@@Zalis116That's not the point of his comment though. Yes, when comparing societal health from today to the 1920s, today clearly has it better. In terms of civil engineering/urban planning, though, the 1920s is the winner.
I hated growing up in suburbia. Always felt like I was being watched by someone peeping out the window, looking for even the slightest hint of trouble to report to their personal army, the police. So everyone just stays in doors and it almost feels questionable to walk around. Like why would you walk around when you have a car and a house? No need for walking so are you looking to burgle a place? It just sucks.
Maybe you grew up in a crap suburb. I grew up on Long Island. Manhattan was 52 minutes by train, Jones Beach was 15 minutes and the Hamptons an hour and skiing an hour and a half. I'm sorry you grew up in a crap suburb of a crap city, you're pretty damn ignorant if you think all suburbs are the same!
The UK minimum wage is £11.40, which at current exchange rates is $14.19. Denmark doesn't have a minimum wage law but it has strong unions and as such the current hourly pay rate for McDonald's workers in Denmark has an exchange rate value of $23.10.
@@charlesbrown4483 I'm not sure what Anglo is referring to. Denmark is not Anglo in anyway. But overall numbers aren't relevant, it is the per capita numbers that count. Denmark is popular with illegals, or was, they are learning.
People that keep wanting to raise the minimum wage is the problem. It's no wonder those states that raised the minimum wage are having mass lay off and fewer workers. The problem is the FED and inflation. We have to get rid of the fed and get rid of paper currency that is inflationary for gold backed
I grew up in "suburbia". Looking back most of our trips were within 5 miles of the house and yet we needed a car to reach them. I now live in Chicago in a neighborhood with access to a 24/7 train line, bike share stations, etc and yet there are shortcomings. I'd love more inviting PUBLIC spaces to make friends and acquaintances. Yes we have parks and such in Chicago but most of them lack seating and restrooms which I consider basic/ the floor. I'd also love heat lamps or fire pits so we can enjoy our parks more in the winter. My point is, even in cities typically seen as great American cities, there's still plenty of room for improvement.💜 Great video. Loved that you showed what we're missing in the United States. It's sad how few people realize what we're being deprived of. If people don't know about better options, they can't demand better.
@@LucasDimoveoYup Chicago is being stretched thin right now because republicans think it's funny to send influxes of migrants that we would never get if the incoming migrants were dispersed more evenly throughout the country like they should have been. Also many parks and public spaces in Chicago go neglected, especially on the south and west sides. I'd much rather see those parks get some treatment, but we absolutely need more bathrooms everywhere
@@carstarsarstenstesenn I'm not a Republican, but I agree with what they have been doing in this instance. The illegal immigrants/asylum seekers weren't being dispersed evenly throughout the country. The Feds were dumping them off in the States that they entered which are all located on the border. The resources meant for citizens in those States were being depleted and this had been going on for years now. The other States weren't doing their fair share in taking in and caring for the immigrants. Bussing them elsewhere has brought our pathetic border policy the attention it has been needing for a long time. Now citizens NOT in the border States have a better understanding of the trouble that our Federal immigration policy has wrought. It has brought communities together to stave off the influx of immigrants. People are more aware of the resources and of the amenities, such as parks, that serve their communities. The saying: "You don't know what you have until it's gone" applies.
@@laurie7689 They're still no being "dispersed" evenly, they're disproportionately being sent to NY and Chicago which are both known for their freezing winters when they could be sent more evenly to other dem areas, especially areas that don't go below freezing
@@carstarsarstenstesenn Those two areas have more pull from the current White House than some of the other areas. If we want things to change, we need the folks in those places making their complaints heard. The Feds turned a deaf ear to the Border States long ago.
This is not really a design issue. This is a policy issue. You see, regulations like minimum parking requirements make it expensive to open up businesses. Small businesses don't have as much capital to meet the parking requirements, and so big businesses dominate as they can open up more stores with less profit for longer periods of time. Small businesses provide variety and individual flair while big corporations must standardize and be uniform to take advantage of economies of scale. When you have policies that abort small businesses from forming, all we have left are McDonalds, Chilis, Holiday Inn, Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Office Depot, Home Depot, etc etc etc in an endless loop. Contrast this to a mix-used neighborhood before parking requirements and you get more mom and pop restaurants and shops, some with interesting store fronts. When employees and customers live walking distance, parking isn't as needed. Small businesses can thrive with regular patrons that live close by.
Yet people chose to patronize Wal-Mart when they moved into small towns that had pre-existing local/main-street businesses -- those weren't killed off by parking and setback requirements. Turns out people like going to one store that's likely to have everything they need, instead of spending more time and money at 5 different stores. A landscape dominated by corporate monopolies isn't ideal, but I am skeptical that merely changing the regulations and building mixed-use developments would spawn new small businesses, especially when people don't have money sitting around to start them. Not to mention the challenges of securing health coverage.
@@Zalis116 of course they were killed by parking requirements, zoning, car centric infrastructure. As the town developed over the years, people were zoned further away from Main Street. Roads were built to accommodate car centric travel. Newer people lived further away from Main Street and therefore had to drive there. Housing close to Main Street were redlined. They weren’t allowed to build taller building on or close to main street which would have provided housing for workers and customers. The town was prohibited from growing vertically and densifying. A shopping mall or a Walmart is pretty much equivalent to a Main Street one must drive to. Don’t forget that these Walmarts and shopping malls are feed by freeways which are massively subsidized by the Federal Government. Not only this, parking requirements force many Main Street from expansion (in the same layout). Main Street ends when regulation abiding businesses with lots of parking start so those places are quaint little islands of walkability one must drive to. Cities also force parking requirements on Main Street which forces business to destroy existing buildings to abide by the regulation. This kills the appeal of Main Street even more. If you look at old pictures of American cities, there were more buildings in downtowns and not nearly as much parking lots and parking structures. Prospective business that do no have the funds to do this don’t get to start. Many Main Street store fronts simply remain vacant for lack of off-street parking to satisfy the requirements. Walmart doesn’t do nearly as well in Europe and Asia. Walmart is great only if you have a car. The local grocery store might be a little more expensive but if it’s walking distance, then you save by not having a car. Of course, you won’t have a car for work and other things either which only is feasible in a sufficiently walkable town.
@@Zalis116 each regulation imposes a financial penalty on a business. Some of these are justifiable like building codes, health codes, fire, and other safety concerns. If people don’t have a lot of money to begin with, then imposing more costly regulations not helpful. And the more costly the regulation, the more infeasible a business venture becomes. Parking requirements forces businesses to shoulder the cost to providing parking. It’s not so much the cost of construction but rather the opportunity cost of the space itself. In a car dependent area, this regulation is redundant as providing sufficient parking makes sense on its own. Businesses will die without parking for customers. In walkable neighborhood, this regulation is punishing. That parking space could have been more restaurant or retail space that could be used to service more customers and generate more revenue. Small businesses are more profit sensitive so capping revenues is bad. Big businesses have more resources where they can lose money on some locations for a longer time. In a regime of excessive regulation, entrenched business with expertise and resources will be the only ones left while most new aspirants without substantial starting capital are aborted from the start. If you go to any walkable neighborhood, you’ll see way more diversity of businesses and not so many chains. If you go to a car dependent area, it’s almost all chain businesses.
@@Zalis116 Yes, I prefer stores that offer more variety which small stores can't. I want one-stop shopping that I can quickly get what I want and get the heck out. I don't want to shop around. I want to get back to my home and away from other people. Some of us don't want to be around other people after we are done with our work.
