Reno Fails to be a Livable City & Why Nice Places Matter
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- Опубликовано: 23 фев 2023
- In this video, I talk about how Reno is not a walkable city and how its urban design negatively affects people's happiness.
The General Theory of Walkability:
• The general theory of ...
Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB)
highways.dot.gov/safety/prove...
Will You Stop For Me?
tti.tamu.edu/tti-publication/...
Study: Reno among most dangerous cities for pedestrians; Sparks is even worse
www.rgj.com/story/news/money/...
The Commuting Paradox
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c...
Happy City Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design
happycities.com/the-book
The Happy City Experiment
• The happy city experim...
Additional Reading
The hidden ways that architecture affects how you feel
www.bbc.com/future/article/20...
A manifesto for conscious cities: should streets be sensitive to our mental needs?
www.theguardian.com/cities/20...
I was talking to someone online about proper city planning and transit options recently and they asked me "why do you want to force your way of life on everyone else?", to which I responded "I'm actually more in favor of freedom of choice than you are because I support society actually having viable options for everyone's lifestyle choices rather than forcing everyone to own a car" lol. The ones "forcing their way of life on you" are the car lobby lmao
Next you'll be called woke because you challenged them. SMDH
In addition to restricting freedom of transportation choice, car centrism imposes parking minimums, zoning laws, and density laws.
I was once asked by someone on the internet how could the US "convert their cities" to increase walkability without, and I quote, "ripping our cities apart and throwing everyone out for years".... I laughed in answering, explaining in European countries we were able to do that without disrupting our historical cities and nobody had ever to be kicked out here for a bike lane or a tram line construction (but for highways it happened!), so they could try the same, it isn´t hard and it´s a lot less expensive that building new roads and parking lots.
I wish I had remembered also to tell them that actually in the US the ripped apart entire neighborhoods(of poor people of course!) in the cities just to build the highways/stroads that nowadays make US cities more dangerous, polluted and unwalkable.
bees in hives don't have fun. they work and go home to the couch and their phone. They don't need cars.
gosh i hate the oil lobby... they really have ruined america.
I live in Bogota downtown. Even invaded by vendor stalls, 7th Carrera, our main avenue, recently pedestrianized in Downtown, is way more walkable than anywhere in suburban places. I always give thanks to the fact that I live in a Spanish style urbanism environment. Latin America has lots of good things in urbanism, we just have to improve our economies. Greetings from Colombia.
Coming from Canada, Colombia really came as a shock to me. How can a developing country be so much farther ahead in transit and walkability. Traffic in Colombia can often seem hectic and lawless but I felt a heck of a lot safer crossing a narrow street in Bogota compared to crossing a five lane stroad in Canada.
Good luck to y'all on the construction of your metro system
Yes. Latin American cities follow the general Western model: Europe + Latin America. The US and anglophone countries are the exception with their car oriented low density semi-cities.
Canadian here, whats your opinion on Gil Penalosa and his brother? Here in Toronto, we're having a political shitshow and a re-election is called, Gil who was a former park chief in Bogota is running. I heard some controversial takes on his family so idk if he is legit a good urbanist or just playing politics?
Every day my patience for drivers and car dependency becomes thinner and I become more... radicalized I suppose.
I got my bike serviced under warranty at the shop I bought it at recently. In doing so I had people almost hit me cause they failed to stop at the stop lines, had people block the bike lane, for what appeared to be a phone call, despite 300 feet ahead being a parking lot, and, once I dropped the bike off, watched the bus I intended to catch home pass by. As I walked to the bus stop I realized the other line passed while I was in the shop. This would leave me with a wait time of at least 28 minutes for the route that takes 35 minutes to get 15 minutes from home or 1 hour 8 minutes for the route that has the same drop off point. Ultimately I had someone pick me up.
There's no reason in a community of this size, both in land area and population, where you can reasonably bike anywhere, and walk to most places, for non-drivers to be neglected so heavily. It drives me nuts.
Dives you nuts... pun intended?
Fascinating! I lived in Reno 1981-84 and it was very much a car centric city back then. As an Englishman I was very much used to walking everywhere, but walking in Reno felt so weird! Even just a couple of blocks to a supermarket. Reno was a superb place to run though back then, not the urban area but up in the hills and desert.
It's insane that we've built our societies this way. So harmful, wasteful, and shortsighted.
it makes perfect sense when you realize it is INTENTIONALLY designed to be as ECONOMICALLY EFFICIENT DRIVE in spend money then GET OUT
capitalism first environments
only U.S., in fact. other countries are not built that much car centric.
US cities are not designed to live in they are designed as economic and trading hubs for people living in rural areas.
And soul crushing
@@goldcoin2444 yes but even trading hubs have amounts of pedestrianization and places for people to socialize mingle and have something to do.
glad to know someone else in Reno thinks the same way
Ditto
Yeah. We're not alone
Guys, you should have a meet-up in real life! Thats how stuff gets changed. Read about Ben Franklin's life. His JUNTO meet-ups were how he got started in politics and in getting things done in Philadelphia.
Same, I hate Reno
It can be hard to call it quits on one's city, but when it's time, it's time. Hoping you land somewhere that gives you a real urbanist lifestyle - Chicago has a lot going for it!
Try Macomb IL. Except to one "Strode" cutting the town in half, it's much more walkable.
I am from Guanajuato, México and visited Reno in 2019 and it resulted the most boring place I've ever been (just like most of US cities, but this one is boring as hell). It is not a pedestrian friendly city and laks of an efficient public transportation. It does not have any interesting places and people only thinks about money and gambling.
There is one interesting thing in Reno. They have a museum of classic American cars that is really neat to see, if you like cars.
@@KellyS_77 Don't they also have those air races?
As an American, the only places I go for vacation are national parks and state parks. Beautiful and walkable, if you like hiking.
boring as heck BY design NONE of these locations WANTS you to be there unless you are actively SPENDING MONEY where as "walkable locations" are designed for you to BE THERE and spend time there
@@Taladar2003 no idea lol. I don’t live in Reno, we just have went there once for a short vacation.
