4 ways to make a city more walkable | Jeff Speck

[@matthewsawczyn6592]

I recall being happy to walk 45 minutes to a destination in Rome, because of the sheer beauty on every street

[@elizabethbennet4791]

Im happy to walk 45 minutes in New York, San Francisco, St Petersburg, MIami, Charleston, Theyre all gorgeous cities.

[@goliathsteinbeisser3547]

That is EXACTLY the point. Make a city that people are happy to BE in, not just a hellscape of grey and noise that one traverses as fast as means permit.

[@petez4608]

Thats for sure

[@IsThisRain]

This is why mixed-use zoning is extremely important. Not every city can be a Rome, Paris, or NYC, but mixed-use shifts the interests from 'sightseeing' to _socialization_ and _convenience._

[@SuperiorPosterior]

I walked 45 minutes from high school to home every day, and I'd do my homework in a nice little park. Then they tore it up to put in a new apartment complex...

[@eizhowa]

I think one of the benefits of living in an old european city is that the streets were made to accomodate people (and horses), not cars.

[@JallenMeodia]

Being European and explored the USA a fair bit gotta disagree. A lot less stressful traveling around the wide-flat multi-laned roads than it is trying to squeeze two lanes of traffic down roads originally built when cars weren't a thing. Also narrow roads will only slow drivers down when they're not use to narrower roads. Make every road narrow it becomes the norm and people become less weary of driving on them. As with most things in life one extreme or the other doesn't work just gotta find a happy balance.

[@eizhowa]

+Jallen I meant a benefit to pedestrians. Cars usually end up having to drive around old cities. Driving around London, for example, is faster than driving through it. I grew up in the country side where the roads were narrow and the "natives" did drive fast. However, in the old town where I live now, the roads are so winding, there are traffic lights and zebra crossings everywhere which slows cars down. I think it is great that I can live in a city without owning a car or being very dependent on busses etc. I can walk where I need to go:)

[@TheRealE.B.]

I live in Pittsburgh, and so many things about our city don't make sense from a design perspective because it was founded before Americans started planning their cities (or driving cars), but it IS relatively walkable until you reach the suburbs. Especially during rush hour, when driving isn't a very attractive option.

[@NikiK57]

Only partially true - most cities have areas like "Old town" - with small streets etc. But the cities have grown 100x since those times... So its basically only the city centers, old towns etc which are like that.

[@eizhowa]

+Burn Ea Can you name a industrialized civilization from the early 1800s that knew that they had to prepare for future infrastructure like water pipes and electricity, or knew how diseases spread? And remember, Americans were once European, so they are no smarter. Unless you think that a persons IQ increases when they cross they travel to the US?

[@katepeterson5478]

Meanwhile, in my city: "We made bike lanes and nobody uses them, why would we build more?" But about 75% of those bike lanes are directly uphill in the suburbs and none of them connect to each other...

[@ruslbicycle6006]

And bike lanes are so efficient at moving people they are never congested. A bike lane that carries twice as many people as a car lane will look empty while the car lane is full of backed up cars.

[@xtusvincit5230]

@@ruslbicycle6006 Because bikers don't obey traffic laws.

[@knucker3]

@@xtusvincit5230 Seriously. The bike lane near by house is the most dangerous street to cross because they don't stop, they don't even slow down at intersections. And they don't make any noise so you don't hear them coming. Unless you try to walk across the street when they are zooming down all parts of it. Then they yell at you like it's your fault they had to actually slow down for once.

[@xtusvincit5230]

@@knucker3 Yes, the biker's mentality is that they are superior to others and all must yield for them.

[@bikerusl]

@@xtusvincit5230 what makes you think that? Is that a kind of complaint like jaywalking? That those in a city need treat cars as sacred and not use the public space and never dare slow down the important business of driving big empty cars in circles? Motor Vehicle Law's are not morally defensible to be applied to bikes or pedestrians. It is one of the great injustices of a city that cars have a right to kill people. Cars don't belong anywhere near humans. They make great video games, for those who prefer the artificial world to the real.

[@PhillProbst]

The most important factor to promote “walkability” is convenience. If you want to encourage walkability, walking must be more convenient than driving.

[@sorrowandsufferin924]

I think, if you make this happen, if you advocate parallel parking and trees as a way to seperate walkways from streets, people WILL consider walking more convienient than driving, especially on beautiful days. I mean, what would you prefer on a sunny day: Sitting in your car, watching outside, concentrating on the road so you don't get into an accident; or walking along the streets, enjoying the sun and the buzzing of people that gives off a feeling of alive, passing that one restaurant and seeing people eating with each other, smiling and talking? Walking is much more enjoyable than driving - and that comes from me, a person who prefers going by bus over going by train in every case except for time required. I just love the street. But I also love the alive, walkable city that we have so often here in Europe.

[@alohatigers1199]

Phillip Probst No, because time is against you. I’m not walking to school that takes 20 minutes. I can drive in less than 2. Wow, I save 18 minutes. 18 mins, I can study for an exam. Efficiency 101. I’m not walking home with a cart 🛒 full of groceries, it slows you down and it’s tiring. I can load all that in a car because a car has a trunk to store stuff. And boom, I’m home in less than 5. So easy. Efficiency. I save so much time. 24 hrs. That’s not enough time. 9 hrs of sleep. 2 hr workout. 9 to 5 day job 6 hr school. Total: more than 24 hrs. Not enough to time to relax. Again, time is against you. Every second should not be wasted.

[@Itstime1231]

@@alohatigers1199 Depending where you live, it is faster to walk than try to find a parking spot, pay for the parking spot, put the ticket on your car, and then go to groceries. If you live far, car, if you live close, walk.

