Cities Are Lovely & X Is a Dumpster Fire

[@CityNerd]

What's funny is, for the price of a blue check on X, which actually has negative value because it makes you look ridiculous, you can have a monthly subscription to Nebula, the creator-owned streaming service - AND you'll still have enough money left over every month to treat yourself to a seasonally appropriate coffee beverage. Use my custom link to get 40% off an annual subscription, and you'll really be helping the channel! go.nebula.tv/citynerd

[@jerredhamann5646]

Well if ur prespective as elon is cali which is overpriced and badly managed or texas which is a suburb larping as a city

[@TheWineroute]

I bought nebula because of you! This is important conversation keep it up. Talk about Public/Private Partnerships someday and how anti-democratic they are.

[@jerredhamann5646]

Wow twitter is packed with the far right who coulve guessed? Now if ur talking about rights than yes if ur talking about about economic improvement and d like all the asian tiger economies were basically either fascist or communist and quite frankly the communist economies all did market reforms in like the 70s-80s and became authoritarian autocratic captialist nations with a red banner or that is to say fascist. That is to say when developing a poor nation a well run autocracy for whatever reason outpreforms democracy or more likely there is a minimium level of wealth needed to have and maintain an effective democracy

[@riumudamc4686]

If you really believed what you're saying, you would move out of your comfortable neighborhood and into the lousy districts of the cities.

[@erinmac4750]

Good pitch for Nebula!😸 It's top on my list to get when my financial situation improves. As a city dweller, I found this video cathartic, putting the clowns/bits in perspective with lots of lovely shots of Atlanta, a city I need to visit. I'm on the periphery of the Bay Area, so I see a lot of what's going on with policy and population. Basically, the same individuals who made conditions there difficult, are the buddies/tech bros with the creator of the dumpster fire formerly known as Twitter. These folks, because of their serendipitous accumulation of wealth, seem to think that they know better about everything. Their latest foray into massive dystopia is the California Forever Project. If you haven't heard of this venture, it's likely something you'd be interested in covering, if for no other reason than this "15 minute city" will be a self-proclaimed "utopia." As they've already been operating to the detriment of the community and environment, and this is likely either a vanity project or to become a cultish enclave, I'm trying to bring as much attention to this billionaire funded blight coming to my backyard, aka the River Delta. The Highway 12 corridor between Rio Vista and Travis AFB is riparian habitat with interspersed seasonal, sustainable grazing. The area is entirely unsuitable for a population 400k city. It's a beautiful, fragile area supporting waterfowl, turkeys, foxes, tule deer, and more. Another reason for the land acquisition may be water rights, as a number of these parcels likely have senior water rights, meaning they get first priority. Since those are overcommitted, it's likely not enough to support the city they're planning, the water could be sold, used to influence the market, or could be used as leverage against the local municipalities to get whatever they want. These are the individuals who ruined SF, Silicon Valley, sectors of business, and now meddle in our elections. I'm hoping they can at least be stopped in the latter and detailed in their "development" ambitions here. Their energy and money should be focused on supporting and renovating the SF/Oak/SJ metro area. You may have already done a video on this...tired brain didn't check. Regardless, I hope you look into and follow this project/people because of your expertise and reach. Ps. Subscribed 😸🍀

[@silentqueue2344]

Every day I walk a mile to work and have for years picked up trash along the way because I don't like looking at it and believe that others don't either. Occasionally I get a thumbs up or a 'thank you'. I wonder how many of the people complaining about your tweet have ever lifted a finger to make the streets cleaner, y'know, like getting out of your car and contributing to the cleanliness of your community beyond paying taxes and expecting others to do it.

[@Hotspur37]

I do the same when walking or kayaking on local trainsl and water ways. The number of poeple that for some reason can carry a coffee cup with them when its full but cannot carry it once its empty is really annoying

[@TasteOfButterflies]

I think paying your taxes and not littering is where a sensible person's duty ends, actually. Picking up after others is going above and beyond, and acting like people who don't do it don't even get to complain is unreasonable.

[@ViperOfMino]

Bro, why do we pay taxes if not for that kind of stuff? As long as people aren't littering themselves. It's nice that you do that, but you're not some superior being to the rest of us because you're willing to do the city's job for free on your way to work.

[@sebastianjoseph2828]

Solely on the point of trash, yes there may be litter in cities but there's a dreadful amount of litter on the sides of highways, of suburban avenues, and even neighborhoods too. It's just harder to see when you drive past rather than walk past it.

[@pensivepenguin3000]

Exactly. Some Fox News-watching, low-information suburban couch potato is about as credible at telling me about cities as I would be at telling somebody else about string theory lol

[@cartilagehead]

Not to dig up partisan politics, but the amount and depth of scaremongering that rural/suburban conservatives appear to be exposed to is staggering and frightening. I recently moved out of the Boston metro after about a decade of living there because of costs rising past affordability, and the number of times that I've had to politely (or not-so-politely) debunk somebody's question or claim regarding "unchecked crime", "war zones", etc is truly depressing. They really do live in their own fantasy world.

[@EricaGamet]

As someone who lives in the apocalyptic sh*thole (apparently) of Seattle, I couldn't agree with you more about it being depressing. I grew up in the suburbs (actually of Boston as a child then of Denver as a teen)... and I was bored of living there. Moved to the city 10 years ago and love being in the action. Do we have crime and homelessness and mentally unwell people? Yep! And so do other places but it's more concentrated. Anyway, preaching to the choir, but it's "interesting" to hear other folks' opinions on what cities are like.

[@matthewconstantine5015]

I moved to an urban center after 30 years of living in a semi-rural town and yeah. I can't tell you how many people said things like, "you'll be back," "don't get mugged," and "make sure you don't go anywhere alone." After almost two decades here, and now living in the city itself, I can tell you I've never felt less safe than when I went back to my home town a few years ago. Even so, when I talk to folks who still live in my home town, they're filled with fear and straight-up hatred of cities and the people who live in them.

[@bulletsandbracelets4140]

I've lived in the Chicago area ever since graduating and same. I've had to stop looking in the comments of other channels when they talk about cities because I got tired of people who have never been to my city speaking as if it is a combat zone. Every city has areas that are rougher, but the communities that reside in those areas often are the ones putting the most work into changing that. It's so incredibly disrespectful to speak about someone else's home, a place they have never been and never will go, like that. I have to correct family oftentimes too. It's exhausting and incredibly sad how they view the world and people around them.

[@EricaGamet]

@@bulletsandbracelets4140 It's exhausting sometimes. I visit Chicago frequently and often travel by bus and train late at night. Obviously, there are places to avoid and/or keep your wits about you, but people miss out on really cool interactions and vibrant people and places by keeping their stance on how "crappy" cities are. Quick Chicago story: I was walking back to my hotel one night around midnight near the "magnificent mile." But I was on a road that was on the lower level. I thought, "I should go up and walk on Michigan Ave. because it's probably safer." Got up and one block later there was a shooting. Part of me thought about going to investigate, but the part of me that used to live in Los Angeles said, "No, you need to get to your hotel now." None of that has changed my mind on walking around cities. A favorite photo of mine was one I took under the "L" tracks in the loop at about 3am. Reminds me of a scene from "Ghost." Anyway, people who are afraid of cities are missing out!

[@Weenpuncher]

@@cartilagehead as someone who lives in suburbia, your observation is 100% correct, and engaging in those conversations is like speaking to a wall

[@critiqueofthegothgf]

love this new city nerd who just dunks on project 2025 and tech bros

[@erynpimentel915]

Project 2025 and tech bros are bad for cities, so that checks out

[@treebeard1790]

it's been straight gas and I'm here for it

[@personzorz]

As we all should

[@TheSteinbitt]

Everything is turning into politics, it’s sad for the rest of us.

[@chromie6571]

@@TheSteinbittWell, this is a politics channel. There’s always Markiplier or something if you don’t want politics

[@dustinDraig]

6:25 Mussolini didn't make the trains run on time. He made it illegal to report on train delays

[@longiusaescius2537]

Infrastructure not real

[@michaelphillips2079]

Yeah I'm sure you have it on good authority

[@CityNerd]

"If we stop testing for COVID the numbers won't go up"

[@steemlenn8797]

And Hitler didn't build the first Highway. It actually was build under (mayor) Adenauer, the first (West German) Chancellor after WWII. Funny how it's always similar "alternative facts", isn't it?

[@grantmantz4204]

Very much like the recent "crime decrease"... and yes crime is down of 30yr highs, fair enough. Change "shop lifting" from $50 to $1000 there will be less. Have the DA not press charges for a burglary. Have the police not show up , there will be less crime?

