I love that GM's exhibit at the worlds fair put EVERYTHING on tracks because they couldn't trust the average person to not break something or get into an accident, and because it was a lot more cost effective and resource efficient than having a motor in every chair and miniature car.
Interesting. Sounds like its better of all these cars are put on rails and share a common engine, or motor of sorts. This motor of course has to be powered by electricity because They are small...Hmm GM is onto something here.
Letting that GM guy become secretary of defense is like if we let raccoons be able to legislate how much leftover food should be allowed on the sidewalks.
It was such a success story that they repeated it a few years later, although with two noticeable differences. The president of Ford got the job instead of the president of GM and instead of destroying American cities he destroyed the cities of Vietnam (and Laos and Cambodia). So we all know what we should do when Elon Musk inevitably becomes the Secretary of Defense. Run!
This all seems fine. Nothing bad can come of this. But seriously, how long does it take you to make these videos? Mine take like 20 or 30 hours and I don't even take a camera man with me on location. 😮
Ugh, this one took a really long time. We shot over two (supremely cold) days and then it was in the edit bay for a couple of weeks, though I took breaks to contemplate my life and consider walking into the ocean.
@@ClimateTown Walking into the ocean is only OK if you wear cotten or wool clothes while doing it. Otherwise after the fish eat you, all your polyesters will end up in the trash patch.
Being almost blind and living in car dependant USA has more or less made it almost impossible for me to work in various aspects despite how hard I try. It's truly rough.
@@djack915 And because moving to places like NYC or the only way to feasibly exist in the US without a car, It makes living in such places wildly expensive as the competition for apartments in such cities is fierce. :/
In 2011 I moved from Houston to Berlin to get a few things done for my company there. I thought it would be temporaly. Maybe 1yr, 2 at a max. I also thought it would be the sheer horror to leave our single home in Copperfield in exchange for a packed apartment in the crowded city, not to mention the driving "experiance" in European citys. After the first year, my perspective on urbanization and US cities completely changed and i convinced my wife to migrate to Berlin entirely. Best decision we ever made in our life. Literally EVERYTHING we need is in walking distance, may it be groceries, doctor's, restaurants, even the kindergarten and the school for our daughters. Together we spared almost 3 hrs of commuting every day in comparison to Houston. That's more than a full month of lifetime every single yr! Not to mention the shit ton of money we spare because we don't need cars anymore.
Gods, it's so depressing that it often feels like the only solution to auto-centric design is to flee the United States. It would be wonderful if people could realize that it could all be different.
This past week I got yelled at by 2 different drivers because I was crossing the street in a crosswalk on a walk signal. Apparently, it's my fault that they almost hit me in a crosswalk when they had a red light and wanted to turn. Drivers literally think that pedestrians shouldn't exist.
I totally understand that ... It's horrible!!!! People are not suppose to ride their bikes on the sidewalk and only in the street. But I refuse to be in the street along with drivers in cars that could easily kill me. But bringing on the side walk is not much safer when it comes to drivers turning or comming out of a parking lot etc. I always keep my eye on them and what they are doing or NOT doing .. and many don't even notice or see me on the bike. Only to be surprised when they suddenly do.. but many never even see me and pull out anyway .. but had I not slowed down or stoped prior I would have been nearly in a spot that they would have hot me surely .. But also the amount of drivers that get pissed because I'm crossing and in their way .. all while I have the right of way to be crossing at that point ...
You should try and cross at a North American roundabout. I’ve had my life flash before my eyes so many times because people don’t stop in both lanes or rush to pass the person waiting for me. I’ve started to want them to hit me just so I can finally get someone in shit and get the inevitability over with.
Better than almost getting run over, which happened to me 3 times in the same week. But I do sympathize with your plight. It's sad that walking has become a daredevil sport in the USA.
The death of the railway infrastructure during my life has been one of the most abhorrent crimes against our country. Good video and good job trying to enlighten people to the fake reality that we constantly live in.
@zee id ride more trains if theere was more access.I have no idea where there nearest train station is.Thats not the case in other countries.Our size makes us need trains more.
@zee "private trains across America like Amtrak" this shows how much you know what you're talking about. Amtrak is government funded and operated. It's not private
@@TheRipeTomatoFarms why do you think shell hid how environmentally destructive petroleum was in the 70’s? Money. No one wants to face the inconvenient truth. Immediate gratification of convenient comfortably over future survivability
This video is great! As an architecture student I learned how cars destroy community by discouraging pedestrian traffic and making buildings farther and farther apart (urban sprawl) and less scaled to the pedestrian. We've created a foreign environment for ourselves thanks to designing our infrastructure for cars and not humans. It's really nice to hear more about how things came to be this way instead of just looking at how things are. That kind of truth is not readily available for the layperson.
As someone that moved from Germany to Canada a few months ago, I can confirm how shocked I was at how urban planning affects everyday lifestyle and shapes culture and even people’s temperament.
If modern civilization were to collapse, then it would be likely for many cities with urban sprawl to end up splintering into communities that are the size of villages or smaller.
It's like people forget that they have to walk to and from their cars. You're never done getting where you're going once the car is parked. Humans are bipedal animals, at the beginning and end of the day.
I was there in 2019 - they do such a good job with their cities. Several of the urban planning professors whom taught classes that I took had previously taught at TU Delft. Sadly, unlike in the Netherlands, I am afraid to own or use a bike in my own city, because almost everyone I know who has a bike, at some point, has been hit by a person in an automobile. As a pedestrian, I have almost been hit several times by drivers who ignore traffic signals while I am crossing at a crosswalk. If I and other people whom aren't using cars can't be made safe by the existence of laws or things like painted lines or stoplights, then it's clearly time to tear the whole way of doing things down and start over because it clearly is not working.
Why can't we do this in the US do you suppose? I've seen Netherlands traffic engineering in Chicago on Lake Shore Drive (increasingly shorter paint strips to make you subconsciously slow down) but we still suck, what's the deal??
@@waash_8128 Not Just Bikes is an incredible channel dedicated to exactly this. Mostly comparative between north american cities and the netherlands. Bicycle Dutch is also a good resource, though it is not an video essay channel, just videos of commuting via bike in the Netherlands. It can be pretty insightful to watch and see all the details and design of non-auto centered infrastructure.
@@jasonwilliamson2765 I've biked in a lot of cities, European and U.S., and noticed that American city streets often have a lot more inclines built in. I like a workout, but it's just not professional to arrive at work sweaty, so I opt to drive more when I live in a hillier city.
Man, I grew up in the car business and I considered myself pretty well educated on the history and policy failures you're laying out - and then you just casually drop another 40+ anecdotes I've NEVER heard of, just like you do in each one of these goddamn hilarious videos. I don't even know how to convey how much I value this shit. I can tell you're busting ass. I can tell you actually give a shit, and I can tell you're concerned about The short attention spans of people watching this content. I appreciate every bit of that energy, and I am so excited that you did that collaboration with Strong Towns. The whole low rent Burt Reynolds shit? You got some big stupid laughs out of me, and then you got me fact checking your ass hard, then just flying down rabbit holes of new information I very much wanted to know. Fuck, needed to know. Thank you. I really mean that. Wow.
Definitely agree on the transit being a way out of poverty. I grew up poor in the Bronx, am now definitely not poor. I cannot imagine how I would have gone to school or my first job on Manhattan without transit. And the financial strain it would have put on my parents had they had to buy me a car (and having to have to get a second car for my mom too).
Yeah if my parents didn't give me rides to work and eventually buy me a used car outright I wouldn't have really had many options. It's videos and comments like this that make me see how something so ordinary is actually a huge privilege.
There is a video on RUclips about how cars keep you poor. So not only is the car culture of driving everywhere you need to go effecting your everyday life, it’s effecting your wealth too ruclips.net/video/TtJXl6pk0Z4/видео.html
@@weatheranddarkness It's practically mandatory to have one to get around in some areas. There's just no public transport available where I live. It's not even safe to walk around most areas, to get to work (theoretically a 26-30min walk) I'd have to walk along a 5-lane highway with no sidewalks or lights, and I'd have to cross it with no crosswalks even at the stoplight, at night since I almost always work until after dark.
I love how these videos keep getting recommended to everyone after the price hike the oil companies made with the war. Glad to see everyone is looking to get educated.
@zee reality has a liberal bias because it's literally better for 98% of people. The other 2% has the majority of people gaslit into thinking that this is the best life could be, but it's just not true.
I just wish that car-loving Americans could understand how great it is to live without a car. It's a giant stress-inducing, liability-creating, money pit compared to effective public transit. Even smaller cities in Europe have great rail / metro transit almost all around the clock at short intervals. It's so much easier to get around without having to worry about hitting someone with your car, parking it, worrying if someone is gonna break into your car, etc.
@@nicksgarage8295 Yes they are bigger. Yes they have rail. It’s state sponsored though. Big difference. We have 48 lower states. Each w different regulations. Might want to crack a book and study up on how it all works there chief.
@@Hogprint25 Yeah no shit... You realize that Public transport (or bike/pedestrian infrastructure) doesn't literally have to run from one side of an entire country to the other, right? Obviously networks are clustered around larger urban areas or corridors of urbanized areas, like New England.
@@oilslick7010 Yeah, no shit. Unfortunately most of the major examples (Keystone, Russian) that have been in the news lately are all multi-thousand mile and inter country pipelines…No shit.
Can't afford a new car. When even older Japanese and Korean cars still go strong after 10 years, and the Japanese generally don't believe in planned obsolescence
Yeah, this will be an interesting outcome to witness as we hit peak inflation. Their solution for the moment is to hike up their prices to 2-3xs the cost, mainly due to COVID “shortages.” That can’t last forever.
The more I learn about how much the auto industry screwed us (in America) over, the angrier I get about it. I want to watch this video a few more times, and then all your others. Thank you for the work you are doing making such informative and edutaining videos
You shouldn't get angrier. It's nice having options. This video is only giving you one side and that's all you are thinking hence why you get angrier. What about the flip side? Some of us love car culture. We love the road and going on long drives and love seeing an open road. It also allows for communities to have bigger houses. I spend a lot of time at home and having more space and a pool is nice. I think it's nice to have both options, if you prefer the pedestrian life then move to NY or Europe. And if you prefer car culture then move to the west. Options are great and I thank GM for this. Now I can pick and choose between the two.
@@alexmendez3681 GM gave no "option" they bought the most developed public transportation system in the world (LA) and demolished it so they could sell more cars. They lobby the federal government to invest on the interstates (by itself not a bad idea) but labeling them for "security and defense purposes" so they all got paid with taxpayer money and in the process they ruined the US train system that is by any means way better and more efficient for the military needs And "we love the road and going on long drives" who is taking that away from you? are people advocating for the removal of interstates?