@@Basta11 Most of my ancestors here in the USA were farmers. We live in suburbs now. We've never lived in walking distance of anything, ever. Going downtown has always meant driving whether it be automobile or horse and wagon. Being around people is tiring and not something we like. We don't want to live in walking distance of shops, people, etc. We just don't have a choice anymore because all the frigging city people moved out of the cities into our turf. The suburbs are as close to the city as we're willing to move and THAT is too many people for us, too.
Great Video. It perfectly explains why I as a german always felt so weirded out by American suburbs. It just seems so lifeless, non inspirational and not aesthetic. Even in the worst suburbs in germany I dont get a feeling like this, there is always shops, restourants plants and trees nearby that don't seem unnatural, people walking around or taking the bike and it's always full of life no matter what.
I live in the suburbs in the USA. I'm too tired from working to walk around and enjoy life. I go home, sit in my she-cave for several hours, then go to bed. Get up the next morning for work, and repeat. After dealing with people at work, I don't want to deal with people after work. I want to rest well away from other people.
We like privacy. We’re not any colony drone-people like Europeans. I don’t live in the middle of fucking no where so I can have a department store built next to my house and have idiots trampling over my property 24/7. I live in the middle of nowhere so I can avoid people.
@@laurie7689That's antisocial behavior, dealing with people outside of work is different. It's laid back and more chill. Also not walking leads to obese unhealthy people and unhealthy people leads to not being able to handle people or having a sour mood that leaves with poor relationships
"When your destination is far enough that you have to drive": I heard the story from someone (possibly Bill Bryson) telling how his neighbours said they'd call round, and they literally got in their car, backed out of their driveway, and drove round to next door and parked in his driveway 😬
I've been a cyclist in LA for a year and a half and love it more every day while seeing more and more how unpleasant and dangerous cars are. Great to see another urbanist on RUclips. Subscribed.
For some reason I find your videos so fascinating, even though I don't even live in North America but in Europe. As someone who's gone down the RUclips rabbithole of terrible urban planning many times before, much of the information you present I've encountered before in some way. Though you condense it all in a pretty unique and appealing way, which I find not many channels do when making videos on these subjects. I think your content is very well digestible for the average Joe and I hope you will keep up with it as I really enjoy your style and the high quality of your videos!
Great video! I like your take on the subject at hand with liminal spaces. It always felt like a wasteland living in the suburbs even though their are hundreds of people living near me. Just to get a coffee, get groceries, or go to the gym requieres me to go 10s of miles in traffic, when this should be just be a 20 min bike ride at the most. Going from one air conditioned box to another doesn’t live up to the expectation of the American Dream that’s sought after. It’s is genuinely a chore to live a healthy lifestyle in these communities. Keep up the great work, creators like you raise awareness of this issue. It keeps giving the movement momentum!
Instant sub for another outspoken Canadian armchair urbanist. We really need to update these stupid 70 year old street design standards and zoning laws. We don't even have to re-invent the wheel here just go and copy the Dutch or Denmark road design manual. I think some of them even have english versions too.
I've always felt that when civic leaders tout "sustainability" and "climate goals" as priorities, oh, and "getting people out of their cars" when launching transportation projects they are completely missing the mark in a huge way. Those talking points are nonsense and meaningless to a pretty significant population. If we simply design our cities to be "nice" and "beautiful" and "economically efficient" I believe we would have less pushback. After all, world-class cities that are beautiful, comfortable, and efficient will by default be sustainable and meet our climate goals. Perhaps it's as simple as, "Make our Cities Beautiful Again!"
Nearly half of America lives in rural places, like myself. I don't care what you do in your cities. Ban cars outright in the city for all I care. The problem is that the laws you vote for in effort to do XYZ to your city also effect people who live outside your city. So for example, the massive voting power of Cincinnati and Cleveland will dominate rural Ohio. If the urbanites vote to halt all new road construction, reduce the size of roads, and increase taxes on personal vehicles, that might be great for Cincinnati and Cleveland. But it does nothing other than hurt everyone living in rural Ohio whose conditions are nothing whatsoever like that of those major cities. But it's not really about improving the cities and we all know that, it's about control. Removing personal transportation to make the masses dependent on state operated transportation.
@@charlesbrown4483 we don't want to ban cars, we want multiple modes of transportation to ease congestion and make our community spaces more vibrant. That is freedom, having to use the car as our only choice is not. As for rural, of course the car is the ideal transport
@@richardalvarez2390 Uh huh whatever you say. I don’t care what you want or what you do. You can live in Hong Kong cages for all I care. Ban cars, demolish all the roads, go the full 9 yards. I still won’t take part in your urban micro-lifestyle like some party loyalist worker ant. I have 80 acres, natural gas reserves, my own central power pumpjacks, horses, river access, stocked ponds… I can live perfectly fine without the modern world.
My city is Philadelphia and it’s definitely not ugly. Top tier urbanism and skyline. Even the suburbs are more urban and dense then most sunbelt cities.
Philadelphia is a historical city. Your lucky it has kept some of its old urban fabric. Can't say the same is true for more sprawling or newer cities. San Francisco and LA literally paving paradise with highways and sprawl in what is one of the best climates to live and do farming.
@@Amir-jn5moSF is hardly sprawling. It’s one of the most walkable cities outside the northeast/Chicago and has suburbs that are generally walkable, and the mountains/water have made LA-style sprawl pretty much impossible
A community is only ugly because it reflects the character of the inhabitants of the community. A suburb is sterile because the people who live in those cookie cutter homes & cookie cutter streets are more concerned about maximizing the return on their "investment" than they are about enjoying life & getting to know their community. Suburbs are like near death experiences, which always reflects the local culture that the the individual who had the NDE was exposed to while growing up. For instance Christians or Muslims never report experiencing the afterlife of a Hinduism of Buddhism, and a Buddhist who grew up in a Buddhist community would never report experiencing the afterlife of Judaism. The only way for the country to stop being so sterile is for the nation to experience a foundation shaking event such as the great depression 2 & ww3. It's like expecting someone who grew up in Corn Town USA to become a Buddhist after rejecting Christianity in general, more likely they'll become atheist instead of adopting another religion after rejecting theirs. In urban planning sense they're more likely to move to another sterile corn town than to support the idea of mass transit.
@@kagakai7729 Making fun of retail workers huh? That’s interesting. You ultra-left wing people are always going on and on about the working class, but that’s what you really think of them lol.
Amazing video! A lot of smaller urbanist channels feel very amature-like, but this could have been uploaded by a channel with >100k subs, very professional and well made.
Don't live anywhere where it snows; that's number 1. Also, please ensure that your home is within walking distance of 15 minutes or less from a park, grocery store, school, and shopping center with multiple stores. Also, please ensure that your home has a picturesque view of the mountains and that you are at least a 15-minute walk from a body of water you can swim in. I got that for less than $229,000 in California, and my nearby park is 286 acres with 7 lake ponds, pickleball courts, tennis courts, an Olympic size swimming pool, baseball fields, softball fields, soccer fields, a 1,500-seat amphitheater, and a 30,000 sqft community center.
Finally someone who shares my point of view. I have been arguing with wife and friends about how shity these places look. My grandparents old town in Mexico looks like the palace of England, except for the wealth, compared to these shit hole so called suburbs. Good luck if you plan on retiring on these boring nothing but consuming crap you don't need. Good video 👍👍
NYC is the only place in america where you truly dont need a car to live their. some other american cities are walkable to some extent, but no where near the walkability of nyc. i moved from north jersey where the neighborhoods are walkable for the most part and their are urban centers sprinkled through out the area that are within walking distance, to tampa fl. the main reason for the move was because cost of living in jersey was really high compared to tampa when it came to housing, taxes utilities, etc. i've lived here for 2 years now and their are rarely any walkable neighborhoods. luckily the city is putting in a lot of effort to improve walkablility with new buildings and infrastructure, but the tampa bay area as a whole as a long way to go when it comes to walkability and transit.
