Sign-up to Nebula here: nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-would-you-fall-for-it-st08 If you'd like to see the full "Give Yourself the Green Light" documentary, check out my cleaned-up/upscaled version here: kzread.info/dash/bejne/l4yFw9uHe9XQj7w.html

@max_ishere

Жыл бұрын

Not satisfied with nebula's algorithm (seems they don't even have any) and their library is just really poor. KZread's just much better

@moshdee456

Жыл бұрын

An amazing video as usual! The GM's video ended with a call to action-where can we find canned data that we can add to a letter to a local politician?

@julietardos5044

Жыл бұрын

Have you ever seen the movie L.A. Story? There's a scene of the main character driving next door. It's hilarious. You might want to use that clip in a future video someday.

@SteveJB

Жыл бұрын

@NotJustBikes do you think you'll make the Strong Towns series a playlist on Nebula?

@simian3455

Жыл бұрын

So what I'm getting is that cities should just take my SimCity META and tax the blood from stone on any “stroad”. Tax them, Henry, tax the sin right out of them!

It's one thing to notice that something is wrong with the trillions of dollars spent on highway maintenance and parking within North American cities- but to see it as it happened, watch the propaganda that our predecessors fell for, and watch it happen in "real-time" is painful. Bravo, this video was a great watch. It's way past time to stop expanding highways.

@NotJustBikes

Жыл бұрын

When I first watched this video, I kept thinking about Strong Towns. Here was a video, paid for by GM, that was talking about exactly the same things Strong Towns talks about. Except GM was talking about how great it would be, while Strong Towns talks about how terribly it turned out.

@casimirgrochowski9583

Жыл бұрын

This was very painful to watch. I believe that it was intentional to destroy local communities, who would the individual turn to? elected officials? unaware that those officials were controlled by men/women who mean to destroy all of us...same happening today in all areas of our lives...too many men & women certain that they are gods and know the correct way forward.

@essex3777

Жыл бұрын

Stop expanding and start upkeeping would be a great idea.

@jim2lane

Жыл бұрын

@@essex3777 well, that helps with the quality of the ride, but does nothing to deal with congestion

@josephmoore4764

Жыл бұрын

@@casimirgrochowski9583 It was intentional to sell cars. I really do believe the car and oil companies though that what was good for them was also good for the nation. Everyone being able to go anywhere on their own schedule sounds like a nice goal. A person with a car has access to more jobs and has a wider array of houses they can commute to work from. Cities were largely seen as concentrations of pollution, crime and poverty, and of course there was a racial element to this stereotype of cities. Maybe it's easy to see in hindsight how the economics and geometry don't work out. But its a very human impulse to fixate on one annoyance, and think that once its solved life will be more fulfilling. It's a lot like obsessing over some fancy article of clothing, or a video game, or an instrument. But there's always a next thing once you get what you want.

the “city” with 3 highrises 2 buildings and 100000 parking spaces always gets me

Living in Poland, where it's unthinable, I showed this photo with lots of parking lots to my grandmother. Initially she thought it's a picture of flooding. I think that mistaking this design for an actual disaster speaks for itself.

As a Houstonian, 1960 is the bane of my existence. That road is 50 miles long and the entire length of it looks like it does in this video, it brings me joy to see it be internationally hated and not just locally hated

@conordavis213

Жыл бұрын

As local 1960 user I am happy to the international hate grow.

It's fascinating that the movie sounds so much like an urbanist explanation of the problems of a car heavy approach.

@NotJustBikes

Жыл бұрын

"All these cars are making life unbearable! Let's build more highways and roads to fix the problem!"

@sirBrouwer

Жыл бұрын

@@NotJustBikes we all know the real solution is to build so many roads that there will be only roads left with no destination besides more roads. with 500 car lanes in each direction.

@deptusmechanikus7362

Жыл бұрын

​@@sirBrouwer if everywhere is road, then nowhere is road!!

@sirBrouwer

Жыл бұрын

@@deptusmechanikus7362 more like if everything is a road. you can never park. you just drive for eternity.

@SaveMoneySavethePlanet

Жыл бұрын

@@sirBrouwerhold up, I swear I’ve already seen that episode of Dr Who…

I love how they realised the problem and did their best to make it so much worse

Honestly, if I were living in the 50s I would have fallen for this 100 percent. Hindsight is powerful, too bad we are often to aroused by what could be to use it.

@therealdutchidiot

Жыл бұрын

I mean yes, but they literally debunked themselves in their own video. How would anyone not notice that?

it's so amazing how they knew about and forecasted every single problem we still have today but instead of realizing their mistake they doubled down on cars. from a modern lens, the film actually makes a good case for reducing car dependency!

@NoName-kb3xe

Жыл бұрын

General motors couldn't have cared less about the obvious problems car dependent infrastructure would cause. All they cared about was making money by selling more cars.

@jamberry8026

Жыл бұрын

Capitalism is adverse ti to humanity and does not care that it doesn't make sense. It was created to male cents no matter what it destroys. Capitalism has already even destroyed itself. What you think all of those bailcoits for rich banks and corps were? The poor carry the rich elite on their backs with their tax dollars. It's actually socialism for the rich elite only! Rich people don't worry when they gamble and lose, because the taxpayer is its cow.

@Ferrichrome

Жыл бұрын

@@joseangel8368 Lol, go drive if you want? I just don’t think everyone should be in 3000 pound metal boxes is all. Sue me for wanting some bike lanes I guess.

In the 1960s, this American way of thinking was seen as the future. The Netherlands was eager to join the modern world. and had imported American traffic engineers to redesign their transportation systems. Their highway plan would have destroyed Amsterdam. kzread.info/dash/bejne/qH1p0sR9dqfAqaw.html These plans were voted down by the narrowest of margins, and only happened due to public backlash and the fact that the government couldn't really afford it at the time (the Dutch weren't buying a bunch of highways on debt in the 60s).

@beverdamderek4688

Жыл бұрын

It was too late for Rotterdam though, a city that only recently started to recover from car infestation. The city “designed” for cars, rebuilt by a new city plan after ww2 bombs destroyed the old town. Instead of rebuilding the lovely old city centre they decided to go with an American aproach, something that proved to be disastrous

@Jan_Iedema

Жыл бұрын

And boy I’m a glad that’s what happened

@PascalGienger

Жыл бұрын

Sadly Dwight D Eisenhower saw the Autobahn in Germany and imported that concept to the US as Interstate network. But he failed to see that cities and towns were not in Urban Sprawl but quite compact due to tight regulations. So people do not use the Autobahn to visit their friends 5 miles away - in the US due to sprawl this would be 30 miles with endless boring single family home neighborhoods with NOTHING to do - and an Interstate which has to be used as all those residential areas are a cul du sac "to prevent through traffic".

@KRYMauL

Жыл бұрын

It seems like the Netherlands lucked out by not having a guy like John Forester to tell people to "take their lane." Please do a video on him and contrast it to the Dutch 1970s advocacy groups.

@darlingditzypinkfloweremoji

Жыл бұрын

Amsterdam totally dodged a bullet!

This film is presented in a 4:3 format to preserve the integrity of Not Just Bikes’ creative vision.

@CristianMartinez-hg6xu

Жыл бұрын

Truly a Snydercut approach to walkable cities.

@marchomotion

Жыл бұрын

I absolutely love it! I have a thousand reasons, and now I'm including 'to avoid title bars when showcasing 1950s propaganda films' to the list.

@homemadefilms5718

Жыл бұрын

Hi KB!

@robinharwood5044

Жыл бұрын

And I’m glad. I hate seeing 4:3 format stretched sideways to fit the wider screen. It looks horrible, and I don’t understand why people do it.

@hoikeoiaio

Жыл бұрын

Love the 4:3 aspect ratio. It was nice to watch on my large squarish (5:4) monitor I usually use for reading documents.

One of my favourite scenes from The Simpsons is when Homer gets accepted into the Stonecutters but still has his parking spot miles from the entrance which is then shown to be on the other side of his back garden! Sat in traffic just to wind up the other side of the fence!

I used to work in a design agency working mainly on mobility topic. The agency literally crumbled from the fight between the employees whom wanted to work on alternative mobility solutions and the ones (mainly management) wanting to work for automotive brands because it was a sign of success (yes, I work in Germany). To this day, I cringe at the memories of some people speaking from their heart on how self driving electric cars are going to save the world...