@@maumor2 It’s a option because if GM didn’t do what they did, it would tons of NY cities all over the place. You can’t deny that having cars allows us to own bigger houses. Videos like this that keep pushing thief anti car agenda. But the people have spoken. It’s what Americans want since it keeps selling otherwise, no one would purchase houses in the suburbs. Options my friend.
@@alexmendez3681 again: Who is taking cars away from you? of course you totally ignored the destruction of LA public transportation and the almost bankrupt rail system in America (because roads get subsidies not track lines or public transportation). Never mind you just dont get it if you think "it would tons of NY cities all over the place" (sic) The suburbs are not self sustaining they are being subsidized by cities but they are a feel good place for scared people
@@maumor2 Haha. No one is taking cars away from me. I never claimed anyone is taking care away from me, when did I say that? I don’t care if it destroyed public transportation. I love how you said, you just don’t get it if you think there would be NYs all over the place. So my questions, why exactly don’t I get? You didn’t proceed to add any ideas to that statement. That’s like me saying, “you just don’t get it by having cars everywhere.” That’s if. How are they not self sustaining? What does that mean? Seems to me like they have been around for decades so what am I missing? Have you not see NY? Have you not see how dense it is? And how dirty it is? Would you want to live in a bigger house with less pollution around?
What I miss from the university days wasn't the two years I spent driving in, it was the two years I could walk to class and live near me mates. dam you cars
The one thing I do miss from community college was having access to mass transit and being a walkaholic. I would only drive for night class or run errands.
I'm sorry, but even though I lived in one of the few U.S. cities where you hardly needed a car b/c of the density by necessity of the geography, I was still glad when I got my car, only b/c in my junior year of college I had to get a part-time job that worked me till midnight after I went to school during the day. Your precious public transit doesn't necessarily run 24 hours a day, and it's often too dangerous anyway especially in the wee hours (I lived in one of the U.S.'s most violent cities). Public transit also doesn't give you the complete flexibility of self-movement whenever and wherever you have to go, let alone the need sometimes to haul/carry things around.
@@ebinrock Everything you mentioned happened because of the auto industry, ironically. Do you think they want clean and safe public transport to challenge their dominance?
Imagine if we never had cars go mainstream and we focused on mass transit with gradual improvements over time I can only imagine how much more space people could have instead of streets, highways, etc...
@@lohphat I live in the Netherlands and there are still too many roads. However I will say they've done a better job than other countries I've lived in.
How much expensive real estate is completely unavailable for anything but storage for motor vehicles, when they are not actually being driven? .... and useless, wasted space the rest of the time.
I was gonna say you don't need to imagine cause there are so many European people-first cities, but it's not really what America could have been. The US' transit systems were the best in the world. Leagues ahead of Europe even in small towns and Europeans wanted to emulate it. America was chock full of majestic neoclassical, Beaux-Arts and art deco buildings that were like the new improved grander, more stately version of Europe. Americans saved western Europe from being bombed and went home to flatten their own civilisation.
I keep thinking of how many cities had robust public transportation prior to World War II. Denver, my home, had an extensive cable car system through out the city, street car suburbs, and system extensions going to near by cities (such as Boulder and Golden). All this was ripped out in the 1950s in the name of progress, urban renewal, and car culture.
"Not a good pen, a pen from the 1920s." Pens in the 1920s: Refillable fountain pens, generally well made, legitimately easier to have nicer handwriting with, didn't make your hand cramp so much as they require a light touch. Pens in the 2020s: Often disposable and plastic, runs out of ink (sad!), easier to achieve chicken scratch with, HAND CRAMPS.
@@extropiantranshuman I tried to do this in class but prof kicked me out for "disruptive behavior," or something. What is your favorite method for carrying chlorophyll about? I tried carving a reservoir into a large carrot but it kept leaking in my purse.
@@MunthApollosorry for getting you in trouble - one of mine kicked me out for going to the restroom, so I understand. I don't have a tried-and-true method, as I do plastic and that's messy, but I'm assuming having chlorphyll powder to carry and then when you write put water on a leaf to mix some powder would make it easier to carry in the carrot (neat idea!). If it's too noticeable, carve a wooden stick (as pencils are similar looking) to dip with. Also did you know you can use chlorophyll like henna for temporary tattoos?
Thinking about America's lack of public transportation and non-driving infrastructure compared to other countries around the world makes me want to cry 😭
@@OjoRojo40 There is capitalism in many other countries than just the US. But they didn't get rid of public transport. Poor planning and too powerful lobbies is to blame.
@@jirislavicek9954 capitalism does still take a lot of blame since that corporate lobbying and the desire to get every single person to buy a car which would also get them to give a lot of there money to the oil and gas industry, were all enabled by capitalism, say what you want about prior and current socialist systems but I don't think they've ever had issues with car dependency, you really can't talk about issues this big without looking at the economic system a bit
@@jonnysac77 People are buying cars mainly because they want to move around, not because of advertising. Advertising can influence the make and model they buy, many buy unnecessarily big or expensive cars because of it. But they would still buy them even without advertising. I happens all over the world. In all economic models, just in some people aren't able to buy afford them. Also if you are rich and live in developped world in a city with good public transport then you may not need a car and simply don't buy it.
Coming from Europe and town squares is enraging. I live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth and we design like we're Kansas. We pave over everything, spread everything out and make life inconvenient and disconnected.
When my dad was young he could take a train / streetcars from his home in Welland Ontario to the beach on Lake Ontario. All gone now. Tracks are probably still under the pavement. Now we're spending a ton of money to play catch up and build LRT's everywhere, and remove the cancer that private car ownership has become.
Yep, they just paved over the tracks. Here in London, Ontario, they are putting dedicated storm and sanitary lines and so far two streets (York and Wortley - probably the same line) had those remnants.
I grew up in Winnipeg - we had a hydro electric powered street car system for decades before ripping them up in late 50s/early 60s. Winnipeg is terrible to drive around. We also have a fabulous lake/cottage country on Lake Winnipeg (on both sides of the lake) and back in the day you could cheaply and easily beat the heat by taking a beach special to the lake and back. Now, only people with cars have the privilege of going to the beach. I'm in Brandon now and there used to be a similar set up going to Clear Lake from here.
Can't wait for the youtube algorithm to pick you up properly. Well researched stuff as usually. It's definitely time to give the streets back to the people.
The algorithm doesn’t favor the truth tellers, especially in this subject. Given how long the channel has been up and how long it took the algorithm to mention it to me when it is EVERYTHING I love…heavy holding back is going on from above.
I totally agree with you. The algorithm needs this. This guy is all for the environment, just one tiny issue. Assuming he bought his leather coat new, it has a 400 lb CO2 emissions. I have a second hand genuine* one that I got three years ago, so it contributes to 0 lb CO2. I eat meat, but only a few times per week. ;) * my cowskin coat was made in the early mid-'90s, and is 5 or so years older than me.
I appreciate the way you use humor to lighten up such depressing subjects. The part where you are spinning around and the music stops was just perfect.
this stuff is so crazy to learn about, like i can't believe we weren't taught any of this in school (i know why we aren't though lol), but it makes me so much sadder about the state of our country. it's always been like this, big business being invited into our government. it makes me feel like we're just reaching a long awaited conclusion of how this is going to end with our taxless billionaires, 21st century company towns, and crumbling infrastructure and planet. it's hard to have any hope
I really like considering a world where there are no cars at all. Everyone would travel long distances by train, and then it would be all walking and biking to get anywhere else. I imagine it would encourage some really strong local communities and cultures, while still allowing people to travel long distances really easily and cheaply.
And local transit! The thing many cities lost in the rise of the car and still don't have in good measure today!!! Robust local transit supporting walkable cities is the very reason why all the high speed train networks abroad work so well.
@@dividedstatesofamerica2520 As a passion, I think cars can be really cool! They are fun to drive and tinker with. You could still have your passion, but it would probably be something you would do out in some sand dunes or on a race track. It's unsustainable for so many cars to be on the road and on top of that, the traffic and road rage do not make our communities safer or more enjoyable. Right now it is impossible for many americans to live without the use of a car, and instead of a fun experience, it is one filled with worry -- for their lives, or for the cost associated with accidents. When I said "no more cars" I really meant "no more reliance on cars for transportation."
Thank you for creating this video, which was informative & excellently produced. I've been a rail/public transit enthusiast (& low-key historian) for years, so when I saw your inclusion of the multi-industry push to "dismantle" the streetcar networks, I was overjoyed to see this shared on such a large scale. It's no coincidence, that once National City Lines (a GM-controlled entity) bought out streetcar networks from a plethora of U.S. cities, that many of the transactions yielded GM-manufactured buses operating replacement service on the roads (i.e. if we can't get a household to buy a car, we can still sell our buses to new or mode-transitioning transit agencies.)
You are both a comedic genius and an actual genius. My wife and I had to pause half way through and spend a few minutes collecting ourselves because we were both laughing too much to hear you explain the facts behind it all.
Filipino dude here. Staying in Germany for a week was one of the greatest epiphanies I ever had. Having such a robust network of trains really helps a lot, because in the Philippines, most of commerce and industry is concentrated in the oldest city due to it being close to ports and having all the necessary infrastructure to support all those companies. The result is almost always the nastiest traffic where even living and working in the same city meant a commute of an hour. If you had a country connected by rail, these industries could be moved to other areas, so people don't have to be concentrated on the industrial hub for job opportunities. The problem with a car-centric transportation is that public transportation is also limited to road going buses, which also gets stuck in traffic. With our very bad traffic situation, the harsh commuting conditions that poor people experience further cements the mindset that as soon as you make it well financially, you'd want to get yourself a vehicle so going to places is not that hard (especially in the Philippines where families are very impotant). In Germany, I saw an entire family on bikes: There was even a baby carrier tugged by the Mom's bike. It really speaks volumes as to how much more efficient trains are with moving people and goods all over the country. Like, I was so mindblown of the fact that as soon as you landed on the airport, just take 2 escalators down, and there is a train station, connected to the mesh of trains in the whole of Germany. It's funny that when I think of Germany, I think of their cars. I never imagined that there they are, living in a society that owning a car is a matter of personal choice, not a NEED. Great vid man. Subbed!
I want the option to drive, but not the requirement to drive. We just need parking on the edges of cities for people driving between cities, and everything inside the city is public transit, walking, or cycling. If you live out in the suburbs and work in the city, you drive to the edge of the city, then take public transit, bike or walk to wherever you need to be so you can get to work. Bicycle parking in American cities is also shockingly terrible. I really want something like the bicycle parking garages they have in the Netherlands, they’re just sick.
