@@user-KABYLIAN_REPUBLIC 1/ pourquoi me répondre en anglais alors que vous parlez français ? 2/ pourquoi m'agresser alors que je vous montre que je connais votre culture ?
@@couvertgerard7742 Sentez-vous agressés ? Je vous ai répondu en anglais car mon 1er commentaire l'est. Sinon pour ma part, je suis kabyle, donc amazigh aussi, sauf que Amazigh est une appartenance large, république amazigh selon moi n'aura aucune valeur, voire meme aucun sens, des républiques fédérales et/indépendante nord-africaines aura une meilleur valeur. Merci et bien à vous !
Soon to be retired US resident here. All the reasons you mentioned are the reasons I'll be retiring in France. Don't know just where yet though as there are so many wonderful cities and villages in France that would make an ideal retirement home base. I just don't want to shovel snow. I really hate snow. As far as US cities and even small towns, it's too late to turn back the clock. We've spent 50 or 60 years making these places car centric. Wonderful towns from the 1940's to early 1950's have bulldozed most of the downtown areas to make room for big box stores like Walmart or Costco and paved giant expanses of land for parking. Truly sad.
Dans un autre commentaire ici en français, je disais que la région de Montpellier est merveilleuse. C'est justement où je suis venu habiter pour ma retraite. Mais il y a plein d'autres endroits qui sont bien pour vivre 😊🎉 Bonne retraite à toi !
Bonjour à tous ! Je suis français et je suis honoré que vous appréciez mon pays ! Vous savez que les Français sont très critiques vis-à-vis de leur pays mais il est réconfortant que des étrangers l'aiment. Je pense que ce qui doit vous plaire est de sentir toute l'histoire ancienne qui est cachée derrière beaucoup de bâtiments, la nourriture bien sûr et j'espère l'amabilité des habitants à votre égard. Bon séjour !
Awesome!! Copious truths, of life on the other side of pond, so much we can learn from. Culturally truly advanced, the French with such a variety, diversity, and life at the basic level filled with zest, energy and dynamism for everyone. Streets, to local transportation, public squares, avenues, architecture, art, history, food, cafes, museums, plazas, the list goes on to speak volumes of good living!
Being appreciative is hard, hard habit to come by as we so much internalize, the best things we take for granted, public utilities, the electric grid, transportation, the hospitals, the volunteers, the public parks or our national parks here in the United States, and you’ve got to look for it, it’s in the eye of the beholder, yes warts and all, it’s mine to cherish!
i love your videos. I'll be escaping to France next year. I've been spending months there for years both working and vacationing. I am so looking forward to all the new challenges. Thanks for your work.
It's true that French city centres are now people -friendly. It was not always the case. In the 60s and 70s they were often full of cars driving too fast and parked all over the place. My very small town introduced a 30km limit only two years ago snd now may well move to a policy of absolute priority for pedestrians within the defined town area. Bring it on!
Grenoble is splendid, I agree. I stayed there for five days after a long ramble across the Vercors and left feeling I should have allotted it more time. The giants of the architectural and aesthetic movement known as International, namely Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Philip Johnson, created many beautiful individual buildings but their impact on urbanism was desolating and catastrophic: the generic high rise (mostly mirrored in the 1980s and 90s) and the lifeless plaza. Their ideas were adapted by big developers to the ruin of many cities in the western world. France was not immune. Most of the grands ensembles of the second half of the 20th century were lamentable. Unfortunately the reaction against that urbanism in France is possibly even worse--the extensive zones pavillonaires, non-descript suburban single-family housing, and centres commerciaux, malls and big-box stores with acres of parking. The reaction against the reaction, in France they're often called écoquartiers, holds promise. They're midrise, pedestrian and bike friendly and incorporate greenery. The architecture, however, has nothing of the vernacular and is the same from Wuppertal to Toulouse.
Attention, Grenoble is one of the worst city in France, crime is very high ( +20 gun shooting in the streets this year and it's increase a lot, the mayor of this city doesn't want armed police or CCTV camera) Grenoble is ranked 6 in the top French dangerous cities. Because of the immigration policy no city will be spared
Interesting video! I subscribed. I'm American, grew up and lived in Chicago for 35 years. I also lived 19 years in Germany. During that time I made several trips in France, my favorite country. I've driven through Grenoble on my way to Provence. My preferences to live would be Tours on the Loire, the Dordogne region, and Luberon. Such beautiful areas! The only thing stopping me is expensive health insurance.
@@seward9 Are you posting from France? It is free only if you pay into the system=have a job. If you are posting from Germany: Is it free if you live there, no matter what?
37 years in Grenoble for me. Glad to see you appreciate our common city, but surpised that people in the comment seems to appreciate it too. Everytime I speak with a tourist, they tell me they find Grenoble quite beautifull and nice, I tell them to go visit Lyon... Guess I'm nostalgic of memories of my teenage periode in the city: less effort in cleaning the Haussmannian bulding of the center but way more little business in the streets with no any closed business, more peacefull ambiance, more trees (but we planted some in recent years). "Place de Verdun", "Place Victor Hugo" and more had their trees cut to give a more clean, more geometric shape for the beauty of the buldings; in the old martial style: at first I didn't like it but now I appreciate the effect more. It's funny that you praise pedestrian streets, cause I like them, but sometime I dream of a american grid, where you can travel quickly trought the city, have business with parking spots in front... Thank for the video and if some day you have question about the past of "my old/your not so new" feel free to ask.
Grenoble is an amazing city. But if you don't want to wake up asking yourself who is this person sleeping next to you, avoid its 'soirées étudiantes" (student night parties). Or maybe that's just a me issue? 🤔 Anyhow it's a lovely city in all seasons but especially during winter as skying is possible on the cheap.