@Joy-zz8wz

Жыл бұрын

Oof. Yeah. Personally I would like an electric car but I honestly just want a working street car system powered by the city's grid, with bus lines in and out of the suburbs so that people don't have to drive just to park in the city and walk

@arthurpendragon8192

Жыл бұрын

@@Joy-zz8wz yes i would much prefer that to vehicles...yes here in america its a sign of 'independence' to own and drive your own vehicle...but it feels like more of a hassel rather than just bringing yourself around town via public transporation....wish we had invested in public transportation instead... when the universe presented a fork in the Road...America chose the wrong answer...and consequently ended up influencing other countries as a result who may not have been swayed as easily by their own fork in the road.

@Show_My_Name_Not_My_Handle

Жыл бұрын

@@arthurpendragon8192 I have a feeling that if we had some nice public transit, of, really, ANY kind at all, cars wouldn't be seen as a sign of independence, because they wouldn't literally be the one and only path to independence for most people in most places in the USA. That's speculation though, and even if it did, they'd still be status symbols, which America (et al.) still values above, most things.

I love how first they were arguing that we need more parking in cities for small businesses, and then they argued that we need large spacious highways bypassing blocks where shops are. They contradict themselves even in the video

@elise3455

Жыл бұрын

They figured that tearing down black neighborhoods and businesses would give enough room for all those city highways and parking lots.

@davidegaruti2582

Жыл бұрын

@@elise3455 it's THANOS LOGIC ! "by destroying half the block for parking space , we save the other half..."

@fruity4820

Жыл бұрын

@@davidegaruti2582 funny how the half that suffered always happened to be black people, just another icky race matter from the 50's that still has it's effect on us today

@obsolete959

Жыл бұрын

@@davidegaruti2582 Yeah, except they ended up having to destroy half of the remaining half a block for more parking space and half of that for more and so on.

@keit273

Жыл бұрын

the people can live on the streets!

As a European, it's not just the stroads, but also the almost empty enormous car parks 5:45 , just unbelievable.

@TheModdedwarfare3

Жыл бұрын

So much wasted space that could give actual value if they were developed into small businesses

@ibfreely8952

Жыл бұрын

Europe is only marginally better, car dependency is real in many, many, many places.

@Bionickpunk

Жыл бұрын

I hate it when they introduce US styled road and parking infrastructures in European cities. Those places are always dead and unwalkable concrete deserts.

@Bionickpunk

Жыл бұрын

@@TheAmericanCatholic Similar thing happened to many European cities, they removed trams and smaller settlement-to-settlement train lines for buses and now that decision has come and haunt them with increased traffic on roads. If we kept that rail and tram infrastructure, car roads would be less conjested because your transportation would be separate on completely different networks. On top of that, you would have less car pollution in your cities, since most rail networks now operate on electricity. Some European cities are trying to reintroduce trams that they removed in the 50s and 60s, but this will be a daunting task since the automotive industry holds a bigger public sway with leaders. Its far easier to remove than to rebuilt infrastructures that existed, especially train and any rail infrastructures.

@bubba842

Жыл бұрын

All that empty space that brings in nearly zero tax revenue, but has all the infrastructure that needs to be paid for, storm drains, sewage pipes, water pipes and the roads themselves. It's not surprise that many of these cities are bankrupt.

I remember Bugs Bunny cartoons where highways get built at rapid pace, and disturbing his home, and stuff like that. And speeding cars bumper to bumper. The impression I always got from those cartoons was that highways are loud, ugly, chaotic eyesores that displaced people's homes and nature.

Government in the 50s: car dependency! Government now: ✨ electric car dependency ✨ Gotta love how they don't solve the problem of American towns and cities, but replace it with another one

Knowing what we all (should) know now, I about fell out of my chair when Robert Moses won that contest! Wouldn’t it be fun to remake and update this video but the solution is more walkability, transit with less parking and roads.

@NotJustBikes

Жыл бұрын

It's super-dodgy that Robert Moses won that "award". There's no way that GM didn't already know who Robert Moses was at the time. Maybe that was just the best way to bribe city officials at the time: have them "win" an "award". 😂

@ChaoticNeutralMatt

Жыл бұрын

@@NotJustBikes honestly that would make sense

@user-go8oj4dl4w

Жыл бұрын

Perhaps I didn't understand it but it seemed like a coal mine inviting people to enter a competition to design the best type of power plant - oh look the winner is a coal power plant!

@victor-ling

Жыл бұрын

@@user-go8oj4dl4w No, it's worse than that. The contest was for "How to Plan and Pay for the Safe and Adequate Highways We Need". Highways are required to even be considered ... let alone win. In your example you're inviting the people to design the best power plant ... in real life they just made a contest for designing the best coal power plant. I don't think anyone would be shocked the winner of that contest would be pro coal power.

@McPhisto

Жыл бұрын

The episode of the podcast Behind the Bastards on Robert Moses is very informative.

It's important to note that the 1950s propaganda was at least "and in exchange you can buy a house and retire," which is largely true for the boomers of today. This is why they always respond "X Problem doesn't matter, I'll be dead by then." They are the last generation for whom the social contract was intact.

@doomsdayrabbit4398

Жыл бұрын

They stole our future from us.

@SaberVS7

Жыл бұрын

*Was* the "social contract" intact? Because my knowledge of the era says that any dissent was a fast-track to get labelled a (((COMMUNIST SPY))) and have your life ruined by a complex web of private institutions, the Thug-Caste, and FBI state-violence. Seems more like Proto-Authoritarianism and Gaslighting to me.

@bigbud8182

Жыл бұрын

Yes good point. You can heap that bullshit onto the shoulders of the young with everything else as well

@kornkernel2232

Жыл бұрын

And sadly it teaches the following generation of similar suit, even to the point it is kinda toxic that younger generations may tend to be pressured mentally to do the same or else they "fail" on achieving something in life. Low density houses are becoming more expensive in other cities in the world, and property prices have even gone up. Some are good that they are now going back to high density development, but kinda too late since getting condos or apartments around the city have become too expensive to many. So even more push to car centric developments due to this, cycle repeats.

@DF-et4gs

Жыл бұрын

People who aren't open to discussion or change respond that way. Age has nothing to do with building mental walls.

I just love how this movie literally talked about how cars will make life worse for people while encouraging people to drive cars. It’s almost as if they completely saw it coming

@itsrudetostare673

Жыл бұрын

Oh they saw it coming, but they were making too much money to care lol

@Deliverygirl

Жыл бұрын

@Phillip Banes Yes, congratulations, the only method of transport available to you has made your life better because there exist no other options. This isn't the epic own you think it is.

@danielkelly2210

Жыл бұрын

@@phillipbanes5484 Nope, pro-car nonsense is hysteria. There's no war on cars. Also, climate change is real. Fact.

@estebanh6114

Жыл бұрын

​@Phillip Banes The reason why you, and most people, prefer cars over public transit is because most cities are designed to incentivize car usage (and discourage other alternatives by making them pretty much useless), and thats exactly the problem. People feel happy using a car for everything and see no problem with that because thats the only option they are given as a method of transportation (and because they have been brain washed for generations into thinking thats the "American" way of living). With the correct public transit infraestructure and city design, people would feel less inclined to use a car simply because it would be easier to ride the bus or a bike.

@0xsergy

Жыл бұрын

@Phillip Banes the 70% of dead wildlife since the 70s disagree. And the climate problems, etc. Your convenience means no survival for the planet in 50 years. Good trade off, ye?

When watching your videos, I keep thinking about my mother. My mother, who ran marathons in her fifties, still goes hiking every week and now, at 65, is in better physical health than I've ever been. She is hardly disabled, but she's got one bad eye and she can't drive, ever. It's just not safe. Thankfully, we live in the Netherlands and living a car-free life was no problem at all for us growing up. I can't imagine what life in North America would have been like for us. With no one to drive us anywhere, would we have been stuck at home? Would she have been treated as disabled, or as a second-class citizen? In a car-centric world, it's hard to imagine her being able to enjoy all the freedom she has now.

slightly dissapointed that you also didnt mention that the 4 story miracle highway they touted at 15:55 is one of the most degraded highways in new york and is currently at high risk of catastrophic failure. good job traffic engineers!