@@OjoRojo40 You dont even know what that word means, you've been brainwashed through subjective definitions of certain words, such as capitalism. You havnt now, or ever will, understand the politics until you enterly remove your emotions...and read a few dictionaries, it helps with "big word understanding".
@@Nah_Bohdi I have read "The Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations", "The principles of political economy" and alas "Capitalism and Freedom" by you know who. But I guess all of that is no good right? kekekekeke . Now tell me what have you read enlightened man.
You’re doing a great job. Rick Scott turned down Federal high speed rail money 💰 because everyone obviously needs to drive their own car from Miami to Orlando. Or Tampa. Such. Poor. Planning. Especially for the poor.
Bad for elderly, too. Safe, accessible transit to and from appointments, shopping, and long distance travel hubs is essential for an active elder at risk as a driver.
The automotive industry is the devil. From the manufacturers purposely desiring vertical disintegration, to the car salesman screwing you over on his stupid little Foursquare, to getting absolutely annihilated in the service department. The automotive industry is run by a dirty lunch room of sociopathic money-grubbing weirdos. They hire these good honest hard-working people and pay them just enough money where they won't self delete. I worked in sales for a short time and service for a very long time and it is a business that should be avoided at all costs. I've often thought that the toxic nature of the dealership ultimately came down to a cultural disease from their shaping of the country to fit their needs. This documentary details that perfectly. I love your RUclips channel, you calamitous climate comedian
If you are looking for inspiration look towards the Netherlands. They had a huge car problem in 1960s they decided it wasn't working for them so they changed it. Now they are the bicycle capital of the world and have mostly dealt with all of their problems. The RUclips channel Not Just Bikes has some videos on this subject.
Yeah, as a dutch citizen, i must disagree, there are still mayor problems with traffic jams. It might not be as bad as in the usa, but its far from "dealt with"
@@veigar6899 The distances in the US are larger 'BECAUSE' of the car. Nonetheless 48% of all car rides is 10miles and only 5% >31 miles (= "a large distance" ). For the really 'large' US distances (>1000) people take a plane. The problem is that for the short distance there is really bad/dangerous infrastructure, that people have to drive. And no, snow and heat are no excuses (see biking in Oulu and Seville ). The costs of those freeways and stripmalls is that US has 2x or 3x more asphalt per capita to maintain as Netherlands or Germany. Those costs are too expensive (see Pittsburgh, Cali and everywhere in US..)
Think how much better the health of all those Dutch citizens is with all that regular exercise. Not 75% of the population pre or actively Type 2 diabetic either. How many Dutch children on high blood pressure meds because they are so overweight from highly processed food + sedentary lifestyle? Oh, those are only American children? Hmmmm…
My favorite thing about your channel is that you not only educate the viewer on the massive flaws in America's car-obsessed society but you also provide them with resources to help change that. Thank you so much for what you do, keep up the good work! :)
To give an easy example to car-addicted North Americans: well, the world's fun places are usually inaccessible by cars. Do you go around Disney theme parks in cars? This is why ancient European towns with plenty to see are limited to pedestrians, some of Asia's best area to explore are pedestrian-only.
Americans, unfortunately, have no power here. They live in a capitalist nightmare mode at it's most unhinged form. They literally live shorter than us, because their healthcare is completely money based
Funny how Epcot in Disney World, which is supposed to showcase the future, has a monorail system. Almost like we knew then that cars weren't the future lol
@@cloudyskies5497 Can't speak for anyone else, but that literally never crosses my mind when thinking about a vacation. We're talking about going to Florida this year for vacation and I'm probably going to drive there rather than the hell that is the airport. It'll also be neat if we pass any cool things on the way that we can stop and look. Of course I like to drive so I'm different from other people in that way.
I just want to say as a Republican I really like your videos. I agree with pretty much most of what you guys put out. I'm just saying this to show that in this world of polarized opposites there are still many people from the old days of Republican and Democrat that didn't agree on how to approach everything the same but still worked together somewhat. Don't let the screaming minority fringes cloud everyone's vision. We can all work on fixing these things together. Good job brother. Subscribed.
Sorry to bother you, but your comment seems really weird to my non-US-mind. How can you be a Republican if you agree with the points made in Climate Towns videos? Afaik the Democrats tried to invest a huge amount of money into the US' infrastructure somewhen last year. Something that would tackle a lot of the problems mentioned in the video and make life a bit easier for everyone - but the Republicans are somehow against that. Instead the last Republican president wanted to invest a huge amount of money in a useless wall to maybe hinder some migrants to get into the US.. - which wouldn't help anyone with their life; it just would make it more miserable for a tiny group of people. So.. If you understand the problems related to how infrastructure impacts society, you're standing for the party that showed to support the exact opposite.
hi, american leftist here. republicans didn't always used to stand for those things. the ideological shifts in the republican party are a really fascinating topic i won't go into here, but suffice it to say, the original commenter probably disagrees with a lot of what republicans as a party now stand for. republicans that i know in my day to day life (the ones that are reasonable anyway) see themselves as part of the "responsible" party: the party that wants taxpayer money to be utilized efficiently and the power of the government to be small enough so as not to interfere unnecessarily with everyday life, allowing people to make their own decisions. this is a far cry from what republicans now stand stand for, especially abroad. something important to understand abt american politics as they exist today is that the average everyday person is in control of remarkable little on a federal level, and even a state level at times. often people join parties simply as a matter of local identity rather than ideology ("we're all republicans here"), and ideas like the ones in this video simply aren't discussed on cable news. if they are it's done in such a heavily politicized and divisive way that it triggers the "us vs them" response in people. there is such a lack of unity and common interest in this country that if we were to continue along this path it wouldn't shock me if we had another civil war. the way to undo this, in my perspective, is to take everyday people at their word and engage with THEM, person to person, rather than conflating them with the politicians of their party.
@@nikotinsaure2481 Didn't every single Republican vote against that infrastructure bill? And have you seen John Oliver's video on infrastructure? It's grand.
The other comments on here really aren't making republicans look good from the standpoint of these issues not gonna lie. I know there's a lot of legacy and loyalty people have to the american political parties with families following the same party because you were raised into it by your parents and community, but it's maybe worth re-evaluating your preferred party, honestly no matter which party it is and whoever you are reading this, based on what they're actually doing and the policy they're turning out. If we can agree that now is a critical time of change for america as we start to hit the beginning of the climate crisis, I think now might be the point to put tribalism behind us and vote purely based on these pressing issues and the parties' relationships to them.
It was conservatives who didn't like the car initially. They sided with the horse and lots of conservative people road and continue to ride bikes as well. The neoliberals and liberals have always seen the car as freedom from norms. The car was the way to rebel against your parents, have premarital sex (in a car), be, in general, deviant.
Lol, as European, it was pretty interesting to walk by a road in the countryside and being asked by drivers passing by if we are ok, coz we are walking, by the road.
I am a transportation planner in a midsized rust belt city that has lost 4 people per day over the past 12 years. (Detroit and Cleveland have lost 3 people per day). I work with nothing but traffic engineers and the PE has a sign on his desk saying "You can't fix stupid". As the primary person designing roads, intersections, roundabouts, etc. that kill, he doesn't see the irony.
Good work. I grew up in a car focussed place (suburban Australia) spent a year in LA after my studies, ended up car free in Berlin... Couldn't be happier
When you realise that the story of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" is an evil guy buying up street car lines and demolishing towns so he can build a freeway. Like, crazy story right? That would never really happen right?...Right?
I absolutely LOVE it when people do actual research about USA's past and find out we've HAD Socialism for a long damn time. You know, that word one certain political Party uses as a dirty word today.
@@Meleeman011 There is literally no such thing as a "free Market" as long as giant Corporations can do exactly what they did in this video. Did you actually watch the video?
They also love giant government red tape driving up prices...housing prices. No one wants to eliminate red tape if they don't want to deal with detached single family home zoning, the biggest and most expensive one of all.
Watching old commercials on RUclips from the 70s and 80s people used to actually be taller than their cars, trucks included. To see where we are now is extraordinary.
Can you do a video about suburbs? There's so much land/water/energy waste (ie unproductive front lawns and sprawling roads), plus feels more socially isolating. There're probably some policy issues involved, but we need to also reconsider what types of homes we idealize and aspire to as a society.
Yes! This needs to be done. There's very good channels that cover this like Eco Gecko but I think it would greatly benefit from the comedic flair of this channel.
When you're in school like "Why do we have to make dioramas? When are we ever going to use this in real life??" Well, when you work for a car company that turns America into a paved hellscape, that's when!
Irony would be using Dioramas to undo that hellscape and make cities actually safer, easier, and more enjoyable to traverse without Cars clogging up the works, I wanna ride my e-bike more darnit
Over the course of my 20 year career. The single biggest improvement to my standard of living was simply to live closer to work, and shop closer to where I live. Or more recently... Order online more. It's better living. Night and day removed from the commuting years.
Get a bicycle anyway. The more of us there are, the more of those cars there aren't. And city planners intentionally underbuild bike infrastructure because nobody uses it because there is no infrastructure.
GMC stopped making School Buses in 2003 & stopped making Transit Buses in 1987 due to profitability issues, in part due to their products lasting too long. They are considering re-entering both markets, for the same reason that GM makes the best practical EV, the Chevy Bolt, as they are simply not the sociopathic capitalistic company they used to be...
@chromaticcanuck not cheap in my country. Besides the import taxes jacking up the base price (cars are taxed at 100%, for example), the yearly insurance is basically the cost of the scooter because they are just so very easy to steal. My car insurance is cheaper than scooter insurance.
The cost of cars to individuals is another huge factor working against lower-income households that greatly reduce their upward mobility. Every car owner must pay for maintenance, gasoline, insurance, registration, and the upfront purchase cost or financing for the vehicle.. these expenses absolutely impact lower-income earners much more than higher-income earners. Convenient and efficient public transit would help lower-income earners save money and be able to live with less stress, which would also reduce health costs, and the money they save would also reduce the need for financial support, allowing those taxes to be reallocated or returned to tax payers
Thanks for not only digging into the facts and providing insightful content, but also making it fun to watch for us smooth brains. You've created an awesome formula, and you're nailing execution!
i generally get turned off by all the fawning comments on YT videos but geez, this is incredibly well done. The laughs help digest the horrors that you point out so well.
Great vid, dude. I live in Minneapolis, where my mom had a fantastic streetcar system when she was a kid, before the General Motors Streetcar Conspiracy turned this place into a laboratory for suburban sprawl. Keep up the good work!