I remember debating an idiot about how walkable cities. When, we debated about exercise. The point I am trying to make is that walkable cities allows people to be not so depended on gyms to get some exercise. As not everyone likes to go to gyms to get exercise. By allowing cities to be walkable or cyclable people are able to get to their destination while also get some form of relaxing exercised. This idiot responded "You can go to the gym to get exercised so don't be lazy. Look at me, I go to the gym every Friday to get exercised to stay healthy." So stop being lazy and go to the gym and lift some weights." I faced palmed.
And it’s not like most people who get gym memberships actually use it.
That's what years- no, decades of brainwashing does to generations. There was a time I thought only the Soviets were capable of such a feat.
Also something something free market capitalism and its consequences.
And he is lazy for using a metal box to get around.
You have to intentionally go out of your way to go to the gym, it's why most people fail to do it. This argument is just another "it's all about individual choices" angle and that it's always your fault if something doesn't happen. You wouldn't have to go to the gym if an adequate amount of exercise was already built into your environment but many communities do not allow that. Environment >> intentional choices much of the time so it's important to design environments that affect certain behaviors.
I lived in Reno until two months ago and really wish I didn’t have to leave. But all your thoughts here perfectly encapsulate why Reno isn’t a great place to live long term.
I now live a 15 minute walk from downtown Littleton south of Denver and it’s great to have the varied store fronts, light rail, buses, and actual people around.
I’d love to see Reno get better, but in my time following the city and county politics. It seems like those politicians have no interest in making significant changes from the status quo
Reno reminds me of Prescott, AZ. A nice downtown surrounded by horrible stroads, suburbs, and a lack of Public transit... Also in the high desert 😅
Is Prescott any cheaper than phx?
Do you say Press-Scot or Press-kit?
US cities are not designed to live in they are designed as economic and trading hubs for people living in rural areas.
A nice downtown? Surely you are kidding.
@@westsparks6844 it's got good bones anyways
It would really suck to have to walk in a concrete desert like this. The roads would make the heat worse.
and most of the time theres either no or very few trees so that drivers dont hit them, so you cant get into the shade either
An even better experience, the humid asphalt deserts of Florida!
I am very fortunate to live in a relatively walkable neighbourhood in Toronto. Car-free life is beautiful and liberating, in the right environment. Best of luck with your search for a liveable new home!
1:51 I thought my suburban college town had lots of crappy crosswalks until I saw this damn monstrosity, congrats on disappointing me further
Excellent work. Most of this footage reminds me of an airport runway. Traffic volumes are not even high - three lanes could be one. These designs look insane.
Unfortunately there are so few truly walkable places and they are in such high demand, few can afford to live there.
intentional thanks to nimbyism the few that "have it" want to KEEP it for themselves and prevent others from building MORE housing to ALLOW more people to live there
I like the "Brick method",
When car drivers see a pedestrian hefying/carrying a brick near the road, they tend to slow down for some reason :D
genuinely might try this
get some upper body strength gains while I'm at it
there is a "tradie" around my area that has a LARGE pipe wrench welded to the back bumper of his truck and I quote" makes tailgaters back off for some reason"
It's sad how many Americans just accept and defend our cities being dangerous built environments that make us all more miserable as how it has to be and if you have concerns you hate America. Even in cities that are much more pedestrian friendly than Reno, it is very common for there to be outrage at a tiny bit of lane space being changed from a space for cars to a space for bikes. And improved transit is dismissed as a waste of money and no one would want it. All of this at the same time people complain about traffic congestion and a lack of parking due to everyone being forced to drive.
"This is a city made for cars, not people".....exactly how I felt living in Phoenix.
A possible way to keep the cars off the crossings: have bollards that shoot up with a great loud "Ker-chunk!" when a pedestrian presses the button, so the cars physically can't get onto the crossing while pedestrians are there. They can start retracting slowly when the halfway point on the timer is reached, and finish two seconds after the timer ends.
The War on Cars exemplified, right here. How long until kids and trolls start repeatedly hitting those buttons to block traffic or deliberately damage vehicles?
@@Zalis116 Kids do it already with traffic lights. This would change nothing aside from preventing idiots who won't stop for the lights from running over pedestrians.
@@Zalis116 for a war on cars it sure seems like most of the deaths are caused by cars
True. But with how poorly our infrastructure is funded, I suspect we'd have a lot of impassible roads from broken, half-retracted bollards and a certain party pointing the blame at the other party for putting them in to deflect from the first party cutting local upkeep budgets yet again.
@@emma70707 that sounds about right to me, haha
When I worked in Reno in 2005, I would occasionally take my bike on the bus from Carson City to Meadowwood Mall and ride to work from there. My route took me along Capital and Financial to get to Mill Street while avoiding McCarran. After several obnoxious interactions with drivers in the bike lanes in front of FedEx on Capital, I wrote to the city asking them to either make the FedEx employees stop parking in the bike lanes or stop calling them bike lanes.
The person from the city said they would step up parking enforcement and install more bike lane signs. The next time I rode through there, the bike lane signs near FedEx were all gone. Later they disappeared from Financial and Corporate too. When the city chip-sealed the road, they didn't repaint the bike lane symbols so you wouldn't even realize there had been bike lanes.
Of course, putting a few bike lanes into one neighborhood that aren't connected to any other bike lanes or paths was never going to be successful but it really felt like a slap in the face. A few months later I took a job in Carson City and now I have an 11 minute commute by bike, when the bike lanes aren't completely full of snow. I don't miss Reno one bit.
"You do not belong here if you don't have a car"
This could be applied to my hometown. It's a stroady, car dependant hellscape with no transit, shitty sidewalks, ok-ish bike infrastructure but only on 2 roads. The high school is a cult compound, there's only one grocery store there which sucks, and it's Texas, meaning it's a got damn oven 6 months out of the year. I don't want to be there. And it's looking like I'll have to move back there and live with my parents and I don't want any of that crap. (Thanks job market and companies not wanting to hire a fresh college grad) I don't want to live in that house, or the town it's in, and I could go either way on the state.
My hometown sucks! And no one wants to hire me, so it's looking increasingly likely that I'll have to go back there.
And people wonder why small towns are dying
those "power centres" and stroads say "You do not belong here unless you are actively SHOPPING then scram
flip it 180% and DRIVE A CAR is this where you want to drive??? NO IT IS NOT and BY DESIGN
Good luck. Keep your options open
@@TheAmericanCatholic This town isn't, though. People are moving to the area in droves.