@camapel

Жыл бұрын

Yes, it's so upsetting that there is barely any mention of just tearing the BQE down in it's entirety. The BQE is a exact repeat of the Federal Highway act of the 1950's. In the 50's, roads were crumbling, cities didn't have the money to pay for it, then comes in the federal highway act and boom now they can take on debt because of this bill. City officials now are looking towards the 1.3 trillion dollar infrastructure bill to take on DEBT and PAY FOR SOMETHING THE CITY DOES NOT HAVE MONEY FOR. It's so upsetting.

@m.z.593

Жыл бұрын

Though I have to say if you have to build a highway puuting a pedestrian walking area above seems like a nice idea

@ComradeCovert

Жыл бұрын

@@m.z.593 it can certainly be an improvement in certain areas, the netherlands has "hid" some of their highways successfully with large parks over the top. my only issue with this one and the other similar projects in america is that the noise of the hundreds of cars is not isolated enough for the space to be enjoyable, presumably to save money for more roads

@m.z.593

Жыл бұрын

@@ComradeCovert fair point. We've got a grass covered highway nearby which is great, you don't hear anything and it's a lovely space

@juniorjames7076

Жыл бұрын

This was sad for me to watch. I grew up in Brooklyn in the late 70s and early 80s and it bascially it was a grey hellscape of crumbling highways, thru-ways and threstles (?!?) But the heartbreak of realizing a 17th century village was destroyed to make a weird roundabout overpass that is now used by drugdealers and pimps.

i just wanted to say that your videos are making a huge difference. the mayor of my city, as well as the urban planners, have completely shifted their focus from car infrastructure to walkable infrastructure. thank you for educating so many people about this, its healing our nation.

@lyndabethcave3835

Жыл бұрын

OMG this is the best thing I've read all day!

@GoldenLion2004

Жыл бұрын

I am seeing the points raised by NJB and Adam Something everywhere, the mentality is definitely shifting.

@claudioclaudio7953

Жыл бұрын

May I ask what the name of city is (if you don't mind)?

@misty_rei

Жыл бұрын

what's your full legal name and home address?

@abyvs

Жыл бұрын

@@misty_rei my name is gary newman, i live at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW

The other thing I find ironic about the term “farm-to-market road” is that a decent amount of farmland was converted into suburban development as a result of those roads. In the Phoenix valley, there are still some random patches of farmland next to suburban development, though I don’t know what is grown there. I don’t know what it was like in other cities, but I imagine many cities in the Midwest had something similar happen.

@Linux_MissingNo

Жыл бұрын

Average Texan town have a ranch with cattle and horses right next to schools and suburbia. It get depressing as the years go on as horses and cattle get replaced with soulless houses

I live in a small town in the US that is at least somewhat walkable and has lots of natural beauty. Every time my wife and I have to make a trip to the Chicago suburbs I inevitably comment to her that I just feel depressed driving through them. This channel has helped me understand why I seem to naturally feel that way.

@artyomarty391

Жыл бұрын

Imagine how much more depressing Chicago would be to walk through

@vivacevideo8099

Жыл бұрын

@@artyomarty391 And dangerous.

@SafeRemain

Жыл бұрын

@@artyomarty391 Wouldn't be depressing, you'd be bleeding out.

@legoneb

Жыл бұрын

​@SafeRemain You know people just like. Live there right?

@SafeRemain

Жыл бұрын

@@legoneb everyone who lives in chicago is in a constant state of bleeding

9:31 This intersection of streets is the weirdest cityscape: there's car lanes, sidewalks, trees for shade, lighting fixtures, traffic lights, even a cycle path. Only one thing that is missing.... the actual buildings that make up a city!

@MrDisgruntledGamer1

Жыл бұрын

basically a desert. Feels like one in the middle of summer for sure.

@coocoo3336

Жыл бұрын

Houston moment

@shieldgenerator7

Жыл бұрын

its painful to look at

@colechapman6976

Жыл бұрын

Exactly. When I was in England studying abroad, the thing that struck me was how little wasted space there was. In America we have Walmart-sized parking lots that are 5 percent full on any given day, barring black Friday when it swells with hundreds of thousands of people. I think it makes cities so barren and lifeless. No parks, no greenery, just tons of concrete parking that is ten times what the city actually needs. It's a horribly inefficient use of space and it can be a drain on the city itself. That area could've been new recreation areas, new commercial districts, or even residential zones. Instead, it sits empty, rotting away making cities less dense and more widespread, guaranteeing a car-dependent lifestyle since walking so much less enjoyable going around these huge concrete patches instead of looking at nice trees growing

@MrDisgruntledGamer1

Жыл бұрын

@@colechapman6976 i work at i giant home goods store in Houston Tx and let me tell you, we got a fucking massive parking lot for my and 10 other coworkers, and like 10 customers at a time. A solid 8% of the parking lot is being used at all times. I could walk over and grab some lunch at chik-fil-a, but the fucking parking lot takes me 5 out of my 15 minute break to travers it. I WANT OUT

What’s so scary is I knew a time less than three years ago where, had I not seen your videos, I WOULD HAVE FALLEN FOR ALL OF THIS OUTDATED CAR-BIASED RHETORIC!!!! Thx NJB for sharing the orange pill 🟠💊 with us all 🧡 Edit: Thanks for all the likes. I’ve never got more than 100 likes on a comment before lol. I’m glad to see there’s a lot of us who relate :) Also, Jason, you’re absolutely awesome, dude, thank you!!!

@NotJustBikes

Жыл бұрын

Glad to see you've been orange pilled like the rest of us! :)

@ChaoticNeutralMatt

Жыл бұрын

@@NotJustBikes I think part it is mainly the articulation of the specific ideas and why. Very thankful for the movement.

@gljames24

Жыл бұрын

@@NotJustBikes You have be integral for putting words into words and crediting the actual causes of the problems in city design I have noticed myself and problems I had no idea about. I want to thank you for helping build this movement with amazing videos and helping to change the discourse on infrastructure!

@TheModdedwarfare3

Жыл бұрын

@@NotJustBikes your stroads video is goated with the sauce and gave me a 180 view of what it means to be free

@herlsone

Жыл бұрын

Mee too

It did solve the problem GM and other automobile manufacturers were having: not selling enough cars.

The remarkable thing to me, while watching this, is how many times I've wondered if the footage of modern traffic infrastructure was a picture of my town. These places are indistinguishable.

Robert Moses popping up in the middle as this genius highway designer is almost too on the nose. It's like something out of a second-rate late night comedy sketch.

@blakksheep736

Жыл бұрын

Who's Robert Moses?

@kirkginoabolafia3650

Жыл бұрын

@@blakksheep736 Robert Moses was an urban planner in NYC back in the early 20th century who was extremely influential in developing the highway system in NYC and LI, and his philosophy heavily influenced urban planners across the US in adopting car-dependency. He was a brilliant, but ruthless, man who understood politics well. While no single person is to blame for America's shitty infrastructure, if I WAS to blame a single person, it'd be Moses.

@blakksheep736

Жыл бұрын

@@kirkginoabolafia3650 dude be parting New York like the Red Sea. 😆 (Sorry.)

@unknownperson3691

Жыл бұрын

@@blakksheep736 the hate is largely to do with the fact that the bridges he built were low as to prevent buses from going to the beach.

@ericreese7792

Жыл бұрын

The really wild thing about Robert Moses is, he didn't drive. He was chauffeured, with police escort, essentially his entire adult life. He never had to personally deal with traffic because it was always cleared out of his way.

I recently learned that the Twin Cities streetcar network used to have 200 million riders per year. I mourn at what was lost. The Interstate system literally destoryed the very soul of Minneapolis and St Paul.

@MrDisgruntledGamer1

Жыл бұрын

i just found a map of all the lines and my god it had amazing coverage of two cities! Such beautiful tram cars too, that old 50s style, the PPC trams looked so neat. It feels like we have downgraded in technology, unbelievable...

@scottjs5207

Жыл бұрын

Someone showed the map of the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks map way back in the day and let's just say... it was eye opening and raised hellfire in the soul. Could've grabbed my bike and explore the state on a whim if all those stations and tracks remained.

@bigbud8182

Жыл бұрын

Hellfire? Like the hellfire club from stranger things?

@blakksheep736

Жыл бұрын

That's more riders per year tha some airports! America whyyyyyy

@lklpalka

Жыл бұрын

Greater Philadelphia, same thing. In the 50s Big Auto bought up then ran down all the regional light rail companies. Because they intentionally weren't maintained properly they began to break down and ridership left. It's the job of governments to do what the people/corporations won't. Government failed us.