The corporate mind is bland, plain, no room for anything but churning out profits. Profits don't have time for aesthetics. Day to day life in America is total monotonous garbage.
Look at how much area is concreted for roads. Areas where rainwater cannot even drain properly. How many square kilometers is that? What a waste. What a terribly ugly sight. And this massive sealing of huge areas brings with it completely different problems yet.
Great topic! This video does however neglect the fact that suburbia can certainly be beautiful, and that it seems like all of the images were cherry picked. And in some cases urban design can be even worse than suburbia.
I hate planned communities. They plop all the houses in a clump and all of the commercial (third places) in the same place. We have a local town that’s all planned. The restaurants and shops have 6 lane roads around them. My suburb is not planned. We have shopping within 1 mile and have a center of town with local shops and restaurants. Supermarkets and other restaurants and stores have organically been built. Which is close to different parts of the town.
I bet your mother thinks you're filling your head with nonsense. Either way, I think it's great you're making monetized, thought provoking content. Keep it up
Hot take: if American highways had easier access to and more towns along them or if there were more alternative routes buses would be more viable because most people where I am (UK) won't bus around for more than 2 hours.
It took us 75 years to totally fuck it up, ie, our built environment by basing our entire society around the automobile, and it's going to take us over 100 years to fix it. A great book on the subject of logical town and neighborhood planning is, "Suburban Nation" by new urbanists Andre Duany and Liz Zyberk, with input from architect Jeff Speck. All thinking Americans and Canadians should read it. It's a fascinating read, but most of you won't read it, as you just watch videos.
Another huge factor is the same for having trains. Only cities that were designed during the horse and buggy days works for rapid transit. All of these types of cities have mixed use real estate because by definition, were walkable cities.
I liked the addition at 2:36. people have very low attention spans nowadays. But next time you gotta put some gta gameplay as well along with 10 other screens of nonsense.
would be interested in a video on rural america vs countryside europe. i feel like people compare city design between USA and EU often but not sure if i've seen anyone talk about spaces outside of city/suburbs.
I think your videos are great but at the same time very tragic. I agree with 99% of what you say but I think its tragic that only people will watch and listen to you which already share your opinion.
The people who blame crime or negligence purely on individual behavior concern me. When they talk about it like a problem without an external root cause, they are ultimately claiming that there doesn't need to be an incentive to commit dangerous acts or develop dangerous behaviors. And while they may be be saying this in an attempt to other certain groups of people they deem criminals, the reality is they are admitting that they to think it that the natural state of humans is selfish and inconsiderate behavior... and these are the people making our laws and running out countries, demonizing a starving vagrant or an overworked driver whilst willingly making life tough for said people. Basically a self report of narcisistic sociopathy.
The city of Lost Wages is horrible in this regard. There could me a small gas station market around the corner.... but to walk there, you have go far to get around the Trump type walls that divide housing projects.
@@allergy5634 Your right, I should have said initially they are built for tax generating purposes, after that they end up costing the city too much to maintain.
@@allergy5634 Yep, the politicians get elected, put up huge developments, get paid under the table, generate a lot of tax income initially, call it a huge win, then the next politician gets to take care of the mess they made and only make things worse. Its a downward spiral that ends up 3rd world like were living in right now.
i grew up in lewisville texas. its a shit hole with high crime and i hated going outside. I lived right behind a gas station and walmart that lead to a highway. I moved to denton for a year when i was 7 and it was even worse. The houses all looked the same, it smelled like dust from the construction everywhere. Only place I liked living was flower mound. Cities are dirty as fuck and you cant walk around at night without getting jumped
American cities are awfull. One of the main reasons I refuse to ever move in north America is that it is so hard to find a pleasant place to live. And the few lefts are just too expensive. It's really that hard to ask for a place where you want to take an ice cream outdoors under a few trees? I mean, f*ck, a basic village in Europe allows for this.
North American cities are garbage. Too many people and too many stressors. Europe is different. I absolutely loved spending time outside and talking to new people when I was in Germany.
I'm from rural Scotland, lived in London for a decade, I currently live in Pennsylvania I like the American 'standard' - It maybe doesn't work for people who to struggle through life renting property and paying delivery fees (because they don't own a car) and I can't walk to "the" restaurant any more than I could in I lived back in a rural place. But sorry, I prefer the setup. And that's why the situation won't change. People *like* suburbs, they don't want to live in a 500 sq ft apartment and be locked in place.
@@jalifritz8033 Because there are two types of people in the World: those who seek out socialization and those who don't. I avoid socialization. I prefer suburbs and rural living. I would never live in a mixed use neighborhood. It isn't my thing. I don't want to run into people and be expected to chat with them. That isn't me. Those who seek out socialization are the people who desire mixed use neighborhoods. More people are social than are not, so there is more demand for them. They are more willing to pay premium prices for amenities, too. Those folks, like myself, who avoid social interaction don't have as much use for amenities.
Except that humans don't always want socialization, or they want very limited socialization. Some people, like myself, want to go where they can get away from other people and rest. Being around other people is tiring, annoying, and stressful. We're at school/work most of the time and can't get away from other people no matter how much we want to. We're trapped by other people. We need to have caves/homes to retreat to for alone time. Family members in suburban homes tend to retreat to a room that is set aside just for themselves. Once I go home, I like to retreat to my she-cave for the next 4-5 hours until bedtime - no human contact wanted. Those 3rd places are places of stress and undesirable to people like myself. There are two types of humans in this World: one type seeks out socialization and the other type avoids it. I avoid it. I suspect that many suburbanites are also of the avoidance ilk. People want to be happy. They will do what makes them happy. For people like myself, we are only happy when we are NOT hanging around or meeting other people. We don't like the social seekers trying to make us hang out with them. They don't seem to realize how repulsive they are to us. Also, surveys are going to naturally be skewed. Social people are more apt to take a survey. A person who desires to avoid human contact is also more likely to avoid responding to surveys. Surveys are an invasion of alone time.
@gardenstatePR I come from a long line of farmers, until the turn of this century. We now live in the suburbs. Unlike other folks who moved from the cities to the suburbs, we went the opposite direction - from the farms to the suburbs. STOIC is the word that people always use to describe my family. Other words people use to describe us are: anti-social, loners, robotic, automatons, etc. We don't socialize. We never did. We always self-isolate. We prefer it that way.
I don’t get your comment because where is this man saying that everyone needs to go to these third places? You’ll always have your home to have solitude. As for the critique of suburbs - he’s talking about the usual “American suburb”. There’s other designs of them that make much more sense, and actually are much closer to small towns, and a key characteristic is that they aren’t stretching miles and miles. Small towns are where it’s at anyway - they aren’t too busy, single-family homes with nice yards is common, and they have essential stores and services, and manage to sustain a few Mom n’ Pop stores and restaurants. Things are quite close together so walks are nice, it’s not just houses and parking lots. Much better in functionality and design, and perfect for socially anxious people who still want some convenience. I lived in a small town for a time - it was a 30 minute commute to work from the city, but I didn’t have to drive there for anything else.
@@reckonerwheel5336 Unless you stack people on top of each other, not everybody is going to have a grocer, a pharmacy, a barber, a restaurant, a school within walking distance.