Fantastic! Until recently after traveling through most of the U.S., are we now considereing a better less commercial life. Thanks for your perspective here on the differences between the countries.
France has changed a lot in the city in recent years, but also in our countryside. For foreigners who want to settle here, we must not hide our faces, mentalities are changing, violence with it, trafficking is established in the provinces. That said, if we take the case of Americans, for them coming to live among us remains a daily discovery. Be welcome and be curious about all the French diversity. Souvenirs from Paris everyone.
@@jfrancobelge Thank you for watching. I often have this discussion with my French friends. Differences between the U.S. and France are often degrees of magnitude rather than the existence or not of similar issues in France. I mentioned in my video that the same corrosive forces (of equality and culture) exist in France as in the U.S. It's just that these forces had a big headstart in the U.S. - both in terms of gaining political acceptance and in terms of less cultural resistance. For example, there are many more outdoor food markets in France, and they seem to be used by more socio-economic groups than in the U.S., where they have been resurrected after a long absence. Indeed, I see them not only in Grenoble's center city but in every village. Also, what the French refer to as being outside the city center would still be considered the urban core in the U.S. Moreover, almost nothing around Grenoble would even be considered a suburb in California or in much of the U.S. In fact, the French translation of the word "suburb" ("banlieue") has a far different connotation than the U.S. word, as can be quickly verified by typing the English and French versions of the word into Google and looking at the images it retrieves. I imagine that different regions of France have differences too. For example, I saw more development that reminded me of the U.S. suburban landscape in the SW of France than I have seen in the areas around Grenoble. But to your point, even though I often think of myself as coming from the land of "big box" retail (quickly being replaced by online retail), some of the biggest supermarkets I have ever seen have been here in France. On the other hand, I haven't noticed that much of a price difference between some of the center city markets and the peripheral supermarkets. Again, I'm sure it matters a lot which city you are referring to as I imagine markets and neighborhoods in the center of Paris or Lyon will be much pricier. But again, it's a whole different order of magnitude in the U.S.
I'm french... i agree with the fact that you eat much better in france than in the US and you can see it by the number of fat people in the US true that american are obsessed with work and money, but i must say that little by little europe tend to be like the US, you see in every great cities the same stores and same restaurants, we are losing our way of life ans approaching little by little the american way of life.
Ça n'a rien à voir avec la beauté. Les villes américaines sont très belles et propres. Le problème, c'est qu'aux États-Unis, tu dois prendre la voiture pour absolument tout. Bien sûr il y a des centre-ville mais ils sont plus petits. Après les grandes villes américaines sont super, je pense à Chicago ou New York, où on peut marcher partout. Contrairement à Los Angeles, où sans voiture, c'est très compliqué. Mais le problème est ailleurs dans ces grandes villes: elles sont très chères et puis vivre aux États-Unis, c'est accepter le système de santé américain qui n'est pas du tout social et qui coute très cher aux patients.
I've tried explaining a lot of what you talk about to everybody who will listen to me here in Houston, Texas, and most people just don't get it because they've never experienced living in this kind of city. Urban design is so freaking important to quality of life. After 20+ years in Texas, I'm moving back to France in 25!
Great to hear. I've spent my entire life explaining urban design concepts and still struggle with it. So much of it is the feeling you get at street level rather than the shape of the buildings or the skyline (Americans are obsessed with skyines and often rate their cities on the basis of what they look like from miles away). I often hear Grenoble characterized as one of France'a uglier cities. While the buildings here may not be as attractive as Dijon, Colmar or Strasbourg, among many other cities, it has similar density, streets activated with cafes, book stores and other retail, schools seemingly at every corner, and a lot of people of all ages and types walking and bicycling. One of the things I love is how often I hear the yells of children playing in their school yards. People on park benches reading. Little old ladies having tea or coffee together. It's more a feeling than a vision. And it's a feeling you just don't get in most U.S. cities. Americans struggle and put themselves in massive debt to buy their dream house in the suburbs. They dream of all their friends coming over for barbecues and pool parties. Then they neither have the time for their friends, who have the same idea with their own homes, and everybody's working too hard to spend the time to drive across town to somebody else's suburban dream home. They remain isolated in their cages, gilded or not, and then isolated in their cars to go anywhere else. France is better for your soul and your health(care). Welcome home in 2025!
What about the insecurity in Grenoble ? It's known to be one of the most dangerous city in France, I know a dangerous city in France is a pretty safe city in a majority of countries but I'd be curious to have your point of view.
It is not that bad... I live there, just know where to be, at what time to be. Same for any cities worldwide I guess. If you want real security go to central or eastern Europe cities (Czech, Poland hungary etc.)
Actually you are describing European central city living, which is increasingly for the better off. I agree it is more difficult to find in US medium-sized towns and cities, but not impossible in the larger urban areas. A better comparison in my view would be US vs French suburbia.
So many French towns have few shops in the centre ville, but instead a supermarché with enormous carpark on the outskirts. Town and country dwellers go to the supermarché in their cars. There are still markets and small grocery shops, but supermarkets are ever more dominant. I'd agree that walkable living can be more expensive, specially if it is not practicable to go car-free.
