44:00, speaking of the Hummer, i saw one the other day, it looked SMALL. This behemoth of a vehicle people would make fun of for being outrageously large, looked small next to all the new SUVs and Trucks in the stroad-mall-atrocity I was in.
This makes the movement that's happening in small towns like Selma NC clearer - the people like Charles moving to a walkable town center - they're not crazy, they're killing the "zombie."
I hear Chuck talk about the same topics over and over again through the years, and I literally never get sick of it. He truly cares about his work and it shows. I can't go anywhere without thinking, 'what would Chuck think of this place?'
One of the things I appreciate very much about Strong Towns is that they approach the subject from a completely different direction, which can shut up some of the people clinging to the 'zombie' as was so aptly put. Instead of coming from a humanitarian perspective, they take the economic stance. It's more *profitable*, it's better for the economy, it's just better for the town. Oh, and for the people too.
Yep. And bonus. It's the right thing to do from a humanitarian perspective as well without leading with that fact. Thanks for watching. I hope you are enjoying the Active Towns Channel. Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns I am! I will admit I use your channel to find other channels to watch. Funny how I got here. I started with some videos of NJB who has also been featured here. What really got me looking into infrastructure was a video 'why Europe doesn't build skyscrapers'. The tone pissed me off something fierce and implied that it was because Europe is mostly stuck in the past but will hopefully soon join other enlightened countries in building the cities of the future... Yeah, right. So I started to look into the real reason of why cities would, or would not, build skyscrapers. It's been a journey, but I got my answer
Nice talk, lots to do :-) Yeah, many things in early 70's Netherlands that were a factor (don't think being broke was one of them): just coming out of revolution (in name sexual, but in practice it was a democratization movement), people demanding road-safety, the sentiment of not demolishing old inner cities [like Amsterdam highway plans], big shortage in housing, the report of "the club of Rome" just came out, and the oil-crisis made clear that oil (and therefore cars) was not sustainable. At that point, we've decided/realized we are not USA, having different problems and solutions, as it's not wise to put us as an example where the USA should be heading (right away ;) )
@tom jacobs, Yeah, I had never heard that either... as point out, it was many factors and it was a tough fight. I believe the final vote on the Groningen traffic circulation plan came down to a single swing vote. The Netherlands has come a long way and the hard work and infrastructure investments are truly starting to pay off. Thanks for watching. Cheers! John
Yeah! I still have a Honda Element. They are one of the most useful and adaptable cars ever. Honda needs to bring them back. I work in construction and it’s my work vehicle. My personal vehicles are 3 bikes.
@Ian Barr, Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. Don't hesitate to let me know if you ever have a suggested topic and/or guest that you think would be great for the podcast. Cheers! John
Thanks, Vincenzo! I passed along your comment to Chuck and he was delighted. Please don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions or if we can assist in any way. Cheers! John
@ThePixel1983, To be clear I found Paris primarily quiet during the car-free (motor vehicle-free day). Otherwise, yes, the "farting" bikes were annoying. In fact, I even had a guy nearly run over my foot while I was sitting at an outdoor cafe with his "mo-ped" when he thought, what-the-heck, I'll just zip right through here and avoid the intersection altogether. Yeah, his rude behavior during quite a reaction from my fellow cafe crowd down the line. A toxic sense of motorized power entitlement. Thanks so much for watching and adding to the conversation. Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns Ah, yes, I love those days. I'll be cycling through Paris on Sunday, with a friend, as we try to do every weekend. Your description fits my experience of Paris. We'll need a lot of traffic filtering. Someone needs to invent weight based tire spikes to keep the scooters at bay I guess.
Strong towns is an amazing organisation!
@CarFreeHumanist, Yes it is. :-)
44:00, speaking of the Hummer, i saw one the other day, it looked SMALL. This behemoth of a vehicle people would make fun of for being outrageously large, looked small next to all the new SUVs and Trucks in the stroad-mall-atrocity I was in.
Yeah, the massive SUV and pickup truck sizes have gotten out of control.
This makes the movement that's happening in small towns like Selma NC clearer - the people like Charles moving to a walkable town center - they're not crazy, they're killing the "zombie."