[@sdeepj]

Where nuance and reading comprehension goes to die. That’s the best description of Twitter I have heard

[@Pazuzu4All]

tbf it's hard to use nuance when you have a character limit.

[@ecurewitz]

@@Pazuzu4Alljust keep adding posts as necessary

[@wekky420ranarr]

I see someone post the pic a of post that says "twitter be like: I love pancakes! and someone responds with "so you hate waffles?" and forever that has been my experience on that rathole.

[@nunyabidness3075]

That’s nothing new. That’s why I left years before Elon bought it.

[@Giant_Bulldog]

Fascism is a good thing. They lied to us about WW2 history

[@MilkIsASauceTV]

Every conversation on litter or homelessness in cities always devolves in one side just blatantly hating the poor or mentally unwell. So exhausting

[@ethank5059]

It just seems like a false dichotomy to me. If we have more housing and rent goes down we'll also see fewer homeless people on the streets and there will be a greater tax base that can pay to keep cities cleaner. As urbanists I don't think we have to pick between "trashy cities versus jackboots"

[@rkma]

@@ethank5059 I think Ray was talking about the priorities people express when it comes to urbanism

[@ethank5059]

@@rkma but it’s still bad framing. I can be pro democracy and anti trash AND typically autocratic regimes do worse at managing things like cleanliness. I don’t we have to prioritize one or the other and when someone like City Nerd frames it that way it implies we do

[@rkma]

@@ethank5059 Are you kidding? Are you even listening to yourself? These two things are not even on the same order of magnitude.

[@SomePotato]

@@ethank5059 Nobody said you can't be pro democracy and anti trash.

[@christopherneil8265]

Twitter was always a dumpsterfire, but it was *our* dumpsterfire. Now it’s Elon’s dumpsterfire.

[@JamesJensen-g4m]

Perfectly said.

[@InsidiousSwede]

Well put! lol

[@adventureisntfar]

I couldnt have said it better myself. Before elon I could look at Fandoms, local events/news, international/national news, but now its just unfiltered bigotry and facism propaganda dominating/looming over those topics... and so many more bots that before the buyout.

[@bloodycrepe]

@@adventureisntfar I haven't seen any facism propaganda on X. Care to cite any "tweets"?

[@DistractedDaisy]

Everyone here should just cancel their Twitter account!

[@NelsonBrown]

How much city grit and grime are directly or indirectly due to cars? Just like noise, I think our perception of old, dirty cities is really due to automobiles.

[@NelsonBrown]

Leaves and other biomass kinda stick out in a concrete environment. Personally I'm fine with letting it sit until it's soggy and compressed. Those sterile lifestyle centers must be using leaf blowers every other day, and that's just an obnoxious way to keep that "clean" aesthetic.

[@machinismus]

@@NelsonBrownI hate leafblowers so much lol. Woke me up at like six yesterday morning.

[@Darth_Bateman]

Two words : Industrial District. Cars do not even scratch the surface, boyo.

[@ViperOfMino]

​@@Darth_Bateman Yeah lol pollution/dirtiness has been a huge problem in cities way before the automobile. Anyone who thinks cities were like...not "dirty" before cars came around, well, it really shows who doesn't know their history. It's even been a problem since even before the industrial revolution, nevermind after it started.

[@rkma]

@@NelsonBrown Apart from the atomic bomb, I can't think of any more evil invention than the gas-powered leaf blower.

[@NicolasEmbleton]

Fun fact re broken windows theory, Malcolm Gladwell, the author that made the theory popular, JUST made a Ted talk explaining why he was wrong about it.

[@mikeymullins5305]

Wow I'll have to go watch that!

[@critiqueofthegothgf]

Gladwell has done irreparable damage to society; this isn't his only mistake

[@stiffjalopy4189]

@@critiqueofthegothgfdo tell? I’ve enjoyed a lot of his stuff. Don’t always agree with it, but it’s usually thought provoking at least. He really hates golf courses, so he can’t be all bad.

[@kylejohn44]

Lmao Malcom Gladwell is not the reason that theory is popular. It’s been around for a long time

[@JayseabeeSTL]

@@stiffjalopy4189I'd guess that @critiqueofthegothgf is probably just not a fan of a few very specific things that Gladwell has gotten wrong throughout the years. However, in general, he tends to advocate and espouse generically agreed upon and positive ideals like a focus on education, empathy, etc. He does tend to oversimplify things at times in search of a sort of grand idea that ties it all together, as he did with Outliers, Tipping Point, etc. I don't think that's inherently bad, and I certainly don't think he intentionally reached incorrect conclusions, just that his tendency to strive for a succinct principle to summarize a whole topic inevitably leads to faulty conclusions due to lack of nuance.

[@TMAC803210]

Many things can be true. Twitter is a dumpster fire. Many cities are lovely. We all need to do a much better job on making our cities and public transit cleaner and safer.

[@dianethulin1700]

Yes! I'm glad I voted to fund MUNI in San Francisco. All cities AND suburbs need to have excellent public transportation

[@ElyonDominus]

Yeah but that requires slightly higher taxes and we've got no appetite for that.

[@eric2500]

@@ElyonDominus We do once we understand that we can get it by raising the taxes on the .1%!!! That is, not even a big tax raise for the Super Rich, just for the Super Duper Rich * Which They Will Not Even Feel!*

[@leftoverbacon]

@@ElyonDominusnot necessarily. when we allow cities to develop without mandated car dependency, costs go down and revenues go up. No new taxes would be needed. In an ideal urbanist setting, taxes would likely go down.

[@AmurTiger]

@@leftoverbacon You need a ton of capital investment to get there though, hence the taxes. Cities don't get subways/skytrains/etc by some natural force of the market, they need government planning and investment to get there.

[@jeffwebb2966]

Most people who leave comments hating cities don't usually go there anyway. They stay in the suburbs almost all of the time and go downtown a couple times a year for sports. If you cannot handle seeing a homeless person or someone that looks different from you then you are really not living in the USA.

[@jaykay1899]

As someone who is interested in cities and watches videos about them sometimes - it is VERY strange how there always seems to be groups of people hoarding to the comments to talk about how horrible these cities are and acting like they’re complete wastelands. Like…why are they even watching the video in the first place?? Why do people feel the need to say these things?? So strange

[@the0ne809]

as someone who lives in NYC, I love being told on twitter that the city is infested by crime and we cannot go outside without getting shot or mugged. It is so funny because sometimes I am just on a bus or train late at night reading those comments without getting shot or mugged.

[@CP3oh322]

@@the0ne809 Greetings from "The Anarchistic Jurisdiction of Seattle! I think about these remarks often when I'm enjoying a coffee somewhere downtown. Are there problems and nonsense here? Of course, it's a major city, and one with a relatively mild climate which makes it attractive to transient folks. But people from Yakima or Chehalis really do seem to believe that we're all just being constantly knifed by migrant ANTIFA murder-hobos every time we venture outside. All you can really say back is "You know, the worst thing about being knifed by ANTIFA hobos every day is that they always stab you in the exact same spot! Just the other day I was like "Look, Mr. ANTIFA hobo, can you please stab me somewhere else today? The usual spot is getting infected and it itches like crazy."" Logic doesn't trouble these people.

[@lisaw150]

​@@the0ne809I live in a big city in the west of Germany literally on the oh-so-dangerous party street and the fascists in the east like to tell me that "you can't leave the house" here and that women get raped left, right and centre when walking home alone at night. They will not accept my testimony to the contrary. Also, going by rent prices round here, a lot of people seem to want to live here.

[@walawala-fo7ds]

how are you not living in the USA? If a farmer in Montana growing the soy and greens that urbanists depend on for sustenance isn't living in the USA, then who is. You attempt to make a case for diversity yet fail to realize diversity of living is also a thing. People live in suburbs and rural areas, the food you eat is not grown in Manhattan. America is a diverse country indeed and it includes people that are not in cities or interested to ever be in one. That's diversity too.

[@abattlescar]

I knew the conservative rhetoric on the "dirtiness" of cities was exaggerated as soon as I started living my life and going anywhere outside of the suburb I grew up in. When I first got my driver's license many years ago, the first place I went was an art supply store downtown that my dad would never take me to because "downtown is crime-ridden and trashy." It was in a lovely little neighborhood, only complaint was that parking was difficult. So the next time I went, I took the train, to which my dad was appalled that I wouldn't just drive, he even offered to drive me. At first, I figured I just specifically found a good neighborhood and a good train line. Then after I had turned 21, I went downtown maybe once every 2 months to get drinks. My friends and I would have a lovely time exploring the neighborhoods over good food and good drinks. I got into a conversation with my aunt about going downtown. She had some errand to run and she was genuinely scared to go up there. I told her I go there all the time and it's nice. Turns out, the neighborhood I hang out in all the time is seen as some wretched hive of scum and villainy by conservative media. The only people I've ever seen there are 20 somethings like myself just living. I've seen a fair share of homeless people, but they're really not some disgusting subspecies, they're some of the kindest people I know. Nowadays, my biggest concern is that conservatives see me as the "riff-raff" they're warned about. It's so easy to be in your car with your windows up, in your own bubble, and see this world outside of your bubble as something scary.

