Location, Economy and Infrastructure
Ommen lies 20 kilometres (12½ miles) east of the provincial capital of Zwolle and 35 kilometres (22 mi) north-east of fellow Hanseatic city Deventer. It lies on the north bank of the Vecht river, not far from where the Regge river merges with this stream. Only smaller ships and yachts can use these waterways.
Because Ommen is a rural municipality, tourism and agriculture are the pillars of the local economy. The beautiful forests and hilly heathlands of Ommen attract many nature-seeking visitors. The city of Ommen has several hotels and in the surrounding area there are fifteen campgrounds. Gilwell Ada's Hoeve on the left bank of the Vecht was the first Scouting campground in the Netherlands. Ommen also has a small marina.
Since 15 January 1903, Ommen has had a railway station designed by Eduard Cuypers. It is situated one kilometer from the centre on the opposite side of the Vecht. The station is on the (minor) Zwolle-Emmen line and trains stop roughly twice an hour. Ommen also used to have direct railway links to Stadskanaal and to Deventer via Raalte, which were abandoned when they lost their importance due to the emergence of the automobile. Early plans to establish railway lines from Ommen to Hoogeveen and to Hellendoorn were abandoned for that same reason.
An important infrastructural problem is the N34 road from Zwolle via Emmen to Groningen, which crosses the city of Ommen. One of its main crossroads, near the Vecht bridge is a bottleneck that causes frequent traffic congestion. The government is rerouting the N34 road north of the city, in order to reduce crosstown traffic.
Read more about this topic: Ommen, The City of Ommen
Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical terms.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)