@@PapasBlox well for a lot of towns this car dependency is making the towns less enjoyable.
Mall-walking - I have a new contender for "most American thing ever". I thought it was escalators in a gym, but no, mall-walking it is.
I live in Reno,don’t have a car. I don’t even recognize half these places because I’m not interested in those areas. I can eBike or even take public transit( which definitely is inefficient) to the University area, downtown,mid city, Idlewild. Yeah, it needs better bikeways, but it’s actually very walkable if you don’t want suburbs.
Wow Reno looks so depressing. I moved to Germany for my PhD and I definitely like the cities a LOT more than in the USA. Even simple things like construction. They prioritize making sure people can walk around if at all possible while drivers have to detour.
I dont think its particularly depressing. I live here.
@@edwil111 Depends on the city. European cities are generally just better.
I've lived in Reno since 1999. The hostility towards pedestrians and bicyclists is depressing as ever. I lived 13 miles from work. I could have biked to work in about 30 minutes. The lack of driver consideration to anybody but other car drivers kept me from the bicycle commute. Now when I go to get work done on my car I walk to a Starbucks to kill some time. Even crossing in a cross walk with traffic lights for traffic flow is scary at times with people not wanting to wait the short time for the pedestrians who have the walk signal. Soon as the better half retires, we're moving since we don't expect Reno to change their ways. Even the Casino's seem to be against walk-able areas.
You guys should do a meet u!. Two motivated volunteers can make a difference in a local election, if you can get even 10 people together, you might be able to start getting stuff changed. 10 motivated people is A LOT in a local election.
I mean to write "meet up"
And for my "You're just trying to get us out of our gas guzzling cars!" friends I'd say: "If YardHog could bike to work, along with 10% of the rest of the cars, there would be WAY more space for YOUR car."
That's hopefully one way to win people over. Maybe?
Good luck with getting out of Reno man. I feel your pain. I live in Nashville, TN and except for a few streets and some areas, it is not walkable either. I have been trying my hardest to change it but I feel like my emails and thoughts have fallen on deaf ears. Best of luck!
This is the majority of American towns and cities. I feel like an alien at times. I feel like I'm the only one I know that's deeply bothered by this stuff. Everyone else seems perfectly content drivin a big SUV around to do anything. Coming to channels like this lets me know I'm not alone.
If it helps, much of the rest of the world thinks SUV drivers are nuts too haha. Looking outside of your current circle, you're not as alone as you think you are
Well, my son and I and his best friend/friend's dad did a Reno trip car-free a couple of years ago. We took Amtrak up from the Bay Area, walked to our casino hotel, never left the little strip of casinos (I think there are three that are connected to each other), walked back to the Amtrak station the next morning, and took the train back to Emeryville. It was fine and fun.
Just got back from another trip to Reno, same set up my son and I and his friend, and friend's dad, we drove everywhere including to the mountains for skiing. We ate at way bettter restaurants, slept in a nicer hotel, had more fun (on the slopes versus in a casino arcade), and probably did more for our health (outdoor exercise in the sun for many hours).
One relatively simple thing that I might suggest Reno could do to encourage car-free living or at least visiting would be frequent and easy shuttle service from places with concentrations of hotels up to the major ski resorts, starting with at Mt. Rose. Maybe also to Lake Tahoe during the summer?
Reno isn't hopeless. You have a train station. A downtown core. A flow of people who are coming there and needing to rent a car. A college campus in the city. Converting stroads into complete streets takes many years, and building transit infrastructure even longer. If you're waiting for that, yes you'll die first. And 90+% of the Seattle area isn't any different.
But what you can reasonably do is work outward from the obvious starting points, downtown, a major destination, tourists and students who don't have cars. Get those basics down and build from there.
I saw for a car centric place to become walkable. It may take a generation but you have to start with the core. Rezone your downtown and get rid of parking minimums. Rebuilt all your streets, make using transit as quick and convenient as driving but build out these streets. Build sidewalks at least 5ft across. Don't just put a bus stop next to the road and call it a day.
@@thetrainguy1 IMHO for the "core" parts IMHO you are on the money but the "power centres" NEED to be REMOVED and replaced with a "destination" that is more "complete" AND "interface" with the street (stroad)
most of the "power centers" OFFER little that is NOT direct shopping/dining where as the "corporatized" lifestyle centres at least offer a LEVEL of "public space" that is CAR-FREE once there
@@thetrainguy1 I wouldn't think about in such an all or nothing way such that it would "take a generation" to make any progress. As I said, there's already a core that works for car-free living, or at least traveling. A ski resort is also obviously a place where a car isn't needed to traverse! It's actually also famously difficult and sometimes even dangerous to access in a private car. So you have two places where a car is superfluous, one of them accessible via a national-scale rail network. Tie them together via reliable frequent shuttle service and you're way ahead of a lot of other places in the world.
I grew up in Reno, certain areas like midtown, downtown, and NW are pretty good for bikes but it's just too far to walk, it would take way too long. The reason why Reno is cool is the outdoors around it. Endless high deserts, mountains, Tahoe, tons to explore. Yes you have to use a car to get to most of those places. Look most US cities don't have bike lanes and Reno has a ton of them.
This spoke to my soul as a San Antonio resident. It can be HORRID in areas outside of downtown and Southtown to walk here. TDOT’s sole purpose seems to be appeasing the cars.
Also the b-roll at 11:55 was depressing as hell
texas dot is the infrastructure arm of modern fascist texas
Oh my god, don't get me started on TXDoT and their hairbrained idea of expanding i35 because muh traffic.
just one more lane i swear bro one more lane
Former SA resident. I biked everywhere and had a couple of accidents because of cars. I left because that place will never be better
TxDOT** TDOT is Tennessee. I know them well because I live there.
Gosh I feel for ya. it's almost like every other city in Texas gets something while SA doesn't. tho I'm from Houston and sure it's less worse but it's frustrating as heck especially outside loop 610.
My son lived in Reno for a few years and absolutely hated it for many of the reasons mentioned in this video. Late last year he found a job in the Dallas area and has moved to the West Village area. He absolutely loves it there. He can take a ten minute walk in safety and has scores of options for shops, restaurants, etc and not worry about getting hit by a car.