It’s wild that highways ripping through cities was ever portrayed as futuristic and exciting. I wish people could have also seen the huge parking lots that come along with that amount of cars
It really is sad. We could've had the best transit network in the world. Now overall transit remains underfunded and is absolutely terrible compared to other developed countries.
Great telling of a story often told. One thing I learned from the book Internal Combustion is that in the early days of oil refining, gasoline was just a waste product in the refining of crude for heating oil and other uses. That is why they lobbied hard for the new auto industry and the killing of electric cars (which were plentiful at the turn of the century).
@@Heyovv But people have another option. E.g. it takes 2 hours and 9 minutes to go from Leipzig (where I live) to Berlin. By train it only takes 1 hour an 10 minutes. Leipzig - Frankfurt Airport: 4:04 hours by car, 3:30 hours by train. Leipzig - Munich: 4:36 hours by car, 3:19 hours by train Munich - Berlin: 6:11 hours by car, 4:30 by train
@@poppogigio1848 but those shown were bullet trains/high-speed rails vs. the broken American system of transportation. people really prefer to travel in those countries by train whereas in the US there are roads and you HAVE TO own a big, unnecessary truck.
I live in NYC near the new 2nd Ave subway, the crosstown 86 St bus & the Lexington Avenue "IRT" line.(I know using those initials date me, but what the hell; by the way, I recognized like 92% of the locations where you shot this video.) I am SO grateful I will NEVER need to own a car. We lived in Brooklyn until I was 13 then moved to the greener pastures of Long Island - and my life went from walking or taking the subway everywhere, to "mom, drive me to the library;" definitely gave me a preference for the former. When you own a car, the car owns you - or rather the banks own you (auto loan) the oil companies own you ("fill 'er up!") and the insurance companies own you (illegal to drive without auto insurance). This video touched on but really didn't explore the "Defense" angle of justifying the Interstate highway system (which is named for Dwight David Eisenhower, btw).
Your channel is like Johnny Harris's but with comedy. Much appreciated! For real though, it is incredibly important to know how our "public" infrastructure has been developed over the years because it has directly called for a specific lifestyle. I'm a little bit in awe about how we can know so much about the deep and overwhelmingly obvious conflicts of interest that pushed the US into the "modern" world. As someone thinking about buying an EV soon, this is just one more thing to think of. It's scary to think that the automobile industry has forwarded the car-centric lifestyle so much that we are still talking about adopting EVs and autonomous vehicles in the future. Like: what if we could choose a different path? Defund private transportation in favor of public? Gunna take a lot to change public perception though. Grassroots, honest communication. Great video
When I first came across your content, I was a little dubious, as I've seen a lot of media with similar messaging but a lack of data to back it up... but man, you are killing it SO hard. A lot of this information has truly broadened my mind and changed the way i perceive the world right now. Admittedly I'm now a little more pessimistic, but far more realistic!
While I don't care that pedestrians are relegated to side and crosswalks, US public transportation is actual trash. Living in and visiting countries with useable subways and bus systems makes you realize how sad it is.
If you want an example of how car culture dominated America by the 60s, look at popular music. While UK bands like The Beatles and The Hollies were still singing about catching the bus, US singers were all about driving the Thunderbird to the drive-in movie.
“America is like if you started a country and then at every major decision - you took the wrong one” That’s the story of America and how you got to 2021
Sure. We have the largest economy on the planet, with one of the highest GDP’s per capita in the world, the strongest military with the most advanced technology, an amazing place to do business, and so much more. Wrong decisions my ass.
As a random person on the internet, I would like to thank you for your hard work on these videos. Just discovered your channel. Loving all the content.
Really enjoyed this video, full of great facts. I live in the UK and have started cutting down on driving everywhere. Walking, cycling and taking public transport has to be the future and when these modes of transport are implemented well, you don't miss the car. Going to binge watch all your videos now!
I am car-free. This means I am also job-free as where I live there is next to zero public transport to be able to get to work. At least I will be ahead of the curve when cars and fossil fuels are reserved once more for the wealthy elite only.
Apart from the stock market and the push for everlasting growth how cars shaped our cities and lives was one of the worst things that could have happened to us and the environment. I am really mad people were so glad to give up their cities and quality of life for a little convenience. Public transportation, bicycles and my feet all the way, baby!
Yeah im slowly realising I’ve wasted the last 10 years of my life in suburbs. It fucking hurts as I’ve felt depressed and isolated for 90% of it. I hope I have the strength to move to a city with good public transport and that isn’t 50km long
I literally live 10 minutes away from my job where I live... and due to terrible design and preference of cars in this city, I can't feasibly like bike to my job.
I find it funny that Japan is one of the world's great automobile-making countries, while having some of the most walkable cities and best public transport systems. I guess a clever dealer never gets hooked on his own product...
Fun fact: In Japan, you must have access to an *off-street* parking space in order to purchase a car under the Shako Shomei Law. The law is meant to reduce congestion and illegal parking, especially in cities.
This channel is great, the videos are entertaining, informative and thoroughly depressing with how the industries seem to face no repercussions for their actions. The vibe of the channel seems almost made to be a regular segment on the Daily Show.
Well done on the short video on the influence of the motor industry on land use and transport policy in the USA. Shout out to Cities such a Portland for actively delivering policies that are rolling back the vehicle first polities. They are putting people back at the centre of movement networks. You should do a sequel that uncovers the related influence on planning schemes from unban spawl, cal see sacs, car parking and street activation. It really interesting.
@@qjtvaddict Research has proven the more walkable place are more secure and safer that car centric places. The reason being greater volume of people in the street moving slowly to observe. It call passive surveillance.
I love that GM's exhibit at the worlds fair put EVERYTHING on tracks because they couldn't trust the average person to not break something or get into an accident, and because it was a lot more cost effective and resource efficient than having a motor in every chair and miniature car.
*car
Lol imagine if they actually used cars for it the amount of traffic and accidents, everyone would be like...this is the future? Pass.
Interesting. Sounds like its better of all these cars are put on rails and share a common engine, or motor of sorts. This motor of course has to be powered by electricity because They are small...Hmm GM is onto something here.
@@sayrith r/yourjokebutworse
🤔🫠
Letting that GM guy become secretary of defense is like if we let raccoons be able to legislate how much leftover food should be allowed on the sidewalks.
It's like letting Kevin Spacey be in charge of writing laws on sexual crimes.
It was such a success story that they repeated it a few years later, although with two noticeable differences. The president of Ford got the job instead of the president of GM and instead of destroying American cities he destroyed the cities of Vietnam (and Laos and Cambodia).
So we all know what we should do when Elon Musk inevitably becomes the Secretary of Defense. Run!
Or letting a Child molester be in Charge of any Orphanage
I don't know man I think raccoons are more trustworthy.
Like Fox 🦊 🦊 in charge of chicken coop!
This all seems fine. Nothing bad can come of this.
But seriously, how long does it take you to make these videos? Mine take like 20 or 30 hours and I don't even take a camera man with me on location. 😮
Ugh, this one took a really long time. We shot over two (supremely cold) days and then it was in the edit bay for a couple of weeks, though I took breaks to contemplate my life and consider walking into the ocean.
@@ClimateTown I love you both!
@@ClimateTown Walking into the ocean is only OK if you wear cotten or wool clothes while doing it. Otherwise after the fish eat you, all your polyesters will end up in the trash patch.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Also, thank you.
@@ClimateTown Don't worry, the ocean is doing its best to meet you half way...
Appreciate the effort, great video!
Being almost blind and living in car dependant USA has more or less made it almost impossible for me to work in various aspects despite how hard I try. It's truly rough.
Too bad you can't move to an old city, most like nyc have pretty decent public transit
your avatar looks very Kawaii.
@@djack915 And because moving to places like NYC or the only way to feasibly exist in the US without a car, It makes living in such places wildly expensive as the competition for apartments in such cities is fierce. :/
As a fellow blind person I feel your pain immensely!
No sympathy for waifu simps
In 2011 I moved from Houston to Berlin to get a few things done for my company there. I thought it would be temporaly. Maybe 1yr, 2 at a max. I also thought it would be the sheer horror to leave our single home in Copperfield in exchange for a packed apartment in the crowded city, not to mention the driving "experiance" in European citys.
After the first year, my perspective on urbanization and US cities completely changed and i convinced my wife to migrate to Berlin entirely. Best decision we ever made in our life.
Literally EVERYTHING we need is in walking distance, may it be groceries, doctor's, restaurants, even the kindergarten and the school for our daughters.
Together we spared almost 3 hrs of commuting every day in comparison to Houston. That's more than a full month of lifetime every single yr! Not to mention the shit ton of money we spare because we don't need cars anymore.
Did you also lose weight since you are not sitting in a car all day?
Good for you. Welcome to civilisation ;)
Happy that you're happy here☆
Gods, it's so depressing that it often feels like the only solution to auto-centric design is to flee the United States. It would be wonderful if people could realize that it could all be different.
@@bodhid freeze this winter yuropoor
This past week I got yelled at by 2 different drivers because I was crossing the street in a crosswalk on a walk signal. Apparently, it's my fault that they almost hit me in a crosswalk when they had a red light and wanted to turn.
Drivers literally think that pedestrians shouldn't exist.
I totally understand that ... It's horrible!!!!
People are not suppose to ride their bikes on the sidewalk and only in the street. But I refuse to be in the street along with drivers in cars that could easily kill me.
But bringing on the side walk is not much safer when it comes to drivers turning or comming out of a parking lot etc.
I always keep my eye on them and what they are doing or NOT doing .. and many don't even notice or see me on the bike. Only to be surprised when they suddenly do.. but many never even see me and pull out anyway .. but had I not slowed down or stoped prior I would have been nearly in a spot that they would have hot me surely ..
But also the amount of drivers that get pissed because I'm crossing and in their way .. all while I have the right of way to be crossing at that point ...
People in cars hate anyone with less than four wheels. Its insane what some drivers will do to them.
And yet pretty much every car driver is also a pedestrian at some point in their day.
You should try and cross at a North American roundabout. I’ve had my life flash before my eyes so many times because people don’t stop in both lanes or rush to pass the person waiting for me. I’ve started to want them to hit me just so I can finally get someone in shit and get the inevitability over with.
Better than almost getting run over, which happened to me 3 times in the same week. But I do sympathize with your plight. It's sad that walking has become a daredevil sport in the USA.
Finally understood why Jaywalking is called jaywalking. Awesome video!
Hey! Thanks so much.
Damn. I assumed if you got run over by a car at any non-highway road the drive is ALWAYS in the wrong.