[@falleithani5411]

​@@alohatigers1199 While you drive, you _need_ to concentrate mostly on driving in order to be relatively safe. You waste 2 minutes. While you walk, you can mostly zone out and break down exam questions and research and budgets and mathematics in your head. You waste 0 minutes. The only time I rely on motor vehicles is when I'm transporting a large amount of stuff, and even then, I prefer to use a wagon or public transportation, so I don't have to cut into my thinking time for it. Personally, I walk to think, memorize, design, rehearse, compose, and/or analyze. I end up walking for about 2 hours per day on average for those purposes (it effectively _is_ my workout), which means that even though I walk everywhere, some of my walking is just in circles and with no destination, simply because it is _such_ an effective and efficient way for me to work and think that it is often worthwhile to keep walking a bit longer even after reaching my destination, to take full advantage of the focus and clarity it gives me. That said, if you are very unused to being a pedestrian, it does take time for it to become second nature to the point where you can let your mind wander without risk, but it's a _lot_ easier to do and faster to learn than driving. Time spent acquiring and mastering a useful skill is not wasted. Lastly, if you can actually find a way to cut the car _completely,_ that's a _lot_ of money saved, when you add up the purchase costs, maintenance, insurance, and gas. Efficiency. That said, yeah, depending on the job you have and the layout of your environment, this stuff is not always an option. The sooner we can move to a post-scarcity economy where working is no longer _required_ to earn a living, the better it'll be for everyone's education and health. Holding down a job and attending school at the same time is brutal.

[@FractalPrism.]

ah yes, all the times i wanted to walk 15 miles to costco then trek home with a bulk of goods.

[@PrincessNinja007]

I've had friends get picked up by cops for walking on the interstate. A huge issue for non-walkable towns (I can't speak for cities, my county seat is 12,000) is that if you don't have a two-car household (which no college roommates have), you're screwed if anything happens to your car. You better pray it's just a flat or an oil change, because even if you're willing to risk your neck to walk 2-3 miles in a ditch next to the highway, it can be literally illegal to walk to work

[@coffeewithextrasuga1017]

WTF! I've never heard of walking being illegal. The US finds many ways to surprise me each day.

[@Lurch685]

@@coffeewithextrasuga1017 highways in the US usually have signs on the on ramps that entry is prohibited to pedestrians, bicyclists, and non motorized vehicles.

[@LW1Tok]

Only in the US can something like walking be illegal.

[@Blackadder75]

@@LW1Tok no, he means walking alongside highways, that is illegal in europe too (autobahns)

[@LW1Tok]

@@Blackadder75 I never knew that. We learn something new everyday 😌.

[@DramaGeek1225]

I live in one of the cities he cited at the beginning as the "typical American city" and can confirm that it has all the issues he discusses. I technically live close enough to work to be able to walk or bike, but because of the way the city is designed, I would not consider it a safe walk. I used to live in NYC and I miss the walkability and access to public transportation.

[@sircharlesmormont9300]

I am in a similar position. I live 10 minutes away from work by car. To get to my nearest bus stop, however, is a 20 minute walk to an abandoned parking lot with no lighting and just a teensy sign for the bus stop. The sidewalks are not well maintained. Taking the bus turns my commute from 10 minutes to at least an hour - with a half hour extra tacked on before I clock in. I would much rather pay an hour's wage for a ride share than go through all of that stress first thing in the morning. Now, when I was a very, very young child, my city still had a bus service that came into the neighborhoods. My mom took the bus to work. My grandma took the bus to work. Bus access was part of the appeal of the neighborhood. I, too, once lived in NYC. The public transportation was amazing. I felt so free and so capable, able to get anywhere and everywhere without a car. It was great! We need a drastic overhaul of public transportation here in U.S. cities.

[@TheKirschbaumfee]

As a european this blews my mind. i mean i 'knew' that many american cities and suburbs were build for cars but i now know i didnt imagine how this really looks like :D

[@UkrTrashRemix]

You just haven't been to Ukraine (especially Kyiv)

[@ThePhDK1d]

It’s worse than it looks Ann trust me. I lived in a suburb that the supermarket was 800 m away from me and I had to take the car for a 2 min ride just because there were no streetwalks and I didn’t feel like being ran over. It’s depressing honestly not being able to take a walk just to clear your mind.

[@jaredlangley6924]

@@ThePhDK1d No you drove because poor people or crazy people walk in the U.S.

[@mabus4910]

I know what you mean. But in europe we made some planning mistakes on our own. Like building small industrial zones all over the places to spread them out. Now you have trucks cruising everywhere instead of stearing them where you want them to be (on motorways).

[@_Diana_S]

Why is this so surprising? Did not you learn history in school? We did, I remember being told about medieval cities where second and third floors were extending over the first ones so that they almost touch and block all sun out, household garbage and "liquids" disposed directly in streets, streets, that even at ground level were just wide enough to let a horseman with a lance pass through? You can not think that cities that were built much later, in another part of the world, with different geography and in different economical conditions will be planned the same as medieval ones. You would not be surprised, that Brasilia, for example, looks completely different than old European city, right? Because it is a specially planned city with special purpose, right? Same with Texas and other American cities and towns - they were built for those conditions and were made comfortable for people who lived there at that time and who almost all had more than 1 car in the family. Now times are changing, and we can not judge those cities more than we are judging now dirty medieval European cities with their narrow streets.

[@davidsw92]

I for one would LOVE to see bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure prioritized over automotive--I'd bike everywhere if it were safer.

[@dlwatib]

I would bike only if I had an electric bike.

[@AlanPeery]

Roads are important -- but even city center deliveries can be scheduled for out of main hours delivery

[@Mr8lacklp]

Dave W it doesn't even need to be prioritised over automotive infrastructure. At the moment a lot of our infrastructure is built around the car and the car alone. As soon as we try to implement equality between bike/pedestrian travel and car travel that's a huge step forward.

[@bcubed72]

Dave W Or you could grow a pair and play in traffic, the way I did when I was a bicycle commuter. No "bike lanes" back then!

[@bat_bro1lewis491]

In my home town of Porthcawl in Wales, we had very bad pedestrian and bike infrastructure but then a small few kilometer path and then almost everyone used instantly. This proves if you build they will come

[@adlinks662]

Went straight on Cities: Skylines after this haha

[@MrPanda-mp8dt]

+ADLINKS same here lmao

[@SianaGearz]

Yeah, Cims can be pretty stupid at times, but at least they will gladly walk and cycle.

[@ColeRees]

My first thought: cant wait to apply all of this to my cities lol

[@horribleIRUKANDJI]

same lol

[@hello.bello.6788]

Me too hahaha

[@gneruinseruihnutshnu]

Hello from Europe, a place where this talk about cities that you cannot cross without a car sounds sci-fi.