It's both interesting and terrifying to see just how terrible it must feel to be a pedestrian in cities like this. I live in Germany, and I have never been to the US. It's hard for me to imagine living in a place like this. I don't own a car, I don't need to. I use my ebike to get to work, or I take the bus and walk. When I'm cycling, I'm able to use safe bike paths most of the time, many of which aren't even near any road. A portion of my commute to the office even runs through a nature preserve, so it's actually really pleasant to cycle through. And when I take the bus and walk to rest of the way, I walk through a park that's lined by historic buildings with beautiful fassades. I could switch to a different bus line that stops right in front of the office, but I choose to walk instead, because it's a nice and relaxing way to start the day.
Whether I take my ebike or the bus, it's a low-stress experience here where I live. I could not see myself walk or bike around in a city like Reno. The thought alone of crossing an intersection like the ones shown in the video makes me absolutely terrified. I would have the exact same reaction like those people mentioned in the video: "This is insane!" - because that's what it is.
It is insane but also completely rational if you understand why car-centric cities exist. The city planning is done this way to encourage consumerism. A car-centric city layout will encourage people who don't have a car to buy one. This is seen as good for the economy and growth.
@@Novusod Oh sure, cities like these are the way they are for a reason. But I'd argue that human happiness and safety should be more important than consumerism. So this doesn't make it any less insane to me. Also, I'm pretty sure that car-centric sprawling infrastructure like that is in fact bad for the (local) economy, as explained in several videos by channels like Not Just Bikes. So the ecomonist argument doesn't really hold up that well.
@@bunapapaya8 Bold of you to assume the petrol and motorway industry has a heart let alone an incentive for long term societal developement.
@@MustraOrdo Umm, I don't assume that at all, actually. What made you think that?
@@bunapapaya8 My apologies for my phrasing. My skepticism, disappointment, and hatred towards seeming reputable institutions tends to spill on to my attempt at conversations. I should just say that I do agree with you that all of this is insane.
I’m a resident of San Francisco which is certainly a city I would recommend moving to especially if you have ties to Reno given it’s proximity. Although it’s absolutely understandable given the high cost of living why it deters many. If you’re able to secure a decent job and can manage your expenses well enough, it’s incredibly rewarding to live here but it’s a shame that American cities that are worthwhile are cities that are expensive to live in. It only further proves how desirable these places are. I moved here for the exact reasons you’re considering moving from where you are, having come from an equally uninviting, hostile, and soulless place in the suburbs of Dallas TX. It really makes a difference on your happiness and well being and I just want you to know that you’re absolutely making the right decision. Best of luck in your search, I’ll always welcome a new friend and resident in this city so don’t be afraid to stop on by!
But people poop on the sidewalks there
San Fran and Seattle prove why LOW density is BAD for people and cities
as we HAVE cities that are GOOD places to be are the "exception" and in so high demand that most people it is an unattainable dream or the parts YOU CAN afford are NOT the walkable districts but satellite suburbs / exurbs FAR away with an equally "rough" commute
Urbanists *say* they want to build more affordable places than the current car-dependent suburbs, yet all the shining Meccas of urbanism are extraordinarily expensive. It's almost as if they want to force people out of the suburbs and into "crack stack" urban ghetto high-rises by making car commuting/parking unaffordable or damaging people's cars into oblivion via "traffic-calming" hazards.
It's just a world apart in terms of income needed to even get started. Portland is expensive but it's way more attainable, and even Denver or Boulder might not be bad choices from there
@@jasonriddell it is entirely possible to have a city with medium density (i.e. not skyscrapers) and for it to be affordable and even pleasant. San Francisco wouldn't necessarily need to build big apartment towers. They could build 4-6 storey, parking-free walkable apartment buildings everywhere and get enough housing for the most part, plus probably more commercial and street vibrancy. So I don't really mind wanting to preserve historical character, but there are cities in Europe that do that well and still add more housing units. San Francisco should learn from them rather than just banning everything
i think I've said this on every one of these videos: when you live in these sprawling, car-centric horizontal cities, you HAVE to own a car to survive - which means:
- the banks own you - gotta keep paying back that auto loan;
- the oil companies own you - "fill 'er up!"
- and the insurance companies own you - gotta have that insurance card in the glove compartment.
Anybody who doesn't think the system this didn't happen by accident is kidding themselves- it's been set up on purpose to keep everyone on the brink of poverty and enslaved to those corporate/financial behemoths. In the meantime I thank God I live in NYC where our subways and buses guarantee I'm not enslaved to a vehicle.
Cogent observations.
For all the money it generates, Nevada seems to have a much harder time shaking its car dependency than any other state in the west. Denver has great public transit, is walkable, and they even built their commuter rail network entirely from scratch. SLC is doing a great job expanding its public transit with commuter and light rail, while improving its walkability. Hell, even Phoenix and Tucson are making lots of progress, reimagining their downtowns, building streetcars and light rail, and developing BRT systems. Albuquerque has an excellent BRT system, too. Nevada is beautiful and has a lot of good things going for it, so it’s a real shame they’re not taking this issue more seriously. Hope you find a new, welcoming and walkable home soon.
I recently took a ride in a neighbor's car. He remarked to me how much more difficult it is to drive because of "all these bicycles, scooters, and people using the streets." 5 years ago I might've empathized with him, but I this time I couldn't help but chuckle to myself: imagine how much worse it would be if they were all in their own cars too.
Unfortunately more walkable cities like NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco are losing population to less walkable cities like Phoenix, Houston, Atlanta, and even Reno.
likely mostly due to MAJOR unaffordability issues and LOW density car centric western regions have LOTS of LOW COST land that equals a LOT of "affordable" housing
@@jasonriddell Sorry not to cherry pick sure housing in CA and NYC are expensive but the average home prices in the cities mentioned like in Chicago is $276k and Philadelphia is $216k compared to Phoenix at $399k, Atlanta at $367k, and Reno at $511k. There are also tons of homes in major Midwest cities with decent density and walkable areas that are much cheaper as well.
Due to high taxes, bureaucracy and crime.