[@Samcon1]

If the conservative platform was just about helping rural areas and small towns thrive, that would be fine. But the entire thing is schadenfreude, just damaging their perceived enemies so they don't have to help their own voters. It is actively hostile toward urban areas both in policy and rhetoric, ignoring the fact that these supposed uninhabitable war zones are still driving the world's largest economy.

[@longiusaescius2537]

@Samcon1 Blame Reagan

[@badart3204]

It’s just the modern continuation of the Jefferson vs Hamilton ideological split which has permeated for pretty much all of American history. They want the Jeffersonian Agrarian ideal and thus cities are considered corrupt as they inherently lend themselves to centralized power thus are enemies of liberty.

[@meteorical8036]

I live in San Francisco and I’m pretty stunned whenever I go to other cities and tell people I live there. I have seriously heard “oh I’m sorry”. Umm what? SF has problems but its reputation now is wild. People think the whole city is some decimated slum.

[@sagittated]

I'm in Portland, and have the same experience. My family has visited me and seen how nice it is here and told me they're hesitant to come back based on things they've seen on the news and read on social media. They live in a dying Midwest city filled with vacated parking lots and strip malls, and they act like I'm the one to worry about.

[@peterbejger3356]

And it's gone international. Friends who just came back from Europe tell me they got the same comments about SF overseas. Too bad the city government in all its wisdom decided to concentrate /tolerate open drug use and social dysfunction right in the heart of the city where all the major hotels and transport links are located.

[@longiusaescius2537]

@peterbejger3356 woah admitting problems? Fascist much? Yikes!

[@jorymil]

I loved visiting SF. But I couldn't afford to live there unless I made $150k/year. That's the crux of it. Housing has always been expensive in SF, but man... like $4k/month is something else.

[@cur244]

Right I get the same and find it hilarious when people talk about SF crime and then almost always they live in higher crime midwestern cities. The truth is most people form their opinions of places from the news and not from personal experience. Most Americans don't really travel outside of their state, especially rural people. I lived in FL for a decade and traveled to every part of the state and knew people that lived there for 40 years and never saw south FL.

[@eurodank]

I lived in Atlanta for 7 months to take a few university classes. The city is definitely moving in the right direction. 5-over-1's aren't the densest buildings in the world but looking down the street and seeing a similar lot size being occupied by a single Burger King puts things into perspective.

[@MazeFrame]

Other side of the pond (Germany) here. Mixed zoning is so good, imagine if your basement was a grocery store!

[@Maxime_K-G]

"Twitter is where nuance and reading comprehension go to die" Lmao, never knew I needed to hear that but it's so true.

[@Kevin_C_Leonard_63]

That NYC councilwoman who ranted to you about bike lanes maybe got her talking points from Ontario premier Doug Ford, who Reese of RM Transit seems to have a beef with because he wants the province to have the final say over any bike lane anywhere in Ontario that would, God forbid, remove a car lane. This was an issue that, if you recall, riled up the premier's late brother Rob Ford when he was mayor of Toronto.

[@Hotspur37]

Doug Ford has a reall hate for Olivia Chow who is hte current mayor of Toronto. She is big supportor of bike lanes and developing public transit. Ford cannot direclty attack Toronto so he has to put rules in for the entire province. He wants more highways, and turn the green belt lands over to developers

[@MichaelBennett000]

⁠@@Hotspur37Dofo absolutely can attack Toronto directly, he’s never getting the vote from the core and he’s got the amalgamated suburbs locked down opposing non-automobile solutions outside of toronto buys him (along with his literal $200 cheques) more votes with all his other ridings

[@andrelam9898]

Something is really wrong with the Ford brothers. One made it super obvious (the crack smoking one that is now dead), but the other one is only a little less bad. Truly sad.

[@sdesrocher]

It's gotten worse. There was an amendment added to the proposed legislation yesterday that mandates the province to remove three areas of bike lanes that were already built. The City gets no say in the matter.

[@MichaelBennett000]

@ remember, Ontario is the province that had a “common sense” revolution in the 1990s that amalgamated Toronto against the will of around 80% of the people in the core and boroughs This was supposed to save money yet costs Ontarians instead 🤦‍♀️ Put another way, in ten years when Doug’s folly is proven with data he’ll be retired or dead, and Michael Ford will be selling Ontarians some new foolery

[@fauzirahman3285]

As a Singaporean, I can say some of the things we're done to make the city clean may not be fascism. Yes, we have harsh fines (and had a history of caning graffiti artists). We also hire an army of street cleaners and environmental officers to give out fines. If the city is willing to hire more people to do this, then by all means you get cleaner streets and have a higher workforce. We also have racial diversity though our street art form is highly curtailed. That being said we don't have elected mayors and only a single tier of government.

[@anblesduke6360]

Thanks dude for your commentary. L Your calm and thoughtful approach is so welcomed relative to the hyperbole we are hearing so often these days.

[@timcareymusic]

As someone who left twitter a while ago. I appreciated this video. Thanks!

[@mechalpuco]

Ditto

[@PalmelaHanderson]

I have been traveling a lot recently, and one thing that keeps peaking its head in most cities that I can't keep out of my head is "urbanism for the rich." This struck me harder than I've ever seen once I paid attention to it when I was in Philly for a couple weeks. There are great areas of urbanist utopia in Philly.... if you can afford to live in those places. God forbid you don't work a 9-5 (the trains stop running hours before the bars close) or work on weekends. CityNerd mentioned it during the Miami video and I see it everywhere now - it's not just sun belt cities. Urban amenities need to be for everyone, not just "us." Hell, even in New York. God forbid anyone have a commute between Brooklyn and Queens. Only poor people do that. Those people get buses that get stuck in traffic unless they want to go all the way through Manhattan first, where all the rich people live.

[@dianethulin1700]

Doesn't New York have alternative ferry service between Manhattan and Queens?

[@eric2500]

My spouse drives the G train. Nicest subway line. Brooklyn to Queens. No Manhattan at all.

[@patrickboldea599]

As a rich person who lives in Brooklyn and is wealthier than all my friends who live in Manhattan, I feel offended by that remark. Truth be told there is affordable urbanism in New York. It’s just that it’s in the Bronx, deep Southern Brooklyn and parts of Queens. You’ll potentially be the only white person there and be one of the few single language English speakers born in the US and it may take you 60 minutes to get to certain parts of Manhattan but it is relatively affordable and safe. Emphasis on the word relatively affordable.

[@geeky_sasha6813]

Yup. I live in SF, and it’s very noticeable to me that the most walkable neighborhoods are the most expensive ones, and the best transit is all funneled to downtown. I live in one remote neighborhood and work in another. I would take PT if it didn’t take twice as long. That said, I’m sick to death of all these randos who don’t live here shitting all over SF. If you don’t live here and love it, you don’t get to complain.

[@PalmelaHanderson]

@@patrickboldea599 I was painting in a broad brush, of course there are exceptions. The point is that most transit development goes to the benefit of people who work 9-5 office jobs, everyone else is either tangential at best or outright ignored at worst.

[@Rickzolo]

Most people online are out of touch and lack some sort of connection with other people and cultures in their own city/town. Even if you dislike things people want or think about, there's no reason to straight up be mean about it. Basically, we love pointing fingers but can't seem to find solutions.

[@MarcDoughty]

My neighhood of urban multi-unit homes has had a few developments recently. We've added about 300 apartments within a few blocks. Almost everyone loves that street retail is coming back, we have taco trucks and a proper grocery again instead of pawn shops and storefront churches. There are more people outside and it feels safer. ...but everyone gripes about slightly more traffic and having to occasionally park a few houses down from your own. It's pretty wild to see people ascribe anything 'bad' to 'outsiders', enough to change their votes.

[@modalmixture]

I live and work near downtown Los Angeles and am not afraid of a little grit as part of city life. However, the way I would describe the streets here is not trash but “filth”. Every sidewalk, every wall, every surface covered with grime, piss, feces, food, drugs, trash, and god knows what else. You don’t want to touch anything. Public transit, parks, bikeshares, all the amenities that make walkable urbanism great - unusable. Obviously this is somewhat unique to the homeless situation here. But it is a situation that should not be normalized. I think it’s a losing attitude to say “Look at these bourgeois suburban fascists, bothered by a little trash in the streets!” We will lose. Ezra Klein had a podcast last week about how visible public disorder creates a visceral anxiety in people out of proportion to the actual crime rate. When people feel that, they retreat into sanitized and securitized bubbles of safety - cars, gated communities, private schools - and public amenities enter a downward spiral of neglect. We’d be wise to listen to that anxiety instead of dismissing it.