I appreciate how the entire video has a consistent aspect ratio of 4:3 to match the historic footage.

This happened to me in a city simulator. I based all my transport on cars and build a huge road system. ended up bankrupting my city 😔

Robert Moses getting called to the podium felt like the moment when the main villain is introduced to a series

@user-dq4vh2zu9t

Жыл бұрын

The Homelander of the urban planning community.

The Robert Moses appearance was a real twist! Best horror movie I've seen all year.

@joshpayne4015

Жыл бұрын

I'm totally sure that "contest" GM held was fair, it just happened that a person as villainous and notorious as Robert Moses happened to win, lol. You know it was a foregone conclusion!

That shot at 22:59 is just insane. I love this channel. I'm from Australia (but its most walkable and least car dependent city - Australia as a whole can share a lot of the same issues as the US) and have done about 5 road trips through the US, and this channel articulates and explains exactly what I just found to be "off" in most American cities but couldn't put my finger on; why did they feel so dead and lifeless? Why was there no atmosphere on the streets? What was missing compared to Melbourne that made them feel so different? Why did (with a few exceptions) everything just look exactly the same? This channel has really put all the pieces together.

@TukozAki

Жыл бұрын

ty man as I originally missed that shot you mention. How seriously many people took this kind of propaganda is seriously devastating.

When I visited Tokyo in 2019, I traveled in a total of 1 car the entire trip. I walked or rode a train literally everywhere and it was great. Without even understanding the language i was able to get wherever i needed much quicker, cheaper, and easier than I ever would have through cars. Our car centric cities are an absolute disaster

@shieldgenerator7

Жыл бұрын

same! i went to germany and got around by bike, bus, and train. it was amazing and i wish it were viable here in the US

@hoikeoiaio

Жыл бұрын

That may be the case for Tokyo, but as someone who lives in Japan, just not in Tokyo, I see sprawl and car-centric development occurring all over, just with more toll roads instead of freeways. Sad to see Japan "catching up" to America.

@PowerSynopsis

Жыл бұрын

@@hoikeoiaio I really hope they don't follow our lead with car-brain.

@hanfenis5941

Жыл бұрын

@@shieldgenerator7 what germany did you visit lol? our public transportation is attrocious. as soon as people get their drivers license here they only use cars because public transport is so unreliable

@GGysar

Жыл бұрын

@@hanfenis5941 Das sagen aber auch nur die Leute, die zu doof zum Planen sind oder keine 200m mehr laufen können oder wohl eher wollen. Also ich komme ohne Auto sehr gut klar.

This whole General Motors thing reminded me of something I realized recently. My city has a large post-secondary institution sponsored by a lot of oil and gas companies. The largest structures on the campus are two massive parking towers. I don't think it's a coincidence.

@TristanBailey

Жыл бұрын

This mineral rich oily water is good for all you kids get your cars to grow up healthy and keep them filled up. 🤷🏼‍♂️

@Amelia-vk4jt

Жыл бұрын

The main building of the university I went to was sponsored by an oil tycoon but the only thing oil about it is this giant model oil rig and an oil rig simulator for the engineering students

@DF-et4gs

Жыл бұрын

Big huge PR structures and tax write-offs

@lucadipaolo1997

Жыл бұрын

I studied in a technical college that was partially funded by General Motors, Volkswagen and I believe Mercedes Benz as well; mostly because they offered degrees in Automotive Mechanical Engineering and Automotive Electrical Engineering (I was doing the first one). Funnily enough, they didn't have enough parking because they knew damn well most people studying there had no way of affording a car lmao. Two different worlds though, I suspect it would have massive parking garages if it was in any first world country.

@delftfietser

Жыл бұрын

If Google or Apple builds a similar building for the benefit of society, why should we believe them. Big Tech is in the same place of influence GM was 70 years ago.

Very insightful video. “They’re saying the same things about self-driving cars today” was eye-opening…you’re right!

@DRL1320

Жыл бұрын

Yes. I wish Jason had expanded on that.

@shieldgenerator7

Жыл бұрын

i feel like this is Adam Something's entire channel, just talking about the "future of transportation" is often poorly thought through ideas

@cpufreak101

Жыл бұрын

I went to test drive a brand new car (no alternative to cars, family implored me to get brand new) and I showed up in a 1980's car with no computers and a stick shift. Salesman had absolutely no idea how to try to sell me on the car when I instantly shot him down on any interest of it's "self driving" features.

I love the fact that the whole video is in the same aspect ratio throughout, I rarely see this happen on other channels. A really neat editing touch

At 15:28, the GM ad is touting the glories of the Gowanus Expressway, and I just love the line "without disturbing life below." As a Brooklyn native? The Gowanus Expressway runs above 3rd Avenue, the center of which is dark and dismal at all times because there's literally no sunlight. On both sides of 3rd Avenue, there's new and thriving neighborhoods, but 3rd Avenue itself? It's littered with dingy storefronts and barbed wire lots. This method is like putting a boulder on top of a meadow and saying "the grass underneath will not be disturbed!"

This British viewer (Roger Sexton age 75) thought the most ridiculous part of this film commenced at 23m 05s. There the speaker said that 'freedom must be fought for on the side streets'. This sounds like a conscious imitation of Winston Churchill's 1940 speech 'We will fight them on the beaches, we will fight them in the streets.' But Churchill's (and Britain's) enemy was a very different threat from that supposedly faced by the USA 14 years later.

@NotJustBikes

Жыл бұрын

I am absolutely certain that this is a reference to Churchhill, because the audience would be familiar with that speach, given 14 years earlier. It's certainly in bad taste, but what would you expect from General Motors?

@Thecrazyvaclav

Жыл бұрын

That shot at 9:30 always looks like the aftermath of a bombing raid, but the city made it like that, just blows my mind, it’s not inviting or encouraging me to shop there

@AudieHolland

Жыл бұрын

@@Thecrazyvaclav When Frank Sinatra was touring in his old age, he was surprised and disappointed that his show hadn't sold out in Germany. This was the mid 1980s I think. He jokingly 'threatened' to turn Germany into a parking lot.

@simongunkel7457

Жыл бұрын

TBH most of that film reminded me of another speech. "The car suits the natural human urge to have liberty", "In the future [..] the way the degree to which a people can be called civilized will be measured by the lenght of its car-centric roads". Can you guess the speaker and name the 4 policy proposals the speech introduced?

@Fan652w

Жыл бұрын

@@simongunkel7457 I have no idea who you are quoting. I will have a wild guess at Eisenhower, as he was president at the time of the ridiculous General Motors film. (i now know the right answer, and I owe Eisenhower an apology.)

I would like to remind everyone they were able to do this by the public's support. Our predecessors allowed it to be built, and now it is our responsibility to undo that mistake, for our sake and for everyone else in the future. So please, share this video with your friends and family. To tell them that there is a better way! If the dutch was able to undo it in a few decades, we would be able to as well!

@sirena7116

Жыл бұрын

The problem is, is that fear tactics like this are still being used today and even more sadly, believed.

@wheressteve

Жыл бұрын

The unions will never allow that to happen.

@DengueBurger

Жыл бұрын

@@thomasalbrecht35 i think the best approach is detroit’s: wait for these to start crumbling as they inevitably do, and then tear them down, to be replaced with public transit, bike and walk oriented infrastructure, and buildings that generate the revenue to fund all of that basic infrastructure.

@thewhitefalcon8539

Жыл бұрын

@@thomasalbrecht35 the alternative is forcing the (majority fascist) public to do things they don't want to - the government comes in and takes away the things they think they like

@MashZ

Жыл бұрын

The difference is, the Dutch spotted the issue way early. Meanwhile, everything in USA is built around cars. Even houses and businesses are strictly separated by zones and occupy huge lots compared to their European counterparts. Things are so spread out that even if the road layouts are changed, zoning is reformed and public transport is introduced, the buses would need to stop every 10 houses for the "last mile trip" to be walkable

It's so dissapointing that many cities either abandonned or ripped out their existing public transit in order to cater to car dependency. Loads of places had trams but replaced them for buses, which were then abandonned in favour of cars.

