I live in Seattle, and I think about this stuff all the time; it’s very soothing in a way to hear it coming from someone else paired with pictures that I recognize from my city
So true. I've lived that type of isolation between the places I've lived and where I needed to go, have seen it, and know lots of other people have, too. It was so alienating and depressing on top of everything else I had been going through. I'm very glad to live in the fairly dense, urban area of Koreatown, Los Angeles, though it could be so much better even here. Great video.
Yes exactly! If you're already feeling isolated or are not in a good place, it can absolutely pile on. Right now, I think a lot of municipalities embrace the idea of "more stuff" but not necessarily "more care" or "more connection" but I hope these are philosophies are something that does catch on like it has in places around the world.
I'm so grateful for your channel! I just watched 3 of your videos and planning to watch more on my train ride :) I watch a lot of urbanism youtube but yours is the first one that really integrates social justice and organizing into urbanism. Walkability is an environmental, economic, and housing justice issue, and I love how you bring solidarity and collective thinking and talking points into urbanism, because that's really what it's about for me.
Hey thanks for your comment! I'm glad the videos resonate! Like you, I watch/subscribe to a lot of urbanism content on RUclips but also felt like the social aspect of what makes great cities was not being elevated as much & that social impact is just too important to gloss over. So here we are! 😅 I've got a couple videos in the works now, so keep a lookout on the channel over the next few weeks. Thanks again. Much appreciated! 🙏
Very interesting. Thank you for sharing. The layout of American cities and distance certainly creates and exasperates the woes of modern American society.
In the book Curbing Traffic, they talk about this concept and idea that our societal sphere is more like a n Archipelago (a string of islands). When cities are built for people at a human-scale, it becomes more cohesive. Great video. I'm so glad I found your channel.
This is so beautiful. I am a renter in a city, wanting to go out of the city, find a land where I can grow things, become self-sufficient, and plug myself in a network of people sharing necessities. It's also motivated by the need to avoid our reliance on fossil fuels, which are doomed to come to an end eventually, and in that scenario, the minimum needed is to have food we can grow. But I don't really want that too, because I love the city as well, and I don't want to leave the most vulnerable among us to fend for themselves. I wished social housing was made with this reality in mind, to capture and filter water, to make our own energy, heat, and most importantly, food, with community gardens and local networks of regenerative farms. At low cost, or even "free" if it was truly made in socially, based on available income. The more directly democratic and collaborative every local projects can be, the better, while in my dreams, it would actually be the case at a national and international scale. I do get busy in local events, go meet neighboors, associations, and local elected representatives, though not as much as I should. Ultimately, it's sad it's so expensive to be able to buy land, a house, a resilient setup, it really gatekeep this existential transition.
Really good video and you touch on something I've been thinking about for a while. The way we build our cities is, I think, both a symptom and cause of many of our modern day issues. We as Americans have become so isolated, so paranoid, so individualistic. We've built our cities to reflect this and then the cities reinforce these qualities in turn. I don't think better cities will root out all social ills, but I think it would help a lot!
Absolutely! Isn't it interesting how our built environment reflects our culture and visa versa? Definitely agree that these changes wouldn't solve everything, but hopefully they could move us in the right direction. Thanks for your comment!
Than you so much for this video! I have officially started doing some serious research in order to potentially relocate to Seattle by the end of the year. I have come across two videos of yours, the other one being about public transportation in Seattle since I do not drive. I like what I have seen so far, albeit not being perfect. But then again, which city is perfect, right?
In the process of moving from a Sunbelt city to Seattle. I get a strong impression that Seattleites are very hard on their city, which I've learned means there are a lot of like-minded residents who have high expectations. Meanwhile in the South, only a very small fringe seems aware of these issues, much less do they care enough to make changes in their lives or advocate for the things you discuss. Therefore, if you measured Seattle vs. Charlotte strictly based on how many complaints there are in each place, you might conclude that Charlotte has it all figured out because there isn't much chatter, and you might also conclude that Seattle is the most backward city in the US because there are legions of folks clamoring for improvements. In reality, my hunch is that Seattle is leading the way (along with a handful of peer cities), and its residents just expect a lot, which continues to drive the city's culture in a positive direction (hopefully).
