Ideas for Brussels: What’s ONE thing you would change?

We often get asked a question – what is the one thing you would change in Brussels? If you would have the power to do so, of course 🙂 We asked our community on Instagram and also browsed many different facebook groups in order to collect interesting answers. Here are some of the most interesting!

Apart from changing the weather, (which is obviously not possible unless climate change advances fast) people usually mention following things that should be changed in Brussels:

• Simplified administration system
• Less homeless people on the streets
• Better public transport! More mobility options and car-sharing…
• Garbage policy – collection of the bags on the streets. Garbage bags replaced by garbage bins?
• Lower taxes
• Fairer tax system for single people
• More charging stations for electrical vehicles!
• Less dog poo on the streets
• Less noise pollution – noise from the sirens of public service cars
• Better customer service in major Belgian companies
• Longer opening hours of the shops!
• More police checks on the roads
• Safer neighbourhoods (for certain parts of Brussels)
• Cleaner streets, some parts of the city are unacceptably dirty!
• Better cycling paths and not just painted paths
• More equality between the communes
• Remove the beggars and homeless from the metro stations and offer them a proper shelter.
• Improve the area around Brussels North station
• More frequent and better public transport, because it is often unreliable
• Construction works done at normal speed and not “Brussels speed”
• Less traffic and improved air quality
• More vegan and gluten-free options all around the city
• Less strikes
• Merge the communes into one big city, like it is in all global cities. Keep the communes for usual, administrational purposes (make even more of them if necessary) but not with 19 mayors, 19 local parliaments etc!
• More trees on squares, especially on renovated ones (such as Brouckere etc)
• Open /outdoor public swimming pools in summer
• Free water in Brussels restaurants (since Belgian tap water is OK to drink)
• Add English language as the official, at least for administrational and business purposes
• Offer better incentives for small and medium businesses in terms of taxation. This will eventually create more jobs and result in less unemployment.
• Allow expats to vote in regional elections for Brussels, they make up almost 1/3 of the city but only allowed to vote on communal level

What is your opinion? You have ideas that you want to share with us? Feel free to contact us and send your Brussels story!