@adamsfamilyinfrance did you make this vid? French cities attractive to tourists? Are you serious? These are clichés, Sir, with all due respect. France has become a very dangerous and dirty country swarmed by migrants. French women don't go out alone when it's dark anymore. Inform yourself and find out. BTW I'm French and I live in Marseille. Just hate this town! 🤮
I'm french and french are cold and most small cities are dead and boring it' nice if you like good food and staying at home or if you are old don't say crazy statement like all french cities are better than N american cities If you are young, NYC is by far better than Paris for example, and doesn't have an equivalent in europe.. maybe london Paris is dead after midnight and on sundays. Nothing opened 24h. it's very hard to make friends and english of people are poor unlike Berlin, Amsterdam and other metropolis
any old world city is better than US cities (exception of NYC) based on the following topics: city center are center of social life, local shops, people walking (yes...walking, this weird thing), buildings, cultural life etc
Grenoble has becomed so ugly and dangerous nowadays. Look - closed shops in the very centre ville, tags everywhere, drugs markets even in Downtown....Sorry, but this city (like Nantes unfortunatly) has becomed a nightmare due to laxism.
J'ai adoré ton analyse comparatif entre les 2 pays, en plus tu dois être architecte et c'est encore quelque chose à quoi je fais attention partout, tout en étant un profane. La qualité de vie en Europe est difficile à comprendre par les gens en Amérique du Nord, il faut être ici et laisser petit à petit notre mode de vie te pénétrer. Actuellement je vis dans la région de Montpellier et je suis toujours agréablement surpris par la patience et la courtoisie des gens. La vie dans une petite ville, ou dans la campagne autour, est bien meilleure que dans une grande ville, même française ! Grenoble est une ville étudiante, comme Montpellier, et ça contribue à la joie 🎉 et à la vie qu'on ressent en marchant dans les rues. Je regarderai tes autres vidéos. Ce n'est pas parce que tu parles bien de ce pays que je t'applaudis, mais il y a des vérités qu'on peut pas nier, comme la différence entre la qualité de la nourriture ici et celle de l'autre côté de l'Atlantique. Ou bien le système de santé... La liste est longue. Porte-toi bien, ainsi que ta belle famille ❤😊
Dunno. I m french in campaign and car is vulture also for us. However in the center city have lot of people . We have a great place and lot of small shops. The urban politic is of create density of population in center and stop expand city territory. Second point is low loan and tax for small mercants . Its totall sucess. U see people in center city do small shops and talk together when they crosses. Issue is the lack of parking places for cars.
Nice unblinkered view of life in a French city.. Ignore the nay-sayers 😎! You don't have to justify your opinions to anyone. I live in Bayonne and the centre is a tangle of streets - endlessly fascinating to walk around. It's unfair to compare French towns and cities with those in the US - it's comparing s apples and oranges - the US towns sprung up quickly and it made sense at the time to adopt a grid system.
Je tiens à préciser que toutes les villes de France ne sont pas exactement comme Grenogle et que dans beaucoup d'entre elles les vélos ne sont pas forcement les plus utilisés. Les Français ayant besoins de leurs voiture pour se déplacer principalement dans les villes de campagne.
A mon avis, vous avez raté les éléphants sur les façades des immeubles autour de la FNAC... IMO, you missed the elephants on the building façades next to the FNAC... 🙂 La plupart des gens les ratent... Most people miss them...
Hi, thanks for the tour. I grew up in this town and seeing the streets I have a lot LOT of memories coming back. 😊 Do you know Grenoble hide a MIB flying saucer church? And a shop with the best cookies of the planet?
Only pollution we've notice is an occassional day of yellow air around the mountains. But generally very clean air. But we are from Southern California, so that's everyday there.
it's not even comparable. How do you want to compare cities whose city centers date back to the Middle Ages (some still have traces of their stone walls) with modern cities? I wouldn't even compare Paris with Berlin...
J'aime bien l'Isère. J'y ai de merveilleux souvenirs d'enfance... une sorte de paradis perdu mais je n'aime pas beaucoup Grenoble. Il y a de plus belles villes en France !
Nice video. A friendly piece of advice if I may: while riding in the city, it's better not to leave your bag in the front basket of your bike (or if you do, then try to put your valuables elsewhere). I wish you a pleasant time in our country 🙂
Thank you! Grenoble and environs is one of the top areas I am looking to move to in 2025 as part of my retirement plan. The walkable/cyclable charm is what I really want to find. Maybe even in a small town, where I have to bus or train it to a larger city at times.
Summer in Grenoble are hot and the valley is windy. 30 years ago plane tree cut the wind and protect from the sun. "Greening" the street in Grenoble was not done by building cycle track but also cutting hundred of Plane tree and used twice the necessary space for tramway line. A useless and stupid management of urban space and not a very "green" design.
Pour info : Grenoble est une ville qui subit la violence liée au trafic de drogue. Vous pouvez voir un peu partout les graffitis qui montrent l’adhésion d’une partie de la population (Le plus souvent des immigrés) à la culture du ghetto venue des États-Unis.
J'allais écrire le même commentaire ! En tant que piéton, le personnes à vélos ou trottinettes électriques sont très insécurisantes dans les espaces réservés !
Intéressante vidéo, la critique que font les américians de leurs villes et du mode de vie qu'elles impliquent devraient rendre les Européens plus vigilants quand aux déculturations et destructions en cours. Grenoble est une ville un peu triste et son maire actuel est à moitié cinglé, venez donc vivre dans le Sud-Ouest !
Grenoble est tout sauf triste et son maire excellent. Je suis en montagne au dessus de Grenoble et s’il y a une ville où j’accepterais de vivre c’est bien celle là !.
@@prevotfrancis8933 Grand bien vous fasse, E. Piole est psycho-rigide, malhonnête intellectuellement, intolérant, sectaire, dogmatique, irresponsable, bref un écolo. Restez donc dans vos montagnes et ne parlez pas d'urbanité, vous ne devez pas connaitre beaucoup de villes.
Only showing the historical hyper centre of mid-size french is not honnest. Make 5km from there, you’will find commercial centers full of cars, drug dealers, awfull buildings...