Thanks for your comment. I think you can find it anywhere. I live in the 18th largest city in the US (1st regionally) while much of my family lives in rural areas & in my experience the isolation isn't much different. I think it takes different forms but it all kind of boils down to the same reasons (far from work, schools, groceries, etc). Density feels like an ingredient for sure, but it feels like intentionality in terms of economic, mobility, cultural, etc equity are still missing. Thanks for the discussion and the comment!
No, it's not inevitable. I live in East Germany and have seen many examples in my city of very high quality of life in urban spaces. It's actually not a difficult recipe to get right - what is most helpful in my opinion are multi-story apartment buildings with medium to large interior yards, proximity to small supermarkets and large public parks (I cannot stress enough the importance of parks!), robust public transport and mixed zoning for living and commercial space. That's why bad city planning especially annoys me - I know it can be done right, and I can clearly see that the more money the inhabitants have in my city, the more likely they are to live in neighborhoods with high quality of life.
I'm saying they should have the opportunity to live wherever they like, that rich neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods shouldn't be a thing & that services meeting everyone's needs, including high quality affordable homes should be universally available.
So inspiring! I await the day when exiting a transit vehicle to find a parking lot is no more.
In west or Southern US there's no hope for this
I live in Seattle, and I think about this stuff all the time; it’s very soothing in a way to hear it coming from someone else paired with pictures that I recognize from my city
I really appreciate the shirt! Yes on I-135!!! (vote in February y'all!)
Eloquently explained and a very inspiring talk that unpacks why this issue is a huge problem in the U.S.
So true. I've lived that type of isolation between the places I've lived and where I needed to go, have seen it, and know lots of other people have, too. It was so alienating and depressing on top of everything else I had been going through. I'm very glad to live in the fairly dense, urban area of Koreatown, Los Angeles, though it could be so much better even here. Great video.
Yes exactly! If you're already feeling isolated or are not in a good place, it can absolutely pile on. Right now, I think a lot of municipalities embrace the idea of "more stuff" but not necessarily "more care" or "more connection" but I hope these are philosophies are something that does catch on like it has in places around the world.
I'm so grateful for your channel! I just watched 3 of your videos and planning to watch more on my train ride :) I watch a lot of urbanism youtube but yours is the first one that really integrates social justice and organizing into urbanism. Walkability is an environmental, economic, and housing justice issue, and I love how you bring solidarity and collective thinking and talking points into urbanism, because that's really what it's about for me.
Hey thanks for your comment! I'm glad the videos resonate! Like you, I watch/subscribe to a lot of urbanism content on RUclips but also felt like the social aspect of what makes great cities was not being elevated as much & that social impact is just too important to gloss over. So here we are! 😅 I've got a couple videos in the works now, so keep a lookout on the channel over the next few weeks. Thanks again. Much appreciated! 🙏
Very interesting. Thank you for sharing. The layout of American cities and distance certainly creates and exasperates the woes of modern American society.
Love it. Live in Seattle and very much feel seen.
In the book Curbing Traffic, they talk about this concept and idea that our societal sphere is more like a n Archipelago (a string of islands). When cities are built for people at a human-scale, it becomes more cohesive. Great video. I'm so glad I found your channel.
Great book. I really love this concept. Once you see the city like this, it's hard to unsee it, right? Thanks for your comment!
Severly underrated channel
Great video!
Great video! I enjoyed the topic and information. Keep it up :)
Thank you! Much appreciated.
Your videos are the best.
Aw thank you! 🙏 I really appreciate that!
