdam became New York, while Haarlem’s name was gradually Anglicised to Harlem.

Their later histories could hardly be more different.

Haarlem developed as a prosperous Dutch trading, brewing and artistic centre.

Harlem became internationally famous during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, when writers, musicians and artists helped make it the symbolic capital of Black America.

Despite their differences, both possess identities that are unusually strong for places situated beside much larger, more famous cities.

Haarlem is sometimes overshadowed by Amsterdam, while Harlem is only one part of New York—but neither feels culturally secondary. Both are historic, walkable cultural destinations centred around prominent churches, lively streets and distinctive local architecture.

Which would you rather live in?