Really good talk. I used to live in The Netherlands, where everyone cycles everywhere, and the people are visibly healthier than say in the UK. People are also more cordial in their interactions and apologise when they get in each other's way rather than honking the horn and unleashing a torrent of abuse as happens in cars. And it just makes cities nicer places to live instead of somewhere to commute to for work.
I came across this video while binging TED talks almost a decade ago, and it was literally life-changing! I saved up money for years and moved from a Dallas suburb to Seattle. Now I can literally just go downstairs to get groceries, see my dentist, ship packages, or enjoy burgers, Thai, Italian, Mexican, and many other delicious food options. All without the expense, time, or life-threatening risk of using a car! Rent is higher, but it was balanced by no longer needing to buy, insure, or maintain a vehicle, and I'm living a happier and healthier life.
I lived in Belltown for years, then moved to urban Spain. I haven't driven a car in sixteen years! Before not driving, my car was basically a recreational vehicle because for my day-to-day needs, I didn't rely on the automobile, and that has made all the difference.
@@kushal4956 To some extent, yes, but the density just isn’t the same. I lived near downtown Dallas and my favorite thing was being able to roll out of bed and walk across the street to the grocery store. But other amenities were missing. I’m currently preparing for a move to Oakland, and then NYC after that, chasing better walkability and better transit networks.
People need to realize that having a walkable city doesn't mean you will be living in New York City, or that you will have to live under the domination of a HOA. It's not about having to walk everywhere either. Dig deeper into the topic and you will find that it would create a better situation for everyone. Creating more efficient transportation and infrastructure (less taxes), while allowing for the privacy and sense of community found in rural areas.
@@hb4609 Hi, i'm also a student writing essay on the same topic. Some good resource you can find is the book by Jeff Speck called Walkable City (2012). There's also good 5 part articles by Vox about superblocks in Barcelona.
I agree so much!! My family's car broke down this week so we're left without a car and it's drastically changed our daily lives this week. We literally cannot get around.
Gabrielle Urbina haven't owned a car my entire life. It sucks, but I know I have a tiny carbon footprint on the world. Still sucks though when it rains and I have to work
I have owned a car for about a year. sold it 6 years ago. in my city, i can get anywhere i need to with my bike. borrowing a car then and now is nice, but i know i dont want to own one anytime soon.
Walkable city just means you have the option to walk to most things you need to. If you choose to make that 2 minute drive, he's not saying you should be stopped. Giving people that option itself solves most of the said problems.
Thanks for that clarification. When he said "Boston" I was like "Wow, if Boston is what qualifies as a walkable city in the US, that's a whole different idea of what that means than I had." Boston has a lot of parks which is nice. It also has some nice streets. But to get from one nice spot to the other without a car is not a pleasant experience.
i think he's saying that it can be cheaper to live in walkable cities. Cars are expensive to buy, maintain, insure, licence, and keep fueled. Also walking around a city is quicker than driving long-distances around express-ways (and time is money). Your location itself, and reliance on cars, may be exacerbating your financial situation. Hell, you'll even save money on medical expenses: Less car crashes means less visits to the trauma ward. And you'll be healthier in general from walking.
Thinking of our current lockdown amidst the pandemic ... walkability for exercise has become everything to people who have no other activities and cannot go to a gym. This (among so many other things) should help serve as a wake up call.
Health wise...the shutdown was the best thing to happen to me. I ate less junk food, started cooking, drinking more water than ever before, catching up on sleep and walking to combat cabin fever, and lost 90 pounds in a little over a year. I'm not going back.
I enjoy spending 15 - 30 minutes walking. The more able you are to drive, the more you are expected to drive. As he said, cars are now peoples prosthetics.
@@mrunfausted7746 screw walking I take the bus. I would not walk 30 minutes in black neighborhoods. I wouldn't even recommend you drive, you should move. Did that answer it?
I live in Stuttgart (Germany). Everything is located in a walking distance. And frankly it is far faster to go on a public transport than to drive a car here. I don't have a car, but it's not a problem for me.
And in comparison to many other cities in Germany, Stuttgart is incredibly car-centric. Have a look at Berlin or Leipzig for alternatives. These two are in no way perfect, but a car independent life there is easier there than in Stuttgart for example.
grew up in So Cal & Atlanta, went to college in Nashville, after college moved to Orlando. I finally moved to New York City and DC and now in Seoul Korea. NYC, DC, Seoul, I don't have a car, if I need one, I rent a car. I save so much money and don't get headaches sitting in traffic, it's great!
An area where I live has rentalable bikes, scan the barcode with your phone to unlock it, pay to ride to wherever, then lock it back, and leave it anywhere you want
I'm glad someone is addressing this issue. People who don't live in northeastern Pennsylvania are always telling me to drive less and walk more, and I'm always telling them it's physically impossible for me to not drive and still have a job. I had a few temp jobs where I had to drive over an hour on the interstate to get to work every morning, and then another hour to get home. I really started to hate the inside of my car.
As a american, I want to see walkable cities and electric transportation as the new rule, not the exception in my lifetime. What a brilliant future we could have.