@@shauncameron8390 yeah, living in a petty tyranny of an HOA is much better
@@jasonriddellMost of the car dependent suburbs are expensive as fuck. My house was valued at over 200k despite being in a bumfuck redneck area. Anyone who thinks this is a problem exclusive to cities is willfully ignorant.
1:47 this intersection is a nightmare. How can anyone see the pedestrian signal??? Our streets are too damn wide.
It's so surreal to hear an urbanist channel talk about a city I'm so familiar with, great job!
The fact that urban layout has an effect on people's behavior might go some way towards explaining why those who live in car-dependent environments are more likely to be right-wing.
Especially since radios are included in cars and right-wing talk radio is what’s on AM radio (and some FM radio stations).
or is it the "other way around" "i want my independence" and my OWN HOME away from other people so they self select suburban / exurban housing that is often LARGER then more urban smaller / shared housing
But Nevada is left-wing.
@@shauncameron8390 What, all of it?
These intersections are atrocious! Why do people think this is the way we should be living? :/
I'm a Brazilian urban designer who moved to Miami last year. Finally, I could understand why my Mexican friend from Hermosillo would never leave his birthplace for a city like Phoenix. He never liked Phoenix, even though Hermosillo seems to be a messed-up place filled with potholes and cartel-related violence. Although, in general, American cities look cleaner, more organized, and better planned and built than most Latin American cities, I have a strange feeling every time I walk on foot. It's like I'm not in a real city. The grass is always well-cut, and the sidewalks are perfect, but it never feels like a familiar place to me. Sometimes I think it's not even inhabited by human beings. I always complained about my hometown, São Paulo. I used to complain about how streets were dirt, how sidewalks were terrible to walk, how streets were too steep, etc. But today I kinda miss all that mess I left behind.
And Miami is less like Reno than the typical US city. The zoning in American cities sterilizes and kills urban life.
Yeah man come to Seattle! We are building a light rail and we just passed I-135 to build more affordable housing so it’s not a bad start honestly 😁
Great video once again, I hope your future endevours lead you to a happier and more walkable place. Thanks for a great upload
Of course reno is unwalkable out in the burbs and the urban sprawl. That's the norm in any city and Reno is not unusual in that respect. It is however, reasonably walkable closer to downtown. My son lived in an apartment in Reno 2 miles from casino row downtown. I stayed there in 2020 and was able to walk that 2 miles in around 40 minutes and had sidewalks virtually the entire time. Yes, crossing streets was an issue, but I picked my spots and found I felt safer crossing mid-block than at the designated crosswalks at intersections because I had better sightlines and could wait for gaps in the traffic. Only downside was that, save for the occasional homeless person or hooker, I was just about the only person on foot.😄
Yeah downtown is a lot different than the stuff she showing here
Nice work! I bike commute around here and it's just exhausting dealing with drivers who are perfectly fine endangering me just to get to the next red light a few seconds quicker.
Flew into Reno to explore Tahoe. Was not impressed by the city although it was fun to explore the subdivisions under construction in the hills
Every child should be able to ride bicycle safely to school, work or for fun.
Children should ride a bicycle not be driven in a minivan to go everywhere.
Walking, bicycles and escooters need to be a higher priority in transportation planning and urban design.
for the suburbs lets start with places to "BE" and NOT just "SHOP" as those places shown are ONLY there for SHOPPING and NO other use at all
and once we have PLACES TO BE we can talk about transportation including children
I dont care HOW nice the bike trail is to that shopping "experience" I am NOT going there BY CHOICE only "necessity" and going to choose the fastest way there and AWAY
What a coincidence. I've been reading Charles Montgomery's Happy City and have Jeff Speck's Walkable City next on my reading list. Happy City is such an insightful psychological approach to sustainable urban design. It's both inspiring and saddening. Since I live in Vegas, which is very similar to Reno, I share your sentiments. The suburban environment feels like it's slowly taking a toll on my mental health, but I can't necessarily leave, because of family and job security. At least not yet.
14:39
I can't speak to many places, but Baltimore is an extremely walkable city with a rich culture and relatively affordable housing in comparison to other cities around itself. It's no transit paradise, nor is it a biking one, but it has a crap ton of potential being an old city originally built on walkability and density. While crime is definitely higher than other cities, it's (mostly) isolated to poorer neighborhoods like West Baltimore. Although especially with the new governor, things are looking much brighter for the future of transit and Baltimore as a whole. I say you should give it a chance!
I wish you all the best of luck in your search for a better more human friendly city to live in. I wish I had a suggestion, but everywhere I've lived has been car centric. Perhaps Columbus, Ohio might be people friendly enough. But it's also crazy cold there in the winter.
Columbus is by far the most car-centric of the Three Cs in Ohio…Cleveland and Cincinnati are WAY more interesting places. Columbus has a couple small walkable pockets, while the others are really loaded with neighborhoods that just keep getting better. We could do a whole lot better in Ohio, but it’s definitely better than Reno. Most Western cities make the Midwest look like we don’t really build for cars.
Move to Mexico?
depending on "job requirements" I would suggest looking at SMALLER cities and avoid the "name brand" cities as they are often unaffordable in the areas you WANT TO live in
my City of Winnipeg is a "car-hell" but the GOOD pockets are quite affordable by Canadian standards and could offer near 100% walkable with transit and (improving bike infrastructure)
the "packing district" is a warehouse come loft conversion area right on the RED river down town and there is "the village" a "village like area with small shops
we have BIKE trails to IKEA !!!! and that is on the EDGE of the city in a NEW development area
@@LeeHawkinsPhoto I guess I only ever saw the good part of Columbus then. I grew up in Cleveland, I wouldn’t wish that city on anyone. Cincinnati is nice though.
@@KellyS_77 if you haven’t been to Cleveland in the past 10-15 years it has improved considerably in several neighborhoods. It definitely still has problems, but I don’t get why most cities get rated for their best offerings while Cleveland always seems to get rated for its worst. Downtown, Ohio City, University Circle, Tremont, and Detroit-Shoreway are booming, as is Lakewood. Columbus basically has endless boring suburbia surrounding a few older OK to not so nice neighborhoods. Downtown is not that walkable, and is broken up by tons of parking lots and a massive most of freeways surrounding it. The only really cool neighborhoods are Short North and High Street from I-670 to OSU…and maybe German Village. And I mean, Short North for sure is super cool, but Columbus just doesn’t have the history or architecture of Cleveland or Cincinnati. A lot of it is shiny and new, but stuff from 1950 on just isn’t as cool as pre-WWII. Like I said, Cleveland has a ton of room for improvement, but for the most part it feels like a real city and not a giant suburb with a few highrises like the bulk of Columbus.