I don’t blame you one bit. I drive a delivery truck route in the Atlanta area and the more time I spend out in public, the less I want to be there. It’s so nice to come home and not have to be around traffic and weirdos for the rest of the day. A lot of times my wife goes shopping alone on the weekends because I just don’t have any more patience for stupidity after being out in public all week. I’ll be glad to retire just for the quiet personal time. I cant afford to live in a gated community, but I can certainly see why a lot of retirees like them.
Technically, yes. But even with deadly diversity, cities could still be prettier. There are ways to prevent the different races from mingling without making the entire city car-centric and hideous.
Asian content creator , listening to Kpop , but worshiping Netherlands...... you understand there is alot Asian country that actually successfully reducing car ownership? let me guess it because you watch Just .... Bike?
If you don't like the cities where you live, move. If enough people agreed with you, they would change the laws. The whole city or neighborhood should not have to change because you don't like it. Go live someplace you like. This isn't the 1800's when moving to a different city was much much more difficult.
This video seems to be a collection of the same points the same thousand vides have been said about American cities and walkability, blah blah blah. Not original. Except for Western Europe and some Asian cities, almost all cities in the World are very ugly. Have you seen how hideous are cities in Latin America? Some High Density cities are also hideous and dangerous, so just because a city is walkable it is not necessarily safe or clean. Many of these people walk because they cannot afford a car, not because they enjoy it nor NYC people enjoy riding a train with drug addicts and dangerous smelly criminals. In contrast, I find American small towns are very beautiful and walkable, even adequate for cycling, which is ironic considering that city lovers often hate small towns. The 70s and 80s were way more social and yet they were still car-centric. I suspect there are other reasons people are choosing not to socialize, such as internet. People just want para-social relationships.
All AMERICAN IGNORE.. it,s the same in France with village and small town.. I live in the suburb of le Mans. You have thousands of very cute village, small town . Very nice looking with flowers, cute homes, and the church in the middle..some HAVE NO SHOP.. NOTHING.. only patisserie, Boulanger. That,s all.. it,s the same life you live in your suburb in USA..I,am lucky, I live in a small town with 2 supermarket, and all shop I wan except CINEMA. but, I, am lucky. It,s rare... it,s called in France DESERTIFICATION
As an engineer, I completely agree with your points on bad road and neighborhood design. It's what I've said for years -- we could have cities and towns that both have what people need close by and don't destroy the environment. It just takes designing them right.
but but that's a liberal agenda that takes away from my freedum… I need a parking space in front of my house becuz my 2 car garage is full of crap I bought and never used! why would I want a corner store within walking distance when I can waste gas and not get exercise to get my food?! besides we don't want that riff raff (everyday people who aren't white) hanging around!!
Sorry chief, I don't want to live next door to a shopping mall and an Applebee's. I don't want to live next door to anything or anyone. And oh yeah it's the little tiny car engines destroying the environment, not general overpopulation, ocean liners and airplanes. Incredible.
@@charlesbrown4483 Sorry chief, there's 8 billion people in the world and they're not going anywhere, so we can't design society around your desire for seclusion. Besides, ocean liners and airplanes may be bad for the environment, doesn't mean the billions of cars aren't tho.
@@LeSpeederus 8 billion people hardly cover a fraction of Earth’s landmass. So too bad for you, I’ll stay on my nice secluded property. Your desire to force me into a city to act as a socialist worker ant will never come to fruition. Ban the cars, ban private property, ban everything. I’ve still got horses and guns and I can survive without you. You’ll just have to kill me, I won’t be a part of your regime.
@@charlesbrown4483no one is asking for ugly big box stores to be next to houses. The stores and businesses would have to compact, with low parking and in the format of downtown
When I went to America (I’m British) I wanted to love it. I really wanted to, but half of my time was spent in a car, and not a single neighbourhood felt real. I became so homesick and depressed, the only place I didn’t feel like that was NYC. I don’t understand why Americans are so delusional abt cars. 😕
Everything is built around cars. If you don’t have a car, you’re basically dead. Can’t have a job, can’t go really anywhere or do anything. When an American gets their license, for the first time in 2 decades they have the “freedom” to leave their home. This false freedom tricks the average non-critical thinking American that cars are cool and good because they allow us to go literally anywhere that isn’t our suburban neighborhood. I personally have friends who say they “enjoy driving” but appear constantly frustrated or their eyes are glazed over when they drive. My theory is that no one actually enjoys driving they just “enjoy” this false freedom
Dude i moved from nyc to boston ! And boston has NO PUBLIC RESTROOMS! And few third spaces. Because of this work to home back and forth the only people in the city are students and it causes a horrible strain on the local culture :|
Living in car dependent cities is so depressing
@@AbrahamCasillas-t3o You tripping bro my grandma's neighborhood in Beijing is awesome
@@kagakai7729 When I mean traditional I mean walkeable and things to do.
looking at american cities in the 1920’s before car dependent infrastructure is a dream
That era had its share of perils too, like dying of tuberculosis in over-crowded tenement buildings.
My city looks like a blown poophole
@@Zalis116That's not the point of his comment though. Yes, when comparing societal health from today to the 1920s, today clearly has it better. In terms of civil engineering/urban planning, though, the 1920s is the winner.
but the low riders though
@@Zalis116 how come Europe is not dying from tuberculosis now but still saved old architecture and vibrant cities? :)
I hated growing up in suburbia. Always felt like I was being watched by someone peeping out the window, looking for even the slightest hint of trouble to report to their personal army, the police. So everyone just stays in doors and it almost feels questionable to walk around. Like why would you walk around when you have a car and a house? No need for walking so are you looking to burgle a place? It just sucks.
Maybe you grew up in a crap suburb. I grew up on Long Island. Manhattan was 52 minutes by train, Jones Beach was 15 minutes and the Hamptons an hour and skiing an hour and a half. I'm sorry you grew up in a crap suburb of a crap city, you're pretty damn ignorant if you think all suburbs are the same!
The American dream has been dead ever since minimum wage stopped allowing you to afford basic necessities
sigh this is a fact and I wish it wasn’t.
The UK minimum wage is £11.40, which at current exchange rates is $14.19. Denmark doesn't have a minimum wage law but it has strong unions and as such the current hourly pay rate for McDonald's workers in Denmark has an exchange rate value of $23.10.
@@maxisussex Denmark is also a tiny little anglo-country that DOESN'T have 1,500 illegal immigrants entering it's borders every single day.
@@charlesbrown4483 I'm not sure what Anglo is referring to. Denmark is not Anglo in anyway. But overall numbers aren't relevant, it is the per capita numbers that count. Denmark is popular with illegals, or was, they are learning.
People that keep wanting to raise the minimum wage is the problem. It's no wonder those states that raised the minimum wage are having mass lay off and fewer workers. The problem is the FED and inflation. We have to get rid of the fed and get rid of paper currency that is inflationary for gold backed
I grew up in "suburbia". Looking back most of our trips were within 5 miles of the house and yet we needed a car to reach them. I now live in Chicago in a neighborhood with access to a 24/7 train line, bike share stations, etc and yet there are shortcomings. I'd love more inviting PUBLIC spaces to make friends and acquaintances. Yes we have parks and such in Chicago but most of them lack seating and restrooms which I consider basic/ the floor. I'd also love heat lamps or fire pits so we can enjoy our parks more in the winter. My point is, even in cities typically seen as great American cities, there's still plenty of room for improvement.💜 Great video. Loved that you showed what we're missing in the United States. It's sad how few people realize what we're being deprived of. If people don't know about better options, they can't demand better.
It is hard to have those sorts of aminenties without first dealing with the homelessness issue
@@LucasDimoveoYup Chicago is being stretched thin right now because republicans think it's funny to send influxes of migrants that we would never get if the incoming migrants were dispersed more evenly throughout the country like they should have been.