Pretty offensive to make your comment about "honesty" rather than "accuracy." If you tend to get in conflicts, it may be the way you communicate. I won't call you "dishonest" because you didn't look at my videos where I show other parts of the city, e.g., one part I call "little America" before making your comment.
Je suos allé une fois juste à la gare en passant. C est les montagnes qui m ont fait penser à un coté lugubre de la ville. Sachant que je suis breton donc montagnes ca me fascine .
I am afraid your comment has no meaning. Remember that France was a colonial power, then it is fair and natural to accept people who paid the price long ago.
The french streets have nothing to see with a population what origins might come from Africa. The report shows how are conceived the Downtown in french city.
Africans can also be Catholics like the Italians and Spanish and Polish who were the previous immigrants. As for the supposed Islamization, it has no more place to take than the place that Christianity has in a secular republic. That is to say, to stay in the places intended for that or at home. And the problems rarely come from only one side. If certain "radicalities" were less inclined to point the finger at people's origins, there would also be fewer problems, if you understand what I mean.😊
@@youtpfpm6097 So you mean problems don't come from the populations in questions but due to people like me who point the finger at them ? That's as absurd as saying that apples fall from trees because of Isaac Newton
Typical opinions of people travelling and seeing only the good side of countries they're visiting... Tourism isn't immigration.The reality and french people 's life is completely different
Damn! It's obvious it's far from truth. French cities attractive to foreign tourists? Go to Marseille, Paris,Lyon ,Grenoble, Roubaix and really drag your feet in the hoods and you'll get an idea of what France has really become. Btw: take care of your smartphone, wallet and any other personal belongings you might be robbed of. Good luck!
France is nice but what I feel it doesnt have that the US has is a reliable and strong police and justice system. They have a lot of repeat crime and very little transparency. For a woman it can be a dangerous place. Just my opinion.
you're right man but many are several hundred years old and sometimes more than 1000 years old, so sometimes the facades are not always renovated. It's like oysters, the pearl is inside the shell. Thank you, you made me laugh.😊👌
I love France, Architecture, gastronomy, history, Gothic and Baroque architecture, Alps and Pyrenees mountain, beaches,,,,
Kabylie is the only part i love of algeria ( Vivement sont indépendance )
Une république Amazigh serait encore meilleure.
@@couvertgerard7742 noo,,, your idea has no sense
@@user-KABYLIAN_REPUBLIC 1/ pourquoi me répondre en anglais alors que vous parlez français ? 2/ pourquoi m'agresser alors que je vous montre que je connais votre culture ?
@@couvertgerard7742 Sentez-vous agressés ? Je vous ai répondu en anglais car mon 1er commentaire l'est. Sinon pour ma part, je suis kabyle, donc amazigh aussi, sauf que Amazigh est une appartenance large, république amazigh selon moi n'aura aucune valeur, voire meme aucun sens, des républiques fédérales et/indépendante nord-africaines aura une meilleur valeur.
Merci et bien à vous !
Soon to be retired US resident here. All the reasons you mentioned are the reasons I'll be retiring in France. Don't know just where yet though as there are so many wonderful cities and villages in France that would make an ideal retirement home base. I just don't want to shovel snow. I really hate snow. As far as US cities and even small towns, it's too late to turn back the clock. We've spent 50 or 60 years making these places car centric. Wonderful towns from the 1940's to early 1950's have bulldozed most of the downtown areas to make room for big box stores like Walmart or Costco and paved giant expanses of land for parking. Truly sad.
C'est vrai! (So true!)
Come to Touraine to retire ;-)
Yes, Loire Valley is a really nice place to live :-)
Dans un autre commentaire ici en français, je disais que la région de Montpellier est merveilleuse. C'est justement où je suis venu habiter pour ma retraite. Mais il y a plein d'autres endroits qui sont bien pour vivre 😊🎉 Bonne retraite à toi !
@@Carlos31416 Merci.
Bonjour à tous ! Je suis français et je suis honoré que vous appréciez mon pays ! Vous savez que les Français sont très critiques vis-à-vis de leur pays mais il est réconfortant que des étrangers l'aiment. Je pense que ce qui doit vous plaire est de sentir toute l'histoire ancienne qui est cachée derrière beaucoup de bâtiments, la nourriture bien sûr et j'espère l'amabilité des habitants à votre égard. Bon séjour !
the can criticize all they want... but the REALITY is that France is one of the most beautiful contries in the world...
Awesome!! Copious truths, of life on the other side of pond, so much we can learn from. Culturally truly advanced, the French with such a variety, diversity, and life at the basic level filled with zest, energy and dynamism for everyone. Streets, to local transportation, public squares, avenues, architecture, art, history, food, cafes, museums, plazas, the list goes on to speak volumes of good living!
In movies maybe. This is not realistic
Being appreciative is hard, hard habit to come by as we so much internalize, the best things we take for granted, public utilities, the electric grid, transportation, the hospitals, the volunteers, the public parks or our national parks here in the United States, and you’ve got to look for it, it’s in the eye of the beholder, yes warts and all, it’s mine to cherish!
i love your videos. I'll be escaping to France next year. I've been spending months there for years both working and vacationing. I am so looking forward to all the new challenges. Thanks for your work.
Thanks for watching and for your encouraging words. 😊
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Thank you for sharing this video...I ll be studying in Grenoble starting fall of next year and this was super useful
I like your analysis
Grenoble is an universitary city, each year, + 60K students coming from France and other countries
In one month ten shoutings gun between gang members Kool your city😂
and it's a crime city too!
Grenoble also an industrial and scientific center and also one of the highest crime rate for french city.
@@chrisdel2564 if you are not a gang member, you'll survive, no mass shooting by there.