Reno is pretty much the norm in America. There are exceptions, but they are too expensive. You have to set your sights on cities outside of the US and Canada.
Seattle is fantastic and has some impressive public transportation for America, but consider also looking at older cities in the Mid West and South. My hometown, New Orleans, has an average rent of nearly $500 a month less than Seattle and half that of New York (NO: ~$1700/month SE: ~$2200/month NY: ~$3300/month source: Zillow). Rust Belt and Southern cities often don't have the quality transportation of West and East Coast cities. Still, many have old, walkable city grids that predate the automobile, with housing and rental markets far more affordable than typical urbanist destinations such as Seattle, New York, or Boston. What's more, many are actively promoting urbanist solutions such as new public transportation and more bike lanes. Here in New Orleans, City Council is currently reviewing a $250 million BRT proposal. Hope it goes through!
I would also advocate to look at smaller towns and avoid the widely known cities with the goal of actually affording the "good" walkable inner neighbourhoods
Seattle isn't that great. The layout doesn't feel as cohesive as cities like DC, Boston, or New York. Part of it is water breaking up the city but there are also major dead areas (SoDo, Harbor Island) and the gaps between areas like Columbia City to Downtown to Fremont. There is no transportation system or cohesiveness to it.
Can confirm the walkability of New Orleans. Easy place to get around, especially around the French quarter. It has a fantastic city layout, all it really needs is funding to renovate all their old homes and streets.
Last year, I took my first visit to the west coast. I stayed by downtown area in Reno and had a really wonderful time. However, I did see it was super car dependent outside of downtown. We went to San Francisco that same trip, and guess what… it was so nice to actually walk everywhere and well, it became my favorite part of the whole trip.
I’m in Philly - my taxes are high, my apartment is tiny, and winters are cold - but I only drive once or twice a week. I drove out to the suburbs the other day and wanted to drive off a cliff - the traffic insanity was just bonkers. I was like, “how do people live like this?” - Fast food lines out onto the main roads, no walking, honking nonstop. It was so stressful. People zooming across the interstate with no blinkers and nonstop defensive driving was so nerve wracking. The city isn’t heaven (it’s dirty and crime increase are two big issues) and sometimes I hate it but yowza the car-centric lifestyle is nuts. I grew up in it and have lived in the city so long I forgot how nuts it was but I think it’s gotten so much worse since covid.
agree but it is NOT even "car centric" it is SPEND AND LEAVE centric those "spaces" are designed to encourage you to SPEND AND LEAVE
outer ring Amsterdam is CAR CENTRIC and a GREAT place to DRIVE and LIVE (inner ring better but)
I've never been to Reno but everything you say seems to be perfectly correct.
I don't think it needs a psychology professor with a bunch of high tech gadgets to tell us that taking the dog for a walk in the park or down a leafy boulevard is much better for us than trying to get through the concrete jungle or across the asphalt desert.
It is also rather bizarre the time and money we will spend to drive to the gym where we spend more time and money on a stationary bike, maybe even one attached to a screen giving us a synthetic view of a park or leafy boulevard.
I also think that it's highly plausible that the harshness and ugliness of our urban spaces creates a certain background noise of stress and unhappiness that contributes to mental illness and a generally poor quality of life.
Cities need to do more to encourage people to ride bicycles. Safe protected bike lanes and trails are needed so adults and children can ride safely. Speak up for bicycles in your community. Bicycles make life and cities better. Ask your local transportation planner and elected officials to support more protected bike lanes and trails. Children should be riding a bicycle to school and not be driven in a minivan.
Do what I did, leave that state. I'm much happier for doing so.
Wow...the bad ending.... but the necessary one. I'm sorry Reno had to break your heart like that! I wish you the best of luck in wherever you end up going to next
I lived in Reno in the 90s-2000s. It was still affordable back then, but the economy was too unstable. Casinos were the mainstay. Problem is, when things go bad, such as a recession, it kills the casinos and the entire town. Reno after 9/11 was economically terrible. I used to miss Reno, but not anymore.
One thing you got wrong is mall walking.
1. It's fun
2. It's good for the elderly when there's snow on the ground. Both safe and warm.
wow, those intersections... of course they're dangerous for peds, but i can't believe the motorists put up with the stop signs.
Thank you for description links
look into Burlington Vermont I know it's a little bit far, but it's really nice and we have a group advocating for more people oriented spaces it's still out of the radar but it definitely has potential.
" people oriented spaces" that statement right there is what is WRONG with those "power centres" and STROADS in suburban America they are designed the exact opposite to "encourage" you to leave once you bought the "essentials" you went for
7:18 towards the end of lock down, I started a hybrid/work from home job. I GENUINELY enjoyed the commute to the office 2 days a week. I got to see people and parts of the city I don't normally see. It got me out of the house, when otherwise I could have gone up to 5 days straight without seeing another human face.
When I lived in Brooklyn, my morning walks to work were so enjoyable! Even the times when I worked placed where I needed to take the train to work, I’d just listen to music on my iPod or read a book. I’d feel like Michael Douglas in Falling Down if I had to commute to work by car every day! 😂
I lived in a suburb around Vancouver and DROVE to work 1 hour a direction to COVER 10 miles to get home
it was hell on all levels
Everyone is in favor of more walkability and public transportation, including car-centric people. You just have to start the conversation right. First, only have these conversations with people you know. Stop trying to convince strangers. Second, never outright talk about walkability and public transport. Always start by relating to their problems. Bring up how traffic is horrendous or how you wonder how some people even have licenses with how bad they drive. They will always be in favor to complain about those two topics. Then start asking them, "How do you suppose we fix this when the only way to work is by car?" Then bring up walkability and public transport. They will reject the idea, but not as abrupt if you were to just start with it. It's not about changing their mind right then and there. You simply need to plant the seed.
Other topics that help is complaining how long the pick-up line is after school for parents and/or drive-throughs.