[@Ella-g2m]

Agreed. West coast has some serious issues, and it doesn't make us right wing devils to talk about it. You have tent encampments selling drugs in broad daylight while blocking sidewalks, bus stops, and ADA ramps. What are wheelchair users supposed to do, go all the way around the next block over? They bash out windows on the bus stops, get body fluids all over the place, and leave drug paraphernalia. They even light up on the bus, cooking, which is extremely hazardous to everyone around them. Passengers don't deserve the bus to be turned into a mobile drug den. I see them use the bus solely for conducting drug dealing, not transit. they get on, do a deal, and depart the next stop. Or people who need to be receiving help under supervision are instead having public freakouts on the bus from untreated...mental illness or addiction or whatever this traumatizing unnerving insanity is. I have seen some shit, and it happens every day, every single day. And the reaction is that many people drive instead of taking transit because they SEE this shit and feel rightly that it is unsafe and intolerable. I still use the bus but I can't in good faith recommend families with kids or vulnerable elderly people to use it. I shouldn't feel traumatized after a busride because someone who needs to be in a facility is instead loose around the city. It isn't fascism to enforce laws and some level of decency. A bus stop needs to be for bus users, not an encampment spot. a bus needs to be for transit users, not a mobile drug den, not a place for gronks to pass out across 2 seats in an otherwise crowded rush hour route where the rest of us are standing room only. There is a healthy middle ground between fascism and whatever the hell this is.

[@ericmoll1530]

Sounds to me like LA should start putting money into systems to help the homeless so they have a place to stay rather than leaving them to rot on the street and better funding to hire more workers to clean the place. Maybe they can even combine the two so the now-not-homeless also have work. And it'd be cheaper than throwing money at police and hostile architecture which helps literally no one and makes everyone even more miserable.

[@jayDB5]

@@ericmoll1530 Agreed with both you and @modalmixture!

[@HoboGardenerBen]

All that stuff is on your shoes when you get home. Even if you take them off at the entry you are definitely being exposed to a lot of fecal bacteria from people and animals from it. Probably a lot of parasitic worms too :)

[@__-fu5se]

Solving the housing crisis by, you know, freeing swathes of boomer Mcmansions for construction, could in the very least keep some of this people off the street. Additional service for mental health and support would also go along way.

[@untrustworthyshelfing9953]

Whenever my conservative friends start in about the state of America based on some random, inflammatory news clip, I tell them to go outside and meet people. Talk to their neighbors. Spend time downtown.

[@jyutzler]

Downtown is usually the worst part of an urban area. Pot smoke, crowded sidewalks, people showing off their cars, it's pretty much the most antisocial place imaginable.

[@untrustworthyshelfing9953]

This is such a bizarre and inaccurate reply it makes me wonder if you have ever lived in a city in your life.

[@godhimself1128]

​@@jyutzlerah yes the omnipresent clouds of pot smoke dominating the sidewalks 😂

[@johnw3772]

​@@jyutzler I know I was so disappointed to see how many people were out walking when I moved to a dense population center

[@pensivepenguin3000]

My Trump supporter mom grew up here in Portland Oregon, like literally has spent her entire 76 years in or around the city… And the cognitive dissonance she experiences is palpable lol., My wife and I will take her downtown to go see the lighting of the Christmas tree or catch some music event in the Square and she will have such a good time! She loves being around people, on an individual level she’s so accepting and Inclusive, doesn’t feel the least bit unsafe down there… But she still spouts the Fox News rhetoric that Portland and other big American cities are sh*t holes because of “the liberals.” It’s wild when Sean Hannity has more power over your perception of the world than your own damn eyes

[@TalussAthner]

That Paris is clean one is funny to me, cause I live near San Francisco and a friend of mine from Paris came and visited and his first reaction to SF was “its so clean compared to Paris!”

[@gloofisearch]

LOL, well. I am in both cities often, however, I must admit that Paris is far better than many other cities of that size. SF is like a village compared to Paris;-)

[@king_big_pp]

I had a friend who visited Paris and returned depressed because the city was dirtier and smellier than they expected. Goofballs still living in Plato's Cave lol

[@jyutzler]

I don't know anyone who has been mugged in any American city. Paris and Mexico, yes.

[@MazeFrame]

@@gloofisearch Which makes sense. Paris is smaller area wise and has more people in it (wiki numbers). Having roughly 2/3rds more people will amplify certain issues.

[@graysonric]

I lived 50 years in NYC and got mugged on the street only in Mesa, Arizona.

[@SincerelyFromStephen]

Musk said that if Kamala wins, she’s gonna send him to jail. I’m making sure I get to the polls right as they open so I can vote for her

[@apple1231230]

the classic "imprison my enemy" stance

[@colinstu]

as much as I want to believe that, did she really? How well's that working with the whole Trump-going-to-jail thing and he's done WAY worse? It sucks that in our society you get to a certain level of prestige and wealth that the rules no longer apply.

[@theobservarator6424]

@@apple1231230 Imprison conviticted criminals. What's confusing you?

[@jorymil]

I doubt he'll go to jail over his election prize stunt, but you never know.... That guy's a loose cannon.

[@jimthain8777]

The biggest difference between her, and her rival, is that he would send Mr. Musk to prison if Mr. Musk was against him. Ms. Harris will simply ignore him. She has bigger fish to fry than one "edgy" billionaire.

[@davidsprenkle2641]

I sense that there's a sort of frantic fear amongst the anti-city crowd that their chosen guy might lose next Tuesday. Lately, I see them lashing out more than usual in all sorts of places (sports commentary threads, video game reviews, etc.) To be fair, we're all more than a little anxious right now--but that doesn't excuse incivility. And nothing excuses support of fascism--not even being totally ignorant about what it really is.

[@ViperOfMino]

I hope so. I go between "Trump is gonna lose for sure" and "fuck, Kamala might actually lose next week" like twice a day lmao.

[@86pp73]

I get the impression that it might be dawning on a lot of Republican voters that Trump is genuinely struggling to hold it together most days, and that his party is just waiting for him to fall so they can martyrise him. Combine that with a neck-and-neck election race and the fear of RFK unintentionally splitting the vote (still on the ballot despite refusing to run), and I think it's safe to say that most Repub voters are terrified of having everything they've put stock in explode in their faces next week. Then again, I live in the UK, and this might be the first US election I've seen to get low or background coverage most days in a week. My observations might be a bit misinformed thanks to that

[@TukaihaHithlec]

@@themutable5684 How do you have a ten year old account when you were born yesterday?

[@themutable5684]

@@TukaihaHithlec Time travel, obviously.

[@nancylindsay4255]

Hang in there, Ray.

[@BrokenCurtain]

The last time fascism was overthrown in my country, the streets in our cities were littered with rubble. Also, during its reign, mobs were of armed thugs were trashing shops and homes (the anniversary of that event will be coming up in a few days). So I disagree with the notion that fascism results in cleaner or safer streets. That's just one of its many false promises and if someone tells you that you should vote for them because they will "clean up the streets", you should always look behind those vague notions of "order", check what exactly they mean and make sure they're not lying to you.

[@BrokenCurtain]

Also Germany nowadays is known for its clean streets. We accomplish this by giving money to the government, which then employs people to clean them. It's called "taxing rich people".

[@TukaihaHithlec]

Germany has my utmost respect for learning from the mistakes of its past. Few countries compare. Ironically, it feels like America learned nothing and is eager to try for itself.

[@badart3204]

⁠@@TukaihaHithlecAmerica hasn’t failed so hard it got occupied by foreign powers. Germany learned it’s lesson through 11% of its population dying, foreign occupation, and ethnic cleansing of the warlike regions of the nation (Prussia). America is like China without the century of humiliation. Big, powerful, and proud.

[@warheadsnation]

@@badart3204 America was created away from the militarily powerful empires of its time. It's never had to worry about foreign invasion no matter how badly it fails. The countries of Europe have always had to worry about it no matter how well they run their affairs.

[@bradfordwebster3181]

I never stumbled upon Citynerd in his Atlanta exploration 😔 even as I work next to the Westside Provisions District and live around the Beltline. Happy to hear you critique Westside Provisions District for what it is, and that you could see what else the city has to offer.

[@yaash4123]

Have any of these people not noticed any of the trash around just about any road in suburbs and rural areas?