Ignore the haters who say they don't like his tone when he explains. The tone is part of the presentation which keeps the video interesting for all 27 minutes. If it wasn't for this channel, I wouldn't have come across other urbanist channels and book recommendations. Great work @Not Just Bikes

@NotJustBikes

Жыл бұрын

Amen, man. Before I started there was lots of urban planning content online. ... but nobody read it or watched it, because it was boring as hell. Tiptoeing around controversial topics and tone policing to avoid upsetting the fragile ego of ignorant suburbanites is a waste of time. I'm too old for that shit. Plus the Dutch taught me to be direct.

@DutchSkeptic

Жыл бұрын

@@NotJustBikes we're grateful for your frankness. You not only help "us" (or at least me) appreciate how much of urban planning our country got right after much research and testing, that we now take for granted (e.g. I grew up assuming bike infrastructure was normal). But you also teach us we shouldn't be complacent, and there are still lots of stupid things we need to fix in the Netherlands.

@user-dq4vh2zu9t

Жыл бұрын

@@NotJustBikes The problem is car dependency is a more complex issue and is harder to explain to someone in a simple and understandable way than something like climate change.

@mareksicinski3726

Жыл бұрын

It’s based kinda know whether u get it or not

@wildfire9280

Жыл бұрын

@@NotJustBikes As an ignorant suburbanite, I *approve* this message.

I live in Sydney in a car dependent suburb where you can walk 15 mins in either direction and still be surrounded by single family homes. The consensus is that this is a “nice suburb”. Contrast that with my partner lives in a different part of town which is significantly better on walkability (everything accessible within a 10 minute walk including shops, restaurants and a main train station), but the consensus is that the area she lives in is “rough”. I much prefer spending time in the suburb that my partner lives in. There’s more to do, more local events on. But because it’s an area that is well serviced by public transport people think that it’s undesirable and crime ridden (when you tell them to provide evidence of this crime wave they tell you to Google it lmao)

@frostedbutts4340

Жыл бұрын

>(when you tell them to provide evidence of this crime wave they tell you to Google it lmao) Like the crime wave of Somalian youths that just vanished when newspapers got bored haha. Having lived around the world the 'roughest' parts of Melbourne are still ridiculously safe and I'm sure Sydney is the same.

@MrRedstoner

Жыл бұрын

Clearly nobody wants to commit crime in the big suburb, because it's too much of a hassle to even get there. And there's just not enough stuff around to crime efficiently. We might have just solved the crime problem, simply make the experience so miserable nobody bothers lol.

Also, the movie Cars, which obviously is pro-car, also hit these issues. Highways were bad for small local businesses. It completely deserted the village. They thought the highway would bring business, but no

@skrata173

Жыл бұрын

would the cars in cars need parking lots? / parking?

@tijmen5355

Жыл бұрын

@@skrata173 yes, but those would be like beds or chairs

@klauskuster8599

Жыл бұрын

Let's pretend it is pro-racing cars, which even the Dutch love it!

@alext3811

Жыл бұрын

@@elfrjz It'd be a safe guess that'd be accepted.

@lol-ih1tl

Жыл бұрын

the movie Cars is actually a parody of the American car culture where cars replace humans.

"You can't build enough parking to replace the number of customers you would get from foot traffic in a walkable neighbourhood" - exactly. But somehow this doesn't register with some people.

The best part was when the GM award was to be given. I thought "Who will it be? Surely not some small worker nobody knows about". And when the answer came I was "Holy Sh** no!" and I could hear Liams actionable threats across the whole Atlantic.

@mareksicinski3726

Жыл бұрын

Huh

@PoolNoodleGundam

Жыл бұрын

A second freeway has hit the towers

I always assumed that cars only carrying less than two people on average was a relatively new issue…but I noticed several of the 1950s clips you played showed the same exact thing! Maybe it’s time to finally actually admit that we have a problem and should change!

@ChaoticNeutralMatt

Жыл бұрын

Freedom of movement, is the claim. But considering the cost, I wouldn't say it's free.

@oLii96x

Жыл бұрын

@@ChaoticNeutralMatt i feel more free sitting in a tram, listening to some music or reading a book, not having to worry about traffic

@TheModdedwarfare3

Жыл бұрын

@@oLii96x imagine your kid walking to their friends home or to school and not having a panic attack when they have to cross 5 intersections

@chrispopovich700

Жыл бұрын

That's... the entire point of a car

@rakha8812

Жыл бұрын

@@chrispopovich700 The point of a car is to inefficiently carry 1-2 people in a giant 2 tons metal box? If so, I agree with you!

Im so glad I came across urbanist channels. It really openned my eyes to the problems of automotive infrastructure

@julesdingle

Жыл бұрын

a reason I like YT and enthusiast programming is that supposedly niche interests are actually really interesting and neglected by MSM

@acrossthevioletsky

Жыл бұрын

I know, I would have a wildly different outlook on cities were it not for NJB. I'm so glad I live in the Netherlands.

@penskepc2374

Жыл бұрын

Its just a big a echo chamber though. They still push laughable theories like Induced Demand and no one bats an eye.

@rexx9496

Жыл бұрын

All this time I sensed something was wrong but couldn't quite explain it. Watching these videos has been like a religious awakening or something.

70 years ago, storeholders were falling for the "parking" trap. I grew up in a town of 4000, most of the population would live within two miles of that shop, which makes going by foot the fastest means to get there and back.

being disabled and unable to drive a car makes living in the us hell, you can't get anywhere without a car, and I certainly can't ride my wheelchair cause everything is too far.

Jason, where do you find these old highway propaganda videos? I feel like this is the junk my dad was raised on because he basically quotes these verbatim when I mention infrastructure solutions

@NotJustBikes

Жыл бұрын

I found it originally on archive.org when looking for historical footage.

@lizcademy4809

Жыл бұрын

We *were* raised on this propaganda ... they showed these films in school in the 1960s. I don't know if they're online, but look for the Disney produced driving films featuring Goofy behind the wheel. Those were part of my Driver's Ed curriculum in 1973.

@alext3811

Жыл бұрын

@@lizcademy4809 Walt Disney was an unabashed propagandist. His opinions on an animators' strike, as he himself testified to Congress "he believed communists had played a part in the strike, a conservative writer even going so for as to label Herb Sorrell, one of the strike leaders, as a 'soviet spy'". GM was a big sponsor of Disney's parks, I'm pretty sure they've always had at least one big exhibit.

@alext3811

Жыл бұрын

@@lizcademy4809 Luckily they don't use this propaganda in drivers ed today (uni student so learned to drive several years ago).

@Leviajohnson

Жыл бұрын

@@NotJustBikes lol and of course it's in the description. My bad, thanks for repeating something for me

I used to want to live in suburbia and think that they were better than places like Amsterdam. But now because of urbanist channels and especially your channel. Thank you for opening my eyes.

@warreviaene1747

Жыл бұрын

@@communist754 to be honest I thought they looked nice and they liked peaceful

@ChaoticNeutralMatt

Жыл бұрын

@@warreviaene1747 unfortunately all they have is looking nice from above.

@moderndissident5930

Жыл бұрын

I'd only rather live in a suburb because most of the city's in America are dumps

@lizcademy4809

Жыл бұрын

I grew up in suburbia, and lived most of my adult life in suburbs. I'm now in a very nice part of a very nice city, walking distance from downtown. Of all those places, he two best are: - where I am now. - the New England town/suburb where I raised my kids. This was a typical New England town which grew into the built up area around Boston, but maintained its separate character. We lived on the rural edge of town, so a car was necessary, but my kids could walk to school, and the town center wasn't far away. It was about as good as suburban life can get. [For more details, the town was very much like the one in Alan Fisher's Colonial Suburb video.]

@shahzebk7899

Жыл бұрын

I've never wanted to live in Suburbia, because the homes are too big. I can barely keep my tiny room clean, imagine taking care of a whole house. I also love the downtown hustle and bustle, socialization and nice cafes only 3 minutes away by foot.

I grew up in Detroit on the west side & rode my bike all over Dearborn. My secret was to have the ugliest bike in town, it was never stolen, but I still locked it with a chain.

Sadly here in Australia, we suffer the same problem. Old rail lines, even outside of cities, that took people to small cities from town in the country, have either been abandoned or are just heritage/tourist lines. Some cities, such as Sydney for example, are now playing catch up from this car centric attitude in terms of public transport.

7:09 "gives the city a huge infrastructure liability that it can't afford" well said

@thewhitefalcon8539

Жыл бұрын

It's just more capitalism. Capitalists have always wanted to indebt public institutions because when the institution fails to repay the debt, the capitalist gets to own the constitution. By making the city buy stuff it can't afford, they get to own the city.