[@asatsumaorange9296]

If US cities had reached high population before the car, they would have been built with walking in mind and we wouldn't be having this talk. Philadelphia has about as many people as it did 100 years ago, and it's all mixed-use neighborhoods and rowhouses. Charlotte was a small city then and its population is 20 times higher now. The people who built Charlotte assumed driving was an option and things spiraled out of control so it became the only option.

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

as someone who lives in a big city, I can tell you it's dystopian scifi if anything

[@zotaninoron3548]

@@gearandalthefirst7027 It is clearly cyberpunk run by huge megacorps that track your every movement through your phone and status updates to your social media. :D

[@spinnito]

Yeah that's true most of the time an average sized American car, wouldn't fit a downtown old medieval narrow European street, this it's real!, and I take my electric Chinese scooter skate and I reach everything in 5 minutes, greetings of a Mexican in Spain.

[@silauz1552]

Yes but for a flat in the center you have to be rich. And this leads to Not have stores in the inner City and your Work place is often 5 to 10 km away which leads to many people want Back a Car.

[@lesliengo8347]

Having lived in Metro Vancouver and knowing the City of Vancouver is actively trying to reduce carbon emissions by 2050, it is very relatable. Adding more bicycle lanes, different transit options, wider and decorated sidewalks, and being educated about why we should prioritize walking over driving will make a city more livable and enjoyable. Love the humour as well!

[@switzerlandch4986]

I totally agree with you!

[@No-iy9cx]

Agree! North American city need more public transit and bike lanes.

[@f3192-o7u]

1:30 - Four things you need simultaneously to make a walkable city: 1. Proper reason to walk; 2. safe 3; comfortable; 4. interesting

[@IAMDIMITRI]

I will definitely apply it to my own city someday when I have one.

[@محمدالامريكي-ج9م]

City skylines lol

[@Kasiarzynka]

​@@محمدالامريكي-ج9مLiterally there reason for my KZbin search that gave me this video, lol 😂

[@no_one2197]

😂😂

[@peterjones701]

I live in Salt Lake City, and something that I think is viewed as our greatest weakness could become our greatest strength: our blocks. Yes, our 660' blocks are enormous and unwalkable; but I think if we were to carve them up and let them be a mixed-use wonderland, each block could become its own little neighborhood! Living, working, shopping, and recreation could all be on one block! Salt Lake City started out, in a sense, as mixed-use. The Plot of Zion planned for people to live and farm and trade all on their block. It didn't have zoning districts of live here, work there.

[@ruslbicycle6006]

Yeah, put in gardens. And the roads are all wide enough to take cars off half and make it usable for people (not cars). I've been in Provo also. It's all surprisingly bikeable, just needs some support to transform and be a happier place for everyone

[@misconceptionindustries2968]

I thought salt lake was great trains and buses everywhere there is alot worse cities trucks me!

[@Lurch685]

See: Barcelona

[@IcelanderUSer]

brilliant. I'm so glad people are realizing how we destroyed our cities by accommodating automobiles. you can have the best of both worlds without leveling entire cities, like Houston or Fort Worth. All they had to do in Houston was build decent commuter rail into and out of the city. this would encourage density downtown, where the jobs would be, without having to create a parking space for every single worker.

[@williamt.sherman9841]

parking lots are ironically valuable real estate at that point since now the owners can develop what was previously free car storage lots.

[@charmingyoutuber2408]

I think I just found what I want to do for a living

[@jessicahwlo]

stay gold read Jan Gehl's books as well if this inspires you!

[@wen6519]

that is the sweetest thing i've read in a KZbin comment

[@jimdevalk]

stay gold just walking for a living? Cool.

[@captain-sturdy]

Random Nobody who are you?

[@captain-sturdy]

Random Nobody did you work in the field?

[@LaurokaPlay]

As a european currently in the Unites States, this is the main reason why I want to move back to Europe asap

[@Josh-wq8tt]

Just got to find the right town. As you can see in this video, it's so different depending on where you go. Myself, I prefer to stay away from the cities completely.

[@andrewtucker94]

Yeah I enjoyed my US trip but found the lack of pavement/sidewalks in some smaller towns baffling.

[@Josh-wq8tt]

@Northern Lights it is hideous. Not sure why anyone would want to live in suburbia to be honest. It's not for me and I'm from here. For me I want nothing more than wide open space and no close neighbors though.

[@friedadavis5887]

Same

[@catnium]

nah traitors get to stay in the usa

[@boazthomassie4919]

I did a short presentation on suburban sprawl in college. it's terrible for the environment and great for segregation

[@brendarua01]

Segregation that was supported by federal mortgage programs to boot.

[@Mario-sy4nw]

+Boaz Chicago mastered the art of segregation by Highway. And there were rumors that certain overpasses were made purposely low enough to prevent buses from going under them in order to keep neighborhoods uniform. The problem with the burbs, (one of the many problems), was that they were basically glorified military barracks that isolated people from themselves and the outside world. When governments tried to force integration by housing law people just packed up and moved to the other side of town. The solution to the problem is to create great cities and people will naturally integrate without even thinking about it (because the city will be a natural meeting point) instead of using a misguided government program.

[@brendarua01]

Oh great! A zombie troll now. rofl Ok, you can go back to your cave. It will be light soon and I'm sure your mama will have the basement ready.

[@MrElectricVibration]

Would a zombie troll feed off dead topics ?

[@rsmith155]

mrbandishbhoir Fucktards

[@daidaitastic]

"an optional instrument of freedom rather than a prosthetic device" cool

[@notourz]

I moved from Mesa, AZ to Durango, CO for school and the walkability in each city is like night and day. I love walking in Durango because it has a great transit system, safe sidewalks, narrow streets, diversified small city blocks. In Mesa, even when the weather was great, I hated walking places because the sidewalks are scary, roads huge, and everything is a sprawl. I couldn't tell why the two places were so different, but now I do and I hope Mesa becomes more walkable.

[@alexiswhite5419]

I wish he would come to singapore our streets are not un-walkable but i would love for his ideas to improve our streets more

[@nickjoeb]

We need this planning everywhere we can have it! For bigger areas I want trains instead of grid lock!

[@nickjoeb]

What I'm saying is walkable cities are a good idea. Though in places like the Midwest they may be an ineffective choice due to how the community's are spread out. So there I think a train system would be preferable.