@Cindy Brookshire, Well said. Thanks so much for watching. Cheers! John
I hear Chuck talk about the same topics over and over again through the years, and I literally never get sick of it. He truly cares about his work and it shows. I can't go anywhere without thinking, 'what would Chuck think of this place?'
@al, Thanks so much for watching and your comments. Much appreciated. Cheers! John
One of the things I appreciate very much about Strong Towns is that they approach the subject from a completely different direction, which can shut up some of the people clinging to the 'zombie' as was so aptly put. Instead of coming from a humanitarian perspective, they take the economic stance. It's more *profitable*, it's better for the economy, it's just better for the town. Oh, and for the people too.
Yep. And bonus. It's the right thing to do from a humanitarian perspective as well without leading with that fact. Thanks for watching. I hope you are enjoying the Active Towns Channel. Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns I am! I will admit I use your channel to find other channels to watch. Funny how I got here. I started with some videos of NJB who has also been featured here. What really got me looking into infrastructure was a video 'why Europe doesn't build skyscrapers'. The tone pissed me off something fierce and implied that it was because Europe is mostly stuck in the past but will hopefully soon join other enlightened countries in building the cities of the future... Yeah, right. So I started to look into the real reason of why cities would, or would not, build skyscrapers. It's been a journey, but I got my answer
@@gerritvalkering1068 Love it! Thanks so much for tuning in. I really appreciate it. Cheers! John
Nice talk, lots to do :-)
Yeah, many things in early 70's Netherlands that were a factor (don't think being broke was one of them): just coming out of revolution (in name sexual, but in practice it was a democratization movement), people demanding road-safety, the sentiment of not demolishing old inner cities [like Amsterdam highway plans], big shortage in housing, the report of "the club of Rome" just came out, and the oil-crisis made clear that oil (and therefore cars) was not sustainable.
At that point, we've decided/realized we are not USA, having different problems and solutions, as it's not wise to put us as an example where the USA should be heading (right away ;) )
@tom jacobs, Yeah, I had never heard that either... as point out, it was many factors and it was a tough fight. I believe the final vote on the Groningen traffic circulation plan came down to a single swing vote. The Netherlands has come a long way and the hard work and infrastructure investments are truly starting to pay off. Thanks for watching. Cheers! John
Yeah! I still have a Honda Element. They are one of the most useful and adaptable cars ever. Honda needs to bring them back. I work in construction and it’s my work vehicle. My personal vehicles are 3 bikes.
I'd love an electric version of the Element! Thanks for watching. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
John, I've been listening to your podcast for some time ---I LOVE WHAT YOU'RE DOING. Fantastic ! Cheers.
@Ian Barr, Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. Don't hesitate to let me know if you ever have a suggested topic and/or guest that you think would be great for the podcast. Cheers! John
This isn't the best podcast I have seen/heard in ages. It is the best I have heard ever!
Thanks, Vincenzo! I passed along your comment to Chuck and he was delighted. Please don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions or if we can assist in any way. Cheers! John
Funny how you found Paris quiet. I can't wait to see the "noise radars" put up. Darn farting bikes!
@ThePixel1983, To be clear I found Paris primarily quiet during the car-free (motor vehicle-free day). Otherwise, yes, the "farting" bikes were annoying. In fact, I even had a guy nearly run over my foot while I was sitting at an outdoor cafe with his "mo-ped" when he thought, what-the-heck, I'll just zip right through here and avoid the intersection altogether. Yeah, his rude behavior during quite a reaction from my fellow cafe crowd down the line. A toxic sense of motorized power entitlement. Thanks so much for watching and adding to the conversation. Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns Ah, yes, I love those days. I'll be cycling through Paris on Sunday, with a friend, as we try to do every weekend. Your description fits my experience of Paris. We'll need a lot of traffic filtering. Someone needs to invent weight based tire spikes to keep the scooters at bay I guess.
@45:45 or as we say; Gen X = Patat nix generatie , what will you eat...dno fries...what will you do... dno nothing
@arPos Kraft, Interesting. Thanks for watching. Hope you enjoyed the conversation w/ Chuck. Cheers! John
It gets well below 55 here in Dallas so I assume it does in Austin too :)
@Muhilan, Oh yeah! And I noted in the interview we got thumped pretty hard by the crazy winter storm. Thanks so much for watching. Cheers! John