The death of the railway infrastructure during my life has been one of the most abhorrent crimes against our country. Good video and good job trying to enlighten people to the fake reality that we constantly live in.
Check-out Dr Beechin and the British Railway cuts.
@@tomhumphries6606 thank you so much for this suggestion. very interesting!
@zee id ride more trains if theere was more access.I have no idea where there nearest train station is.Thats not the case in other countries.Our size makes us need trains more.
@zee "private trains across America like Amtrak" this shows how much you know what you're talking about. Amtrak is government funded and operated. It's not private
@zee
A place with 200000 people ISN'T a small town! That is a city!
I cannot wait for this channel to blow up because it 100% deserves it.
Humanity deserves it
I can't agree more. Why its taking so long is beyond me.
It's seriously just a matter of time. This guy is incredible
@@TheRipeTomatoFarms why do you think shell hid how environmentally destructive petroleum was in the 70’s? Money. No one wants to face the inconvenient truth. Immediate gratification of convenient comfortably over future survivability
@@maxuabo yup
.. And we're all paying for it now
“Access to transportation is the single greatest factor in an individual escaping poverty” powerful stuff!
Yes and being on a bicycle powered freight wagon .that will surely help people of color out of poverty!!
It’s a bad thing that I can tell that the two comments above me were made by people over 50
Nothing like owning a car to create personal freedom!
13:22 is pure gold. Thank you for bringing that into my life.
100% this
13:17
Hahahaha, this was a last-minute addition, I'm so glad it worked.
Lmao in my bed. This hit me from nowhere
That's when I subscribed.
This video is great! As an architecture student I learned how cars destroy community by discouraging pedestrian traffic and making buildings farther and farther apart (urban sprawl) and less scaled to the pedestrian. We've created a foreign environment for ourselves thanks to designing our infrastructure for cars and not humans. It's really nice to hear more about how things came to be this way instead of just looking at how things are. That kind of truth is not readily available for the layperson.
Then we destroy tons of wildlife so there's nothing readily available to eat either.
As someone that moved from Germany to Canada a few months ago, I can confirm how shocked I was at how urban planning affects everyday lifestyle and shapes culture and even people’s temperament.
There is a chance Called not just bikes. Very interesting to know more about types of city infrastructure.
If modern civilization were to collapse, then it would be likely for many cities with urban sprawl to end up splintering into communities that are the size of villages or smaller.
It's like people forget that they have to walk to and from their cars. You're never done getting where you're going once the car is parked. Humans are bipedal animals, at the beginning and end of the day.
Aaaaah... so... thats why we don't do it in the road.
I dunno. I'm not convinced. I think I'm gonna go do it in the road.
Capitalism 🌈...
I'm studying urban planning for this exact reason. Currently studying in the netherlands for a year, where they are fucking god damn nailing it
I was there in 2019 - they do such a good job with their cities. Several of the urban planning professors whom taught classes that I took had previously taught at TU Delft.
Sadly, unlike in the Netherlands, I am afraid to own or use a bike in my own city, because almost everyone I know who has a bike, at some point, has been hit by a person in an automobile.
As a pedestrian, I have almost been hit several times by drivers who ignore traffic signals while I am crossing at a crosswalk. If I and other people whom aren't using cars can't be made safe by the existence of laws or things like painted lines or stoplights, then it's clearly time to tear the whole way of doing things down and start over because it clearly is not working.
Why can't we do this in the US do you suppose? I've seen Netherlands traffic engineering in Chicago on Lake Shore Drive (increasingly shorter paint strips to make you subconsciously slow down) but we still suck, what's the deal??
@@waash_8128 Not Just Bikes is an incredible channel dedicated to exactly this. Mostly comparative between north american cities and the netherlands. Bicycle Dutch is also a good resource, though it is not an video essay channel, just videos of commuting via bike in the Netherlands. It can be pretty insightful to watch and see all the details and design of non-auto centered infrastructure.
@@jasonwilliamson2765 I've biked in a lot of cities, European and U.S., and noticed that American city streets often have a lot more inclines built in. I like a workout, but it's just not professional to arrive at work sweaty, so I opt to drive more when I live in a hillier city.
It's easy for them to nail it because they have a very low population, cultural unity (everyone is on the same page) and their country is small.
Man, I grew up in the car business and I considered myself pretty well educated on the history and policy failures you're laying out - and then you just casually drop another 40+ anecdotes I've NEVER heard of, just like you do in each one of these goddamn hilarious videos.
I don't even know how to convey how much I value this shit. I can tell you're busting ass. I can tell you actually give a shit, and I can tell you're concerned about The short attention spans of people watching this content.
I appreciate every bit of that energy, and I am so excited that you did that collaboration with Strong Towns. The whole low rent Burt Reynolds shit? You got some big stupid laughs out of me, and then you got me fact checking your ass hard, then just flying down rabbit holes of new information I very much wanted to know. Fuck, needed to know.
Thank you. I really mean that. Wow.
Hey everyone. Don’t just read the comments, write one to help get the YT algorithm working in this dude’s favor.
Drew, you're doing the lord's work. Thank you.
But what would I say?
Oh - I figured out something!
fine
For the algorithm!
Definitely agree on the transit being a way out of poverty. I grew up poor in the Bronx, am now definitely not poor. I cannot imagine how I would have gone to school or my first job on Manhattan without transit. And the financial strain it would have put on my parents had they had to buy me a car (and having to have to get a second car for my mom too).
Yeah if my parents didn't give me rides to work and eventually buy me a used car outright I wouldn't have really had many options. It's videos and comments like this that make me see how something so ordinary is actually a huge privilege.
There is a video on RUclips about how cars keep you poor.
So not only is the car culture of driving everywhere you need to go effecting your everyday life, it’s effecting your wealth too
ruclips.net/video/TtJXl6pk0Z4/видео.html
@@TheModdedwarfare3 it's wild from the outside to see that american teenagers are given whole cars by parents.
@@weatheranddarkness It's practically mandatory to have one to get around in some areas. There's just no public transport available where I live. It's not even safe to walk around most areas, to get to work (theoretically a 26-30min walk) I'd have to walk along a 5-lane highway with no sidewalks or lights, and I'd have to cross it with no crosswalks even at the stoplight, at night since I almost always work until after dark.
I love how these videos keep getting recommended to everyone after the price hike the oil companies made with the war. Glad to see everyone is looking to get educated.
@zee reality has a liberal bias because it's literally better for 98% of people. The other 2% has the majority of people gaslit into thinking that this is the best life could be, but it's just not true.
@zee amtrak is ass bro nobody wants that
I just wish that car-loving Americans could understand how great it is to live without a car. It's a giant stress-inducing, liability-creating, money pit compared to effective public transit. Even smaller cities in Europe have great rail / metro transit almost all around the clock at short intervals. It's so much easier to get around without having to worry about hitting someone with your car, parking it, worrying if someone is gonna break into your car, etc.
America is 3000 miles across. Germany is the size of Illinois….you really need to understand scale.
@@Hogprint25 china is way bigger than the us or same size and there public transit is 100x better so eat that idiot
@@nicksgarage8295 Yes they are bigger. Yes they have rail. It’s state sponsored though. Big difference. We have 48 lower states. Each w different regulations. Might want to crack a book and study up on how it all works there chief.
@@Hogprint25 Yeah no shit... You realize that Public transport (or bike/pedestrian infrastructure) doesn't literally have to run from one side of an entire country to the other, right? Obviously networks are clustered around larger urban areas or corridors of urbanized areas, like New England.
@@oilslick7010 Yeah, no shit. Unfortunately most of the major examples (Keystone, Russian) that have been in the news lately are all multi-thousand mile and inter country pipelines…No shit.
The car companies have a new problem, most people can't afford a car anymore cause of Low Wages.
Can't afford a new car. When even older Japanese and Korean cars still go strong after 10 years, and the Japanese generally don't believe in planned obsolescence
@bobcat baldfat drunkbeater People are over working as drunkbeaters, these days it's all about zoomdisconnecters.
People with low wages can still get on a finance plan for things they can't afford. Like a big truck.
@@Demopans5990 Mhm For sure when it's something called a toyota hilux.
Yeah, this will be an interesting outcome to witness as we hit peak inflation. Their solution for the moment is to hike up their prices to 2-3xs the cost, mainly due to COVID “shortages.” That can’t last forever.
The more I learn about how much the auto industry screwed us (in America) over, the angrier I get about it. I want to watch this video a few more times, and then all your others. Thank you for the work you are doing making such informative and edutaining videos
You shouldn't get angrier. It's nice having options. This video is only giving you one side and that's all you are thinking hence why you get angrier. What about the flip side?
Some of us love car culture. We love the road and going on long drives and love seeing an open road. It also allows for communities to have bigger houses. I spend a lot of time at home and having more space and a pool is nice. I think it's nice to have both options, if you prefer the pedestrian life then move to NY or Europe. And if you prefer car culture then move to the west. Options are great and I thank GM for this. Now I can pick and choose between the two.
@@alexmendez3681 GM gave no "option" they bought the most developed public transportation system in the world (LA) and demolished it so they could sell more cars. They lobby the federal government to invest on the interstates (by itself not a bad idea) but labeling them for "security and defense purposes" so they all got paid with taxpayer money and in the process they ruined the US train system that is by any means way better and more efficient for the military needs
And "we love the road and going on long drives" who is taking that away from you? are people advocating for the removal of interstates?
@@maumor2 It’s a option because if GM didn’t do what they did, it would tons of NY cities all over the place.
You can’t deny that having cars allows us to own bigger houses.
Videos like this that keep pushing thief anti car agenda. But the people have spoken. It’s what Americans want since it keeps selling otherwise, no one would purchase houses in the suburbs.
Options my friend.
@@alexmendez3681 again: Who is taking cars away from you? of course you totally ignored the destruction of LA public transportation and the almost bankrupt rail system in America (because roads get subsidies not track lines or public transportation). Never mind you just dont get it if you think "it would tons of NY cities all over the place" (sic) The suburbs are not self sustaining they are being subsidized by cities but they are a feel good place for scared people
@@maumor2 Haha. No one is taking cars away from me. I never claimed anyone is taking care away from me, when did I say that?
I don’t care if it destroyed public transportation.
I love how you said, you just don’t get it if you think there would be NYs all over the place. So my questions, why exactly don’t I get? You didn’t proceed to add any ideas to that statement. That’s like me saying, “you just don’t get it by having cars everywhere.” That’s if.
How are they not self sustaining? What does that mean? Seems to me like they have been around for decades so what am I missing?
Have you not see NY? Have you not see how dense it is? And how dirty it is?