Also many parks and public spaces in Chicago go neglected, especially on the south and west sides. I'd much rather see those parks get some treatment, but we absolutely need more bathrooms everywhere
@@carstarsarstenstesenn I'm not a Republican, but I agree with what they have been doing in this instance. The illegal immigrants/asylum seekers weren't being dispersed evenly throughout the country. The Feds were dumping them off in the States that they entered which are all located on the border. The resources meant for citizens in those States were being depleted and this had been going on for years now. The other States weren't doing their fair share in taking in and caring for the immigrants. Bussing them elsewhere has brought our pathetic border policy the attention it has been needing for a long time. Now citizens NOT in the border States have a better understanding of the trouble that our Federal immigration policy has wrought. It has brought communities together to stave off the influx of immigrants. People are more aware of the resources and of the amenities, such as parks, that serve their communities. The saying: "You don't know what you have until it's gone" applies.
@@laurie7689 They're still no being "dispersed" evenly, they're disproportionately being sent to NY and Chicago which are both known for their freezing winters when they could be sent more evenly to other dem areas, especially areas that don't go below freezing
@@carstarsarstenstesenn Those two areas have more pull from the current White House than some of the other areas. If we want things to change, we need the folks in those places making their complaints heard. The Feds turned a deaf ear to the Border States long ago.
This is not really a design issue. This is a policy issue. You see, regulations like minimum parking requirements make it expensive to open up businesses. Small businesses don't have as much capital to meet the parking requirements, and so big businesses dominate as they can open up more stores with less profit for longer periods of time.
Small businesses provide variety and individual flair while big corporations must standardize and be uniform to take advantage of economies of scale. When you have policies that abort small businesses from forming, all we have left are McDonalds, Chilis, Holiday Inn, Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Office Depot, Home Depot, etc etc etc in an endless loop.
Contrast this to a mix-used neighborhood before parking requirements and you get more mom and pop restaurants and shops, some with interesting store fronts. When employees and customers live walking distance, parking isn't as needed. Small businesses can thrive with regular patrons that live close by.
Yet people chose to patronize Wal-Mart when they moved into small towns that had pre-existing local/main-street businesses -- those weren't killed off by parking and setback requirements. Turns out people like going to one store that's likely to have everything they need, instead of spending more time and money at 5 different stores. A landscape dominated by corporate monopolies isn't ideal, but I am skeptical that merely changing the regulations and building mixed-use developments would spawn new small businesses, especially when people don't have money sitting around to start them. Not to mention the challenges of securing health coverage.
@@Zalis116 of course they were killed by parking requirements, zoning, car centric infrastructure. As the town developed over the years, people were zoned further away from Main Street. Roads were built to accommodate car centric travel.
Newer people lived further away from Main Street and therefore had to drive there. Housing close to Main Street were redlined.
They weren’t allowed to build taller building on or close to main street which would have provided housing for workers and customers. The town was prohibited from growing vertically and densifying.
A shopping mall or a Walmart is pretty much equivalent to a Main Street one must drive to.
Don’t forget that these Walmarts and shopping malls are feed by freeways which are massively subsidized by the Federal Government.
Not only this, parking requirements force many Main Street from expansion (in the same layout). Main Street ends when regulation abiding businesses with lots of parking start so those places are quaint little islands of walkability one must drive to.
Cities also force parking requirements on Main Street which forces business to destroy existing buildings to abide by the regulation. This kills the appeal of Main Street even more.
If you look at old pictures of American cities, there were more buildings in downtowns and not nearly as much parking lots and parking structures.
Prospective business that do no have the funds to do this don’t get to start. Many Main Street store fronts simply remain vacant for lack of off-street parking to satisfy the requirements.
Walmart doesn’t do nearly as well in Europe and Asia. Walmart is great only if you have a car.
The local grocery store might be a little more expensive but if it’s walking distance, then you save by not having a car. Of course, you won’t have a car for work and other things either which only is feasible in a sufficiently walkable town.
@@Zalis116 each regulation imposes a financial penalty on a business. Some of these are justifiable like building codes, health codes, fire, and other safety concerns.
If people don’t have a lot of money to begin with, then imposing more costly regulations not helpful. And the more costly the regulation, the more infeasible a business venture becomes.
Parking requirements forces businesses to shoulder the cost to providing parking. It’s not so much the cost of construction but rather the opportunity cost of the space itself.
In a car dependent area, this regulation is redundant as providing sufficient parking makes sense on its own. Businesses will die without parking for customers.
In walkable neighborhood, this regulation is punishing. That parking space could have been more restaurant or retail space that could be used to service more customers and generate more revenue.
Small businesses are more profit sensitive so capping revenues is bad.
Big businesses have more resources where they can lose money on some locations for a longer time.
In a regime of excessive regulation, entrenched business with expertise and resources will be the only ones left while most new aspirants without substantial starting capital are aborted from the start.
If you go to any walkable neighborhood, you’ll see way more diversity of businesses and not so many chains. If you go to a car dependent area, it’s almost all chain businesses.
@@Zalis116 Yes, I prefer stores that offer more variety which small stores can't. I want one-stop shopping that I can quickly get what I want and get the heck out. I don't want to shop around. I want to get back to my home and away from other people. Some of us don't want to be around other people after we are done with our work.
@@Basta11 Most of my ancestors here in the USA were farmers. We live in suburbs now. We've never lived in walking distance of anything, ever. Going downtown has always meant driving whether it be automobile or horse and wagon. Being around people is tiring and not something we like. We don't want to live in walking distance of shops, people, etc. We just don't have a choice anymore because all the frigging city people moved out of the cities into our turf. The suburbs are as close to the city as we're willing to move and THAT is too many people for us, too.
Great Video. It perfectly explains why I as a german always felt so weirded out by American suburbs. It just seems so lifeless, non inspirational and not aesthetic. Even in the worst suburbs in germany I dont get a feeling like this, there is always shops, restourants plants and trees nearby that don't seem unnatural, people walking around or taking the bike and it's always full of life no matter what.
I live in the suburbs in the USA. I'm too tired from working to walk around and enjoy life. I go home, sit in my she-cave for several hours, then go to bed. Get up the next morning for work, and repeat. After dealing with people at work, I don't want to deal with people after work. I want to rest well away from other people.
American suburbs have people out and about all the time
We like privacy. We’re not any colony drone-people like Europeans. I don’t live in the middle of fucking no where so I can have a department store built next to my house and have idiots trampling over my property 24/7. I live in the middle of nowhere so I can avoid people.
Ok cool story Nazi. But did you know America isn't just suburbs? Guess you're not as cultured as you thought you were.
@@laurie7689That's antisocial behavior, dealing with people outside of work is different. It's laid back and more chill. Also not walking leads to obese unhealthy people and unhealthy people leads to not being able to handle people or having a sour mood that leaves with poor relationships
"When your destination is far enough that you have to drive": I heard the story from someone (possibly Bill Bryson) telling how his neighbours said they'd call round, and they literally got in their car, backed out of their driveway, and drove round to next door and parked in his driveway 😬
I've been a cyclist in LA for a year and a half and love it more every day while seeing more and more how unpleasant and dangerous cars are. Great to see another urbanist on RUclips. Subscribed.
For some reason I find your videos so fascinating, even though I don't even live in North America but in Europe. As someone who's gone down the RUclips rabbithole of terrible urban planning many times before, much of the information you present I've encountered before in some way. Though you condense it all in a pretty unique and appealing way, which I find not many channels do when making videos on these subjects. I think your content is very well digestible for the average Joe and I hope you will keep up with it as I really enjoy your style and the high quality of your videos!