Enjoyable super walking video😉👍✨
Lovely tour🎉:And you are absolutely right.🎉
It's true that French city centres are now people -friendly. It was not always the case. In the 60s and 70s they were often full of cars driving too fast and parked all over the place. My very small town introduced a 30km limit only two years ago snd now may well move to a policy of absolute priority for pedestrians within the defined town area. Bring it on!
Grenoble is splendid, I agree. I stayed there for five days after a long ramble across the Vercors and left feeling I should have allotted it more time.
The giants of the architectural and aesthetic movement known as International, namely Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Philip Johnson, created many beautiful individual buildings but their impact on urbanism was desolating and catastrophic: the generic high rise (mostly mirrored in the 1980s and 90s) and the lifeless plaza. Their ideas were adapted by big developers to the ruin of many cities in the western world.
France was not immune. Most of the grands ensembles of the second half of the 20th century were lamentable. Unfortunately the reaction against that urbanism in France is possibly even worse--the extensive zones pavillonaires, non-descript suburban single-family housing, and centres commerciaux, malls and big-box stores with acres of parking.
The reaction against the reaction, in France they're often called écoquartiers, holds promise. They're midrise, pedestrian and bike friendly and incorporate greenery. The architecture, however, has nothing of the vernacular and is the same from Wuppertal to Toulouse.
Attention, Grenoble is one of the worst city in France, crime is very high ( +20 gun shooting in the streets this year and it's increase a lot, the mayor of this city doesn't want armed police or CCTV camera) Grenoble is ranked 6 in the top French dangerous cities. Because of the immigration policy no city will be spared
Grenoble est devenu un coupe-gorge.
Great Tour Video, Thank you for sharing
Thanks for watching
Interesting video! I subscribed. I'm American, grew up and lived in Chicago for 35 years. I also lived 19 years in Germany. During that time I made several trips in France, my favorite country. I've driven through Grenoble on my way to Provence. My preferences to live would be Tours on the Loire, the Dordogne region, and Luberon. Such beautiful areas! The only thing stopping me is expensive health insurance.
Expensive health insurance in France? Not in my experiences. I migrated to France in retirement.
But if you work in France, you will be part of the system and it will not be expensive.
Health assurance is free here 😊
@@seward9 Are you posting from France? It is free only if you pay into the system=have a job. If you are posting from Germany: Is it free if you live there, no matter what?
Et la Bretagne??Très belle aussi...
37 years in Grenoble for me. Glad to see you appreciate our common city, but surpised that people in the comment seems to appreciate it too. Everytime I speak with a tourist, they tell me they find Grenoble quite beautifull and nice, I tell them to go visit Lyon...
Guess I'm nostalgic of memories of my teenage periode in the city: less effort in cleaning the Haussmannian bulding of the center but way more little business in the streets with no any closed business, more peacefull ambiance, more trees (but we planted some in recent years). "Place de Verdun", "Place Victor Hugo" and more had their trees cut to give a more clean, more geometric shape for the beauty of the buldings; in the old martial style: at first I didn't like it but now I appreciate the effect more.
It's funny that you praise pedestrian streets, cause I like them, but sometime I dream of a american grid, where you can travel quickly trought the city, have business with parking spots in front...
Thank for the video and if some day you have question about the past of "my old/your not so new" feel free to ask.
Grenoble is an amazing city. But if you don't want to wake up asking yourself who is this person sleeping next to you, avoid its 'soirées étudiantes" (student night parties). Or maybe that's just a me issue? 🤔 Anyhow it's a lovely city in all seasons but especially during winter as skying is possible on the cheap.
Thanks for watching. I think your comment just did a great job promoting the city on both counts! 😁🤣
Btw, another good video. I agree with everything you said.
- support from Setback City, USA.
Much appreciated!
Thanks for the excellent quality pictures : Grenoble center seems attractive and not too crowded. I am french but I never went in this city center.
Fantastic! Until recently after traveling through most of the U.S., are we now considereing a better less commercial life. Thanks for your perspective here on the differences between the countries.
France has changed a lot in the city in recent years, but also in our countryside. For foreigners who want to settle here, we must not hide our faces, mentalities are changing, violence with it, trafficking is established in the provinces. That said, if we take the case of Americans, for them coming to live among us remains a daily discovery. Be welcome and be curious about all the French diversity. Souvenirs from Paris everyone.
I appreciate the thoughts expressed in the video. It's much better than most RUclips videos. 😊
Thank you!
Feels like in some of these places you should have gotten off your bike and walked next to it.
On point #1 grocery stores also, more frequent and usually you can walk to 1. That alone is a huge deal and difference.
C'est vrai!
et les marches
@@jfrancobelge Thank you for watching. I often have this discussion with my French friends. Differences between the U.S. and France are often degrees of magnitude rather than the existence or not of similar issues in France. I mentioned in my video that the same corrosive forces (of equality and culture) exist in France as in the U.S. It's just that these forces had a big headstart in the U.S. - both in terms of gaining political acceptance and in terms of less cultural resistance. For example, there are many more outdoor food markets in France, and they seem to be used by more socio-economic groups than in the U.S., where they have been resurrected after a long absence. Indeed, I see them not only in Grenoble's center city but in every village. Also, what the French refer to as being outside the city center would still be considered the urban core in the U.S. Moreover, almost nothing around Grenoble would even be considered a suburb in California or in much of the U.S. In fact, the French translation of the word "suburb" ("banlieue") has a far different connotation than the U.S. word, as can be quickly verified by typing the English and French versions of the word into Google and looking at the images it retrieves. I imagine that different regions of France have differences too. For example, I saw more development that reminded me of the U.S. suburban landscape in the SW of France than I have seen in the areas around Grenoble. But to your point, even though I often think of myself as coming from the land of "big box" retail (quickly being replaced by online retail), some of the biggest supermarkets I have ever seen have been here in France. On the other hand, I haven't noticed that much of a price difference between some of the center city markets and the peripheral supermarkets. Again, I'm sure it matters a lot which city you are referring to as I imagine markets and neighborhoods in the center of Paris or Lyon will be much pricier. But again, it's a whole different order of magnitude in the U.S.