Would you want to live in a bigger house with less pollution around?
What I miss from the university days wasn't the two years I spent driving in, it was the two years I could walk to class and live near me mates. dam you cars
The one thing I do miss from community college was having access to mass transit and being a walkaholic. I would only drive for night class or run errands.
Capitalism 🌈...
I'm sorry, but even though I lived in one of the few U.S. cities where you hardly needed a car b/c of the density by necessity of the geography, I was still glad when I got my car, only b/c in my junior year of college I had to get a part-time job that worked me till midnight after I went to school during the day. Your precious public transit doesn't necessarily run 24 hours a day, and it's often too dangerous anyway especially in the wee hours (I lived in one of the U.S.'s most violent cities). Public transit also doesn't give you the complete flexibility of self-movement whenever and wherever you have to go, let alone the need sometimes to haul/carry things around.
@@ebinrock Everything you mentioned happened because of the auto industry, ironically. Do you think they want clean and safe public transport to challenge their dominance?
Imagine if we never had cars go mainstream and we focused on mass transit with gradual improvements over time I can only imagine how much more space people could have instead of streets, highways, etc...
Oh...like The Netherlands.
@@lohphat I live in the Netherlands and there are still too many roads. However I will say they've done a better job than other countries I've lived in.
How much expensive real estate is completely unavailable for anything but storage for motor vehicles, when they are not actually being driven? .... and useless, wasted space the rest of the time.
I was gonna say you don't need to imagine cause there are so many European people-first cities, but it's not really what America could have been. The US' transit systems were the best in the world. Leagues ahead of Europe even in small towns and Europeans wanted to emulate it. America was chock full of majestic neoclassical, Beaux-Arts and art deco buildings that were like the new improved grander, more stately version of Europe. Americans saved western Europe from being bombed and went home to flatten their own civilisation.
The Netherlands is too small. Maybe more like Japan if anything
I keep thinking of how many cities had robust public transportation prior to World War II. Denver, my home, had an extensive cable car system through out the city, street car suburbs, and system extensions going to near by cities (such as Boulder and Golden). All this was ripped out in the 1950s in the name of progress, urban renewal, and car culture.
"Not a good pen, a pen from the 1920s."
Pens in the 1920s: Refillable fountain pens, generally well made, legitimately easier to have nicer handwriting with, didn't make your hand cramp so much as they require a light touch.
Pens in the 2020s: Often disposable and plastic, runs out of ink (sad!), easier to achieve chicken scratch with, HAND CRAMPS.
funny I use a carrot stick for a pen and chlorophyll for ink. After I'm done, I eat the carrot piece and repeat as necessary.
@@extropiantranshuman I tried to do this in class but prof kicked me out for "disruptive behavior," or something.
What is your favorite method for carrying chlorophyll about? I tried carving a reservoir into a large carrot but it kept leaking in my purse.
@@MunthApollosorry for getting you in trouble - one of mine kicked me out for going to the restroom, so I understand.
I don't have a tried-and-true method, as I do plastic and that's messy, but I'm assuming having chlorphyll powder to carry and then when you write put water on a leaf to mix some powder would make it easier to carry in the carrot (neat idea!).
If it's too noticeable, carve a wooden stick (as pencils are similar looking) to dip with.
Also did you know you can use chlorophyll like henna for temporary tattoos?
But fountain pens make blots
Capitalism 🌈...
Thinking about America's lack of public transportation and non-driving infrastructure compared to other countries around the world makes me want to cry 😭
Capitalism 🌈...
@@OjoRojo40 There is capitalism in many other countries than just the US. But they didn't get rid of public transport. Poor planning and too powerful lobbies is to blame.
@@jirislavicek9954 capitalism does still take a lot of blame since that corporate lobbying and the desire to get every single person to buy a car which would also get them to give a lot of there money to the oil and gas industry, were all enabled by capitalism, say what you want about prior and current socialist systems but I don't think they've ever had issues with car dependency, you really can't talk about issues this big without looking at the economic system a bit
@@jonnysac77 People are buying cars mainly because they want to move around, not because of advertising. Advertising can influence the make and model they buy, many buy unnecessarily big or expensive cars because of it. But they would still buy them even without advertising. I happens all over the world. In all economic models, just in some people aren't able to buy afford them.
Also if you are rich and live in developped world in a city with good public transport then you may not need a car and simply don't buy it.
Elite's Socialism🌈...
Coming from Europe and town squares is enraging. I live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth and we design like we're Kansas. We pave over everything, spread everything out and make life inconvenient and disconnected.
Damn bruh, why you gotta shade Kansas like that
When my dad was young he could take a train / streetcars from his home in Welland Ontario to the beach on Lake Ontario. All gone now. Tracks are probably still under the pavement. Now we're spending a ton of money to play catch up and build LRT's everywhere, and remove the cancer that private car ownership has become.
Yep, they just paved over the tracks. Here in London, Ontario, they are putting dedicated storm and sanitary lines and so far two streets (York and Wortley - probably the same line) had those remnants.
I grew up in Winnipeg - we had a hydro electric powered street car system for decades before ripping them up in late 50s/early 60s. Winnipeg is terrible to drive around. We also have a fabulous lake/cottage country on Lake Winnipeg (on both sides of the lake) and back in the day you could cheaply and easily beat the heat by taking a beach special to the lake and back. Now, only people with cars have the privilege of going to the beach. I'm in Brandon now and there used to be a similar set up going to Clear Lake from here.
Can't wait for the youtube algorithm to pick you up properly. Well researched stuff as usually.
It's definitely time to give the streets back to the people.
The algorithm doesn’t favor the truth tellers, especially in this subject. Given how long the channel has been up and how long it took the algorithm to mention it to me when it is EVERYTHING I love…heavy holding back is going on from above.
Capitalism 🌈...
Gotta keep engagement up (liking, sharing, commenting on each video) which all feed the algo.
I totally agree with you. The algorithm needs this. This guy is all for the environment, just one tiny issue. Assuming he bought his leather coat new, it has a 400 lb CO2 emissions. I have a second hand genuine* one that I got three years ago, so it contributes to 0 lb CO2. I eat meat, but only a few times per week. ;)
* my cowskin coat was made in the early mid-'90s, and is 5 or so years older than me.
It just did😎
I appreciate the way you use humor to lighten up such depressing subjects. The part where you are spinning around and the music stops was just perfect.
this stuff is so crazy to learn about, like i can't believe we weren't taught any of this in school (i know why we aren't though lol), but it makes me so much sadder about the state of our country. it's always been like this, big business being invited into our government. it makes me feel like we're just reaching a long awaited conclusion of how this is going to end with our taxless billionaires, 21st century company towns, and crumbling infrastructure and planet. it's hard to have any hope
Make consumers, protect capitalism, and do not question the system. Remember to smile comrade.
Capitalism 🌈...
To be honest, very few places teach about their city or infrastructure development and much of cultural history aside major events.
Geez you people are hopeless. Litterly.
Nuclear power can fix global warming.
Also you depressed nihilsts, the standard of living has NEVER been higher then it is right now.
I really like considering a world where there are no cars at all. Everyone would travel long distances by train, and then it would be all walking and biking to get anywhere else. I imagine it would encourage some really strong local communities and cultures, while still allowing people to travel long distances really easily and cheaply.
And local transit! The thing many cities lost in the rise of the car and still don't have in good measure today!!! Robust local transit supporting walkable cities is the very reason why all the high speed train networks abroad work so well.
Fuck that. I still have a passion for cars and I won't let anyone ruin it.
@@dividedstatesofamerica2520 As a passion, I think cars can be really cool! They are fun to drive and tinker with. You could still have your passion, but it would probably be something you would do out in some sand dunes or on a race track.
It's unsustainable for so many cars to be on the road and on top of that, the traffic and road rage do not make our communities safer or more enjoyable. Right now it is impossible for many americans to live without the use of a car, and instead of a fun experience, it is one filled with worry -- for their lives, or for the cost associated with accidents. When I said "no more cars" I really meant "no more reliance on cars for transportation."
Cars ruined it for cities, stfu. Your ruining shit yourself
this world exists - look at amsterdam and downtown tokyo
Thank you for creating this video, which was informative & excellently produced. I've been a rail/public transit enthusiast (& low-key historian) for years, so when I saw your inclusion of the multi-industry push to "dismantle" the streetcar networks, I was overjoyed to see this shared on such a large scale.
It's no coincidence, that once National City Lines (a GM-controlled entity) bought out streetcar networks from a plethora of U.S. cities, that many of the transactions yielded GM-manufactured buses operating replacement service on the roads (i.e. if we can't get a household to buy a car, we can still sell our buses to new or mode-transitioning transit agencies.)
You are both a comedic genius and an actual genius. My wife and I had to pause half way through and spend a few minutes collecting ourselves because we were both laughing too much to hear you explain the facts behind it all.
Filipino dude here. Staying in Germany for a week was one of the greatest epiphanies I ever had. Having such a robust network of trains really helps a lot, because in the Philippines, most of commerce and industry is concentrated in the oldest city due to it being close to ports and having all the necessary infrastructure to support all those companies. The result is almost always the nastiest traffic where even living and working in the same city meant a commute of an hour.
If you had a country connected by rail, these industries could be moved to other areas, so people don't have to be concentrated on the industrial hub for job opportunities. The problem with a car-centric transportation is that public transportation is also limited to road going buses, which also gets stuck in traffic. With our very bad traffic situation, the harsh commuting conditions that poor people experience further cements the mindset that as soon as you make it well financially, you'd want to get yourself a vehicle so going to places is not that hard (especially in the Philippines where families are very impotant). In Germany, I saw an entire family on bikes: There was even a baby carrier tugged by the Mom's bike. It really speaks volumes as to how much more efficient trains are with moving people and goods all over the country. Like, I was so mindblown of the fact that as soon as you landed on the airport, just take 2 escalators down, and there is a train station, connected to the mesh of trains in the whole of Germany. It's funny that when I think of Germany, I think of their cars. I never imagined that there they are, living in a society that owning a car is a matter of personal choice, not a NEED.
Great vid man. Subbed!
Thanks for sharing. Also, you're English is great, good job.
I want the option to drive, but not the requirement to drive.
We just need parking on the edges of cities for people driving between cities, and everything inside the city is public transit, walking, or cycling.
If you live out in the suburbs and work in the city, you drive to the edge of the city, then take public transit, bike or walk to wherever you need to be so you can get to work.
Bicycle parking in American cities is also shockingly terrible. I really want something like the bicycle parking garages they have in the Netherlands, they’re just sick.
This was fantastic!