+Joshua Brown Creating walkable cities and communities have been touted as the solution to many economic and social problems including obesity, pollution, traffic problems, traffic accidents, etc. And these three are some of the largest problems as well since obesity, pollution, and traffic problems are among the ten most common factors leading to most health problems and deaths. But walkable cities will not solve many problems for good since unintended consequences will arise. Firstly, the more expensive real estate costs, higher rental rates, higher living costs, and higher municipal taxes within cities lead to less disposable income for many residents and income has among the strongest correlations with mortality rates, quality of life, etc. This is perhaps my main argument in advising that the city isn't for everyone. Secondly, people surrender their autonomy by giving up their cars and then become forced to rely upon public transportation which has been shown to be very inefficient over the long run. These public transportation projects are often built using large taxpayer funding and municipal bonds which only depress the growth of city economies in the future after being a short term gain. Thirdly, I question the walkable city and correlation with obesity. It's not necessarily the walkable city curbing obesity but rather that many of the more educated and higher income classes w/ lower obesity rates live in those areas. I am not advocating for return for rural areas and actually love the city. I personally am 25 and plan to be in the cities until my 40s. Suburban areas and personal vehicles are key to better lifestyles, more freedom, and take the best of both rural and urban areas for a good compromise.
+John Kim I'm wondering how to respond without a wall of text... You are right that a lot of his statistics and research are going to be less than amazing; walkable cities aren't everywhere, and thus these areas are the product of gentrification; obesity rates will be lower, rent, taxes and real estate prices will be higher. What makes them higher is the high demand of living in such a space, and the low supply. He is suggesting that instead of building more suburbs, we make our suburbs more like cities to damage the environment less with less inefficient use of land and less time spent travelling in cars. He is not saying no one will have cars. He is not saying everyone should live in the city, but perhaps saying that suburban life is killing the environment. The video description begins with "How do we solve the problem of the suburbs?", and that is the point. Despite how much we might love living in suburbs, there is no good reason to live like that. Rural areas need land to produce that food we all eat. Urban areas are compact for a reason. We should build less suburbs.
+Joshua Brown And it should go without saying, but i'll say it anyway... If our suburban environments were far more compact, we might see a lot less of those higher living costs, rent, etc. Sorry for sounding a bit snarky, rewriting comments too many times can do that.
I am 22 and have never owned a car, in fact I have only ever driven a car twice. I have absolutely no desire to buy a car, I prefer my bike. I can get from point A to point B quickly as well as gain some exercise. The fact that I don't have to worry about gas prices is a nice bonus. I have no intention of getting a car any time soon.
We do not have a problem with walkability in Prague, Czech Republic, but as the city expands outwards, many residential areas are emerging which are not walkable and do not have any of the services needed in a well-functioning neighborhood.
I feel like bicycles are severely underrated in the US.... :( (Of course, I can only use mine to go places once I got to college, in an area that actually has sidewalks and where most things are close enough to bicycle to :( )
In Asia, Singapore and Hong Kong are some good example of a walkable yet greener cities. The mass transportation is so realiable to reach every hub, pedestrian, and crowds. Cars owning cars as the only alternate transportation to pay at surcharge.
Side note: It turns out that air pollution is less about tailpipes as it is about tires. (With regard to asthma-related pollution, not in terms of CO2/climate.) Meaning electric cars don't fix the issues.
That's only halfway true though. While what you say is true about the tires and talipipes, electric and hybrid cars can reduce air polution from tires and breaks thanks to energy recovery systems etc. and then obviously the way you drive can magnify or reduce the effect of the energy recovery systems.
Thank you, Jeff, for coming to New Albany, Indiana on 01/16/2014. It was a pleasure listening to you and very informative. I hope you'll pass by our city by the Ohio River someday soon.
bruh in my neighborhood there are only sidewalks directly in front of houses, and you have to cross huge roads to get to stores and stuff like bruh why no crosswalks or more sidewalks?
My grandparents live in a small walkable city and both get around without a car because they can walk to all their daily needs. It seems the suburbs are more conducive to the young and healthy because it's more demanding to live in a suburb
Probabably he had a better idea by presenting that walkable cities _are_ appealing and that idea would be better than telling people that cars are dangerous. I'd be more inclined to do things that are said to make me happy than to avoid doing things that are said to be dangerous.
Please note what Elle Guy states below. I moved to SE Petaluma, as I couldn't afford the West side. The stores are not as village like, but at least those shops are all within close proximity of each other. I'd love to see a better bus system over here - once an hour isn't a viable option, but would people would use them? No to further urban sprawl definitely, but yes to giving amenities within the city rather than neighbouring ones a 25min drive away.
I don't know what "intense responsibilities" you are referring to, but I do know that we shape our lives by the choices we make and that it IS possible to live without a car if you really want to, no matter how old you are.
14:06 Where he says the best place to be is "3 blocks from metro" in the heart of the city. When he says "METRO" does he mean 3 blocks from the CBD (Central Business District), or 3 blocks from the inner-city train/bus line?
Yes, I have lived in a rural area. If you live in one of those places where everyone lives miles away from each other, there won't be a sense of community because there isn't one. The comments about the sustainability of urban sprawl compared to such places just makes me laugh. Let's build and maintain 20 miles of road, sewage, and water utilities for three houses. Sustainability at it's finest.