[@Ella-g2m]

The trash types are different, but rural areas are notorious for illegal dumping. There are places in every little speck on the map where people just go and unload truckloads of garbage in the woods or on the side of the road. They even do it in creekbeds and riversides.

[@warheadsnation]

That's one of the important components to the American worship of the frontier. In low-density areas you can just ignore the bad things instead of dealing with them or what they say about your society. And if things get too dense or too dirty, you discard that place and move somewhere else and start the cycle all over again. Disposability is built into our culture of open spaces.

[@critiqueofthegothgf]

not to invalidate this entire video, as it's awesome, but I genuinely believe the majority of replies you displayed were AI. the AI generated art pfp's and blue checks make it really hard to believe dead internet theory isn't already here

[@planefan082]

The staggering silence of X for that period months back when Russia shut down their internet (to halt a Ukrainian attack) would indicate as such. Forgot the percentage drop in traffic but it was over half. To most political/controversial pages over 3/4.

[@ryanevans2655]

Yes, and well-documented foreign (Russian, Chinese, etc) bot farms that pose as American burners spouting Uber-controversial political takes to stir up undo strife.

[@railroadforest30]

Probably Russian bots

[@blueninja012]

​@@planefan082 this is a fun factoid

[@IamSpiders]

My wife in minneapolis had her car stolen so she took public transit (bus) to work. In the first week she had to deal with someone shitting themselves in the bus. It's kinda crazy we just accept making things worse for the public transit users (who are typically less affluent) cause we don't want to deal with the mentally ill and homeless in our cities. Like I have a feeling if the homeless/mentally ill only affected rich people who can drive anywhere or go to urban golf courses it would have been dealt with yesterday.

[@Ella-g2m]

Funny thing is the cops dont do a thing about homeless doing gronk activity in working class neighborhoods, but the minute one of them wanders into a high wealth neighborhood the cops are there in a heartbeat to arrest him. Even if the two neighborhoods are right next to each other, you can visibly observe the difference. Go to a rich neighborhood, even if it's in the city limits, and you won't see a single encampment. None! Only the rich get protection. Pigs are pay to play.

[@jorymil]

Everyone in an urban area should be required to live car-free for 3 months out of the year. You get a much better sense of reality that way. And perhaps some more attention would be drawn to the problems of public transit.

[@notNajimi]

Mhm, as long as the rich and the legislative class can avoid these issues then they’ll never be motivated to solve them. Why provide resources to homeless people to help them be better off when they’re only a problem for other poor people?

[@badbirdkc]

These people watched Robocop 35 years ago and think that's how all cities are.

[@longiusaescius2537]

@badbirdkc TIL RoboCop runs the LA lite street races next door all night

[@Rudenbehr]

sf is robocop

[@blarghblargh]

​@@Rudenbehrsf voted a second time in 2022 and repealed robocop. The city is almost all fine, and most of it actually pretty darn nice.

[@rubyfoxall1656]

there's understandably a lot of frustration with how long it takes to build transit & housing in north america, and with safety & cleanliness on transit, but i do feel like i've heard more discourse from urbanists recently about how much we could get done if we had someone like robert moses or xi jinping. (having lived in china, "clean cities" can really reduce the vibrancy of the city - like having fewer street vendors, for one.)

[@tony_5156]

Cleaner as in not letting homeless people and drug junkies on trains and busses? That’s part of the American stigma against public transportation.

[@peterbejger3356]

@@tony_5156 It would be useful if they can collect fares as well, something San Francisco Muni and BART seem to have neglected the last few years...

[@qjtvaddict]

Clean cities ARE VIBRANT

[@bluester7177]

​Depend on what you define as clean, to some people clean means incredibly boring and sterile.

[@NoTimeForNoodles]

Please please please just vote. Also, make sure that vote is cast for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. No matter which state you're in. If you love transit and cities, the state of Minnesota under Governor Walz has been a leader in improving transit service recently, with new BRT lines in Minneapolis and the new Borealis Amtrak service. Don't sit this one out.

[@ElyonDominus]

Do this but don't let up after you vote. Call your state and federal critters. Write them. Unionize and collectivize your workplace, your community, and advocate for these things to your friends and family. Expect nothing to happen if all you do is vote once or twice (primary/general) once or twice(presidential/midterms) every four years.

[@NoTimeForNoodles]

@@ElyonDominus Absolutely, but I'm emphasizing voting since that *is* the absolute biggest thing everyone can (and must!) do over the next week.

[@ElyonDominus]

@@NoTimeForNoodles I just wanted to add that while voting is important it will accomplish little by itself. I think that is something a lot of folks, especially liberal folks, fail to realize or plan or account for.

[@pavelow235]

I feel like telling people who to vote for is facist in nature.

[@longiusaescius2537]

@pavelow235 it's different because reasons comrade

[@davider563]

I just love how everyone thinks the goal of conversations is to make other people think exactly like themselves. There is no way it should be a discussion that helps both parties understand more and be more empathetic, that'd be lame

[@lws7394]

​@@Rubicola174 😅

[@Osty789]

People don't seem to understand that in a Fascist state, is that even if you are a loyal party member, if a rich connected guy wants your house or your wife, he can take them. And if you object too loudly you end up in jail or dead. Worked with a Romanian. She and her husband worked in England and saved enough money to retire in Romania. Until that is, the new owners of the bank took their account. When they went to the police, they were told that if they filed a report they would be killed.

[@notNajimi]

Fascism at the end of the day is a “might makes right” ideology that requires an underclass to persecute. If they manage to expel all their enemies then they’d just make new enemies out of their allies, under fascism if you are vulnerable or a perceived threat then you are on the chopping block even if you are not *yet* the target.

[@merelk.9530]

Honestly, I loved living in Singapore. I was there as an exchange student and didn't have to deal with the authorities at any point, so my view is biased, but I will say this: As a young woman, I've never felt so safe. Where else can I roll out of the club at 3 AM and walk home safely in my mini dress? That freedom from fear is something I will never forget and will always value.

[@qjtvaddict]

Freedom from the loony ppl

[@badart3204]

Liberal use of lashings clearly seem to be effective on discouraging antisocial behavior it seems. Would love to visit one day as it’s just such a different governance philosophy

[@xthechar]

@@badart3204 TBH I lived there too and I don't think it's the "lashings". It's a very different place with a very different culture. Many of the government's policies help to create that safe atmosphere and non-government factors play a big role too. Many countries in Southeast Asia are very safe, maybe not quite as safe as Singapore but much closer to it than to the US for example (Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam come to mind) which share some cultural things in common with Sinagpore but differ in many ways politically including with regard to the use of caning (in the latter two countries' case at least).

[@warheadsnation]

@@badart3204 Singapore also has always had a radically interventionist housing policy. But you would find few in Western ideology who would support both the lashings and having almost everyone live in public housing.

[@walawala-fo7ds]

It is bunkers how crime must be allowed because stamping it out offends progressives

[@randomone4832]

I’ll stop calling it Twitter when Elon stops deadnaming his daughter.

[@longiusaescius2537]

🥛

[@andrelukin6364]

I don't use Twitter and this video proves that Twitter has gotten even worse than it has been

Its that liberals are still crying that their echo chamber was bought by Elon Musk and now they don't have a safe space... They are offended by everything

[@quadcorelatte8217]

Isn’t it interesting that twitter is owned and controlled by the owner of a car company who also happens to be a fascist? Hmmmm 👀

[@longiusaescius2537]

Not true unfortunately

[@notNajimi]

@@longiusaescius2537 which part was not true?

[@longiusaescius2537]

@@notNajimi Musk doesn't follow Giovanni Gentile

[@Maxime_K-G]

In other words, for the people with reading comprehension troubles: There are a large number of well-intentioned people who would support authoritarian measures to solve minor issues.

[@longiusaescius2537]

Cool

[@calvinhosworld]

HOLY CRAP you didn't just come to Atlanta but you went all over to areas and actual houses that I freaking recognize. Grant park, Ormewood, Old fourth Ward, Dekalb ave., Highland ave, cabbagetown, edgewood, kirkwood, etc I don't just recognize Atlanta. I know the yards of the houses in your montage. I can literally tell you what street address of each of the houses you posted. THAT IS WHATS UP!! Thanks for coming thru! I can't wait to see your take (good and the bad) on Atlanta.

[@Doomer253]

Same! He totally went off on my neighborhood in the beginning! I ain't even mad at him. lol

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

As someone who lives in Portland, I love you for this video. It is painfully obvious that these people have never been to the pacific northwest let alone Portland or Seattle. If they do live here, it's out in the suburbs and they never actually go into the city, just brainwashed to be complete idiots. It's incredibly annoying.