@@adamsfamilyinfrance "marchés"
I'm french... i agree with the fact that you eat much better in france than in the US and you can see it by the number of fat people in the US true that american are obsessed with work and money, but i must say that little by little europe tend to be like the US, you see in every great cities the same stores and same restaurants, we are losing our way of life ans approaching little by little the american way of life.
D une façon générale les villes Européennes et donc la France sont beaucoup plus belles et agréables.
Ça n'a rien à voir avec la beauté. Les villes américaines sont très belles et propres. Le problème, c'est qu'aux États-Unis, tu dois prendre la voiture pour absolument tout. Bien sûr il y a des centre-ville mais ils sont plus petits. Après les grandes villes américaines sont super, je pense à Chicago ou New York, où on peut marcher partout. Contrairement à Los Angeles, où sans voiture, c'est très compliqué. Mais le problème est ailleurs dans ces grandes villes: elles sont très chères et puis vivre aux États-Unis, c'est accepter le système de santé américain qui n'est pas du tout social et qui coute très cher aux patients.
@@ailina63très belles et propres? On n'a pas dû visiter le même pays..
L’histoire joue beaucoup. en Europe nos centre-villes ont pour la plupart une très longue histoire… et cela se ressent
Great analysis! Totaly agreed with yours points of view!! We have to defend ou particularitys in every culture againt mondialism.
I've tried explaining a lot of what you talk about to everybody who will listen to me here in Houston, Texas, and most people just don't get it because they've never experienced living in this kind of city. Urban design is so freaking important to quality of life. After 20+ years in Texas, I'm moving back to France in 25!
Great to hear. I've spent my entire life explaining urban design concepts and still struggle with it. So much of it is the feeling you get at street level rather than the shape of the buildings or the skyline (Americans are obsessed with skyines and often rate their cities on the basis of what they look like from miles away). I often hear Grenoble characterized as one of France'a uglier cities. While the buildings here may not be as attractive as Dijon, Colmar or Strasbourg, among many other cities, it has similar density, streets activated with cafes, book stores and other retail, schools seemingly at every corner, and a lot of people of all ages and types walking and bicycling. One of the things I love is how often I hear the yells of children playing in their school yards. People on park benches reading. Little old ladies having tea or coffee together. It's more a feeling than a vision. And it's a feeling you just don't get in most U.S. cities. Americans struggle and put themselves in massive debt to buy their dream house in the suburbs. They dream of all their friends coming over for barbecues and pool parties. Then they neither have the time for their friends, who have the same idea with their own homes, and everybody's working too hard to spend the time to drive across town to somebody else's suburban dream home. They remain isolated in their cages, gilded or not, and then isolated in their cars to go anywhere else. France is better for your soul and your health(care). Welcome home in 2025!
@@adamsfamilyinfrance all reasons why I'moving back 🙂
I lived in Grenoble for 10 years. I really like the place. I wandered through these same streets, I know them by heart ! Thanks for the stroll :D !
14:33 to 15:03: Looks like a "bizutage", the rite of entry to a University for freshmen. This applies mostly to Medical and Engineering schools.😀
Great insights. Vive la France.
What about the insecurity in Grenoble ? It's known to be one of the most dangerous city in France, I know a dangerous city in France is a pretty safe city in a majority of countries but I'd be curious to have your point of view.
It is not that bad...
I live there, just know where to be, at what time to be. Same for any cities worldwide I guess. If you want real security go to central or eastern Europe cities (Czech, Poland hungary etc.)
South Grenoble like echirolles can be sketchy, but grenoble itself is fine
@@Bhgfutfcjuedxh Yes, for some reason Poland, Czech and Hungary are much safer than France, Sweden or UK - Go figure..
I've lived in Grenoble nearly five years and it's fine. There are problems and crime, but not as much as you might think based on what you hear.
Thank you. Superb video.
Très intéressant
4:14 I think you can get a ticket on a pedestrian street while you're on a bike.
In my city it's like this.
Because normally French cities are humane, not made for cars.
Actually you are describing European central city living, which is increasingly for the better off. I agree it is more difficult to find in US medium-sized towns and cities, but not impossible in the larger urban areas. A better comparison in my view would be US vs French suburbia.
I suppose you merely did not watch the entire video 😅
So many French towns have few shops in the centre ville, but instead a supermarché with enormous carpark on the outskirts. Town and country dwellers go to the supermarché in their cars. There are still markets and small grocery shops, but supermarkets are ever more dominant. I'd agree that walkable living can be more expensive, specially if it is not practicable to go car-free.
Ok 100 % with you, américain cities are too too too Big large.... not for human living. Welcome in France 😁
merci beaucoup!
@adamsfamilyinfrance did you make this vid?
French cities attractive to tourists? Are you serious?
These are clichés, Sir, with all due respect. France has become a very dangerous and dirty country swarmed by migrants. French women don't go out alone when it's dark anymore. Inform yourself and find out.
BTW I'm French and I live in Marseille. Just hate this town! 🤮
This is a great view point, i want to retire in france, 😊so thank you for i deeper look
Thank you for watching and getting something out of it.