The university that I used to go to isn't that far from my place but I still needed to use the car to go there. But if I were to live in Europe, I would happily cycle my way there as the cool temperature won't affect my body smell.
The "urban-sprawl" is the result of central planning via forcing citizens to pay for the creation and maintenance of public roads. The latest spurt was part of the housing crisis, which was again caused by central planning, this time by incentivizing unsustainably loose mortgages. Is the solution to this problem really more central planning, or could it be that central planning is the problem itself?
There are changes that I see in US cities. Services like Flexcar are available right now that help people to have use of cars periodically without owning them. Slowly but surely more people are working from home. Many of us would love to stop the dependence on oil. Solar for a car would be a hot ticket.
i live in a suburban city in brampton. ironically it is called david suzuki and it was built not to far from my house in an area that was once farmland. i hate suburban sprawl but i am part of it and its kinda sad
Traffic and the fact that there are like literally thousands of people all jumbled in one tiny space. You can clearly tell the difference between traffic and people and people are just as bad as the traffic.
not if the high-rise structures were more widely disbursed/distributed, edging or surrounding garden & park acreage. NY's mix of Central Park and the skyscrapers of Times Square are an extreme example, but there are well planned pedestrian cities all over Europe that balance high-density structures with plant life, great walkway, bicycle paths, mass transit integrated with natural wonders.
Suburban sprawl has been forced on us plenty. Why not have both options? There are those who want to live in towns and cities and not everyone wants to live in the suburbs having to commute. The better the cities are planned, the more open space we preserve as well.
I'm 26 and I've owned two cars and a motorcycle. I would love to be able to live somewhere where I don't have to drive. I, too, love to bike. I do it all the time. But, there is nowhere for me to go when I get on my bike. Even the grocery store requires an expressway ride. I don't have the financial ability to move somewhere and then get a job, like Jeff Speck suggests. It would be lovely if I did.
I agree, I’m not particularly well educated, or in a position to become so, I can’t just simply move out to a place like Portland Oregon and then find a job, who would foot the bill?
I really find myself wishing I lived in a walkable city. I mean... I have sidewalks but they don't really go anywhere purposeful. Yeah. I can MAKE myself go on walks but that walk is *ONLY* for the purpose of getting out/exercising. There are technically sidewalks that leave my neighborhood that would let me get to the grocery store... About a 25 min walk. But between my neighborhood and the grocery is pretty dangerous. There's lots of entryways to houses, apartments, and a few businesses (not businesses that everyone in the community is gonna visit regularly either. Lawyers, a storage unit place... A car wash-- which people might visit regularly but not walking...) So cars are constantly crossing over that sidewalk... and the road linking my neighborhood and the grocery is busy. Not only that... The sidewalk on that road is only on the side across from my neighborhood and the only actual marked pedestrian crossing to get to that sidewalk is down by the store.... So I'd have to play Frogger to even get to it... Unless I want to walk an extra 20-30 minutes and go to the total other side of my neighborhood to get to the other place where there's a pedestrian crossing on that road... And that's just a ridiculous hassle. So I'm just going to get in my car if I need to go to the store. I don't mind going on walks just to go... But when I'm busy that often is one of the first things to go. If walking or biking was part of my commute, my trip to the bookstore, my specialty coffee trip I get at the end of an especially long and tough week...I would have no problem getting 30 min of exercise a day. But where I live now I have to go out of my way to get it. And that makes it hard sometimes
My friend is very much into sustainable development and she's in favour of this argument. It's interesting indeed. I wonder how the Netherlands are doing with regards to the topic.
This video reminds me of another point. While counter-intuitive, it probably would be better to have hundreds or thousands of people crammed into a city. Perhaps space could be created for all these people by making cities more vertical. This would mean less natural habitats were destroyed and less distance needing to be travelled to get to where you have got to go and therefore, probably, less cars. It's still not perfect of course but it might be better.
Is true progress more of the same only more advanced? I think not! This was a very inspiring talk, however may I add that one of the most pertinent questions that must first be answered by all is.." Define the true meaning of progress?"
Petaluma is more walkable than other CA cities because of it's older form factor planning layout.Recently the city has disregarded the importance of walkability; created more sprawl. The Target project is example of that. The site was supposed to be mixeduse. If it was, it would've tied in w/the surrounding neighborhoods better. But, that is what you get when private profits influence policy & planning, it's also why the city is broke. $5.5M in fees doesn't equal $200M in infrastructure costs.
Boston is a city that has been designed (since the 1950s) around the automobile. It's also a city that is notoriously difficult to get around in. Fist fights and worse arise over parking spots everyday. In the winter? People sometimes kill each other over spots for their cars. That's territorialism at its worst. The Big Dig, a euphemism for destroying the back roads into town, has only made the death rate from auto crashes skyrocket. I have not owned or driven a car for over 5 years. Too crazy.
Jeff Speck's humorous talk gives us wonderful insights about the rotten state of America. At the same time, it also applicable to many other parts of the world. Create more walk spaces and lead a healthy life is the message told neatly and succinctly.
