Lier boasts a Street Begijnhof that's different in character from those at Mechelen. It's on the edge of town and segregated by gates, giving it a more enclosed feel than either area at Mechelen.
It's also huge. At Mechelen, the Grote Begijnhof occupies four small streets surrounding the church. The Begijnhofkirk at Lier is big, but you can lose it in the Begijnhof area. We walked around it for about an hour and a half in all (taking time out to eat at a restaurant near the astronomical clock) and I doubt that we saw all of it
In fact, I know we didn't see all of it. The stations of the cross are mounted on walls around the streets and I certainly only saw seven or eight. I've heard of "stations" laid out over this kind of area, but never seen one before - to do the entire set must make for a significant "moving meditation".
The houses here are well cared for and it looks as if the place was being enlarged well into the nineteenth century. Because the place is enormous, and because Lier itself is fairly tourist-orientated, it's difficult to get an impression of the how much there's a sense of community, but it would be quite surprising if the area isn't fairly close-knit. What is impressive is how important the place must have been to the area. As with Mechelen, the place almost seems to have existed solely for spiritual purposes.