Hey! Thanks Improv Everywhere! You're the best.
Capitalism 🌈...
@@OjoRojo40 You dont even know what that word means, you've been brainwashed through subjective definitions of certain words, such as capitalism.
You havnt now, or ever will, understand the politics until you enterly remove your emotions...and read a few dictionaries, it helps with "big word understanding".
@@Nah_Bohdi I have read "The Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations", "The principles of political economy" and alas "Capitalism and Freedom" by you know who. But I guess all of that is no good right? kekekekeke . Now tell me what have you read enlightened man.
@@OjoRojo40 He's read Ben Shabibo, lol
"Politics can only be understood without emotions" what a f-ing dunce
You’re doing a great job. Rick Scott turned down Federal high speed rail money 💰 because everyone obviously needs to drive their own car from Miami to Orlando. Or Tampa.
Such. Poor. Planning.
Especially for the poor.
Bad for elderly, too. Safe, accessible transit to and from appointments, shopping, and long distance travel hubs is essential for an active elder at risk as a driver.
The automotive industry is the devil. From the manufacturers purposely desiring vertical disintegration, to the car salesman screwing you over on his stupid little Foursquare, to getting absolutely annihilated in the service department. The automotive industry is run by a dirty lunch room of sociopathic money-grubbing weirdos. They hire these good honest hard-working people and pay them just enough money where they won't self delete. I worked in sales for a short time and service for a very long time and it is a business that should be avoided at all costs. I've often thought that the toxic nature of the dealership ultimately came down to a cultural disease from their shaping of the country to fit their needs. This documentary details that perfectly. I love your RUclips channel, you calamitous climate comedian
If you are looking for inspiration look towards the Netherlands. They had a huge car problem in 1960s they decided it wasn't working for them so they changed it. Now they are the bicycle capital of the world and have mostly dealt with all of their problems. The RUclips channel Not Just Bikes has some videos on this subject.
Yeah, as a dutch citizen, i must disagree, there are still mayor problems with traffic jams. It might not be as bad as in the usa, but its far from "dealt with"
Plus the distances in the usa are much larger than the netherlands
@@veigar6899 The distances in the US are larger 'BECAUSE' of the car. Nonetheless 48% of all car rides is 10miles and only 5% >31 miles (= "a large distance" ). For the really 'large' US distances (>1000) people take a plane. The problem is that for the short distance there is really bad/dangerous infrastructure, that people have to drive. And no, snow and heat are no excuses (see biking in Oulu and Seville ).
The costs of those freeways and stripmalls is that US has 2x or 3x more asphalt per capita to maintain as Netherlands or Germany. Those costs are too expensive (see Pittsburgh, Cali and everywhere in US..)
Think how much better the health of all those Dutch citizens is with all that regular exercise. Not 75% of the population pre or actively Type 2 diabetic either. How many Dutch children on high blood pressure meds because they are so overweight from highly processed food + sedentary lifestyle? Oh, those are only American children? Hmmmm…
We all ain't trying to ride bikes... In the US so keep that over there
He retired to teach conflict of interest ethics at Harva- errr, actually he joined the board of executives on GM. Hahaha got me.
GOTTEEEEE
My favorite thing about your channel is that you not only educate the viewer on the massive flaws in America's car-obsessed society but you also provide them with resources to help change that. Thank you so much for what you do, keep up the good work! :)
To give an easy example to car-addicted North Americans: well, the world's fun places are usually inaccessible by cars. Do you go around Disney theme parks in cars?
This is why ancient European towns with plenty to see are limited to pedestrians, some of Asia's best area to explore are pedestrian-only.
Even Disneyland Japan has a rail line connecting it to the greater rail system of Japan, from the very start.
I've wondered whether the reason Americans dream of vacationing in certain spots is because they won't need to drive everywhere.
Americans, unfortunately, have no power here. They live in a capitalist nightmare mode at it's most unhinged form. They literally live shorter than us, because their healthcare is completely money based
Funny how Epcot in Disney World, which is supposed to showcase the future, has a monorail system. Almost like we knew then that cars weren't the future lol
@@cloudyskies5497 Can't speak for anyone else, but that literally never crosses my mind when thinking about a vacation. We're talking about going to Florida this year for vacation and I'm probably going to drive there rather than the hell that is the airport. It'll also be neat if we pass any cool things on the way that we can stop and look. Of course I like to drive so I'm different from other people in that way.
Damn this is a high quality video. Good shit man
the bestest shit of them all
I just want to say as a Republican I really like your videos. I agree with pretty much most of what you guys put out. I'm just saying this to show that in this world of polarized opposites there are still many people from the old days of Republican and Democrat that didn't agree on how to approach everything the same but still worked together somewhat. Don't let the screaming minority fringes cloud everyone's vision. We can all work on fixing these things together. Good job brother. Subscribed.
Sorry to bother you, but your comment seems really weird to my non-US-mind.
How can you be a Republican if you agree with the points made in Climate Towns videos?
Afaik the Democrats tried to invest a huge amount of money into the US' infrastructure somewhen last year. Something that would tackle a lot of the problems mentioned in the video and make life a bit easier for everyone - but the Republicans are somehow against that.
Instead the last Republican president wanted to invest a huge amount of money in a useless wall to maybe hinder some migrants to get into the US.. - which wouldn't help anyone with their life; it just would make it more miserable for a tiny group of people.
So.. If you understand the problems related to how infrastructure impacts society, you're standing for the party that showed to support the exact opposite.
hi, american leftist here. republicans didn't always used to stand for those things. the ideological shifts in the republican party are a really fascinating topic i won't go into here, but suffice it to say, the original commenter probably disagrees with a lot of what republicans as a party now stand for. republicans that i know in my day to day life (the ones that are reasonable anyway) see themselves as part of the "responsible" party: the party that wants taxpayer money to be utilized efficiently and the power of the government to be small enough so as not to interfere unnecessarily with everyday life, allowing people to make their own decisions. this is a far cry from what republicans now stand stand for, especially abroad.
something important to understand abt american politics as they exist today is that the average everyday person is in control of remarkable little on a federal level, and even a state level at times. often people join parties simply as a matter of local identity rather than ideology ("we're all republicans here"), and ideas like the ones in this video simply aren't discussed on cable news. if they are it's done in such a heavily politicized and divisive way that it triggers the "us vs them" response in people. there is such a lack of unity and common interest in this country that if we were to continue along this path it wouldn't shock me if we had another civil war.
the way to undo this, in my perspective, is to take everyday people at their word and engage with THEM, person to person, rather than conflating them with the politicians of their party.
@@nikotinsaure2481 Didn't every single Republican vote against that infrastructure bill?
And have you seen John Oliver's video on infrastructure? It's grand.
The other comments on here really aren't making republicans look good from the standpoint of these issues not gonna lie. I know there's a lot of legacy and loyalty people have to the american political parties with families following the same party because you were raised into it by your parents and community, but it's maybe worth re-evaluating your preferred party, honestly no matter which party it is and whoever you are reading this, based on what they're actually doing and the policy they're turning out. If we can agree that now is a critical time of change for america as we start to hit the beginning of the climate crisis, I think now might be the point to put tribalism behind us and vote purely based on these pressing issues and the parties' relationships to them.
It was conservatives who didn't like the car initially. They sided with the horse and lots of conservative people road and continue to ride bikes as well. The neoliberals and liberals have always seen the car as freedom from norms. The car was the way to rebel against your parents, have premarital sex (in a car), be, in general, deviant.
Lol, as European, it was pretty interesting to walk by a road in the countryside and being asked by drivers passing by if we are ok, coz we are walking, by the road.
Dude this video is so overproduced. Hell yeah.
shh
I am a transportation planner in a midsized rust belt city that has lost 4 people per day over the past 12 years. (Detroit and Cleveland have lost 3 people per day). I work with nothing but traffic engineers and the PE has a sign on his desk saying "You can't fix stupid". As the primary person designing roads, intersections, roundabouts, etc. that kill, he doesn't see the irony.
Good work. I grew up in a car focussed place (suburban Australia) spent a year in LA after my studies, ended up car free in Berlin... Couldn't be happier
Those damn kids and their pet hoops.
- Henry Ford, probably
I bet he was like, "if I could rope 4 of those kids and their pet hoops together, I could take over America!"
@@ClimateTown Yes officer, this man and his rope right here
"It's a circle..." - "Yea... you know... for Kids!" +1 if you get the ref.
"If people would only understand Hitler like i do, then no one would get mad when I beat them into buying one of my cars"
- Henry Ford
“Those damn kids, how dare they complain that Hitler is a bad dude.” - Also probably a thing Henry Ford said
When you realise that the story of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" is an evil guy buying up street car lines and demolishing towns so he can build a freeway. Like, crazy story right? That would never really happen right?...Right?
I absolutely LOVE it when people do actual research about USA's past and find out we've HAD Socialism for a long damn time. You know, that word one certain political Party uses as a dirty word today.
Yep
exactly why i promote the free market lol
@@Meleeman011 There is literally no such thing as a "free Market" as long as giant Corporations can do exactly what they did in this video. Did you actually watch the video?
Two parties*
They also love giant government red tape driving up prices...housing prices. No one wants to eliminate red tape if they don't want to deal with detached single family home zoning, the biggest and most expensive one of all.
I love how that video talking about how people"leap" in front of cars is showing a busy street where you can't not leap in front of a car.
Watching old commercials on RUclips from the 70s and 80s people used to actually be taller than their cars, trucks included. To see where we are now is extraordinary.
Yeah people are so short now. SMH my head 😔
Can you do a video about suburbs? There's so much land/water/energy waste (ie unproductive front lawns and sprawling roads), plus feels more socially isolating. There're probably some policy issues involved, but we need to also reconsider what types of homes we idealize and aspire to as a society.
Yes! This needs to be done. There's very good channels that cover this like Eco Gecko but I think it would greatly benefit from the comedic flair of this channel.
Not Just Bikes has so many excellent videos about this, 10/10 would recommend checking him out if you haven't!
I think this channel has a video (partially) about disastrous zoning too.
My family uses the water we wash vegetables, fruits, and food with to water our plants.
When you're in school like "Why do we have to make dioramas? When are we ever going to use this in real life??" Well, when you work for a car company that turns America into a paved hellscape, that's when!
Imagine making a diorama so well it ruins an entire country. That's gotta be an A.
Untrue! You can also make dioramas of airports and coal mines.
Irony would be using Dioramas to undo that hellscape and make cities actually safer, easier, and more enjoyable to traverse without Cars clogging up the works, I wanna ride my e-bike more darnit
Car ownership should be optional not mandatory. Imagine all the money you could save if he didn't have to have one.