When you showed those old pictures of London ON and the depressing rotting parking lots there now, I wanted to cry

@NotJustBikes

Жыл бұрын

Me too. Me too. 😢

@ronsmith4325

Жыл бұрын

Yup... downtown London is horrible

@ronsmith4325

Жыл бұрын

@@rodchallis8031 Fair point about the Dundas flex area... A bit of an oasis for sure. That being said, I've driven through there many times during the day and witnessed people shooting up ... wish there was more help offered to these people to help them get into treatment...seems like London just keeps on turning a blind eye to it all.

@ekcs3941

Жыл бұрын

Geez yeah how depressing was that!

@davidty2006

Жыл бұрын

That somehow reached my town in the UK though less bad still noticable.

I love the step by step critique to the original advertisement!

@NotJustBikes

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it. 👍

5:07 I just love how infamous this channel has made my hometown. I grew up in that area, and I made jokes constantly about how terrible the FM 1960 traffic was. I spent so much of my free time there, but I had never seen it from a pedestrian perspective. It was eye opening.

@wckavanaugh716

Жыл бұрын

Any relation to Donna McCollum of KTRE?

@antonnurwald5700

Жыл бұрын

It's funny, while reading your comment I never pictured 'spending time there' as driving or parking. I pictured you hanging out somewhere. Until the end. I'm European. I travelled the US quite extensively. And STILL, when I see pictures, when I'm on Google street view, that voice in my head says "the actual town has to be somewhere behind those parking lots".

One of the things I noticed in my dissertation about this topic is that Moses outright refused to integrate rapid transit on the Long Island Expressway, he also got 75 million to build a new interchange up in Queens rather than build a single bus lane across the LIE, I got so bewildered at how the Highways Act and GM acted together to make sure the entire country became dependant on cars

@queens.dee.223

Жыл бұрын

I'd be curious to read it. Of course I believe you. That totally tracks, no pun intended!

@Korina42

Жыл бұрын

@@queens.dee.223 Oh, I don't know, that pun sounds pretty intended. 😄

Actually seeing how it developed from a film originating in that era is so interesting. How they already knew the problems that car-dependency causes and basically saying "just one more lane and it'll all be fixed," and fast forward to 2023 and they're still saying the same thing. Amazing. They won't stop until every hospitable area of land in this country is paved over and there's a 12 lane freeway connecting every single city no matter how big or small.

5:30 Former professional driver here. Worked during the Covid lockdowns of 2020. Nothing on the roads except EMS, trucks, and company vehicles. It was glorious... Everyone saved so much time, there were practically no accidents. Work got done. Deliveries were days ahead of schedule. When only the people that make a living on the road, are the only ones allowed on the road, and the highway/stroad/street system becomes quite efficient.

@therealdutchidiot

Жыл бұрын

I sort of love your take, yet hate it. Did you know during lockdowns the accident rate actually went up by 30%? Just because people had the distance to get up to speed? I guess you do know all of this. Trucks have their place, locally or semi-locally. Bulk goods should just be on trains. It's the most efficient thing to do. But you're right in a way, bulk trasport should have a sort of priority. And I know, I know. "But this doesn't exist". But it used to. The US was literally built on rail.

Videos like this have made me realize why I've always loved escaping car-centric suburbia (where I grew up) to visit cities. At first I thought it was just my admiration for the architecture and the overall vibe in cities, but now I've realized just how much good urban planning matters and this has given me a major interest in the subject of urban planning. The problem though is how do you convince people that love the car-centric nature and don't want to invest in walking/public transit infrastructure to rethink their mindset? I always get laughed at and ignored by friends/family when I try to talk about moving away from car-centric infrastructure. I feel like I'm in the minority whenever I talk to other people and it really bothers me since this is a subject I'm passionate about.

@MustraOrdo

Жыл бұрын

It's hard to convince brainwased people and those who aren't brave enough to come out of thier comfort zone. But what matters is your own beliefs. If these beliefs are founded in truth and logic, then don't let anyone take that away from you. Just don't force it and don't give up, cause you will attract some and others would come around with the right patience and attitude.

@glennsutter9533

Жыл бұрын

I so totally agree. I moved from suburban Alabama to Washington, DC, partly because of this. When I go back there to friends and family, it’s very hard to get any respect at all in this topic. No one there seems to think that it can ever work any way other than the way it is now.

@obsolete959

Жыл бұрын

Car-evangelists are always convinced of two things: 1) public transit is slow and 2) long-distance public transit cannot be profitable in a low density country like the US. So you basically have to bring the car-centric thinkers to some of the better European cities to literally show them what good city planning can lead to and how enjoyable and FAST good public transit is to use. And if you want to convince them of how long-distance railways are not doomed to fail, you need to make a trip to Finland; not only is there less population density than US, they have the best long-distance trains in all of Europe and are making a profit despite the ticket prices being very affordable to even poor people.

@davyjones419

Жыл бұрын

As Jason calls out in the video, car centric development is expensive, usually financed by debt, and doesn’t pay for itself. One way of convincing those who want to protect it, is too put them closer to the costs of it. This might be done by making drivers shoulder more of the costs or by shifting more of the funding to towns and municipalities and away from state or federal grants. By putting end users closer to the true costs of car dependency they’ll be more likely to change.

@DengueBurger

Жыл бұрын

@@obsolete959 also they’re worried about safety, failing to acknowledge that driving a car is sometimes more stressful and far more deadly than riding the subway or bus.

Depressing to see this car centric culture so rooted in our society here in America. I am a student in Austin, TX and I don't own a car, so my mode of transport is a bike. Seeing the city prioritize those who can afford a car rather than pedestrians and people walking is simple disgusting. I was wondering if there are actual ways citizens can change this. How can we get involved/what are the solutions? Thanks man, love your work.

@AudieHolland

Жыл бұрын

Perhaps organize biking/walking protest marches? These could be in the form of recreational outings in the city center during a weekend every month, where as many people on bikes and walking claim back the space that was lost to car traffic. In the city of Utrecht, which is not nearly as big as Amsterdam but was facing the same traffic congestion problems in the 1980s and 1990s, students and other city dwellers started biking in masses during the weekend (I think the demonstrations were held once a month). When I witnessed these demonstrations, which were not nearly as massive as the organizers had hoped, I thought they had little chance of changing things. This was in the early to mid 2000s. However, today Utrecht has changed completely how the city deals with traffic. Four lane streets that were dangerous for pedestrians crossing and bikes trying to navigate them next to all the cars, have almost disappeared from the city center. Those that were kept in place, were changed into two lanes for cars or even just a single lane, with much bigger sidewalks and seperate bikelanes. All I mean is, what NJB has also shown his other videos, is that The Netherlands ('Holland') was not always as bike and pedestrian friendly as it is today. In the 1960s and 1970s it was just as car infested as any place in the US. In the 1980s, traffic deaths, especially children killed by speeding cars, were at their peak and in the 1990s the great change started. Because there was literally no other way out of the mess.

@KR1S71ANthenoob

Жыл бұрын

I'd honestly leave. Fuck Texas. It's literally one of the worst car dependent hellholes there is in NA. Obviously, you can stay and fight the good fight, but fighting against all the stupid car culture there is in Texas and actually seeing real change is going to take A LOT of work and A LOT of time. And frankly, I'd rather enjoy life in a better place than fight a bunch of ignorant and stupid people to see very little change in a long time

@SnakebitSTI

Жыл бұрын

The irony is that giving more priority to pedestrians and mass transit would be a net benefit to car owners too! Less traffic should make everyone happy.

@janeblogs324

Жыл бұрын

Ride a bike on grass enough and it becomes a hard packed path. Pick axe roads you don't like and they won't be repaired after a while.

@hughmilner7013

Жыл бұрын

"Student without a car" is such an eye-opening experience, isn't it? I ended up in a similar situation a few years ago and it's really changed how I see our country's transportation.

i talk to my dad about these issues and what i wish to see moving forwards in cities and towns today. he often defends the sprawling, stroad-based layouts as “inevitable” or “they didn’t know back then”. he’s not young, but he was born many years after the addressed video, which is such clear evidence in the contrary that city planners had the information to make responsible decisions for the future.