Great video! I like your take on the subject at hand with liminal spaces. It always felt like a wasteland living in the suburbs even though their are hundreds of people living near me. Just to get a coffee, get groceries, or go to the gym requieres me to go 10s of miles in traffic, when this should be just be a 20 min bike ride at the most. Going from one air conditioned box to another doesn’t live up to the expectation of the American Dream that’s sought after. It’s is genuinely a chore to live a healthy lifestyle in these communities.
Keep up the great work, creators like you raise awareness of this issue. It keeps giving the movement momentum!
"and just so you guys don't click off" pulls up laptop with background gameplay. You sir are funny as shit
Instant sub for another outspoken Canadian armchair urbanist. We really need to update these stupid 70 year old street design standards and zoning laws. We don't even have to re-invent the wheel here just go and copy the Dutch or Denmark road design manual. I think some of them even have english versions too.
Your humorous and well-read style is such a level up from so many platforms on here. Subbed!
I've always felt that when civic leaders tout "sustainability" and "climate goals" as priorities, oh, and "getting people out of their cars" when launching transportation projects they are completely missing the mark in a huge way. Those talking points are nonsense and meaningless to a pretty significant population. If we simply design our cities to be "nice" and "beautiful" and "economically efficient" I believe we would have less pushback. After all, world-class cities that are beautiful, comfortable, and efficient will by default be sustainable and meet our climate goals. Perhaps it's as simple as, "Make our Cities Beautiful Again!"
Nearly half of America lives in rural places, like myself. I don't care what you do in your cities. Ban cars outright in the city for all I care. The problem is that the laws you vote for in effort to do XYZ to your city also effect people who live outside your city.
So for example, the massive voting power of Cincinnati and Cleveland will dominate rural Ohio. If the urbanites vote to halt all new road construction, reduce the size of roads, and increase taxes on personal vehicles, that might be great for Cincinnati and Cleveland. But it does nothing other than hurt everyone living in rural Ohio whose conditions are nothing whatsoever like that of those major cities.
But it's not really about improving the cities and we all know that, it's about control. Removing personal transportation to make the masses dependent on state operated transportation.
@@charlesbrown4483 we don't want to ban cars, we want multiple modes of transportation to ease congestion and make our community spaces more vibrant. That is freedom, having to use the car as our only choice is not. As for rural, of course the car is the ideal transport
@@richardalvarez2390 Uh huh whatever you say. I don’t care what you want or what you do. You can live in Hong Kong cages for all I care. Ban cars, demolish all the roads, go the full 9 yards. I still won’t take part in your urban micro-lifestyle like some party loyalist worker ant. I have 80 acres, natural gas reserves, my own central power pumpjacks, horses, river access, stocked ponds… I can live perfectly fine without the modern world.
My city is Philadelphia and it’s definitely not ugly. Top tier urbanism and skyline. Even the suburbs are more urban and dense then most sunbelt cities.
Top tier urbanism? The majority of the city doesn’t even have proper bike lanes and SEPTA is a joke(for now).
Philadelphia is a historical city. Your lucky it has kept some of its old urban fabric. Can't say the same is true for more sprawling or newer cities. San Francisco and LA literally paving paradise with highways and sprawl in what is one of the best climates to live and do farming.
San Francisco is not sprawl. It’s dense and walkable. I live here and I know.
@@Amir-jn5moSF is hardly sprawling. It’s one of the most walkable cities outside the northeast/Chicago and has suburbs that are generally walkable, and the mountains/water have made LA-style sprawl pretty much impossible
A community is only ugly because it reflects the character of the inhabitants of the community. A suburb is sterile because the people who live in those cookie cutter homes & cookie cutter streets are more concerned about maximizing the return on their "investment" than they are about enjoying life & getting to know their community.
Suburbs are like near death experiences, which always reflects the local culture that the the individual who had the NDE was exposed to while growing up. For instance Christians or Muslims never report experiencing the afterlife of a Hinduism of Buddhism, and a Buddhist who grew up in a Buddhist community would never report experiencing the afterlife of Judaism.
The only way for the country to stop being so sterile is for the nation to experience a foundation shaking event such as the great depression 2 & ww3.
It's like expecting someone who grew up in Corn Town USA to become a Buddhist after rejecting Christianity in general, more likely they'll become atheist instead of adopting another religion after rejecting theirs. In urban planning sense they're more likely to move to another sterile corn town than to support the idea of mass transit.
"Everything I don't like is sterile, stupid and pointless. Be like me or else."
@@charlesbrown4483 Shouldn't you be on the clock at Walmart, right now?
@@kagakai7729 Making fun of retail workers huh? That’s interesting. You ultra-left wing people are always going on and on about the working class, but that’s what you really think of them lol.
Amazing video! A lot of smaller urbanist channels feel very amature-like, but this could have been uploaded by a channel with >100k subs, very professional and well made.
I don't know what beauty even looks like.
Don't live anywhere where it snows; that's number 1. Also, please ensure that your home is within walking distance of 15 minutes or less from a park, grocery store, school, and shopping center with multiple stores. Also, please ensure that your home has a picturesque view of the mountains and that you are at least a 15-minute walk from a body of water you can swim in. I got that for less than $229,000 in California, and my nearby park is 286 acres with 7 lake ponds, pickleball courts, tennis courts, an Olympic size swimming pool, baseball fields, softball fields, soccer fields, a 1,500-seat amphitheater, and a 30,000 sqft community center.
Where in California is this?
Unfortunately a lot of people that live in cities/urban sprawls tend to be on anti-depressants due to the lack of nature and space.
As soon as I turned 18 I left my parent’s house and moved into the downtown - inner city. Can’t stand the suburbs.
Finally someone who shares my point of view. I have been arguing with wife and friends about how shity these places look. My grandparents old town in Mexico looks like the palace of England, except for the wealth, compared to these shit hole so called suburbs. Good luck if you plan on retiring on these boring nothing but consuming crap you don't need. Good video 👍👍
Dude your videos on urban planning are SO GOOD and well researched
Currently binge watching a few of them
NYC is the only place in america where you truly dont need a car to live their. some other american cities are walkable to some extent, but no where near the walkability of nyc. i moved from north jersey where the neighborhoods are walkable for the most part and their are urban centers sprinkled through out the area that are within walking distance, to tampa fl. the main reason for the move was because cost of living in jersey was really high compared to tampa when it came to housing, taxes utilities, etc. i've lived here for 2 years now and their are rarely any walkable neighborhoods. luckily the city is putting in a lot of effort to improve walkablility with new buildings and infrastructure, but the tampa bay area as a whole as a long way to go when it comes to walkability and transit.
The corporate mind is bland, plain, no room for anything but churning out profits. Profits don't have time for aesthetics. Day to day life in America is total monotonous garbage.
How this has so little views? Bro spittin facts
The RUclips algorithm
these videos make me so depressed, confirming everything I already knew, despite having no way to change it
Look at how much area is concreted for roads. Areas where rainwater cannot even drain properly. How many square kilometers is that? What a waste. What a terribly ugly sight. And this massive sealing of huge areas brings with it completely different problems yet.
You realize there are drains on the roads, yeah?
Great topic! This video does however neglect the fact that suburbia can certainly be beautiful, and that it seems like all of the images were cherry picked. And in some cases urban design can be even worse than suburbia.
I hate planned communities. They plop all the houses in a clump and all of the commercial (third places) in the same place. We have a local town that’s all planned. The restaurants and shops have 6 lane roads around them. My suburb is not planned. We have shopping within 1 mile and have a center of town with local shops and restaurants. Supermarkets and other restaurants and stores have organically been built. Which is close to different parts of the town.