True with the last sentence, but even our Cadillacs and Lincolns are getting smaller and smaller engines and better mpg, whether by demand, choice, or force....and some areas are in fact getting more walkable, or focusing more on local economies...
The more we drive, the more we surrender to an economic landscape. The more we walk, bike, take public transit, the more we become informed citizens in a neighbourhood of friends, acquaintances, and family. Do you want to be an informed citizen or an obedient consumer?
The more we walk and rely on public transport the longer everything takes, we pay with our time. The more we drive the more opportunities we have and become more educated and well informed. Shutting yourself in a generic city with limited options is the work of the devil. Be an informed educated person or an inward selfish regressive in a city.
15 minute cities are all about consumption and consumerism. They are an actual corporate dream land, nobody has time to do anything but work and spend money, family and friends are out the window, recreation and free time are done.
Neilkriesterer, you should look do a little homework into failures of central planning or examples of a lack thereof. Yes we should live in a place where you can build a house, only to have someone come put a factory, parking high rise, seedy bar, or junk yard next to it. Or maybe you like living next to someone who decides their front yard should include 25 broken vehicles. Sound like the best place to live!
Sean, I don't think so. Factories will gravitate to cheap land with good freight connections. Schools will be built near the houses that they serve. People will ALWAYS pay more to live on a nice piece of land, than they will pay to have a factory on a nice piece of land, so the two will tend to naturally separate.
This talk scares me a little bit it sounds like If jeff had his way I'd be living in a shoebox with no shed no backyard nowhere for kids to play at home and nowhere to go to be alone. Though I do like the Idea of investing in bike path planning and encouraging walking I wouldn't like to see how it should make our cities more dense is it such a bad thing that people may have to cycle further to work ? that sounds like fun to me :D
The message is more about caring about civic design. His major point is that we physically CAN'T drive less and walk more in a lot of our existing citys, even if we want to. It's a design problem not a moral problem. TL:DR; Build less roads.
I live in Ajax and I couldn't agree more. There was zero intention in the GTA to make it walkable, and then Rob Ford happened and killed it completely....
Is Petaluma a walkable city? Do you realize that we now can walk from Safeway to the new shopping center - a straight line and then cross over on the catwalk. Very soon we won't need to drive to Rohnert Park or Marin County for shopping. I will be able to walk for most of my shopping needs. Finally!
Marcelle Guy as someone who has never owned a car it would be nice to have one. It is a luxury and my feet and body are hurt from walking and being hit by cars on bikes...sucks but hey I can hope one day we all are walkers and everyone's feet and hands can hurt carrying milk and food home
Really good talk.
I used to live in The Netherlands, where everyone cycles everywhere, and the people are visibly healthier than say in the UK.
People are also more cordial in their interactions and apologise when they get in each other's way rather than honking the horn and unleashing a torrent of abuse as happens in cars.
And it just makes cities nicer places to live instead of somewhere to commute to for work.
The channel NotJustBikes says Hello
oh yah crime is just going to magically vanish in these ghettos lol
@@techtutorvideos you, obviously, don't live near blacks.
@@kevinpatrickcarey3741 the crime of car noise and pollution would certainly vanish. So yes all for it.
@@mikewade777 he said crime, it's not a crime to own a car. Deary me.
Why do you all love crime and violence so much?
I came across this video while binging TED talks almost a decade ago, and it was literally life-changing!
I saved up money for years and moved from a Dallas suburb to Seattle. Now I can literally just go downstairs to get groceries, see my dentist, ship packages, or enjoy burgers, Thai, Italian, Mexican, and many other delicious food options. All without the expense, time, or life-threatening risk of using a car!
Rent is higher, but it was balanced by no longer needing to buy, insure, or maintain a vehicle, and I'm living a happier and healthier life.
I came across his first book and completely changed how I see cities and car culture. For me it was life altering.
I lived in Belltown for years, then moved to urban Spain. I haven't driven a car in sixteen years! Before not driving, my car was basically a recreational vehicle because for my day-to-day needs, I didn't rely on the automobile, and that has made all the difference.
wouldn't the same thing be achievable by moving to Downtown Dallas from suburban Dallas?
@@kushal4956he didn't wanna live in a car dependant neighborhood sherlock...
@@kushal4956 To some extent, yes, but the density just isn’t the same. I lived near downtown Dallas and my favorite thing was being able to roll out of bed and walk across the street to the grocery store. But other amenities were missing. I’m currently preparing for a move to Oakland, and then NYC after that, chasing better walkability and better transit networks.
Can't agree more. I live in Toronto and I thought it could use a lot more work to become more walkable. Then I visited Houston....
People need to realize that having a walkable city doesn't mean you will be living in New York City, or that you will have to live under the domination of a HOA. It's not about having to walk everywhere either. Dig deeper into the topic and you will find that it would create a better situation for everyone. Creating more efficient transportation and infrastructure (less taxes), while allowing for the privacy and sense of community found in rural areas.
please share any links or sources here, im a student writing a essay on this!! :)
@@hb4609 Hi, i'm also a student writing essay on the same topic. Some good resource you can find is the book by Jeff Speck called Walkable City (2012). There's also good 5 part articles by Vox about superblocks in Barcelona.