[@ricisebastiano]

Rail infrastructure is incredibly expensive, just go with buses; a much cheaper option

[@nickjoeb]

I don't agree with that. Road maintenance is exceedingly expensive and doesn't actually solve the traffic problem as well as rails. Not to mention getting taxed for rails makes many people stop having a need for cars which is a huge drain on many American's income in the midwest.

[@zpetar]

Any good public transportation system can solve traffic problem. It doesn't matter if it is buses, trains... If one bus can transport 60 people compare space on road that one bus needs vs 15-60 cars. To move 10.000 people there is need for roads to accommodate less than 200 buses vs 2,500-10,000 cars.

[@Mr8lacklp]

Richard Zuberecz buses are just worse in every way except for price. Compare to trains they are uncomfortable and cramped. When there is construction being done on the rail and you therfore have to drive half the distance by bus your commute doubles so they are slow as well. Trains may be more expensive but they are also vastly superior. Buses are good to move people within one quarter or one township but if you want travel between towns trains beat them by miles.

[@hbarudi]

A step in the right direction toward reducing dependence on fossil fuels and I like that bridge in Columbus Ohio which is close to where I used to live before it existed. We need more walkable and bikeable roads in the US.

[@octaviasmith5002]

As a non-car owner transplant in Nashville, I can assure you sidewalks *do not* exist except near the gentrified areas downtown and by the universities. I literally walk 2 feet from traffic ON THE ROAD on my commute to work and back. Moving to Minneapolis later on this year and buying a bike. They have pedestrian bridges and bike lanes all over the city (^-^ so excited).

[@greenmachine5600]

Nice

[@GamerGurke15]

I am so happy living in Berlin, a European and green city where people decide to walk for an hour to get to a friend instead of taking the subway. Also mentioning that no one would ever think about getting into a car to get to a friend if it isn't absolutely necessary.

[@acejames7718]

It's nice to hear good things about Berlin. Most of my life I only heatd horror stories. Good to hear ur getting a fair shake these days.

[@acejames7718]

heard*

[@AlexFlodder]

Another reason for walking/cycling compared to driving. Is alcohol. No drunk driving when you walk.

[@JulieHiltbrunner]

In Texas, you could die walking an hour mid-day in the summer. But I imagine that’s true of other places in the winter.

[@jasperfk]

Creating Julie Silversmyth Then why did people settle there? They must have walked in the 17th, 18th, 19th centuries, surely?

[@johnpacheco3396]

The best part of many New York buildings that you had a business on the first floor of your building to shop and eat. Same in areas like Hong Kong and others country's were large housing buildings with a Mall in the lower areas

[@tristanmoller9498]

Such a genuine guy. Really enjoyed it

[@garciavashchino1]

strange how warm these ideas are... they convey such peace... i never noticed... i would love to walk every where like work, food, shopping, fun things... it is not easy when you work in an airport... but i love these ideas...

[@elietheprof5678]

Airports are definitely an exception :)

[@exchangAscribe]

theyre not ideas, this exists in many other places around the world and has for a long time. the U.S. is just horrible at making cities and is obsessed with cars. and they dont care about things like beauty.

[@woogiemonster]

The image at 6:01 is hilarious (and sad) when you see it out of context, but that was done as a desperate, last-ditch effort to help accommodate cripple people who would use the facility for physical therapy because a standard access-ramp would be impossibly steep. But of course, where there is free convenience, there are also people who don't need it using it anyway.

[@woogiemonster]

I know, that's why I specified _out of context_ and said _people who don't need it will use it anyway._ That specific gym is photographed dozens of times (google *gym escalator*) and the joke is always that it's a gym that seems to be catering to the lazy, and this specific photo reinforces that by having people use it who have no visible handicap. All I was trying to say is that yes the joke is funny, but *the truth* is that they were actually just trying to help cripple people.

[@gpwgpw555]

One of my dislikes was when I came to a handicap parking space, I would pass it up just to have a health person park in the spot after me and sprint off to were they were going.

[@jennyhughes4474]

Don't think you could get a wheelchair on those escalators safely or at all?

[@xandercorp6175]

@@woogiemonster The truth is that helping crippled people hurt everyone else because of human nature.

[@blazethegryphon9990]

@@xandercorp6175 Path of least resistance, such is nature....

[@cilstr]

thank you for explaining why i find those new sprawling 'Neighbourhoods" give me the creeps and make me feel ill. :)

[@SovietReunionYT]

It's unsafe for kids to play with such sharp objects. Be careful or you might cut yourself on that edge.

[@Arjay404]

That commercial bridge at the end was so beautiful.

[@darkknight072]

Houston here, can confirm freeways suck.

[@johnc6158]

darkknight072 try California

[@simo947]

i've been on a road trip from washington to california, oh boy the freeways around san fransisco is a nightmare

[@TimJSwan]

He's not talking about freeways, which are designed to take you far distances. He's talking about roads that take you from one place to another within the same city.

[@SovietReunionYT]

In the US, there are apparently freeways INSIDE cities! I guess that's what happens when the expand road -> traffic increases -> expand road etc. cycle is taken to its logical conclusion.

[@Sanif514]

dude its the fucking worse, we've got fairly good places to go to all around but no sidewalks on any streets outside of suburbs as if walking was only meant for leisure to these people.

[@xiloeteknowledgiesllc1973]

Bikes and vehicles should never be mixed. Dedicate walking and biking corridors every 2nd or 3rd block. The point is accessibility. Trucks are completely forgotten by these designers and planners. We have to think about the vehicles that bring the things we like to consume and purchase.

[@_Diana_S]

This is just a wishful thinking, not real life design. Unfortunately, some of these ideas are being forced on us already without much consideration and taking into account existing situation.

[@wolf1066]

Trucks should be completely replaced by rail, especially between cities/towns. There's no justification for having large semis entering city limits.

[@toddkes5890]

@@wolf1066 You still have to get goods from the railyards to the businesses that need them. What would you recommend for this, instead of in-city trucks?

[@wolf1066]

@@toddkes5890 Smaller vehicles - vans and *small* trucks that don't have the same dimensions or do the same damage to road infrastructure or congest traffic as much as 18-wheelers and articulated trucks. A decent rail infrastructure could allow for more freight yards scattered across a really large city, reducing the distance required to freight bulk goods so you don't have to fill a large truck to service numerous businesses, you can service a lesser number of businesses with smaller vehicles heading out in different directions. Rail can be run from the electrical grid, which gives the option of renewable energy sources, rail has its own infrastructure separate from roadways so other vehicle owners aren't subsidising the damage done to the roads by the 18-wheelers and aren't stuck in traffic behind large slow vehicles and aren't constantly being cut off by arrogant wankers who think that "18 wheels = automatic right of way".

