Earlier quoted context omitted.
well, NL is pretty expensive to live in if you're earning USD; the tax burden is high if you're used to the US (though there's some offset because that tax includes what would be private medical insurance in the US); and people are forever grumbling about how hard it is to find places to live in Amsterdam. So maybe there's a reason for that. The meeting on 6th July in their event planner is labelled as 'weekly' thoug…
The tax does NOT include medical insurance. You're supposed to take out your own "zorgverzekering" (i.e. medical insurance) from a private company, although you can get a subsidy to cover the expense ("zorgtoeslag") if you have a low income. What you may be thinking about is AWBZ, a national insurance scheme for which you do indeed pay the premiums along with your taxes and that covers various sorts of long-term care…
Amsterdam is a cosmopolitan, small city -- a combination you won't find many other places. It's a college town, a tourist attraction, and a center of international commerce. The city center and indeed many of the residential neighborhoods are extremely beautiful, at least if you're into brick and trees. You'll find many decently trained people to hire, all of whom speak Dutch and English fluently as well as a bit of German and French. You'll find that official bureaucracy is comparatively efficient and honest. You'll find well maintained, if slightly underprovisioned, highways linking you to the rest of Europe, as well as comfortable, clean trains running to every significant town in the country twice an hour, and a very well designed and operated international airport with a train station in the basement.