Check out Charles Marohn, Andres Duany, and Leon Krier too.
Check out Charles Marohn, Andres Duany, and Leon Krier too.
Check out Echo Gecko on RUclips
I agree so much!! My family's car broke down this week so we're left without a car and it's drastically changed our daily lives this week. We literally cannot get around.
Gabrielle Urbina haven't owned a car my entire life. It sucks, but I know I have a tiny carbon footprint on the world. Still sucks though when it rains and I have to work
I have owned a car for about a year.
sold it 6 years ago. in my city, i can get anywhere i need to with my bike.
borrowing a car then and now is nice, but i know i dont want to own one anytime soon.
16:37 "The Americans can be counted on to do the right thing, once they've exhausted the alternatives"
lol
@@ricardomakai616 pathetic bots
LMFAOOO
When I am walking around I tend to bump into people and that makes me happy.
I love the spontaneity of it
Walkable city just means you have the option to walk to most things you need to. If you choose to make that 2 minute drive, he's not saying you should be stopped. Giving people that option itself solves most of the said problems.
really cause its happeneing already. People being fined for simply driving
@@kevinpatrickcarey3741 where are they being fined and what's the law name for being fined for driving? Genuinely interested in this.
exactly what I thought when I was living in Europe, I wish more people knew about the impact of walkable cities
"The Geography if Nowhere" is one of the most influential books on this topic I have ever read. Thumb this comment up so more people know to read it.
Thanks for this
Of*
"The Geography *of* Nowhere"
So true. A bit obscure. I read it 20+ years ago and it affected my worldview greatly.
It's on 69 likes and I'm not gonna change it
Picked up that book from the library a week ago. So good!
Thanks for that clarification. When he said "Boston" I was like "Wow, if Boston is what qualifies as a walkable city in the US, that's a whole different idea of what that means than I had." Boston has a lot of parks which is nice. It also has some nice streets. But to get from one nice spot to the other without a car is not a pleasant experience.
16:45 - girl: "it's so true."
i think he's saying that it can be cheaper to live in walkable cities.
Cars are expensive to buy, maintain, insure, licence, and keep fueled. Also walking around a city is quicker than driving long-distances around express-ways (and time is money).
Your location itself, and reliance on cars, may be exacerbating your financial situation.
Hell, you'll even save money on medical expenses: Less car crashes means less visits to the trauma ward. And you'll be healthier in general from walking.
Thinking of our current lockdown amidst the pandemic ... walkability for exercise has become everything to people who have no other activities and cannot go to a gym. This (among so many other things) should help serve as a wake up call.
Health wise...the shutdown was the best thing to happen to me. I ate less junk food, started cooking, drinking more water than ever before, catching up on sleep and walking to combat cabin fever, and lost 90 pounds in a little over a year. I'm not going back.
I know this is an old talk, but he really hits the nail on the head. A cracking talk.
I enjoy spending 15 - 30 minutes walking.
The more able you are to drive, the more you are expected to drive.
As he said, cars are now peoples prosthetics.
not everyone can walk or bike you know
Do you enjoy walking 30 minutes in black neighborhoods?
@@mrunfausted7746 You should move.
@@Creaform003
You didn't answer the question..
@@mrunfausted7746 screw walking I take the bus. I would not walk 30 minutes in black neighborhoods. I wouldn't even recommend you drive, you should move.
Did that answer it?
Excellent presentation!!! Add cycling to the equation of walkable cities and double the benefits! ;-)
I live in Stuttgart (Germany).
Everything is located in a walking distance.
And frankly it is far faster to go on a public transport than to drive a car here.
I don't have a car, but it's not a problem for me.
And in comparison to many other cities in Germany, Stuttgart is incredibly car-centric. Have a look at Berlin or Leipzig for alternatives. These two are in no way perfect, but a car independent life there is easier there than in Stuttgart for example.
grew up in So Cal & Atlanta, went to college in Nashville, after college moved to Orlando. I finally moved to New York City and DC and now in Seoul Korea. NYC, DC, Seoul, I don't have a car, if I need one, I rent a car. I save so much money and don't get headaches sitting in traffic, it's great!
An area where I live has rentalable bikes, scan the barcode with your phone to unlock it, pay to ride to wherever, then lock it back, and leave it anywhere you want
I'm glad someone is addressing this issue. People who don't live in northeastern Pennsylvania are always telling me to drive less and walk more, and I'm always telling them it's physically impossible for me to not drive and still have a job. I had a few temp jobs where I had to drive over an hour on the interstate to get to work every morning, and then another hour to get home. I really started to hate the inside of my car.
As a american, I want to see walkable cities and electric transportation as the new rule, not the exception in my lifetime. What a brilliant future we could have.