This was sad for me to watch. I grew up in Brooklyn in the late 70s and early 80s and it bascially it was a grey hellscape of crumbling highways, smashed apartment blocks, thru-ways and threstles (?!?) But the heartbreak of realizing that several 17th and 18th century villages were destroyed to make a weird roundabout overpass that is now used by drugdealers and pimps.

After watching you videos it is really hard to unsee all the space in the cities wasted for car infrastructure. I've got rid of my car a few years back and the sheer number of comments under your videos make me feel like I'm part of a movement :)

@jonsnow9659

Жыл бұрын

Same. I do wonder how car-infested different European cities are, there's comparatively little data since everybody focuses on the US.

@Deliverygirl

Жыл бұрын

@@jonsnow9659 Almost every major city barring those in the Netherlands are car infested still, lots of work is being done to pedestrianize, build bike lanes and close car through-traffic in many major cities but it's still a long way to go. We just mostly lack the insane highways cutting through cities and massive surface parking lots the US has, instead having mostly underground parking.

@houndofculann1793

Жыл бұрын

@@Deliverygirl suburbanisation and car-centric zoning is much less prominent in Europe though so even with all the car infrastructure you have way more walkability and mixed use almost everywhere in Europe, on top of having a lot more public transport even if we too could do a lot better

@Deliverygirl

Жыл бұрын

@@houndofculann1793 While this is true there is still far too much car traffic and congestion in most of our cities. Only old town centers are mostly safe, the ones that are too narrow for cars to pass.

@rexx9496

Жыл бұрын

@@jonsnow9659 the difference with Europe is that cars in any major city in Europe are optional. You can get by without one the way you can in NYC. There's choice, unlike most American cities. Also the high cost of gas in Europe discourages people from being massive and wasteful large SUVs and trucks.

Keeping the whole project 4:3 was a great choice. Nicely done!

@BenDurham

Жыл бұрын

I'm so glad he rendered it correctly, too! A lot of content creators render out a 16:9 file with black bars on either side... which causes _endless_ problems on so many devices (ie phones).

@contrapasta2454

Жыл бұрын

That's a good point. Even aside from the archival footage, I notice I almost never use theater mode. A video in 4:3 is actually more efficient with my screen real estate anyway.

@cola98765

Жыл бұрын

I have 5:4 second monitor and I really enjoyed the narrow format to the point that I didn't actually notice it before I saw comments.

@poochyenarulez

Жыл бұрын

wow I didn't even notice

@nahuelma97

Жыл бұрын

I hadn't even noticed it lmao great eye

Good video. I'm an America who has been living in Japan for the last 20 years. When I first got here I thought it was annoying that highways were only 2 or 3 lanes only. They clearly could have built them wider. But now I understand. I lived in Toyota for 2 years working for the car company and mass transportation was joke. And for a small city, they had HUGE traffic jams which I imagine have only gotten worse. Luckily Toyota pays for most of the infrastructure. But buses were a joke which came only half an hour, occasionally. Now I live in Tokyo. The problem here is that there is basically only ONE line that runs across the city and so during rush hour it is extremely crowded. I remember one rush hour trip home using my strength to prevent a pregnant woman with a baby from getting crushed. (As Japanese do, she thanked me when she had to get off). But clearly Tokyo needs another line either to the north or south to run across the city. They've done a pretty good job on planning, but it's falling behind. You can build trains, but even they must be thought of as like highways. The good thing is that with such high numbers of riders, these train lines pay a bonanza and keep doing so. Cost of maintenance is really low compare to roads.

@gur262

Жыл бұрын

What's your experience with Kei cars?

I do appreciate my polish trams. Not gonna lie.

You should make a 50s style promotion video for walkable cities!!

@davidty2006

Жыл бұрын

Should be plenty of footage of transit throughout the 1950's. Including trolley busses.

@hannalowenherz4839

Жыл бұрын

Uuuuuh

This is insane. It's like the solutions were directly slapping them in the face and they were happily ignoring them.

Ironically from what I read, Robert Moses never owned a car and didn't drive apparently.

It's so weird to get a feeling of nostalgia from watching video footage from a country that I've never been to, dealing with issues I have never had to worry about, from an era 30 years before my birth. It doesn't matter what the subject is. I just get instant nostalgia from old footage detailing everyday things. I have the fortune of growing up in a country that, to this day, has kept its walkability. Not that we aren't a car dependent country, we most certainly are, but you can absolutely get around using public transportation. Owning a car is more of a luxury than a necessity, and that's never really going to change that much because of the small size of my country (Faroe Islands, in case you're wondering). Edit: come to think of it, the nostalgia probably comes from the music and voices, as it reminds me of old, American cartoons, which I grew up with.

I grew up in Sunset Park, Brooklyn near the Gowanus Expressway. It destroyed the neighborhood that was under it. In fact, the mainly working class Italian-America residents fought it at the time. So Robert Moses punished them by supplying exits from the Gowanus to the Sunset Park neighborhood. But he refused to supply entrances. The people of Sunset Park had, and still have, to go to other neighborhoods to get on the Gowanus. That is Robert Moses in action.

This has to be one of the best videos you’ve made so far. So informative and educational. Really enjoyed it. Thanks for making this video.

Ironic of how Detroit literally destroyed itself.

Props for keeping the aspect ratio consistent! This actually fills more of the screen on my tablet than widescreen does, so hey, works out great for me.

The small city i live near has two highways that cross right through the middle. Many years ago there was a petition to move or remove at least one of the highways. I was too young to fully understand and thought it was bad because it would slow us down if we wanted to go downtown. I am realizing now that the highways are likely holding the city back from developing to a greater cultural and financial powerhouse.

@Verelkia

Жыл бұрын

Car dependency in the US and Canada in general as stalled us both culturally and economically. It's becoming so isolated and lifeless, and it feels people are less likely to think about others because we don't see others, we see cars, with very few exceptions.

Excellent video as always. I love the quote from the GM film: "...no wonder everyone's acting so nervous. What's a citizen going to do?" You can directly tie so many of our social and political problems to the fact that Americans and Canadians are atomized and separated in private vehicles, each person competing for their share or road or tiny advantage that gets them ahead of everyone else. That anxiety described in the propaganda film from about 70 years ago is even more acute today, and it's all caused by building a society for cars, not people.

@mareksicinski3726

Жыл бұрын

The issue isn’t that, as kcuh

Growing up in rural Greece, I used to walk or bike to school from 1st grade all the way to the 12th. Later, in college, in a city of ~85k people, I took the bus a lot or walked. Visiting my family 800km away was a looong trip, but it was comfy and cheap. The first 600km took ~10 hrs via train and cost €15 as a student. Nice 😌👌 I've slept so much in buses and trains, but also read dozens of books. I've never owned a car, not even a driver's license, and I've never wanted one, which isn't really culturally acceptable in Greece, even though our public transport is quite good. Hell, the Athens metro is amazing, IMO. I had no idea how bad things were in most of North America before stumbling onto this channel. (And the Netherlands is much better than Greece. Kudos for moving there.)

Jason just hits the nail on the head every time. Such a waste of money investing in roads. It's crazy how similar things were in the 1950's compared to now. We just keep making the same mistakes over and again.

@handlemonium

Жыл бұрын

"Time & Money saved.........." Look at US now! 😂😆

@Brindlebrother

Жыл бұрын

"Just one more lane, bro. Please, one more lane will solve the problem. Just one more. Please."

@ciro_costa

Жыл бұрын

We're not "making mistakes" the oil companies and car manufacturers have all the money in the world and they can pay for propaganda and lobby the best we can do is to spread awareness of how better things could be and organize into pressure groups and things like that

@dearyvettetn4489

Жыл бұрын

@@Brindlebrother we are indeed a bunch of road junkies. 😂

@dearyvettetn4489

Жыл бұрын

@@ciro_costaevery time you buy a car, an automotive exec makes a boat payment, as does the oil industry exec, each time you fill up. Thought we don’t have many good choices we definitely share some blame, indirectly.

When you listen to the part where the guy sells us the idea of taking on debt to pay for future time and money saved, it comes off as a giant con.

@NotJustBikes

Жыл бұрын

... And yet, pretty much every city did it. 🤷‍♂️

I just had an epiphany: When people mention "free healthcare" some people will respond with "it's not free, you pay with your taxes". When people mention "freeways" the same people who responded "it's not free, you pay with your taxes" to free healthcare keep their mouths closed shut.