Over the course of my 20 year career. The single biggest improvement to my standard of living was simply to live closer to work, and shop closer to where I live. Or more recently... Order online more. It's better living. Night and day removed from the commuting years.
Give this man his own late night show. NOW.
He’ll never get it. He’s anti establishment.
Eww, fuck those dinosaurs.
No u
if he brings up veganism, then I agree.
I’ve always hated America’s car dependency and didn’t think this rabbit whole could go any deeper - but here I am.
I want to get a bicycle instead of a car but I’m afraid of dying a painful death thanks GM
Get a bicycle anyway. The more of us there are, the more of those cars there aren't. And city planners intentionally underbuild bike infrastructure because nobody uses it because there is no infrastructure.
Migrate to The Netherlands!
@chromaticcanuck that is not a compromise.
GMC stopped making School Buses in 2003 & stopped making Transit Buses in 1987 due to profitability issues, in part due to their products lasting too long. They are considering re-entering both markets, for the same reason that GM makes the best practical EV, the Chevy Bolt, as they are simply not the sociopathic capitalistic company they used to be...
@chromaticcanuck not cheap in my country. Besides the import taxes jacking up the base price (cars are taxed at 100%, for example), the yearly insurance is basically the cost of the scooter because they are just so very easy to steal. My car insurance is cheaper than scooter insurance.
You're radicalizing me against roads
The cost of cars to individuals is another huge factor working against lower-income households that greatly reduce their upward mobility. Every car owner must pay for maintenance, gasoline, insurance, registration, and the upfront purchase cost or financing for the vehicle.. these expenses absolutely impact lower-income earners much more than higher-income earners. Convenient and efficient public transit would help lower-income earners save money and be able to live with less stress, which would also reduce health costs, and the money they save would also reduce the need for financial support, allowing those taxes to be reallocated or returned to tax payers
Thanks for not only digging into the facts and providing insightful content, but also making it fun to watch for us smooth brains. You've created an awesome formula, and you're nailing execution!
This channel is amazing not only for the Climate issues but for how corporates manipulate govt and us.
i generally get turned off by all the fawning comments on YT videos but geez, this is incredibly well done. The laughs help digest the horrors that you point out so well.
Great vid, dude. I live in Minneapolis, where my mom had a fantastic streetcar system when she was a kid, before the General Motors Streetcar Conspiracy turned this place into a laboratory for suburban sprawl. Keep up the good work!
It’s wild that highways ripping through cities was ever portrayed as futuristic and exciting. I wish people could have also seen the huge parking lots that come along with that amount of cars
Love, love, love your storytelling. You're soooo honest. You need your own show on E, History, National Geographic, etc... Companies blaming victims.
This channel is going to blow up. S+ material.
This is an unbelievably great channel.
Sad how bad GM has destroyed this country, it will take decades to undo all this damage
It really is sad. We could've had the best transit network in the world. Now overall transit remains underfunded and is absolutely terrible compared to other developed countries.
@@wturner777 they stopped building railroads in america because it was "communist". we could've had a great public transportation system.
@@wturner777It was GM that we won ww2 with. Our jeeps and trucks that delivered supplies were made by GM and Ford.
Great telling of a story often told. One thing I learned from the book Internal Combustion is that in the early days of oil refining, gasoline was just a waste product in the refining of crude for heating oil and other uses. That is why they lobbied hard for the new auto industry and the killing of electric cars (which were plentiful at the turn of the century).
The comparison of Japan, France, China and ThE uNitEd StAtEs oF aMeRiCa is just brilliant. 😂
to be fair even with amazing public transports there's still traffic jams although probably not as bad as the us
But owning a car is a matter of choice not a necessity that's forbidden to the very poor
@@Heyovv
But people have another option.
E.g. it takes 2 hours and 9 minutes to go from Leipzig (where I live) to Berlin. By train it only takes 1 hour an 10 minutes.
Leipzig - Frankfurt Airport: 4:04 hours by car, 3:30 hours by train.
Leipzig - Munich: 4:36 hours by car, 3:19 hours by train
Munich - Berlin: 6:11 hours by car, 4:30 by train
You could invert literally any of those. Show traffic jams in all the other countries and show any passenger train service in the US
@@poppogigio1848 but those shown were bullet trains/high-speed rails vs. the broken American system of transportation. people really prefer to travel in those countries by train whereas in the US there are roads and you HAVE TO own a big, unnecessary truck.
I live in NYC near the new 2nd Ave subway, the crosstown 86 St bus & the Lexington Avenue "IRT" line.(I know using those initials date me, but what the hell; by the way, I recognized like 92% of the locations where you shot this video.) I am SO grateful I will NEVER need to own a car. We lived in Brooklyn until I was 13 then moved to the greener pastures of Long Island - and my life went from walking or taking the subway everywhere, to "mom, drive me to the library;" definitely gave me a preference for the former.
When you own a car, the car owns you - or rather the banks own you (auto loan) the oil companies own you ("fill 'er up!") and the insurance companies own you (illegal to drive without auto insurance). This video touched on but really didn't explore the "Defense" angle of justifying the Interstate highway system (which is named for Dwight David Eisenhower, btw).
Your channel is like Johnny Harris's but with comedy. Much appreciated!
For real though, it is incredibly important to know how our "public" infrastructure has been developed over the years because it has directly called for a specific lifestyle. I'm a little bit in awe about how we can know so much about the deep and overwhelmingly obvious conflicts of interest that pushed the US into the "modern" world. As someone thinking about buying an EV soon, this is just one more thing to think of.
It's scary to think that the automobile industry has forwarded the car-centric lifestyle so much that we are still talking about adopting EVs and autonomous vehicles in the future. Like: what if we could choose a different path? Defund private transportation in favor of public? Gunna take a lot to change public perception though. Grassroots, honest communication.
Great video
Yeah except Climate Town doesn't make videos bankrolled by really questionable private interests...
You are right on track as a doctor i took care of the massicer on california freeway , i chose a bike after that life is better that way
When I first came across your content, I was a little dubious, as I've seen a lot of media with similar messaging but a lack of data to back it up... but man, you are killing it SO hard. A lot of this information has truly broadened my mind and changed the way i perceive the world right now. Admittedly I'm now a little more pessimistic, but far more realistic!
the comedic timing of these gives me much needed relief
Most underrated channel literally EVER! Hope you get the views you deserve.
While I don't care that pedestrians are relegated to side and crosswalks, US public transportation is actual trash. Living in and visiting countries with useable subways and bus systems makes you realize how sad it is.
Damn
@@quanbrooklynkid7776 yeah you have no idea how bad it is once overseas is done with you you will hate even NYC and most of the USA transit wise
I love how all your videos end with a "so what can you actually do now", makes the emotions you get from a video materialize into real action
If you want an example of how car culture dominated America by the 60s, look at popular music. While UK bands like The Beatles and The Hollies were still singing about catching the bus, US singers were all about driving the Thunderbird to the drive-in movie.
Please make more of these, I need help explaining my anti-car sentiments to my friends!!
- doesn’t even own a car. Lol
In the wise words of Adam Something: "Just build f*cking trains."
You have become my new favourite channel this year!
so glad i found this channel, love the content
“America is like if you started a country and then at every major decision - you took the wrong one”
That’s the story of America and how you got to 2021
Sure. We have the largest economy on the planet, with one of the highest GDP’s per capita in the world, the strongest military with the most advanced technology, an amazing place to do business, and so much more. Wrong decisions my ass.
As a random person on the internet, I would like to thank you for your hard work on these videos. Just discovered your channel. Loving all the content.
I have seen 'jaywalking' on US TV shows and never really understood it. Crossing the road has never been a crime here in the UK.
In Germany it is an infraction and you have to pay a fine of ten euros. If you repeat this, you can lose your drivers license temporary.
@@Lurrer For the crime of not-driving, you are banned from driving!
That's pretty weird stuff.
@@Lurrer Is it? I didn't even know we had a word for 'jaywalking'.
It isn't illegal in the Netherlands either and I'm so glad. Such a bullshit law. Plus, our police would totally use it for ethnic profiling
@@Lurrer I've never seen or heard that happen though and I cross the road constantly 😂
This guy needs his videos shared everywhere educational, informative, and entertaining it's the perfect mix.
Really enjoyed this video, full of great facts. I live in the UK and have started cutting down on driving everywhere. Walking, cycling and taking public transport has to be the future and when these modes of transport are implemented well, you don't miss the car. Going to binge watch all your videos now!
I am car-free. This means I am also job-free as where I live there is next to zero public transport to be able to get to work. At least I will be ahead of the curve when cars and fossil fuels are reserved once more for the wealthy elite only.
Apart from the stock market and the push for everlasting growth how cars shaped our cities and lives was one of the worst things that could have happened to us and the environment.
I am really mad people were so glad to give up their cities and quality of life for a little convenience. Public transportation, bicycles and my feet all the way, baby!
Yeah im slowly realising I’ve wasted the last 10 years of my life in suburbs. It fucking hurts as I’ve felt depressed and isolated for 90% of it. I hope I have the strength to move to a city with good public transport and that isn’t 50km long
I literally live 10 minutes away from my job where I live... and due to terrible design and preference of cars in this city, I can't feasibly like bike to my job.
The reporting is so accurate and combines humour really well. Good job, great balance
Climate town drops a video...I watch it. Its that simple.
I find it funny that Japan is one of the world's great automobile-making countries, while having some of the most walkable cities and best public transport systems.
I guess a clever dealer never gets hooked on his own product...
Fun fact: In Japan, you must have access to an *off-street* parking space in order to purchase a car under the Shako Shomei Law. The law is meant to reduce congestion and illegal parking, especially in cities.
This channel is great, the videos are entertaining, informative and thoroughly depressing with how the industries seem to face no repercussions for their actions. The vibe of the channel seems almost made to be a regular segment on the Daily Show.
I was murdered by the Earth Wind & Fire joke, and the carbon in my lungs
Well done on the short video on the influence of the motor industry on land use and transport policy in the USA.
Shout out to Cities such a Portland for actively delivering policies that are rolling back the vehicle first polities. They are putting people back at the centre of movement networks.
You should do a sequel that uncovers the related influence on planning schemes from unban spawl, cal see sacs, car parking and street activation. It really interesting.
How will Portland handle crime?
@@qjtvaddict Research has proven the more walkable place are more secure and safer that car centric places. The reason being greater volume of people in the street moving slowly to observe. It call passive surveillance.
@@qjtvaddict Car centric policies increase poverty which increases crime. That’s a simple conclusion to draw.
Why doesn’t this channel have more views? Such good content