De las mejores conferencias que he visto en TED
I like the way this guy thinks
+Joshua Brown Creating walkable cities and communities have been touted as the solution to many economic and social problems including obesity, pollution, traffic problems, traffic accidents, etc. And these three are some of the largest problems as well since obesity, pollution, and traffic problems are among the ten most common factors leading to most health problems and deaths. But walkable cities will not solve many problems for good since unintended consequences will arise. Firstly, the more expensive real estate costs, higher rental rates, higher living costs, and higher municipal taxes within cities lead to less disposable income for many residents and income has among the strongest correlations with mortality rates, quality of life, etc. This is perhaps my main argument in advising that the city isn't for everyone. Secondly, people surrender their autonomy by giving up their cars and then become forced to rely upon public transportation which has been
shown to be very inefficient over the long run. These public transportation projects are often built using large taxpayer funding and municipal bonds which only depress the growth of city economies in the future after being a short term gain. Thirdly, I question the walkable city and correlation with obesity. It's not necessarily the walkable city curbing obesity but rather that many of the more educated and higher income classes w/ lower obesity rates live in those areas. I am not advocating for return for rural areas and actually love the city. I personally am 25 and plan to be in the cities until my 40s. Suburban areas and personal vehicles are key to better lifestyles, more freedom, and take the best of both rural and urban areas for a good compromise.
+John Kim I'm wondering how to respond without a wall of text... You are right that a lot of his statistics and research are going to be less than amazing; walkable cities aren't everywhere, and thus these areas are the product of gentrification; obesity rates will be lower, rent, taxes and real estate prices will be higher. What makes them higher is the high demand of living in such a space, and the low supply. He is suggesting that instead of building more suburbs, we make our suburbs more like cities to damage the environment less with less inefficient use of land and less time spent travelling in cars. He is not saying no one will have cars. He is not saying everyone should live in the city, but perhaps saying that suburban life is killing the environment. The video description begins with "How do we solve the problem of the suburbs?", and that is the point. Despite how much we might love living in suburbs, there is no good reason to live like that. Rural areas need land to produce that food we all eat. Urban areas are compact for a reason. We should build less suburbs.
+Joshua Brown And it should go without saying, but i'll say it anyway... If our suburban environments were far more compact, we might see a lot less of those higher living costs, rent, etc. Sorry for sounding a bit snarky, rewriting comments too many times can do that.
same
I am 22 and have never owned a car, in fact I have only ever driven a car twice. I have absolutely no desire to buy a car, I prefer my bike. I can get from point A to point B quickly as well as gain some exercise. The fact that I don't have to worry about gas prices is a nice bonus. I have no intention of getting a car any time soon.
We do not have a problem with walkability in Prague, Czech Republic, but as the city expands outwards, many residential areas are emerging which are not walkable and do not have any of the services needed in a well-functioning neighborhood.
His two books 'Smart growth Manual' and 'Walkable City' both go into solutions and are excellent!
This was the first Ted Talk that ever spoke to me. Here I am, years later, watching this again. Ah, nostalgia...
I feel like bicycles are severely underrated in the US.... :( (Of course, I can only use mine to go places once I got to college, in an area that actually has sidewalks and where most things are close enough to bicycle to :( )
I do about 18.000km of cycling
It starts with actually building roads that HAVE bikeways and walkways.
In Asia, Singapore and Hong Kong are some good example of a walkable yet greener cities. The mass transportation is so realiable to reach every hub, pedestrian, and crowds. Cars owning cars as the only alternate transportation to pay at surcharge.
I patiently hate all highways driving, so ugly so congested so full of wasting time and money, I wish I could walk more to get to the downtown
This video changed my life
His book changed my life
Awesome, awesome, awesome ... The Earth needs more people like you!
Tis a great one.
Suburban Nation though, I would rate even better (for a professional) as it comes with very nice design strategy guidelines.
Side note: It turns out that air pollution is less about tailpipes as it is about tires. (With regard to asthma-related pollution, not in terms of CO2/climate.)
Meaning electric cars don't fix the issues.
That's only halfway true though. While what you say is true about the tires and talipipes, electric and hybrid cars can reduce air polution from tires and breaks thanks to energy recovery systems etc. and then obviously the way you drive can magnify or reduce the effect of the energy recovery systems.
@@MrBlutknecht I hadn't realised this, but Google confirms it. Thanks for the correction. 🙂
Yep. :) That's actually a very hard thing to think around, making a city that is less noisy.
Thank you, Jeff, for coming to New Albany, Indiana on 01/16/2014. It was a pleasure listening to you and very informative. I hope you'll pass by our city by the Ohio River someday soon.
bruh in my neighborhood there are only sidewalks directly in front of houses, and you have to cross huge roads to get to stores and stuff like bruh why no crosswalks or more sidewalks?
My grandparents live in a small walkable city and both get around without a car because they can walk to all their daily needs. It seems the suburbs are more conducive to the young and healthy because it's more demanding to live in a suburb
He really should have spent more time on the traffic accident deaths! 40,000 people die in the US from car crashes EVERY YEAR! It's INSANE!!!
Probabably he had a better idea by presenting that walkable cities _are_ appealing and that idea would be better than telling people that cars are dangerous. I'd be more inclined to do things that are said to make me happy than to avoid doing things that are said to be dangerous.
AMAZING! ! BEST TED TALK EVER!!!
This idea executed: Groningen. video: Groningen: The World's Cycling City
moreso Utrecht
a very good talk backed by solid arguments. the closing quote by Winston Churchill was very appropriate and gave me a big laugh.