@harrycallahan5018

Жыл бұрын

Free healthcare is shit, coming from someone with no healthcare. The quality of healthcare available in America would without a doubt fall if we did that.

@harrycallahan5018

Жыл бұрын

It would for the normal people atleast, Im sure the rich would keep the level of healthcare they already have.

@harrycallahan5018

Жыл бұрын

I also don't need the government being able too tell me I cant go see a doctor because my problem isn't sufficient, just because they don't want to pay for it, which would invariably end up being an occurance that would happen.

@DaveS859

Жыл бұрын

Your epiphany is wrong, low IQ, and betrays the fact that you don't ACTUALLY engage with your opponents. I, and many others, are equally opposed to govt managed transport systems, as government managed healthcare.

@xhaanfilms2479

Жыл бұрын

Mans forgot theres more than one use for the word “free” lmao

"Vote against your own interests, it's the American way"

If I had to show someone one video from your channel to succinctly and effectively lay out all the problems with car-centric urban design you so wonderfully break down week after week, it would be this one. Great stuff.

I remember reading that 15% of people in average American city switching to motorcycles from their cars would free up 75% of all traffic jams. It’s not like all the cars move almost empty all the time… oh wait

@gur262

Жыл бұрын

Study: motorcycle Leuven - might be interesting for you.

@Brindlebrother

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, average car occupancy in the US is like 1.5 people. It's a tremendous waste to build giant, gas-guzzling metal machines that only carry 1.5 people at a time.

@joejones9520

Жыл бұрын

but there is no such thing as a minor fender bender of minor accident on a motorcycle; if anything goes wrong the body of the rider is directly affected and often ends up tumbling down the road or flying thru the air, imagine a bicycle crash at 50-60 mph but even worse cause a heavy machine is also tangled up in the crash. plus there's extreme temps and inclement weather.

Well well, here in Sydney Australia this all looks mighty familiar.

"What's good for General Motors is good for America." 😆

You did a fantastic job with this and the premiere didn’t even started!?

@dhruvbisaria2680

Жыл бұрын

People who watched this on Nebula commented I guess

Did all old commercials just last for like 20 minutes 💀

So grateful for your channel! Thank you for exposing the shortcomings of the automobile age, and some of the practical solutions we can all appreciate and strive for.

Brilliant, Jason - this is why we Patreon you for millions every year.

@NotJustBikes

Жыл бұрын

Millions, eh? I wish. Then I could sell out and buy a Lamborghini. Not Just Bikes would be very entertaining after that!

@amcaesar

Жыл бұрын

@@NotJustBikes Not Just Maybachs.

@IdentityGS

Жыл бұрын

@@NotJustBikes "not just bikes but also lambos"

@martijnvds

Жыл бұрын

@@amcaesar Not Just Bentleys

Then you'll love this one: kzread.info/dash/bejne/kZ-No5emd7q0l9I.html 'The Cars in Your Life' especially around the 16:00 and 18:00 minute mark. There were already some voices way back in the 50s that cars might not be the solution to everything.

@DanielChannel57

Жыл бұрын

Never thought I'd see you here, Ed. ^^

Been following this channel since you had 45k subs. Great to see it grow and see people care about this subject. Keep it up 👍

I visited the US in 2015 for the first time, a small town just outside of Philadelphia. We were doing a stream broadcast from a games tournament. I grew up in Berlin in Germany which means I've known public transportation, lack of parking even in the 70s in many areas and walk ways. What surprised me the most were two things. The lack if sidewalks on almost any road there, and the conrete-f***ing desert of what had to be at least a square kilometer of parking, in which Target, a diner and a couple of other businesses sat. That's what I was reminded of when the video showed those parking lots at 22:55. We have large parking areas in front of the Olympic stadium in Berlin, but almost nobody comes here with the car, because there aren't enough parking spaces. On the other hand there are two different rail services that pipe all the football fans, concert goers and sports enthusiasts to this location. It's surrounded by forests and homes, and nobody is going to clear that away for a car park desert that occasionally fills up. Grud on a stick, that crap at 22:55, it just looks revolting. And talk about heat in the summer. Bad all around. A few years back a study was done on how hot it would get, depending on the amount of shade(i.e.trees). Those with little would be at least 10 C degrees hotter, sometimes 15 than those with good shade. Concrete is a bitch in summer.

@jintsuubest9331

Жыл бұрын

Oh, want to know a more depressing facts of US stadium? Many of them get build and use once, again on debt, whilst destroying the surrounding area (of course, the housing and business of the less privileged) 3 times the area of the stadium to build parking lot. Murica/10.

My city is reducing speeds from 50kph to 30-40 kph as part of pilot project in specific residential neighbourhoods. Why even do pilot project? We already know that a pedestrian has a much higher probability of surviving a collision at 30kph versus 50kph. This is how we solve problems here. We apply elementary solutions in order to solve complex issues. Hardly anyone (and I mean politicians) ever discuss changing how our streets and roads (they are actually all stroads) can be better designed to naturally reduce speeds and make communities more pleasant.

@NotJustBikes

Жыл бұрын

It never ceases to amaze me how many cities need to do "pilot projects" for things that have been proven to work over and over again. I think it really shows a weak government that can't commit to anything, and an inability to learn from data. Of course, every city also thinks they're unique: that they need "tailor made" solutions, because they're a special snowflake. When the truth is, the vast majority of urban planning concepts are universal. Cities just need to be brave enough to get them implemented. I'm glad that Amsterdam is making almost all streets 30km/h by the end of this year!

@ChaoticNeutralMatt

Жыл бұрын

My city is too focused on selling out to big business tbh (local industrial park)

@mschmidt62

Жыл бұрын

@@NotJustBikes I suspect it is just for political cover. There will some who will say "Not over my dead body!" and the city can simply reply, "Don't worry, it's just a pilot project, we can reverse it."

@QemeH

Жыл бұрын

@@NotJustBikes The unfortunate truths is, that it's not the cities that think they are special, but the residents. I have seen it multiple times now in my city: Government: We kinda need an "auto-light" system for the medieval city center at least. Citizens: Nah. Government: But this concept had great results in [insert five example cities here]. Citizens: Nah. Government: Okay, we're gonna do a trial on one of the streets, okay? Citizens: No, don't do it! It's gonna be bad! After 1 week: It's horrendous, everything changed, I can't get anywhere. After 4 weeks: I can't get used to this. I can't wait for the trial period to end. After 4 months: When will the city finally do this on ALL streets? It's so great to walk around X street... Same for the speed reduction, the modal shift, the redcued on street parking, the freaking tram, etc... People, especially in rich industrialized nations are understandably conservative as a general rule: Now is good, why change it? And evidence from a different place is not evidence, because it hasn't happend to ME. That's just how humans often work...

@dandarr5035

Жыл бұрын

@@QemeH This, but also adding on that the special snowflake mentality from local residents usually results in this: when you tell them "but it works in [insert places here]", their first response is "but we're not [other place], we're [our place]!" They always completely miss the point, whether intentional or unintentional.

Induced demand makes a lot of sense in 1950s NYC since people weren't driving as much before the road was built but don't really understand why it happens in an area (like where I live) that has stagnant population growth and basically 100% car dependency already. Like It seems like there would be no reason for a significant amount of people to change their route when a road is widened in most places here. But it still happened! The major road that goes by my work went from 2 to 3 lanes both ways last year. Traffic was better for a couple weeks but it's pretty much back to how it was before they widened it. My wife is sick of me sarcastically saying "good thing they widened this road" every time we are stuck behind a long line of cars there lol.

@ChaoticNeutralMatt

Жыл бұрын

I'm guilty of occasional complaining as well lmao.

@NotJustBikes

Жыл бұрын

It's not too hard to explain: highway gets built (or widened), so travel times decrease. Then people take advantage of that decrease to move to a new house in a new area, and still stay "30 minutes" from work. Or they change jobs to one accessible by that highway. Others just take trips they would not have taken otherwise, if that highway wasn't so "fast". When enough people do that, and the capacity is eaten up. It rarely takes more than a year.

@knosis

Жыл бұрын

​@@NotJustBikesit took a couple months to get bumper to bumper traffic during rush hour in Nashville after they widened the 440 smh.

@jimzecca3961

Жыл бұрын

But even if the widened road gets traffic again it still has greater throughput. And the cars don't come from nowhere. Someplace else now has less cars or there are times of day with reduced traffic - at least until you fail to contain population (the source of all traffic).