[@emitsienim]

I mean if Singapore can be considered a benevolent dictatorship at best, it is by no means sterile or homogenous. The population is actually 40% immigrants, i don't think there's many other cities at that high level. Also the diversity of food options is unrivaled due to the multiethnic culture. They have other human rights issues which can't be downplayed tho, but when it comes to urban design they are doing a lot of things right like wanting to have 80% of the population within 10 mins of a metro station.

[@longiusaescius2537]

@emitsienim Singapore is an authoritarian Chinese ethnostate, and even at only 30% immigrants it needs a strong state

[@emitsienim]

@longiusaescius2537 authoritarian is not the right word here

[@xthechar]

@@emitsienim "Chinese ethnostate" are not the right words either. It has a good fraction of Malay and Indian people and the majority of signs are in 4 languages, national holdiays for many cultures behind those ethnicities and more, etc. There are signs of non-Chinese culture everywhere and the Chinese culture they do have is diverse in and of itself, and differentiated in many ways from mainland Chinese culture.

[@emitsienim]

@xthechar I didn't say it was, I said there's a ton of diversity present there

[@xthechar]

@@emitsienim Yeah was just tagging onto your response to @longiusaescius2537

[@micah8793]

Harris Walz sign with no rail on the belt line is hilarious

[@johnlister]

I had to look that up. It seems to be anti an extension to the Atlanta light rail. Of course, by the time anyone in the USA spends money on anything other than a road, there is a huge problem. Unfortunately the days of building the 7 line out to Queens because housing will come (or the extremities of the Metropolitan/District lines in London) are way past us.

[@mediochreeuchre8391]

@@johnlister The original plan was for the Beltline to be a rail route that goes around downtown using the original rail tracks that in many cases were still there sitting unused. The rest of the right of way would be a bike route/mixed-use path. Now that a bunch of housing has been built around the east side routing, they're all the sudden opposed to the rail part.

[@johnlister]

@@mediochreeuchre8391 Because a small amount of light rail is infinitely worse than all the automobile traffic.

[@longiusaescius2537]

@johnlister depends

[@matthewhall5571]

That's because Atlanta's suburban counties have a long shady history of institutionally racist behavior when it comes to intentionally blocking expansion, updates, and improvements to their subway and commuter rail system. It's a very ugly partnership of racists and NIMBYs against what is best for the majority of people and the everyday working class

[@johnf2712]

Thanks! I appreciate that you spend time helping us all remember "why" and not just the usual, great "what" is great about public planning content you do more often.

[@jamalgibson8139]

I think a lot of people are misinterpreting what he's saying by the word "clean." It seems what he's talking about is more that people want sanitized, sterile environments that have almost no real character or flaws, which is just unrealistic for a large city. Now, I'm not saying cities should be as dirty as they are in America, just that some people need to put away this idea of a shining city on a hill. That doesn't exist and never will. At best you can make a new development every ten years, but then you get right back into where we are today.

[@eottoe2001]

Over the Rhine in Cincinnati has become Disneyfide, and many of the interesting things there are gone due to the New Urbanists and the corporate aesthetics of P&G through 3CDC. The New Urbanist like using zoning and building codes to bang the poor, older residents and businesses into lock-step submission or banishing them altogether. I get that a lot of the old buildings would have needed to be leveled if there had been no intervention, but they gutted a lot of the community in OTR. By community, I mean people connected to other people over time. It was a more interesting place before.

[@definitelynotacrab7651]

The correlation of anime profile pics with blue check marks and idolizing fascism is quite something

[@longiusaescius2537]

@definitelynotacrab7651 cool it with the anti Asian remarks

The correlation of all those Kamala signs in Atlanta with cats, pride flags, and black power are all very telling

[@Jonistired]

My local paper’s online edition is full of comments about what a horrible place Santa Rosa is. Almost all the comments come from people who don’t live here. Don’t forget the people who hate all of California. When I worked in a state park I heard from people who came from all over the United States just to tell me how awful California is. Stay in Bartlesville. We’ll both be happier.

[@97nelsn]

These Blue check marks are also the same people defending the “comedian” that called Puerto Rico “A Floating Island of Garbage” and are now calling themselves “Deplorable Garbage”. I question their character and morals as to why they support a felon but that rally and everything about the felon they support proves they lack empathy and human decency. Economic Anxiety My *bleep*

[@longiusaescius2537]

@97nelsn Galcians>

It was a comedian so get over it.. and was he not speaking some truth?

[@matthewprather7386]

Saying, “no easy answers,” makes it sound like it’s not worth trying to find the better-best answer instead of letting corruption and incompetence take over. I don’t think you meant that..? Well, anyway, trying for the better-best answer is definitely worth the effort!

[@mrbloodmuffins]

Sounds like the people who repeatedly kill tens of thousands of units of housing construction by mandating unrealistic percentages of "affordable units" resulting in 0 housing built and the already existing housing becoming even more unaffordable.

[@ERock6662]

I deactivated my twitter account recently. I literally never posted anything and only rarely replied to other people’s tweets, so I wasn’t actively harassed off the platform. Rather, the blue checks on the platform are just outright lunatics, and finding any useful information that isn’t brigaded by dumbasses is almost impossible. It’s a bummer, because twitter actually used to be a pretty decent source for news, information, and engagement. I have a Bluesky account, but it hasn’t filled in the space Twitter used to hold.

[@szymex22]

It is very disingenuous to post such a statement and then defend it with “they didn’t take it like a hypothetical in a vacuum”. Obviously loads of the people who replied to you were crazy. But tons of people seem to have the opinion that any kind of law enforcement, drug banning is fascist. Which I think is totally incorrect and detrimental to our cities. You have to tackle both the issues contributing to crime and have a strong police department to handle the bad individuals. And if the homeless / addicts don’t accept the help your city is providing they need to be institutionalised. That’s the key. I can’t help but see this video as a way to cope with living in a terrible, dirty city. Still even though I disagree with you I wouldn’t mind watching if you made some videos about this issue more specifically. Especially how is it that some cities spend billions on programs and don’t seem to yield any results. I am glad I live in Poland where our cities are clean safe and without any junkies. I hope this doesn’t change.

[@henrycoccoli7184]

I have mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand, complaining about trash when people cannot afford housing is definitely focusing on the wrong issues, and I agree that a lot of "urbanists" just want to live somewhere that feels like a mixed-use office park. But on the other hand, I think ideas spread by people like Leon Krier regarding the beauty of our cities are quite important. While trash, graffiti, and abandoned buildings might not actually cause more crime, they definitely aren't pleasant, and while you can just choose to not look at them, having a beautiful city that people are proud to show off to others is important. Obviously there are greater issues at stake, and you would be a fool to suggest that fascism is a solution to any of this, but it's a complex issue. I feel like this is mostly a cultural issue, which makes it hard to change. In Japan, caring for ones environment is built into the culture, but we are not Japan and we can't simply change the entire culture. I do wish for a day in which our cities and architecture reflect the beauty of the culture of the people living in them in the permanence of their design, but maybe I'm just being idealistic

[@g3intel]

I find the grime comforting and amusing, tbh

[@EaZiE01]

Yes, in America people are divided from themselves, hence divided from nature and others. Christianity has a tendency to individualize especially when taken out of context as it is today. However, Buddhism, native American religions, taoism have connection and balance intrinsic

[@Madamoizillion]

Specifically regarding graffiti--- personally, I kind of love it. I love seeing freight train cars decorated because it tells a story about where those cars have been and who encountered them. Generally I think graffiti is art of the people. And just like any other art form, there's artists I appreciate and artists that aren't to my taste. True, I wouldn't want anyone but me painting on the side of my home but I don't see what harm graffiti on industrial buildings or parking garages or freeway underpasses is really causing.

[@bulletsandbracelets4140]

@@Madamoizillion Sometimes the answer to graffiti is paying an artist to do a mural. People are tired of sterile and boring concrete, and that color can do so much to brighten someone's day. It's harder for someone to paint over art than it is to paint over a blank wall. And while it might still happen, I'm pretty sure it will happen a whole lot less often. I think sometimes cities are designed by people who forget that people actually are going to live there. Lack of public trash cans, lack of public benches, lack of color and green spaces and walkable routes. I really don't think it's that complex. Cities aren't for showing off. They are home to hundreds of thousands of people at the very least. Those people deserve a home that they can comfortably live in, and if things aren't being taken care of, there's probably an underlying reason for that.

[@pensivepenguin3000]

Where has such an idealistic city really ever existed, though, outside of those lifestyle centers? Even the mid century San Francisco that Tony Bennett sang so romantically about all those years ago was itself imperfect, dirty, had its share of homeless people, street crime etc. people want to live in this sanitized fantasy version of an American city that has literally never existed

[@LucasDimoveo]

I live bordering the Tenderloin. I am voting for the pro public transit candidate in the local election. My partner is voting for the candidate that is going to do sweeps. I don’t blame her. It feels like an impossible situation

[@lifetime805]

As a SF resident, it's honestly hard to believe someone spent any significant time in the central neighborhoods and didn't see at least one needle.