IMHO a good point is how BAD "power centre" lines stroads are to DRIVE TO AND FROM and how insert-trendy-neighbourhood is better for SHOPPING ONLY if getting there was easier OR it was closer to your house
seeing a channel talk about our city is so cathartic
Come to Colorado Springs! We are slowly changing from car-dependency to more walkable areas and growing infill development.
Based on his preference for Seattle, Denver maybe be a better option. I lived in a suburb of Denver with only a bike, transit, and my shoes for 4 years.
Great video as usual ❤
Las Vegas is much worse than Reno sadly. Even the Las Vegas Strip which is where all the tourists are has dismal walkability. The entire southwest US is very dismal when it comes to walkability and car culture. There are some very nice desert cities such as Santa Fe, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Provo and San Antonio though.
In a desert city, the last thing you want is acres of asphalt! There ought to be narrow, shady pedestrianized streets lined with lovely brick or abode buildings, perhaps even with arcades like you find in Italy, and/or plenty of trees, to protect people from the scorching sun. Hopefully gasoline prices will cause the car-centric model to forcibly end if common sense doesn't prevail before then.
As a Cascadian, Seattle is really cool but don't sleep on Portland Oregon if you want to move to the upper left part of the Country. Our transit system is just as good as Seattle's if not better in some ways.
Pittsburgh, of all places, recently hit my radar as an interesting and less expensive city. Not sure I would want to bike there, but walking and public transportation look good.
I biked in Pittsburgh back in the 90s. It’s very hilly. Think San Francisco hilly. My commute was from Squirrel Hill through the Schenley Park to Oakland. I also did loops around the city and up and down Mount Washington. I love Pittsburgh and would move back for the right opportunity
And see City Nerd, Pittsburgh tops many of his lists - most walkable and affordable cities, bridgiest city, etc.
@@kennethduckworth7111, I'm a super wimp when it comes to lots of hills, but I suppose I'd get used to it.
The two things that keep me from Pittsburgh are how relatively small/remote it is (several hour train ride to the next major metropolis) compared to where I live near Washington D.C. And the winters. I spent 31 years in Maine and after 15 years away, I never want to deal with long, cold, deep winters again.
Still, it has a lot of positives, and the idea of being able to potentially actually buy a house/apartment is very tempting, as I'll probably never be able to do that where I live now.
@@matthewconstantine5015 Pittsburgh is 4 hours from DC, 5 hours from Philly. I loved it. Funky neighborhoods, a lot of happenings and WYEP - best radio station ever
I agree. That’s why I am moving to Berlin.
Bicycles, ebikes, electric cargo bicycles, robo taxis and escooters are great options for last mile, short distance travel.
Reduced transportation costs and fossil fuels free transportation.
Cities need to do more to encourage people to ride bicycles by providing SAFE, PROTECTED BIKE LANES and trails. Every adult and child should own a bicycle and ride it regularly. Bicycles are healthy exercise and fossil fuels free transportation. Electric bicycles are bringing many older adults back to cycling. Ride to work, ride to school, ride for health or ride for fun. Children should be able to ride a bicycle to school without having to dodge cars and trucks. Separated and protected bike lanes are required. It will also make the roads safer for automobile drivers. Transportation planners and elected officials need to encourage people to walk, bike and take public transportation. Healthy exercise and fossil fuels free transportation. In the future cities will be redesigned for people not cars. Crazy big parking lots will be transformed with solar canopies generating free energy from the sun.
we also need to "take care" of these retail ONLY spaces that cover so much of our urban land use and offer ZERO reason to be there beyond buying goods
I lived in St. John's Newfoundland for a time, and the car drivers didn't give one single shit about pedestrian crosswalks. No one would stop for you no matter how long you waited to cross, and it didn't matter which crosswalk in the city.
Except one, and it was only one.
It was the one between the university parking lot and the university grounds.
It was as if every driver said to themselves "I'll stop here, because these pedestrians are students studying to get a degree, so I feel sorry for them."
No where else in the entire city did the cars stop at a pedestrian crosswalk.
St. John's is a shit city, and I was glad to leave that place. I'll never go back...
2:51 “Safety is about feeling safe.”
As a pilot, I’m curious if you actually believe this. Just to reassure you, pilots do not. 😉
At any rate, I’d think the trick to improving Reno (it’s been a long time since I was there) would be to concentrate on the tourist area and find an area close enough to connect to it that could be redeveloped. I’d want to put in dual use that would attract upper middle class retirees (not the normal strategy, but I would think it would work for Reno) and downtown workers. Combine that with retail nice enough to attract the casino patrons to walk or trolley over during the day. You’d want to expand it with office space when there is demand, and once the growth is assured, add some more truly middle class residential and bike connections to other amenities. You need to lift the property value and demand for the area to get higher density redevelopment that will pay for new infrastructure as it builds out. Stop worrying about the Stroads for now. Instead, just let people see the foot traffic and activity and convenience displayed by the new residents along with the tourists who will not be using cars.
You will not beat the desire for suburbs until you create desire for urban areas. You will get nothing but pushback trying to force projects the suburbanites do not think they need.
I have long accepted that we are a special breed when it comes to understanding safety and most people will never get it because they generally live sheltered lives.
Reno takes a toll on my mental health as well.
When I delivered packages for FedEx during the pandemic, I was happy with the fast pace I had to go at to deliver packages door to door in the small delivery trucks. After a year, they switched me over to a bigger box truck that dropped more packages per stop. My happiness went away, as I became more sedentary, standing in place and sitting in place, like I was a moving piece of statue or furniture myself. I left that job, and drive over the road now. He is not kidding about car centric cities. They are not friendly to humans or other forms of transport, like trucks. I thought the cities out east would be better. They aren't, they have as many stroads as the western half of the country. I appreciate documentary's like this one.
those build environments are NOT even "good" far car drivers and are engineered to be entered and left as quickly as possible
As someone who has read some of the 2040-2050 transportation and development plans for the region, I concur with your video's assessment. While the technocrats seem to know how to use some urbanist buzzwords, and there are plans for improvements, they are held back by frustrating incrementalism which is more than offset by just as many or more new roadway widening and highway projects. According to TMRPA's regional plan to about 2040, even in the best case growth scenarios, 90+% of trips will be driven (p. 72).
is there ANY plan / vision for changing the landscape or is it MORE hostile spend and leave "power centre" dominated stroady "goodness"
as far as I am concerned without addressing the intentional "spend then get out" retail first design on these stroads we will GET NO BETTER
I would like to see at least a talk about "whole communities" and "places to be" be talked about in these environments
@@jasonriddell There may be some hope in this. The proposed "Downtown Damonte" development is a mixed-use community at Steamboat and Damonte Ranch Pkwy. It targets a Walk Score above 60 in a part of town that usually scores 0. Time will tell whether it becomes a dressed-up mall or something more.