[@fortunefed8719]

@@toddkes5890 There are many cities in Europe who's centers are completely closed to traffic except deliveries in small trucks (think UPS sized delivery trucks and smaller) and everyone walks as they have for literally hundreds of years. You can get groceries, clothes, a nice dinner, specialty items, all within 5 minutes of your home. Mail delivery systems are even on foot with a small pull-cart. By shrinking the size of shops and having more of them, each shop then only needs a small truck to keep it stocked.

[@barbaranevesmaia2462]

Hi, I'm a deaf student of architecture and urbanism. Please put closed captions in the videos. #Moreaccessibility, please.

[@toddkes5890]

4 ways to make a city more walkable: 1) Proper reason to walk. This can range from making cars having to go slower, to avoiding the cluster of building types. (By cluster he means don't put a park area, then an industrial area, a housing area, etc. Put a park near homes, a few small industries scattered around, etc. 2) walk has to be safe and feel safe. No sudden open areas where the walker feels exposed to being hit by cars, or dealing with excess rain/sun. Covered areas allow people to know that if the clouds overhead turn into rain, they can dry off. Confine cars to their lanes, and leave room for walkers. One example was putting it where you had car lanes, then car parking lanes, then bike lanes, then sidewalks. Walkers knew thy only had to watch out for bicycles, and bicycles had parked cars to protect them from cars. 3) walk has to be comfortable. No sudden ledges to get off the road. 4) walk has to be interesting. If people get bored walking to a location, they will turn around and not continue. Shorter blocks (200 feet vs 600 feet) mean there is more variety/storefront to see. Hope this helps

[@junkjackbuildernz]

check description. ted.com/translate apparently has closed captions

[@Basta11]

This man is doing God's work. We need walkability back to our streets in the US, so badly.

[@exchangAscribe]

it wont happen

[@CoderShare]

This is my favorite Ted Talk ever.

[@bristoled93]

I walk everywhere, I live in the middle of Bristol England which is like most old cities in Europe, very walkable.

[@MrElectricVibration]

If it can be done then i consider this a worthwhile investment. Mostly for the health benefits of walking instead of sitting and air pollution levels dropping close to homes. Having little shops come back to life is a pretty nice bonus 2 :).

[@AnthonyFrancisJones]

Fantastic - and all so true. Living and having a real interest in Telford (UK) it is good to see how these ideas can be used in a New Town. So much of what works is also counterintuitive and it takes passion, drive and determination to get ideas such as these implemented.

[@mfaran727]

1- There needs to be a proper reason to walk 2- The walk has to be safe and feel safe 3- The walk has to be comfortable 4- The walk has to be interesting

[@joshamorris]

#1 way to make city more walkable is to make housing affordable for people who need to walk to live inside city limits.

[@elietheprof5678]

It's actually the other way around. There just aren't enough walkable areas. Short supply and high demand make the rent too damn high. (The vast majority of homes are in places where you need a car.) The solution is to build more downtowns. Turn boring residential neighborhoods into hot spots with lots of fun stuff happening :)

[@mashedtomato2079]

@@elietheprof5678 amen!

[@notourz]

Cities have so much potential to be designed for the people who live and commute there but very few cities in the US are willing to make it so. It is tragic.

[@oleksandraverchenko9920]

Check Soviet Union block planning. Everything you need is in 5 minutes from your apartment by foot. Kindergarden, School, Store, Hospital e.t.c.

[@JanBaars]

bike lanes in New York are still horrible compared to what we do in Holland

[@sorrowandsufferin924]

I've been to Utrecht recently.. The amount of bikes is ridiculous. Never thought I'd experience bike traffic before. That is amazing

[@greenmachine5600]

Help us improve it then

[@majacovic5141]

@@greenmachine5600 watch the channel Not Just Bikes

[@frankhooper7871]

"people drive faster on wider streets" - the Dutch know this well and intentionally narrow streets to slow traffic down.

[@sorrowandsufferin924]

The dutch also take the danger of being run over by bikes instead, at least in smaller cities (or is this just a thing in Utrecht? or in parts of the cities?)

[@stijn4771]

@@sorrowandsufferin924 I'd rather live in a good quality city with the occasional dodging of a cyclist (which is actually a good thing, cause that means that people are meeting eachother and that the city is bruising), than in a low quality city such as the examples this man gave in the talk, where everyone never meets anyone in the street as everyone travels by car.

[@sorrowandsufferin924]

@@stijn4771 Wasn't criticizing the occasional cyclist, I was merely remarking upon the paradox of jamming the streets with bikes so much that the only benefit is an early grave from burnout because no-one gets anywhere anymore on these filled-to-the-brim-with-bikes-streets :D

[@stijn4771]

@@sorrowandsufferin924 Haha, then I must have misunderstood your point. In that case, yes, (especially) Amsterdam is a crowded place considering cyclists. You'll get a burnout before you can arrive at your destination XD

[@funnymanatwork]

I'll still drive fast, the dutch can't tell me what to do!

[@lochinvar00465]

Speaking of narrow streets in residential zones; I'm on one and even though it is posted as "no parking" on one side people still do because they are parking two or more cars and only one will fit in their driveway. Technically they could get a ticket for that, but I have yet to see it. With a car parked on one side, traffic is narrowed to one lane width at that spot, we just live with it.

[@ScooterinAB]

It's surprising how important it is to build cities for the people who live in the city rather than the cars that live there.

[@IAMDIMITRI]

I don't have a drivers licence because I always lived in a city where I could walk and tram everywhere. I liked it!

[@voiceofreason1663]

Amazing speech. Hopefully the city I live in implements this idea,

[@narayanbabu5323]

thank you this helped me in SimCity and cities skylines

[@Koellenburg]

me too, it works surprisingly well :) .... just keep the industry away from the residental zone^^

[@a7i20ci7y]

Decentralizing commercial space is difficult when Amazon and Walmart have destroyed all the small businesses.