[@eXAt33]

I remade my twitter account after my old one was permanently suspended (which I thought was completely arbitrary but whatever). The first post my brand new account saw was an explicit call for South Africa to return to apartheid, followed by a defence of Adolf Hitler. Apparently this stuff is pushed to every account regardless of what it thinks your actual political opinion is

[@delbobmain7772]

This exactly. Wtf Elon?

[@JL-hn6hi]

Happy yours is a YT channel I don’t feel the need to unsubscribe from. :-)

[@SarahRenz59]

It's like you went to the zoo and threw a rock in the monkey habitat. Now they're all jumping around, screeching, and throwing feces. Keep fighting the good fight, Ray.

[@grantmantz4204]

The mayor of Chicago's (Chicago Teachers Unions candidate) top contributor was just arrested for putting a hit out of someone. I have a problem with that. Does that make me "fascist"?

[@warheadsnation]

Only if you think the entire nation should therefore be ruled by a dictator who promises to eliminate his enemies.

[@thetransbay]

You know I also found and continue to find Bluesky way more boring than Twitter but at some point I realized that boring was preferable to consistently horrendous. Adding to that the now questionable ethics of supporting a site that is intentionally pushing the political views that make the platform now horrendous.

[@fallenshallrise]

Maybe I'm wrong but my impression of the way our systems work, especially Canada's, is that as more and more people move into urban centres the power of a single vote remains allocated in a similar way as 50-100 years ago. Meaning that rural voters have a more and more powerful vote. Urban centres house more than 50% of the population but are starting to lose control over their own government in favour of people who are primarily voting to stop crime in a city they don't know first hand and never visit.

[@longiusaescius2537]

@fallenshallrise this is cope

[@jorymil]

This is very true in the United States: voting power is skewed toward land area to a certain extent (all-or-nothing Electoral College, state representation by land area, etc.) Some of this dates back to the very inception of the nation: there was an urban/rural divide even then. But the population distribution was very different as well. As the population distribution of the US changes, its political systems will need to adjust. I assume Canada is going through something similar, but without the piece of crazy that is the Electoral College.

[@GTC7702]

I love cities! I recently went back to Portland Or, beautiful as ever! Honolulu two weeks later was also fantastic! Then, when I arrived home to San Diego, walked 5 miles home from the airport and enjoyed every block, trash and all!

[@something2424]

I work a blue collar job, but make a lot of money doing it, I live in a luxury loft in the downtown of a predominantly office culture small city. The amount of times people have given me weird looks as I walk into and through my building is astounding, I have even had another resident close the entrance on me, and then get surprised when I just fobbed into the building. my neighbors buy and large are well educated, decidedly liberal people who vote for progressive urbanist council members consistently, but just because I come home dirty, tired and wearing high visibility gear, people immediately assume I am not as affluent as them, and thus I am not supposed to be there. Then to my surprise, my city council will flip flop from making tiny homes for houseless people, to bulldozing encampments of people who are just trying to survive in tents, all in the name of "keeping our city clean". I think a lot of this desire for "order" stems from white supremacy (obv) but also class mystification and perceiving poverty as a moral failing. People who grew up in suburban America saw a clear segregation based not only on skin color/ethnicity, but also on the ability to afford a specific neighborhood (often goes hand in hand). As they became adults, they experienced a cognitive dissonance when confronted with urban centers that are able to blend various demographics and income levels and occupations together, they then see the public disorder that just comes with high population density and economic decline, and assume that correlation is causation, the trains must run on time and the streets need cleaning. The republican party jumped on this fear with fervor for political gain. So honestly I don't think they prefer fascism if it can clean the streets, I think they just prefer fascism. Whether to satiate their own idea of who deserves nice things vs who doesn't, or out of confidence that their money, their education, their connections, or their whiteness, are going to keep them in the in-group, and hey clean streets is a nice bonus. Ironically, some of my co-workers who live in rural exurbs are aghast at the fact that I live downtown, citing how dangerous it must be, such irony.

[@TukaihaHithlec]

Ray, I appreciate your commentary, as political and depressing as it is. It’s a nice reminder that not everyone is insane when it feels like they are.

[@db399]

I've lived in DC, Baltimore, Philly, Pittsburgh and Denver, and been to almost every major city in the U.S. top 50 (a few like Sacramento and Tulsa I haven't). There are great things about many of these cities and things that are disastrously broken. Denver's got beautiful scenery and many beautiful neighborhoods, but also is not pedestrian or transit friendly outside of the core, and homelessness and drug issues were everywhere when I lived there. Baltimore has some lovely pockets of the city, but downtown is still mostly a mess, transit is poor, and crime is a concern, I narrowly avoided being robbed once near Lexington Market. I love Pittsburgh's vitality, especially around Oakland, but there are badly blighted areas of the city as well. I witnessed shootings there and in DC. DC I find mostly quite livable, and I am not in a Georgetown townhouse or anything. But there are also literal shanty towns of shacks and garbage I could show you right outside the city limits. Not wanting those to be there doesn't make one a fascist, their existence isn't good for anybody. We need to be honest about the good and the bad, I feel.

[@rebyrae592]

Dude 😂 i adore you, this was some of the best chuckles I've had in AGES 😅 you're so brave to take on the Internet OOOOOF

[@ninja_boy]

X surely is a dumpster fire, but it’s also like…don’t use it? I’m not hating on CityNerd, but it’s kind of annoying when people go on and on about how awful X is and then insist that it’s “essential” and there’s no avoiding it. Of course there’s avoiding it. It’s not going to stop being “essential” unless we stop using it. An echo chamber is no fun, but it’s not as if X is still the proverbial “marketplace of ideas”.

[@dontbethatguy783]

Im really curious what you think good new development looks like. Not saying in this in an accusatory way as im a big fan and that particular development does feel a bit suburban and corporate, but how do cities avoid that? what cities are doing a good job of that?

[@OkAtheistExplainVim]

I tried to show how a fourplex was paying 13x per acre in taxes than the single family home in the lot right next door on my city's reddit and people did the same to me, apparently the people in the multi family home use over 10 times the amount of resources of the city. Also tried to talk about parking, didn't go over well

[@AmurTiger]

In Vancouver here working to get people connected tot he grid so I run into a TON of these 3/4 plex constructions on the standard 33 ft wide lot and man we are going to either 1. Completely break car-dependancy in huge swaths of Vancouver 2. A ton of people enjoying street parking are going to have to somehow fork out for a garage 3. Mix of both. Using every inch of your back lane for parking in Vancouver can probably get you 4 parking lots on the standard width lot but there are other demands for that space ( sometimes you have to put an underground transformer there to deal with your load ) and 1 car per household is well below the average of over 2 for BC and there's just not enough street frontage for that to work out. Even with current levels of density many residential streets in Vancouver devolve into 1-way streets due to street parking on both sides, we're reasonably good at pulling off to the side to let others through but as those spaces become rarer and the traffic volumes increase it will break down and the city will be forced to claw back street parking to restore the functioning of the actual street. It's going to be a very painful process quite frankly with the only real pressure relief being /don't use cars/ time will tell whether the city and people will embrace that enough to make it work.

[@OkAtheistExplainVim]

@@AmurTiger Yeah I am in Kelowna and we are prioritizing infill heavily and council has been pretty lax on parking variance, which is great, but people are starting to get extremely butt hurt by the lack of parking. I would love the city to just use barriers to protect the painted bike gutters, because you can bike from one end of kelowna to the other in 30 minutes, just too dangerous.

[@AmurTiger]

@@OkAtheistExplainVim Hah, we can ( probably ) celebrate the outcome of the election together. That is a real shame with the lax attitudes towards biking infrastructure, while I'm in the Vancouver area I can certainly see some of that in the variance between City of Vancouver and say Richmond's attitude towards it. Spying in google maps a bit it looks like some of Kelowna at least has lanes so with a bunch of garages they can sort themselves out, especially with the larger lots you guys have. Areas without lanes though might have a hard time accommodating themselves to 2/3/4 garage doors right out the front and onto the street.

[@OkAtheistExplainVim]

@@AmurTiger Haha yes, we definitely can, the Cons wanted to build a second bridge to alliviate traffic so it's a godsend they didn't win. I guess I heard NDP are planning on a center running BRT for the highway that cuts through Kelowna, which is excellent!

[@AmurTiger]

@@OkAtheistExplainVim My big one was worrying that Rustad would ease up on pressuring the municipalities to get housing built since they're the major roadblock on these things. Hope you guys get your BTR though and perhaps even some LRT in the future.