These city problems are not fixable
Perhaps the best thing you can do is find a small town that is walkable
I'm from Maine. Every time I visit Boston, it's a paranoid over-stimulating nightmare.
Thank you for sharing !
I think suburbia 🏘️ looks amazing I like when things look nice and clean
I bet your mother thinks you're filling your head with nonsense. Either way, I think it's great you're making monetized, thought provoking content. Keep it up
A wise man once said:
"Life is a simulation"
Dude I drive around San Antonio & everything is run down & SHIT
Hot take: if American highways had easier access to and more towns along them or if there were more alternative routes buses would be more viable because most people where I am (UK) won't bus around for more than 2 hours.
It took us 75 years to totally fuck it up, ie, our built environment by basing our entire society around the automobile, and it's going to take us over 100 years to fix it. A great book on the subject of logical town and neighborhood planning is, "Suburban Nation" by new urbanists Andre Duany and Liz Zyberk, with input from architect Jeff Speck. All thinking Americans and Canadians should read it. It's a fascinating read, but most of you won't read it, as you just watch videos.
Another huge factor is the same for having trains. Only cities that were designed during the horse and buggy days works for rapid transit. All of these types of cities have mixed use real estate because by definition, were walkable cities.
I liked the addition at 2:36. people have very low attention spans nowadays. But next time you gotta put some gta gameplay as well along with 10 other screens of nonsense.
And some other brainrot
solid piece of content, cant wait to see what you do next bro :)
While I used to think that Russian cities and ex-Eastern Bloc country neighbourhoods were the worst.
Subscribed
Exactly. It’s homogeneous, monochromatic, monotonous, depressing.
And totally my vibe.
@@laurie7689 We know.
I like your use of Mario SFX
Ohmygoodness please be safe. Don’t get hurt making these videos for us.
would be interested in a video on rural america vs countryside europe. i feel like people compare city design between USA and EU often but not sure if i've seen anyone talk about spaces outside of city/suburbs.
I think your videos are great but at the same time very tragic.
I agree with 99% of what you say but I think its tragic that only people will watch and listen to you which already share your opinion.
Canada is in the same boat with this stuff, unfortunately.
Nothing but strip malls, with huge empty lots.
2:43 ah man!!! what happened!? it was working lol
.....oh! it's back! WAIT! now it's gone again? 😥
@@Titoroski187LMAO I FEEL YOUUUU 😭😭😭😭😭
you summed it up perfectly! keep up the good work :)
Amazing to see everyone griping about higher density living when they were all scrambling to get away from it three years ago...
helsinki is not ugly :( ok maybe it is but we have a cathedral which is cool
The people who blame crime or negligence purely on individual behavior concern me. When they talk about it like a problem without an external root cause, they are ultimately claiming that there doesn't need to be an incentive to commit dangerous acts or develop dangerous behaviors. And while they may be be saying this in an attempt to other certain groups of people they deem criminals, the reality is they are admitting that they to think it that the natural state of humans is selfish and inconsiderate behavior... and these are the people making our laws and running out countries, demonizing a starving vagrant or an overworked driver whilst willingly making life tough for said people. Basically a self report of narcisistic sociopathy.
What abt nz
Trust me, Europe is NOT better...
why? and what part of europe? which country...
The city of Lost Wages is horrible in this regard.
There could me a small gas station market around the corner.... but to walk there, you have go far to get around the Trump type walls that divide housing projects.
Poor Kimberly 2:19
Suburbs exist to generate taxes and that's about it.
Ironically suburbs do the opposite of that. They are so resource inefficient that they are a major drain on the coffers of a lot of cities.
@@allergy5634 Your right, I should have said initially they are built for tax generating purposes, after that they end up costing the city too much to maintain.
@@petebusch9069that is true
@@allergy5634 Yep, the politicians get elected, put up huge developments, get paid under the table, generate a lot of tax income initially, call it a huge win, then the next politician gets to take care of the mess they made and only make things worse. Its a downward spiral that ends up 3rd world like were living in right now.
I love living in the burbs.
i grew up in lewisville texas. its a shit hole with high crime and i hated going outside. I lived right behind a gas station and walmart that lead to a highway. I moved to denton for a year when i was 7 and it was even worse. The houses all looked the same, it smelled like dust from the construction everywhere. Only place I liked living was flower mound. Cities are dirty as fuck and you cant walk around at night without getting jumped
American cities are awfull. One of the main reasons I refuse to ever move in north America is that it is so hard to find a pleasant place to live. And the few lefts are just too expensive. It's really that hard to ask for a place where you want to take an ice cream outdoors under a few trees? I mean, f*ck, a basic village in Europe allows for this.
First time I’ve ever heard of high crime in Lewisville. I been to Flowermount once and it looked cool and also expensive.
@@bluecyclone7077 depends where in lewisville
Yeah the “left” leaning cities are now too expensive for average Joes. That’s why Texas and North Carolina have grown so much.
@@notapaypal I doubt that. I stay in oak Cliff
oh bro you come to Pakistan the neighbors always fighting each other
North American cities are garbage. Too many people and too many stressors. Europe is different. I absolutely loved spending time outside and talking to new people when I was in Germany.
HURR HURR AMERICA BAD EUROPE GOOD
@@charlesbrown4483 You clearly failed reading in school. I said cities in America are terrible. That's why most people prefer suburbs or rural areas.
Why do you not have more subscribers?!
Very close to 1k
I'm thoroughly already an urbanist but this video was so good it got me again
not new orleans or brooklyn
Vancouver is ugly except for the nature .
So basically, redlining.
I agree with some, but mostly, you are being judgmental. Your desire may not be another's. We are not the rest of the world. We are America.
I prefer Europe!
I'm from rural Scotland, lived in London for a decade, I currently live in Pennsylvania
I like the American 'standard' - It maybe doesn't work for people who to struggle through life renting property and paying delivery fees (because they don't own a car) and I can't walk to "the" restaurant any more than I could in I lived back in a rural place. But sorry, I prefer the setup. And that's why the situation won't change. People *like* suburbs, they don't want to live in a 500 sq ft apartment and be locked in place.
Than why are mixed use neighbourhoods the most expensive place to live in?
@@jalifritz8033 Because there are two types of people in the World: those who seek out socialization and those who don't. I avoid socialization. I prefer suburbs and rural living. I would never live in a mixed use neighborhood. It isn't my thing. I don't want to run into people and be expected to chat with them. That isn't me. Those who seek out socialization are the people who desire mixed use neighborhoods. More people are social than are not, so there is more demand for them. They are more willing to pay premium prices for amenities, too. Those folks, like myself, who avoid social interaction don't have as much use for amenities.
american urban planners should be ashamed.......no idea how to create communities
The only thing I dislike about walkable environments is you don't see places like Costco or Walmart which are my favorite places to shop at.
@gardenstatePR Oh great, nothing sounds more appealing than living in a walmart.
Except that humans don't always want socialization, or they want very limited socialization. Some people, like myself, want to go where they can get away from other people and rest. Being around other people is tiring, annoying, and stressful. We're at school/work most of the time and can't get away from other people no matter how much we want to. We're trapped by other people. We need to have caves/homes to retreat to for alone time. Family members in suburban homes tend to retreat to a room that is set aside just for themselves. Once I go home, I like to retreat to my she-cave for the next 4-5 hours until bedtime - no human contact wanted. Those 3rd places are places of stress and undesirable to people like myself. There are two types of humans in this World: one type seeks out socialization and the other type avoids it. I avoid it. I suspect that many suburbanites are also of the avoidance ilk. People want to be happy. They will do what makes them happy. For people like myself, we are only happy when we are NOT hanging around or meeting other people. We don't like the social seekers trying to make us hang out with them. They don't seem to realize how repulsive they are to us. Also, surveys are going to naturally be skewed. Social people are more apt to take a survey. A person who desires to avoid human contact is also more likely to avoid responding to surveys. Surveys are an invasion of alone time.