[@OBSMProductions]

Euclidean zoning really back that up also.

[@robinturnbull1731]

So glad British towns and cities are built at a time where carts were the widest things

[@sarcasmo57]

I miss my time back in China, everything I needed was within walking distance. No suburbia except for the super rich, mostly empty investment homes anyway.

[@cluengove]

lol

[@guendoff2400]

shanghai is amazing

[@grondhero]

Do you miss the 50 lane highways where traffic can be backed up for days?

[@grondhero]

@@pixiepandaplush I'm certain those 50 lane highways don't keep everything in walking distance, though. ;)

[@OBSMProductions]

@@grondhero Dude they got high speed rail now (although I've heard the station placements/land use isn't the best)

[@alan6832]

Deregulation at 16:20 is the best part, The worst part is about spending money to narrow streets after having spent money to widen them. Cities need to stop meddling and live with their mistakes, though there is a deregulatory bit there too about repealing minimum width regs at 12:25.

[@georgewu5]

My block contains (4) 40 stories and (12) 6 stories container housing with pocket Central Parks between them which are on top of the garages. each block is connected by footbridges over the street with traffic. All these are built along the side of high-speed railways, between Hong Kong and Beijing. George Wu, ARCHITECT, A.I.A., NCARB 2018-11-24

[@MaryJane-en8eh]

Our small town in Northern BC Canada has many streets with no sidewalks.. Missing sidewalks between home&school.. And logging truck flying through town. Nothing between our sidewalks& the road.. No limit of where they can drive, & a lot of them don't stop.. So they burn red lights all the time.. You just don't walk when 1is approaching& you have a green light.. They often can't stop.. Money and business is very important to them here.. Even more than safety..

[@_Diana_S]

Have you discussed this with your town's authorities and see what can be done with limited budget that it has? if it is a small town, your mayor should know the situation and be understanding and open for conversation. Maybe he or she has children or grandchildren that also have to walk to the same school?

[@Raven.flight]

Interesting video. As an avid cyclist I'm interested in anything that increases cycle friendly cities. I have always thought that a strong 'share the road' advertising campaign would work well, but I'm seeing what he means where 'every lane is a bike lane' means 'no lane is a bike lane'. Yeah, I might brave it, but most people wont, and you have to get a critical mass effect to reduce risk of injury. Bike lanes are definitely the way to go, but they also have to be real bike lanes, not afterthoughts. The bike lane that is full of road refuse because it never gets swept (because, well, we didn't really mean it, we only want to clean where the cars go) or buckled due to tree roots just push cyclists back onto the road, and then the drivers are pissed off because the cyclists 'aren't using the bike lane'.

[@deplorabled1695]

Meanwhile in Australia this kind of development continues unabated. Massive, ugly sprawling suburbs, often even with no footpaths (just grassy verges). They build 3,000 houses, then a stripmall about 2km away and the primary school on a main road on the outskirts. Nobody can walk their dogs, kids don't feel safe biking around and going for a walk is an exercise in how to induce rapid onset depression and anxiety.

[@abramthiessen8749]

Living in Thunder Bay I see a large gap between the older city cores where I can run to three different grocery stores 15 minutes from my house with lovely sidewalks featuring benches and statues along a narrow road. And the newer parts of the city which have wide dangerous roads with zoned suburbs and shopping districts. I bike everywhere and so when I went to the movie theatre down the 4 lane road and found out they weren't open, I decided I wanted to go to the mall that was just 1 block away. But to get to that mall, I had to get past a 7ft fence topped with barbed wire which only opened at the vehicular entrance to the theatre parking lot. There is no sidewalk and so I had to walk briefly the driving lane to leave the theatre. And for what? Why do they seem to hate pedestrians so much? Why did I have to enter the mall by the "contractor's" entrance or else walk a quarter of the way around? Half of the city seems to understand and the other side just doesn't.

[@_Diana_S]

Why don't you write to your city council or whatever it is called?

[@abramthiessen8749]

@@_Diana_S Good idea.

[@Reichieru1]

There are areas in my city that are very walkable and some that are not. One of the big differences in those areas is the success of the independent, locally owned stores and restaurants. The walkable areas have a lot more of the independently own stores. Heck, the big box book store closed and we still have the independent one downtown.

[@markcarey8426]

Brilliant! Just what I was looking for. Reminds me of A Pattern Language.

[@hauntedshadowslegacy2826]

With the advancements in making manufacturing processes safer, less toxic, and more contained, why hasn't this kind of intermingled planning come forth yet? It's a clear benefit to literally everyone. Old, young, rich, poor, working, looking for work, learning from school, teaching at school... I cannot think of a single instance where planning like this would be harmful to anyone.

[@elietheprof5678]

Because people haven't been talking about it enough... Yet.

[@mickesmanymovies]

It would seem I live on the opposite side of that scale... From my apartment I could reach any shop or mall by bicycle in 15 minutes or less. On a couple of occasions when going on shorter airplane trips to our capital, I've even strapped my carry-on luggage to the back of my bike and pedalled to the airport (where the city has built a really nice, heated indoors garage for bikes - cars are referred to the outside lot). At a leisurly speed I can get to the airport in just about 10 minutes.

[@XanderB42]

Now I’m glad I live close to Portland OR

[@Ritaaw1]

I live in Tampere, Finland. We have a small airport outside the city and there is buses and taxis that can take you there. I found it funny when I saw american tourists hire a car for such a walkable city with good transportation system. Hiring a car in Tampere is not necessary unless you are going to a national park or a small village far away, which I´m hoping they got the car for.

[@HenryWiygul]

How fascinating! It seems so intuitive yet completely overlooked!

[@durpface1087]

When you play too much cities skylines.

[@mengyugao8050]

We as players never build cities for people in that game... With 12 lanes wide expressway and AI only uses 2 lanes

[@magnushmann]

I'm danish, so I always build cities with tons of public transport options, pedestrian paths and bike lanes everywhere, mixed plot type layout, interesting street layouts and only with the road size necessary. Basically how cities in Denmark are or will be. This yields very good results in the game.

[@mengyugao8050]

Yes, and the danish way is how you should build cities. People in real life and in Skyline are looking for the fastest option. If EXPRESSway is the answer, than your city will be congested. With other options being faster, there won't be congestion.

[@Rallarberg]

"Too much"? I don't understand.