I'm french and french are cold and most small cities are dead and boring
it' nice if you like good food and staying at home or if you are old
don't say crazy statement like all french cities are better than N american cities
If you are young, NYC is by far better than Paris for example, and doesn't have an equivalent in europe.. maybe london
Paris is dead after midnight and on sundays. Nothing opened 24h. it's very hard to make friends and english of people are poor unlike Berlin, Amsterdam and other metropolis
any old world city is better than US cities (exception of NYC) based on the following topics: city center are center of social life, local shops, people walking (yes...walking, this weird thing), buildings, cultural life etc
Cela ressemble un peu à l'extérieur du centre ville de Colmar ,mais bien plus grand ! Merci pour le partage je ne connaissais pas Grenoble !👍👍
Grenoble has becomed so ugly and dangerous nowadays. Look - closed shops in the very centre ville, tags everywhere, drugs markets even in Downtown....Sorry, but this city (like Nantes unfortunatly) has becomed a nightmare due to laxism.
Walking is good for health and I didnt watch a lot of oversized people in the streets.
Which is why this benefit should be added to the calculations of urbanists
J'ai adoré ton analyse comparatif entre les 2 pays, en plus tu dois être architecte et c'est encore quelque chose à quoi je fais attention partout, tout en étant un profane. La qualité de vie en Europe est difficile à comprendre par les gens en Amérique du Nord, il faut être ici et laisser petit à petit notre mode de vie te pénétrer. Actuellement je vis dans la région de Montpellier et je suis toujours agréablement surpris par la patience et la courtoisie des gens. La vie dans une petite ville, ou dans la campagne autour, est bien meilleure que dans une grande ville, même française ! Grenoble est une ville étudiante, comme Montpellier, et ça contribue à la joie 🎉 et à la vie qu'on ressent en marchant dans les rues. Je regarderai tes autres vidéos. Ce n'est pas parce que tu parles bien de ce pays que je t'applaudis, mais il y a des vérités qu'on peut pas nier, comme la différence entre la qualité de la nourriture ici et celle de l'autre côté de l'Atlantique. Ou bien le système de santé... La liste est longue. Porte-toi bien, ainsi que ta belle famille ❤😊
Merci bcp!
I lived in Canada for a while and the street grid there was monotonous and bland,zilch character,every town could be the same.
I guess you didn't spend much time in Montreal, Toronto
Legion of honor means nothing nowadays. They give it each year to a lot of people who doesn't deserve it.
You were able to make Genoble look kind of pretty, well done 😆
Why do I think these folks are from The San Francisco Bay Area? Or somewhere culturally similar ...
Yep, the car culture in the US destroys pleasant social interaction.
American people themselves destroyed pleasant social interaction. American culture is the most toxic culture on the face of the earth.
Dunno. I m french in campaign and car is vulture also for us.
However in the center city have lot of people . We have a great place and lot of small shops. The urban politic is of create density of population in center and stop expand city territory.
Second point is low loan and tax for small mercants .
Its totall sucess. U see people in center city do small shops and talk together when they crosses.
Issue is the lack of parking places for cars.
Nice unblinkered view of life in a French city.. Ignore the nay-sayers 😎! You don't have to justify your opinions to anyone. I live in Bayonne and the centre is a tangle of streets - endlessly fascinating to walk around.
It's unfair to compare French towns and cities with those in the US - it's comparing s apples and oranges - the US towns sprung up quickly and it made sense at the time to adopt a grid system.
C'est marrant comment vous décrivez les rues et bâtiments américains... on pourrait penser aux constructions d'URSS des années 30 à 60 !
Je tiens à préciser que toutes les villes de France ne sont pas exactement comme Grenogle et que dans beaucoup d'entre elles les vélos ne sont pas forcement les plus utilisés. Les Français ayant besoins de leurs voiture pour se déplacer principalement dans les villes de campagne.
A mon avis, vous avez raté les éléphants sur les façades des immeubles autour de la FNAC... IMO, you missed the elephants on the building façades next to the FNAC... 🙂 La plupart des gens les ratent... Most people miss them...
une de ces villes qui se meurt, les super marchés en périphérie ont tué les commerces de centre ville
Hi, thanks for the tour. I grew up in this town and seeing the streets I have a lot LOT of memories coming back. 😊
Do you know Grenoble hide a MIB flying saucer church? And a shop with the best cookies of the planet?
Thanks for watching. I think I attended a concert at the flying saucer church
@@adamsfamilyinfrance hahah nice!! And now go find Adelaide Cookies :)
@@guillaumemichallat307 Oh I know exactly where Adelaide's is. It's quite popular but Pain & Cie next door is more my style! 😁👍
@@adamsfamilyinfrance Next time I visit my parents I will give it a chance 😃. Greetings from Chile
@@guillaumemichallat307 Wow, Chile! That's a country that fascinates me. What part?
Unfortunately, Grenoble is an utterly polluted city due to its geographical situation, especially in Winter. Lot of crime there too.
Only pollution we've notice is an occassional day of yellow air around the mountains. But generally very clean air. But we are from Southern California, so that's everyday there.
it's not even comparable. How do you want to compare cities whose city centers date back to the Middle Ages (some still have traces of their stone walls) with modern cities? I wouldn't even compare Paris with Berlin...
J'aime bien l'Isère. J'y ai de merveilleux souvenirs d'enfance... une sorte de paradis perdu mais je n'aime pas beaucoup Grenoble. Il y a de plus belles villes en France !
Street grids are bad for climate.
Nice video. A friendly piece of advice if I may: while riding in the city, it's better not to leave your bag in the front basket of your bike (or if you do, then try to put your valuables elsewhere). I wish you a pleasant time in our country 🙂
Thank you! Grenoble and environs is one of the top areas I am looking to move to in 2025 as part of my retirement plan. The walkable/cyclable charm is what I really want to find. Maybe even in a small town, where I have to bus or train it to a larger city at times.