@gardenstatePR I come from a long line of farmers, until the turn of this century. We now live in the suburbs. Unlike other folks who moved from the cities to the suburbs, we went the opposite direction - from the farms to the suburbs. STOIC is the word that people always use to describe my family. Other words people use to describe us are: anti-social, loners, robotic, automatons, etc. We don't socialize. We never did. We always self-isolate. We prefer it that way.
I don’t get your comment because where is this man saying that everyone needs to go to these third places? You’ll always have your home to have solitude. As for the critique of suburbs - he’s talking about the usual “American suburb”. There’s other designs of them that make much more sense, and actually are much closer to small towns, and a key characteristic is that they aren’t stretching miles and miles.
Small towns are where it’s at anyway - they aren’t too busy, single-family homes with nice yards is common, and they have essential stores and services, and manage to sustain a few Mom n’ Pop stores and restaurants. Things are quite close together so walks are nice, it’s not just houses and parking lots. Much better in functionality and design, and perfect for socially anxious people who still want some convenience. I lived in a small town for a time - it was a 30 minute commute to work from the city, but I didn’t have to drive there for anything else.
@@reckonerwheel5336 Unless you stack people on top of each other, not everybody is going to have a grocer, a pharmacy, a barber, a restaurant, a school within walking distance.
@@laurie7689 Funny that so many other countries make it work. Seems like americans are just too weak to live next to others.
I don’t blame you one bit. I drive a delivery truck route in the Atlanta area and the more time I spend out in public, the less I want to be there. It’s so nice to come home and not have to be around traffic and weirdos for the rest of the day. A lot of times my wife goes shopping alone on the weekends because I just don’t have any more patience for stupidity after being out in public all week. I’ll be glad to retire just for the quiet personal time. I cant afford to live in a gated community, but I can certainly see why a lot of retirees like them.
Starts with n and ends with r
Starts with s and ends with k
Technically, yes. But even with deadly diversity, cities could still be prettier. There are ways to prevent the different races from mingling without making the entire city car-centric and hideous.
Asian content creator , listening to Kpop , but worshiping Netherlands...... you understand there is alot Asian country that actually successfully reducing car ownership? let me guess it because you watch Just .... Bike?
Real air of superiority with this one....
😢 😢😢😢
true ong fr fr
Then what city are you in then huh?
Cities by car hahaha
If you don't like the cities where you live, move. If enough people agreed with you, they would change the laws. The whole city or neighborhood should not have to change because you don't like it. Go live someplace you like. This isn't the 1800's when moving to a different city was much much more difficult.
Yo is that subway surfer :0
Bro how long is he going to hold that computer for
I don’t find any city ugly. I learned to appreciate the differences all areas have and the cultures within them.
This video seems to be a collection of the same points the same thousand vides have been said about American cities and walkability, blah blah blah. Not original.
Except for Western Europe and some Asian cities, almost all cities in the World are very ugly. Have you seen how hideous are cities in Latin America?
Some High Density cities are also hideous and dangerous, so just because a city is walkable it is not necessarily safe or clean. Many of these people walk because they cannot afford a car, not because they enjoy it nor NYC people enjoy riding a train with drug addicts and dangerous smelly criminals.
In contrast, I find American small towns are very beautiful and walkable, even adequate for cycling, which is ironic considering that city lovers often hate small towns.
The 70s and 80s were way more social and yet they were still car-centric. I suspect there are other reasons people are choosing not to socialize, such as internet. People just want para-social relationships.
*proceeds to laugh in Dutch
Welp. Boutta live in a rural area cause this man said urban cities and suburbs suck
OUTSIDE LOLZ
I stayed because of the subway surfer
But you are cute!
All AMERICAN IGNORE.. it,s the same in France with village and small town.. I live in the suburb of le Mans. You have thousands of very cute village, small town . Very nice looking with flowers, cute homes, and the church in the middle..some HAVE NO SHOP.. NOTHING.. only patisserie, Boulanger. That,s all.. it,s the same life you live in your suburb in USA..I,am lucky, I live in a small town with 2 supermarket, and all shop I wan except CINEMA. but, I, am lucky. It,s rare... it,s called in France DESERTIFICATION
Why are you obsessed with americans?
South Africa is heavily Americanized.
what's the song playing at the end of the video
As an engineer, I completely agree with your points on bad road and neighborhood design. It's what I've said for years -- we could have cities and towns that both have what people need close by and don't destroy the environment. It just takes designing them right.
but but that's a liberal agenda that takes away from my freedum… I need a parking space in front of my house becuz my 2 car garage is full of crap I bought and never used! why would I want a corner store within walking distance when I can waste gas and not get exercise to get my food?! besides we don't want that riff raff (everyday people who aren't white) hanging around!!
Sorry chief, I don't want to live next door to a shopping mall and an Applebee's. I don't want to live next door to anything or anyone.
And oh yeah it's the little tiny car engines destroying the environment, not general overpopulation, ocean liners and airplanes. Incredible.
@@charlesbrown4483 Sorry chief, there's 8 billion people in the world and they're not going anywhere, so we can't design society around your desire for seclusion. Besides, ocean liners and airplanes may be bad for the environment, doesn't mean the billions of cars aren't tho.
@@LeSpeederus 8 billion people hardly cover a fraction of Earth’s landmass. So too bad for you, I’ll stay on my nice secluded property. Your desire to force me into a city to act as a socialist worker ant will never come to fruition. Ban the cars, ban private property, ban everything. I’ve still got horses and guns and I can survive without you. You’ll just have to kill me, I won’t be a part of your regime.
@@charlesbrown4483no one is asking for ugly big box stores to be next to houses. The stores and businesses would have to compact, with low parking and in the format of downtown
The personal automobile is the #1 ill of USA society and is the root cause of most of our misery
The car centric infrastructure is the problem not the car itself
@@railroadforest30 yeah that plus capitalism
@@railroadforest30 This. Cars should be viewed as an widely accessible luxury and not a necessity.
@@yourunclejohn984 exactly
Cars reduce misery and connect people.
When I went to America (I’m British) I wanted to love it. I really wanted to, but half of my time was spent in a car, and not a single neighbourhood felt real. I became so homesick and depressed, the only place I didn’t feel like that was NYC. I don’t understand why Americans are so delusional abt cars. 😕
Everything is built around cars. If you don’t have a car, you’re basically dead. Can’t have a job, can’t go really anywhere or do anything. When an American gets their license, for the first time in 2 decades they have the “freedom” to leave their home. This false freedom tricks the average non-critical thinking American that cars are cool and good because they allow us to go literally anywhere that isn’t our suburban neighborhood. I personally have friends who say they “enjoy driving” but appear constantly frustrated or their eyes are glazed over when they drive. My theory is that no one actually enjoys driving they just “enjoy” this false freedom
They just need them to get around since it’s a big country. What makes a neighborhood feel real?
@@RUclips_Tags_Suck High speed Rail? Some are being built but they tend to be money pits.
@@RUclips_Tags_Suck I didn’t know that but it does not surprise me
Because "U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!"
Dude i moved from nyc to boston ! And boston has NO PUBLIC RESTROOMS! And few third spaces. Because of this work to home back and forth the only people in the city are students and it causes a horrible strain on the local culture :|