[@jayturner5242]

Build 2 lanes then.

[@saraa7117]

the problem nowadays is, if we add 15 lines for cars, they will get filled by cars. the traffic will get worse if not instantly, then gradually. But if we as designers build cities where people can walk to get their essential and be connected to their neighbours as well as a beautiful street to enjoy the sunny walks and be protected/ shaded in the summer heat, that will fix almost all the issues we face in today’s society(my street has around 40 houses, only 10 trees on the street and imagine walking on a typical day when its 40 degrees, the summer heat burned my face just by walking 500m). besides depressions and most of today’s suicides happen because people got disconnected and became strangers to one another. we live in a society where two people live next to one another for 3 years and never see each other, if they do all they offer one another is "HI", "GOODBYE". We need to build for people not cars and machines.

[@citiesskyscrapers4561]

Great talk. Really interesting, educational and entertaining.

[@imcarlosjr4898]

Yup

[@spotlight-kyd]

In Germany we're replacing bicycle lanes with buffer zones with parking cars again with lanes directly next to the car lanes, because the former are actually deadly to bicyclists, because they get run over by cars taking a right turn and not seeing the byciclist because of the parked cars. If the bycicle lane is next to the car lane, the drivers are better aware of who they share the road with. Over countries (e.g. the Netherlands) have been probably aware of this for a long time, but in Germany we're a but slow when it comes to infrastructure for bikes.

[@angelic8632002]

Welcome to Europe? Seriously though. Good talk. More like this please :)

[@statelyelms]

I hope the bike boom sparks the return of this kind of city. I am blessed enough to live in one of the older cities in North America so we still have a very dense, tightly packed and lowrise mixed-use downtown.. but it is small and expanding so, so slowly compared to the ever-sprawling suburbs. Yes, automobiles have had huge effects here too, and taken some of what made the city so nice. We're coping and plans are in place to densify things and correct some mistakes, but it doesn't appear we're fixing enough to really reverse how much the car has torn us apart. It's very sad.

[@Northstar1989]

11:40 are you kidding me? One-way streets can handle MUCH more traffic for their size than 2-way streets. Narrowing the number of lanes to accomodate bike paths and on-street parking (ideally, accompanied by a reduction in off-street parking requirements for developers) makes sense, but turning the 1-way streets into 2-way streets does not. 2-lane One Way streets are safer and easier to cross than 2-lane bidirectional roads... The rest of the talk is interesting and accurate, though. I particularly liked what they did to the overpass bridge at the end...

[@bcubed72]

Supadubya One-way streets are horrible and should be outlawed. And bicyclists have right to the road; let 'em share it, and don't segregate 'em.

[@catprog]

That is a good idea. We set the speed limit for cars to the bicycle speed and then they can share.

[@bcubed72]

catprog Quit trying to inconvenience the whole world to accommodate you! Speed limit on residential streets are typically 25 MPH; you ought to get close to that as a bicyclist. No further accommodation necessary.

[@catprog]

So the speed limit is already the bicycle speed?

[@bcubed72]

Fairly close, assuming you don't suck as a bicyclist.

[@thelastoddman901]

I would love to sit all day to listen to his lecture.

[@liuton2005]

I guess this guy is super good at Sim City.

[@Koellenburg]

fun Fact here.. the Standard Sim City 5 road had already four lanes :D

[@gabrieljardine]

guess not. Sim City and most of the cities simulators don't give points to some human values, as far as i know.

[@KrishnaSharma-nx9dy]

@@gabrieljardine city skyline does

[@Josh-wq8tt]

Growing up in small town midwest America, the big trucks were never allowed on most streets in town. They had to stay on the main thoroughfares. At least then the big trucks aren't in your face and requires smaller vehicles to local businesses that aren't on that main street. Denver is spending large amounts of money putting in rail transportation. The only thing I have noticed that it has accomplished is something else to make driving in the city dangerous, and rarely are the trains even partially full. This guy speaking in the video I think has it right, it takes more than one design change to fix the problem.

[@mollyskittles4499]

This is the most ted talkiest Ted talk ever

[@sorrowandsufferin924]

Nice to hear you know what this is. I have, frankly, no idea of the concept, I simply like a couple of these. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I like Ted Talks, even though I don't know what Ted Talks are

[@luddity]

Mexico has lots of colonial era towns where people can walk everywhere because they were built to accommodate people and horses and carts only. Cars have to be parked. People take buses or ride motorcycles if they need to go somewhere farther away. Narrow cobblestone streets full of trees, flowers, fruit and craft vendors and sidewalk cafes and food carts. They all have central parks, plazas and/or gazebos and lots of public art and comfy benches and are welcome sanctuaries from car culture and a great model for livable cities of the future.

[@GenJotsu]

Knowledge is power. Ignorance is bliss. You choose.

[@GronTheMighty]

Well he's onto something i think. I live in Copenhagen and bicycle about 8 km to work in the spring, summer and fall, though in the winter i walk to the nearest train station and go by city train and then walk to work, netting about 4 km of walking to get where i need to be. It is of course faster to bicycle, and it turns out both options are almost the same speed as driving :)

[@_Diana_S]

Are you riding in your business suit? Or change and shower at work?

[@georglp3006]

I suddenly really feel like playing Cities Skylines

[@JueBuhLee]

In 1973, I lived in NW Washington, DC for four months while a studying at Howard Univ. Beautiful city, Very walk-able. No skyscrapers, stately row houses. For most of my life, 35 years, I lived in San Francisco (from post university to retirement). San Francisco is a wonderful Fellini-esque roller coaster ride of a city: interesting architecture; more restaurants per capita than any other place in the US; excellent public transportation. And the people of SF are the best. According to Zillow, most neighborhoods in SF rate 90+ for walking and biking. At 66, I've never had the need for a car--never owned one. For the last seven years, l have lived in my hometown, Memphis, a horrible city for walking. Streets too wide to cross safely. It's like one gigantic strip mall with side streets for neighborhoods. Drivers here have no respect for pedestrian. Just from my not walking miles per day as I used to, my health has declined. Soon I will move to Sosua, DR where I plan to walk for miles daily on the beach.