Move to Minneapolis! We’ve got some of the best bike infrastructure in the country and are heavily investing in light rail and BRT so that should give a lot of interesting things to talk about! AND we may start work on a high speed rail from Minneapolis to Duluth which is very exciting
Thanks for giving me the heads up so now I can take Reno off my bucket- list .
My work and college commutes are only 15-20 minutes, and I'm already finding myself frequently stressed out. I can't imagine what hours on the freeway could do to someone.
This sadly reflects the climate around the country and, unfortunately, where I live. We just put together our transportation master plan and it has a lot about multi-modal networks, if not very specific, or why, but it's at least a step.
But you can't sit on the sidelines of something you're so passionate about. If everyone who was so passionate about urban design and walkable cities started showing up at city council meetings and joined in on mobility committees, others would join in, too. The people who stand up are the ones who get seen and there's absolutely no need to embrace a nihilist attitude about it when you do love your city so much. Where you gonna go? Another non-walkable hellpit?
People should divert their passionate to the public good and work to make things change, however long it'll take, for the wise person plants trees whose shade they won't enjoy. That's the kind of activism we need in Reno, where I am, and across the country. That's what makes things better.
Just found your channel, thank you for the great content, and keep up the good work! Also, congrats on finding your way out of here.
As a person that grew up cycling in another city with a large biking community, and just recently tried a commute to work in Reno, the experience was harrowing. It's painfully obvious that whoever is responsible for designing the cycling lanes has never actually ridden on it themselves. One segment on Moana actually cuts right into the center of traffic, which I find insanely dangerous.
As far as I can tell, the majority of cycling lanes here are half-hearted at best; unprotected and right up against traffic, about the width of a handlebar in most places that descend into super narrow gutter lanes, or disappear altogether; sometimes with no escape path onto a sidewalk unless you can curb hop. When you couple this with some of the most hyper-aggressive, worst drivers I've ever seen (I've driven extensively on both coasts, the Midwest, and Hawaii and never seen anything like this), it's a recipe for disaster. There's no way I would have my child bike these lanes unsupervised.
The segment on elderly folks walking in the mall was incredibly depressing. Those of us that are younger can simply move away, but the elderly on fixed incomes are just trapped here. Imagine finding no safe place to congregate and walk outdoors so you're forced into a mall. Just sad.
I can't wait to leave, the only reason we're still here is my kid is a top ranked school for gifted kids that oddly enough is located here where the public education standards are abysmal. We'll leave here as soon as she's done with High School which is thankfully in another couple of years.
Visit Amsterdam or most European cities and you will probably faint overwhelmed with all the bike trails, pedestrian precincts, walkways, public transport........ :)) !
Slowly losing my mind living in a car dependant city. Seriously thinking if moving out soon
留学生として、4年ほど住んだ経験からすると、車は必須と思います。
50ccのmopedも面白かったですが…
UNRのちかくから、Wincoまで、よくmopedで買い物に行きました❤🎉
I live in Sparks near Los Altos, and you absolutely need a car to survive here. At a brisk pace, I could likely walk to the Galleria area in about 30 minutes, but I'm never going to do that because there's nothing interesting between here and there. Personally, I'm fine with driving from home to another part of town, but I'd like to park and hang out in an area without having to get back in the car over and over again. Where I live is typical of modern suburbia with giant swaths of residential developments large retail developments sprinkled in every few miles. I don't think this area is ever going to ever fit your lifestyle, as there is already too much sprawl in all directions, and the infrastructure has to support vehicle traffic. Good luck in your search for a better place.
In 2015 I moved to the city where I work. I never stood in a traffic jam on the highway way again. Now I live only 2.5/ 4 km from my job and I cycle there in 13 minutes. I cycle through quiet residential streets with traffic calming measures.
Came here for school and... Yeah. I think some of the areas in midtown, around idyllwild Park and around the university aren't too too bad but I've never lived somewhere actually walkable so my bar is pretty low.
One thing that gets me is that so many roads are just so unnecessarily wide. What's up with that?
I feel the same way in Dallas. They really do make efforts sometimes to try to fix things. But we also have to contend with sprawl. No matter how many bike lanes you add, if the path to the average destination you want to travel to is at minimum 5 miles, only the absolute most desperate or the absolute most passionate will use that mode of travel. I used to really be proactive and positive about getting incremental change in my town. But I'm getting old; I don't have that kind of strength anymore, especially when all the effort put in barely achieved anything. In some places, the cars have won, and they won't give up that victory. It's their city; get me out.
Seattleite here! Haven’t relied on a car for almost 3 years. I love it! So many walkable neighborhoods.
come join the growing urbanist wave in Seattle 👀
would love to have you here! come for a visit first if you like!
I'm actually on the Eastside which is much more car-dependent than the city of Seattle. Urbanism is new to me in the past year, and now I want to move across the water into Seattle because I can't have the lifestyle I want with the development patterns here. I would love for my city council to watch this video because it really captures a lot of the issues that are driving young people out of my city.
lol so glad i left America. Now i live somewhere safe, interesting, and super walkable and all for less than half of what I was spending in the US
I've never understood the need or desire to walk anywhere. This fascination with pedestrians and public transit seems like misplaced energy. Maybe if these pedestrians had a bit more verve, they'd find out that roads are perfect for people in a hurry.
My coworker really struggled to get to and from work during the bus strike because she lived on Kirman and had to commute 7 miles to South Meadows.
I grew up in san francisco and the first time i went to reno i was like what the fuck is going on
Over time i realized that almost the whole US is built like that
Maybe instead of thinking about Seattle, you should go for a three weeks vacation to Barcelona (Esp).