Please note what Elle Guy states below. I moved to SE Petaluma, as I couldn't afford the West side. The stores are not as village like, but at least those shops are all within close proximity of each other. I'd love to see a better bus system over here - once an hour isn't a viable option, but would people would use them? No to further urban sprawl definitely, but yes to giving amenities within the city rather than neighbouring ones a 25min drive away.
Fascinating talk.
I don't know what "intense responsibilities" you are referring to, but I do know that we shape our lives by the choices we make and that it IS possible to live without a car if you really want to, no matter how old you are.
14:06 Where he says the best place to be is "3 blocks from metro" in the heart of the city.
When he says "METRO" does he mean 3 blocks from the CBD (Central Business District), or 3 blocks from the inner-city train/bus line?
Metro means public transport here, so inner city train/bus line as you said.
Yes, I have lived in a rural area. If you live in one of those places where everyone lives miles away from each other, there won't be a sense of community because there isn't one. The comments about the sustainability of urban sprawl compared to such places just makes me laugh. Let's build and maintain 20 miles of road, sewage, and water utilities for three houses. Sustainability at it's finest.
The university that I used to go to isn't that far from my place but I still needed to use the car to go there. But if I were to live in Europe, I would happily cycle my way there as the cool temperature won't affect my body smell.
love the way this guy speaks!
Unfortunately, i've moved from Chicago, lake view neighborhood to be exact, to va beach. my walkable neighborhood improved my quality of life vastly.
you can always count on a TED Talk to restore your faith in humanity :3
The "urban-sprawl" is the result of central planning via forcing citizens to pay for the creation and maintenance of public roads. The latest spurt was part of the housing crisis, which was again caused by central planning, this time by incentivizing unsustainably loose mortgages. Is the solution to this problem really more central planning, or could it be that central planning is the problem itself?
I am already advocating this.
There are changes that I see in US cities. Services like Flexcar are available right now that help people to have use of cars periodically without owning them. Slowly but surely more people are working from home. Many of us would love to stop the dependence on oil. Solar for a car would be a hot ticket.
Great speech. Thank you
i live in a suburban city in brampton. ironically it is called david suzuki and it was built not to far from my house in an area that was once farmland. i hate suburban sprawl but i am part of it and its kinda sad
Traffic and the fact that there are like literally thousands of people all jumbled in one tiny space. You can clearly tell the difference between traffic and people and people are just as bad as the traffic.
WOW!!! People do use cars as prosthesis.... that is beautifully worded.
not if the high-rise structures were more widely disbursed/distributed, edging or surrounding garden & park acreage. NY's mix of Central Park and the skyscrapers of Times Square are an extreme example, but there are well planned pedestrian cities all over Europe that balance high-density structures with plant life, great walkway, bicycle paths, mass transit integrated with natural wonders.
Suburban sprawl has been forced on us plenty. Why not have both options? There are those who want to live in towns and cities and not everyone wants to live in the suburbs having to commute. The better the cities are planned, the more open space we preserve as well.
I'm 26 and I've owned two cars and a motorcycle. I would love to be able to live somewhere where I don't have to drive. I, too, love to bike. I do it all the time. But, there is nowhere for me to go when I get on my bike. Even the grocery store requires an expressway ride. I don't have the financial ability to move somewhere and then get a job, like Jeff Speck suggests. It would be lovely if I did.
I agree, I’m not particularly well educated, or in a position to become so, I can’t just simply move out to a place like Portland Oregon and then find a job, who would foot the bill?
Amazing video
I really find myself wishing I lived in a walkable city. I mean... I have sidewalks but they don't really go anywhere purposeful. Yeah. I can MAKE myself go on walks but that walk is *ONLY* for the purpose of getting out/exercising.
There are technically sidewalks that leave my neighborhood that would let me get to the grocery store... About a 25 min walk. But between my neighborhood and the grocery is pretty dangerous. There's lots of entryways to houses, apartments, and a few businesses (not businesses that everyone in the community is gonna visit regularly either. Lawyers, a storage unit place... A car wash-- which people might visit regularly but not walking...) So cars are constantly crossing over that sidewalk... and the road linking my neighborhood and the grocery is busy. Not only that... The sidewalk on that road is only on the side across from my neighborhood and the only actual marked pedestrian crossing to get to that sidewalk is down by the store.... So I'd have to play Frogger to even get to it...
Unless I want to walk an extra 20-30 minutes and go to the total other side of my neighborhood to get to the other place where there's a pedestrian crossing on that road... And that's just a ridiculous hassle.
So I'm just going to get in my car if I need to go to the store.
I don't mind going on walks just to go... But when I'm busy that often is one of the first things to go. If walking or biking was part of my commute, my trip to the bookstore, my specialty coffee trip I get at the end of an especially long and tough week...I would have no problem getting 30 min of exercise a day. But where I live now I have to go out of my way to get it. And that makes it hard sometimes
My friend is very much into sustainable development and she's in favour of this argument. It's interesting indeed. I wonder how the Netherlands are doing with regards to the topic.
I'm off to find every talk of his on You Tube....
Suburban sprawl was enabled by the zoning system. The best way to get walkable cities is to abolish zoning restrictions.