This is so beautiful. I am a renter in a city, wanting to go out of the city, find a land where I can grow things, become self-sufficient, and plug myself in a network of people sharing necessities. It's also motivated by the need to avoid our reliance on fossil fuels, which are doomed to come to an end eventually, and in that scenario, the minimum needed is to have food we can grow. But I don't really want that too, because I love the city as well, and I don't want to leave the most vulnerable among us to fend for themselves. I wished social housing was made with this reality in mind, to capture and filter water, to make our own energy, heat, and most importantly, food, with community gardens and local networks of regenerative farms. At low cost, or even "free" if it was truly made in socially, based on available income. The more directly democratic and collaborative every local projects can be, the better, while in my dreams, it would actually be the case at a national and international scale. I do get busy in local events, go meet neighboors, associations, and local elected representatives, though not as much as I should. Ultimately, it's sad it's so expensive to be able to buy land, a house, a resilient setup, it really gatekeep this existential transition.
Really good video and you touch on something I've been thinking about for a while. The way we build our cities is, I think, both a symptom and cause of many of our modern day issues. We as Americans have become so isolated, so paranoid, so individualistic. We've built our cities to reflect this and then the cities reinforce these qualities in turn. I don't think better cities will root out all social ills, but I think it would help a lot!
Absolutely! Isn't it interesting how our built environment reflects our culture and visa versa? Definitely agree that these changes wouldn't solve everything, but hopefully they could move us in the right direction. Thanks for your comment!
Love your videos. Keep it up!
Than you so much for this video! I have officially started doing some serious research in order to potentially relocate to Seattle by the end of the year. I have come across two videos of yours, the other one being about public transportation in Seattle since I do not drive. I like what I have seen so far, albeit not being perfect. But then again, which city is perfect, right?
In the process of moving from a Sunbelt city to Seattle. I get a strong impression that Seattleites are very hard on their city, which I've learned means there are a lot of like-minded residents who have high expectations. Meanwhile in the South, only a very small fringe seems aware of these issues, much less do they care enough to make changes in their lives or advocate for the things you discuss. Therefore, if you measured Seattle vs. Charlotte strictly based on how many complaints there are in each place, you might conclude that Charlotte has it all figured out because there isn't much chatter, and you might also conclude that Seattle is the most backward city in the US because there are legions of folks clamoring for improvements. In reality, my hunch is that Seattle is leading the way (along with a handful of peer cities), and its residents just expect a lot, which continues to drive the city's culture in a positive direction (hopefully).
Really appreciate your perspective & optimism. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I don't disagree, but isn't this just densely populated cities vs sparse/rural? isn't it inevitable, I mean? I do love the video though!
Thanks for your comment. I think you can find it anywhere. I live in the 18th largest city in the US (1st regionally) while much of my family lives in rural areas & in my experience the isolation isn't much different. I think it takes different forms but it all kind of boils down to the same reasons (far from work, schools, groceries, etc). Density feels like an ingredient for sure, but it feels like intentionality in terms of economic, mobility, cultural, etc equity are still missing. Thanks for the discussion and the comment!
No, it's not inevitable. I live in East Germany and have seen many examples in my city of very high quality of life in urban spaces. It's actually not a difficult recipe to get right - what is most helpful in my opinion are multi-story apartment buildings with medium to large interior yards, proximity to small supermarkets and large public parks (I cannot stress enough the importance of parks!), robust public transport and mixed zoning for living and commercial space. That's why bad city planning especially annoys me - I know it can be done right, and I can clearly see that the more money the inhabitants have in my city, the more likely they are to live in neighborhoods with high quality of life.
i thought this was a johnny harris video at first
Wow. Huge compliment. Thank you. 🙏
are you saying someone who works as a pizza delivery driver should be living next door to billionaires?
I'm saying they should have the opportunity to live wherever they like, that rich neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods shouldn't be a thing & that services meeting everyone's needs, including high quality affordable homes should be universally available.