[@viorelagocs]

What prevents those cul-de-sac neighbourhood residents in the US from opening small shops on their property, so other people in the area don't need to drive a few miles to the closest mall for groceries and stuff? I thing it would be a smart way to get back their neighborhood from big developers and turning it in their own. That would promote walking as well. And it would offer jobs too. Why don't they do that?...

[@danidrinx7842]

Viorel Agocs because american laws are written by people on the payroll of large, international corporations.

[@TabbyeLynne]

Strict zoning laws that were originally made to prevent integration and that are still in place now and the pressure from the car/oil industries to keep them on place

[@orangeziggy599]

Zoning laws that prevent business from operating in the suburban neighborhoods.

[@isaackarjala7916]

Zoning, and it's pretty difficult to get semi trucks into neighborhoods

[@poisonpotato1]

Viorel Agocs Zoning laws and Licenses Taxes, fees, inspections, and requires a lot of time and money

[@leomoran142]

This is what I love about Tokyo: There is nothing that you can do in a city that you cannot do within walking distance. There are no zoning laws, so you find all sorts of businesses in any chome (neighbourhood) in any ward in the city. If you want to go to a specific business which is on the other side of the city, nowhere in the city is much more than a 15-20 minute walk from a train station (which itself has a variety of businesses within)

[@normanzoelle5154]

European city`s beeing much older, we generally don`t have these problems in Germany.

[@waltermarlin1730]

Americans are generally self-centered and look at other people in public more like annoying obstacles than anything else.

[@erikziak1249]

I put Germany, Austria and Switzerland (at least he german speaking parts) as prime examples of working public transport systems which everybody should learn from. There are exceptions of course.

[@kayem3824]

Norman Zoelle You just like living off selling cars to the rest of humanity.

[@Malte.Research]

And still Germany needs to do a lot regarding Bikelanes.. to catch up with the Netherlands or Copenhagen:)

[@TheAdekrijger]

Finally sensible city planning

[@luizaugustoprado1358]

i discovered it playing sim city 2000.

[@thejaramogi1]

Netherlands started doing this from early on. Most city centers are car restricted. More enjoyable to walk or cycle.

[@_Diana_S]

What if someone is 60+ years old, has arthritis and can't walk and cycle? Or even disabled? Should they go back out of sight and stay at home as it still is in many European and other world cities?

[@hendman4083]

@@_Diana_S They can get a special electric vehicle designed for people who cannot walk or use a bike. Those vehicles can be used on sidewalks and bike lanes, and of course inside shops or other destinations. And when I say "get", I mean they can apply for such a vehicle with their municipality and get one for free.

[@SDKsa1]

Making fun of the escalators to the gym might be very easy for the narrow minded, just because you have a degree does not mean you are smart in every other field. This is about accessibility for older people, impaired movement, physically disabled, obese with destroyed knees, injured, etc. This allows them easy access to the gym so they can get better sooner. The regular fit person should be using the stairs.

[@Jahu-qs2us]

Why are there stairs in the first place? If you want to ensure accesibility you should build a gym thats even with the ground or you add a ramp for the people you mentioned.

[@SDKsa1]

@@Jahu-qs2us Plots of land aint equal man. There are many constraints that should be taken into consideration.

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

There were ramps flanking the building but still a valid point, I think he was just trying to be funny but it came off as ignorance

[@grondhero]

I have a physical disability with both my knees and legs, so an escalator would be used 100% of the time; however, you can't *see* my disability because I can still walk and wear pants. The talker is extremely condescending on anything that doesn't agree with him.

[@SDKsa1]

@@grondhero As an interior designer and a designer overall, Accessibility is a fact of life that we must deal with. We can not shun a population or feign ignorance of said populations plight. We must take into consideration all the factors of each and everyones lifestyle, or atleast attempt to.

[@ahikernamedgq]

This video autoplayed after another video I was watching ended. This was a great, interesting talk. Very enjoyable.

[@bogbog]

Meanwhile me living in an underdeveloped country: *Cries in Sri Lankan*

[@marjae2767]

This pretty much assumes people can drive. "Then you get a car." If we can't drive, or take the bus, we may still need to be able to walk from place to place. Current transportation policies assumes that if you can't drive, you are acceptable collateral damage.

[@thereprehensible435]

15:00 "How swoopy is that curve...?" Whoa buddy, that blacksoot engineering garble flew a little high over muh head.

[@sirsupesafro7637]

I really like this dude. He seems like a nice guy to hang around. The young lady from the "Why Space Exploration Is The Worst" TEDTalk could learn a few honorable traits from him.

[@freddylubin]

It's really a shame to see what's happening to Hanoi, one of my favorite cities, as more and more people buy cars, rather than the minibikes which fit in well with a walkable city.

[@jayreed9370]

The short north in Columbus Ohio is definitely lively as a result of that bridge. But what you don't see is at the opposite end of downtown (the south end) German Village is suffering because it still retains a corresponding bridge that effectively acts as a moat and repels pedestrians. If they were to cap the freeway on that end, then the zone of walkability would expand accordingly. It's sad they haven't learned from the lesson of the Short North bridge...the state government in Columbus is famously hostile to pedestrian-focused infrastructure, transit and non-highway transportation spending.

[@rogerwilco2]

I think the engineers know, but their political bosses do not. Especially if those get funds from the car industry.

[@lexaneli]

I do agree . Where I live, as an architect, we suggest so many feasible ideas, but politicians seems to think they know more than the technical professionals.

[@Slommy99]

Fascinating stuff, I’ve always found architecture interesting so this was a treat to listen to.

[@Starlightean]

'Merica! All I'm gonna say is, welcome to Europe.

[@ON-YT]

or Vancouver, Canada

[@RodrigoMera]

Welcome to the rest of the world

[@xtusvincit5230]

Basically, the premise of this video is making modern life zero to low tech. It presumes the car is a bad thing, but doesn't prove it. So you mean welcome to primitive Europe.

[@Josh-wq8tt]

It helps that most road systems in Europe were designed before the car ever became a huge thing. The video proves the point that most places prior to the 60's in the U.S. is designed to be more pedestrian friendly. Where we always get it wrong is everything is always designed around the damn car instead of focusing on the people.

[@andrewtucker94]

@@xtusvincit5230 'It presumes the car is a bad thing' - no, it doesn't. But it certainly encourages obesity if you rely on it.

[@thisisbs808]

Wow, very interetsing talk! Honolulu desperately needs this guy!