This video reminds me of another point. While counter-intuitive, it probably would be better to have hundreds or thousands of people crammed into a city. Perhaps space could be created for all these people by making cities more vertical. This would mean less natural habitats were destroyed and less distance needing to be travelled to get to where you have got to go and therefore, probably, less cars. It's still not perfect of course but it might be better.
Dude, the speaker points out exactly that at 12:19. How could you say he _reminds_ you of the same point?
Is true progress more of the same only more advanced? I think not! This was a very inspiring talk, however may I add that one of the most pertinent questions that must first be answered by all is.." Define the true meaning of progress?"
I agree, except that the cost of such a system for a suburbia like the one that surrounds Chicago would be hilariously high.
That Mayo clinic joke was fucking legendary
Their children don't choose to walk. They are born in a walkable city.
Meaningful!
people will also build factories where they own land and where transport + labor is available. 19th century cities is a great example of that.
Petaluma is more walkable than other CA cities because of it's older form factor planning layout.Recently the city has disregarded the importance of walkability; created more sprawl. The Target project is example of that. The site was supposed to be mixeduse. If it was, it would've tied in w/the surrounding neighborhoods better. But, that is what you get when private profits influence policy & planning, it's also why the city is broke. $5.5M in fees doesn't equal $200M in infrastructure costs.
Good Talk!
And I suddenly find myself considering looking for a job in Portland...
Dream of the 90s is alive in Portland! >.>
Boston is a city that has been designed (since the 1950s) around the automobile. It's also a city that is notoriously difficult to get around in. Fist fights and worse arise over parking spots everyday. In the winter? People sometimes kill each other over spots for their cars. That's territorialism at its worst. The Big Dig, a euphemism for destroying the back roads into town, has only made the death rate from auto crashes skyrocket. I have not owned or driven a car for over 5 years. Too crazy.
Life is about the journey, not the destination.
This guy is awesome
Jeff Speck's humorous talk gives us wonderful insights about the rotten state of America. At the same time, it also applicable to many other parts of the world. Create more walk spaces and lead a healthy life is the message told neatly and succinctly.
Very good talk, please keep up america, greetings from germany :-)
True with the last sentence, but even our Cadillacs and Lincolns are getting smaller and smaller engines and better mpg, whether by demand, choice, or force....and some areas are in fact getting more walkable, or focusing more on local economies...
The more we drive, the more we surrender to an economic landscape. The more we walk, bike, take public transit, the more we become informed citizens in a neighbourhood of friends, acquaintances, and family.
Do you want to be an informed citizen or an obedient consumer?
The more we walk and rely on public transport the longer everything takes, we pay with our time.
The more we drive the more opportunities we have and become more educated and well informed.
Shutting yourself in a generic city with limited options is the work of the devil.
Be an informed educated person or an inward selfish regressive in a city.
15 minute cities are all about consumption and consumerism. They are an actual corporate dream land, nobody has time to do anything but work and spend money, family and friends are out the window, recreation and free time are done.
I would have liked to hear more about the solution, than the problem. Otherwise, good talk.
Visit Vancouver..
Neilkriesterer, you should look do a little homework into failures of central planning or examples of a lack thereof. Yes we should live in a place where you can build a house, only to have someone come put a factory, parking high rise, seedy bar, or junk yard next to it. Or maybe you like living next to someone who decides their front yard should include 25 broken vehicles. Sound like the best place to live!
Sean, I don't think so. Factories will gravitate to cheap land with good freight connections. Schools will be built near the houses that they serve. People will ALWAYS pay more to live on a nice piece of land, than they will pay to have a factory on a nice piece of land, so the two will tend to naturally separate.
This talk scares me a little bit it sounds like If jeff had his way I'd be living in a shoebox with no shed no backyard nowhere for kids to play at home and nowhere to go to be alone.
Though I do like the Idea of investing in bike path planning and encouraging walking I wouldn't like to see how it should make our cities more dense is it such a bad thing that people may have to cycle further to work ? that sounds like fun to me :D
lol, I loved the Churchill quote! :)
The message is more about caring about civic design. His major point is that we physically CAN'T drive less and walk more in a lot of our existing citys, even if we want to. It's a design problem not a moral problem.
TL:DR; Build less roads.
Awesome!!!!
I live in Ajax and I couldn't agree more. There was zero intention in the GTA to make it walkable, and then Rob Ford happened and killed it completely....
This makes me hate Portland a little bit less
Interesting angle,argued well.
Is Petaluma a walkable city? Do you realize that we now can walk from Safeway to the new shopping center - a straight line and then cross over on the catwalk. Very soon we won't need to drive to Rohnert Park or Marin County for shopping. I will be able to walk for most of my shopping needs. Finally!
Marcelle Guy as someone who has never owned a car it would be nice to have one. It is a luxury and my feet and body are hurt from walking and being hit by cars on bikes...sucks but hey I can hope one day we all are walkers and everyone's feet and hands can hurt carrying milk and food home
Don't be so sure. Many simply can not imagine anything different. It's not that they wouldn't prefer an alternative.
If only we could do all these changes faster so the changes could be more immediate so people could understand the good.
That's it.
Moving to Portland.
Thus those flats are torn down and replaced with even higher density housing in skyscrapers, thus the city gets even MORE walkable.