Think about Bordeaux.
Summer in Grenoble are hot and the valley is windy. 30 years ago plane tree cut the wind and protect from the sun. "Greening" the street in Grenoble was not done by building cycle track but also cutting hundred of Plane tree and used twice the necessary space for tramway line. A useless and stupid management of urban space and not a very "green" design.
French cities were made for humans, not cars, and have hundreds of years of history. The end.
Pour info : Grenoble est une ville qui subit la violence liée au trafic de drogue.
Vous pouvez voir un peu partout les graffitis qui montrent l’adhésion d’une partie de la population (Le plus souvent des immigrés) à la culture du ghetto venue des États-Unis.
Grenoble !!
Grenoble is not a little city 😬
Faire du vélo dans les rue piétonnes n'est pas autorisé. Vélo en main obligatoire.
J'allais écrire le même commentaire ! En tant que piéton, le personnes à vélos ou trottinettes électriques sont très insécurisantes dans les espaces réservés !
Intéressante vidéo, la critique que font les américians de leurs villes et du mode de vie qu'elles impliquent devraient rendre les Européens plus vigilants quand aux déculturations et destructions en cours. Grenoble est une ville un peu triste et son maire actuel est à moitié cinglé, venez donc vivre dans le Sud-Ouest !
Grenoble est tout sauf triste et son maire excellent. Je suis en montagne au dessus de Grenoble et s’il y a une ville où j’accepterais de vivre c’est bien celle là !.
@@prevotfrancis8933 Grand bien vous fasse, E. Piole est psycho-rigide, malhonnête intellectuellement, intolérant, sectaire, dogmatique, irresponsable, bref un écolo. Restez donc dans vos montagnes et ne parlez pas d'urbanité, vous ne devez pas connaitre beaucoup de villes.
Only showing the historical hyper centre of mid-size french is not honnest. Make 5km from there, you’will find commercial centers full of cars, drug dealers, awfull buildings...
Pretty offensive to make your comment about "honesty" rather than "accuracy." If you tend to get in conflicts, it may be the way you communicate. I won't call you "dishonest" because you didn't look at my videos where I show other parts of the city, e.g., one part I call "little America" before making your comment.
Grenoble is supposed to be one of the ugliest cities in France every time I say I was born in Grenoble, people make a strange disgusted face.
I live two hours from Grenoble and I must say I never thought of it as a nice city.
Je suos allé une fois juste à la gare en passant. C est les montagnes qui m ont fait penser à un coté lugubre de la ville.
Sachant que je suis breton donc montagnes ca me fascine .
Como
French cities are totally unsafe causing by mass migration never let my daughter gets out alone greetings from Normandy repaced
Pff you again
As a french currently living in Grenoble Im completely agree with you….
@@juliad368 I think you love diversity isn't it?
Not a single word about africanization and islamization of those cities and therefore, degradation of the quality of life ?
I am afraid your comment has no meaning. Remember that France was a colonial power, then it is fair and natural to accept people who paid the price long ago.
The french streets have nothing to see with a population what origins might come from Africa.
The report shows how are conceived the Downtown in french city.
lol maybe because it’s a non issue for his life?
Africans can also be Catholics like the Italians and Spanish and Polish who were the previous immigrants. As for the supposed Islamization, it has no more place to take than the place that Christianity has in a secular republic. That is to say, to stay in the places intended for that or at home. And the problems rarely come from only one side. If certain "radicalities" were less inclined to point the finger at people's origins, there would also be fewer problems, if you understand what I mean.😊
@@youtpfpm6097 So you mean problems don't come from the populations in questions but due to people like me who point the finger at them ? That's as absurd as saying that apples fall from trees because of Isaac Newton
Nowadays they gives the Legion d'Honneur like candies. It's worthless.
Typical opinions of people travelling and seeing only the good side of countries they're visiting... Tourism isn't immigration.The reality and french people 's life is completely different
Sounds like you haven't lived in the U.S. and thus have less of a basis of comparison than I do.
Waw
europe is either dystopian nightmare or fairy tale city there is no inbetween
Furthermore Bezos like Must are awful employers .
Damn! It's obvious it's far from truth.
French cities attractive to foreign tourists? Go to Marseille, Paris,Lyon ,Grenoble, Roubaix and really drag your feet in the hoods and you'll get an idea of what France has really become.
Btw: take care of your smartphone, wallet and any other personal belongings you might be robbed of.
Good luck!
US cities are best avoided.
I french, and the président Macron .politique its no a beautiful référence. !
Italy has nicer architecture without the anti Christian hate
I'm french. Grenoble is one of the most dangerous city of France. I wouldn't advise anyone to go there.
C'est un peu exagéré mon gars 😂
France is nice but what I feel it doesnt have that the US has is a reliable and strong police and justice system. They have a lot of repeat crime and very little transparency. For a woman it can be a dangerous place. Just my opinion.
My wife feels much safer here than in the U.S.
*Venez pas. Vous faites grimper le prix de l'immobilier. On arrive plus à se loger nous les jeunes.*
Grenoble, crime city
C'est vrai qu'il y a beaucoup de beaux endroits en France,mais les Français sont tellement antipathiques que je ne voyage plus qu a l étranger.
Buildings in France are Extremely old and Rotting .
Some. Not all.
you're right man but many are several hundred years old and sometimes more than 1000 years old, so sometimes the facades are not always renovated. It's like oysters, the pearl is inside the shell.
Thank you, you made me laugh.😊👌
Maybe avoid Europe then or any country that is more than a few hundred years old.