[@jonathanballoch]

This whole interaction was rough, and I am sorry you had to deal with it, and I know its not the point, but I *am* a little butthurt that the exemplifying neighborhood for this entire saga was west side ATL. FWIW, Westside Provisions isn't all of the west side, but ill wait for your Atlanta video for more about that.

[@croatia0728]

Not the “no rail on the beltline” sign right next to the harris/walz sign ugh i hate “”progressive”” nimbys so much 😭

[@mrbloodmuffins]

Who are you to use scare quotes around "progressive"? Have you considered you might be the faker?

[@dutchmazz]

Thanks for bringing to light the absolute Dumpster Fires that is Twitter, I refuse to call it X… Much love and keep the videos coming from Brooklyn NYC! 🗽

[@GinaSpadafori]

Thanks!

[@CityNerd]

Don't mention it

[@djejnyc]

Really enjoyed this one, laughing out loud at some of the ridiculous stuff said. I biked from Pittsburgh to Cumberland MD in July and hanging with regular people out there outside of my home in Brooklyn made me believe we might survive this election.

[@ruigoncalves2]

As an European that has traveled to California and driven around it for thousands of miles, I found SF on average cleaner than most European cities.

[@deXXXXter2]

Apart from how stupid some of people saying fascism would be better are, this tweet was a definition of what is bad about about twitter. I see it as pointless provocation for no reason. Don't be one of those people.

[@BOSSDONMAN]

Alt-right and alt-right bots are essentially what's left of Twitter... I mean **X** (totally amazing marketing change btw /s) It's truly a mystery why X's valuation has plummeted.

[@longiusaescius2537]

@BOSSDONMAN cool it with the deadnamimg

[@Marylandbrony]

I think you are looking for a term called "Lived in City" vs. a Potemkin village. Most "new developments" that you describe as closer to the lifestyle center are primarily commercial with housing/residential as an afterthought. Also, Singapore is racially diverse. Chinese, Indians and Maylays are the primary ethinic groups. 5 just the government does a good job of mixing and suppresing ethnic identities. Polymatter did a great series on Singapore as trying to get the best of both worlds under an authoritarian system.

[@longiusaescius2537]

@Marylandbrony It's a Chinese ethnostate with authoritarianism required for even 30% immigrants, Polymatter should map your neighborhood lil bro and let's see

[@guitardude412]

Very glad I was busy during this X/tweet storm, i love avoiding seeing stupidity 😂

[@ElyonDominus]

Please keep up the hard work and snarky wisdom. I watched on Nebula, commenting and liking for the algorithm.

[@tomegge1224]

Happy that Citynerd hates the Westside Provisions District as much as I do. Used to have to go there for work events all the time and I'd rather just stay on the east side. Cant wait for the Atlanta vid!

[@JHZech]

There are ways to bring order in a democratic society. Tokyo, Seoul, and even our close neighbor Toronto do not have nearly as much disorder as in the US. Taking LA for example, the murder rate is over 7 per 100k, while it's 0.3 in Tokyo, 0.6 in Seoul, and 1.5 in Toronto. Canada is not some alien fascist dystopia. It's a lot more left leaning than the US if anything. Instead of making excuses for our cities, we should be looking at what other successful cities in democratic countries are doing

[@ebrim5013]

Ultimately, I think you’re right that a lot of these are bots or trolls from troll farms. Many of the rest have never been to a city and honestly can’t understand how they actually are to live in. Some are fundamentally pretty antisocial and unlovely but I think that’s a small percentage overall. And then there’s just the way people behave a little unhinged online.

[@lucaspadilla4815]

I'd love it if you did a video on Oakland. Mostly because it's suffering similar issues to SF, but is a VERY unique and different city than SF. And apologies to the haters, it's a beautiful place with the best food i've ever eaten in California

[@erynpimentel915]

Twitter used to be fun and informational. Now, we are living in the shadow of an overgrown child who wants to relive the 90s goth era and will use the insane amount of wealth that no single human should possess to make it happen.

[@riumudamc4686]

It was only informational if you wanted certain biased information. Even Jack Dorsey acknowledged the ideology and censorship of the employees. It may have been fun at the time if you agreed with the ideology, but long-term not a good for society.

[@sagittated]

I'm not sure what you think 90s goth culture was, but it wasn't fascism.

[@erynpimentel915]

@ Wrong. I’m not talking about getting random opinions from people. I’m talking about reputable news organizations covering news and an actual check against fake information and outright bigotry and racist crap that the place is now swimming in- and boosted by Elon.

[@erynpimentel915]

@ I didn’t say it was fascism. What I mean is Elon’s idea for what is “cool” is The Matrix aesthetic and every venture he has had is harkening back to that.

[@TheRatsintheWalls]

​@@erynpimentel915 Goth was the wrong way to put it, but I think your meaning is otherwise clear.

[@laurenfriedman7678]

I live in SF and tbh I do see drug paraphernalia and open drug use on the streets sometimes, including near my home. I think the city can and should do more. Still doesn’t make me want to embrace fascism 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@herbtarlic892]

Long time viewer here. Regarding trash, it may shock people today that our streets were actually much cleaner in the mid-20th Century. That's a fact. I know because I was there. People actually took pride in their communities, their cities. A society reflects its people. If our cities are dirtier today, at least part of the reason is that more people just don't care as much. I'm sure we've all walked down the street and seen others toss their coffee cups on the ground, or cars passing with cigarette butts and wrappers being thrown from the window. Yes, that has always happen, but it's a common occurrence in the 21st Century. How did we get here? That starts in the home, then in the school. Scoff if you want, but the formative years are called that for a reason. The other component to this slide into chaos is that certain leaders, people we look to for direction , have emboldened the very worst characteristics in our population which we see played out on the news and in real time every day. And I wouldn't suggest you politely say to someone that they "dropped" their coffee cup. You could end up in Emerg -or worse.

[@sagittated]

I disagree with your premise. Mid -20th century America was covered with litter. People just threw stuff out of their car windows constantly. The 1970s saw huge campaigns to try to convince people to stop. It took cultural shaming to get people to start using trash cans.

[@andrefalksmen1264]

Dude, you either are suffering from the early stages of Dementia or you are an outright liar. American cities were in no way cleaner in the mid-20th century, unless you are talking about newly-built suburbs. Americans frequently littered, through trash out of windows, didn't leash their dogs are pickup droppings, and let's not start on the pollution. Unfortunately for you, we both have empirical data and pictures from the time. The mid-20th century was an improvement over the early 20th century where dead horses and dead dogs would frequently be left in the streets until the Advent of the city beautiful movement. However, City beautiful movement largely succeeded establishing zoning laws, building parks, and Grande public buildings, but did nothing for the actions of individuals.

[@jbradhicks]

As a fellow old person, what changed isn't people. Two other things changed that did a real number on our street cleanliness. 1. We had drive-ins back then, but not drive-thrus; if you weren't on a cross-country trip, you didn't eat much in a moving car. Fast-food wrappers and other trash fill up our cars and when people get out, half of it falls into the street and instantly turns into somebody else's problem. And even more importantly? 2. Trash gets dumped into trucks by machines, not people. Which absolutely has saved us money, but those dumpster-emptying arms spill trash that blows everywhere. The way my city tries to stay on top of it is that people just kick the stuff into the street and wait for the twice-monthly street sweepers to pick it up. Which yeah, looks pretty disgusting. But fascism or any other kind of authoritarianism isn't going to fix it; what's going to fix it if anything, what fixes it in lifestyle centers, is taxpayers being able to afford to pay people a living wage to go around every night and sweep up the trash.

[@herbtarlic892]

@jbradhicks Yes, all those products produce mountains of waste and Big Fast Food keeps churning it out while governments at all levels sit by and watch that sector spew out their garbage...

[@chaosking911]

11:51 I was wondering about that for the first 11 minutes and 50 seconds or so, thank you for validating my mini existential crisis with your clarification.

[@MrTaterlater]

Related to Atlanta clips: it's super hypocritical for the beltline homes to put out signs against tram on the beltline when that was the plan to start, and it's the beltline that has made the value of their home and area increase

[@veenorelation4008]

You know what's funny? A couple of days ago I watched a video by an urbanism KZbinr who was walking around Sacramento I think. I'm not going to name names. The video was mostly positive but he often stopped to complain about homeless people, addicts, and immigrants which kinda gave me whiplash. At one point he said that someone who appeared to be under the influence was acting erratically in an otherwise serine public place and the guy seemed angry that the people around him were just avoiding the guy and not calling the police or something. At one point he even suggested that those kinds of people should all be arrested. I understand that a bunch of homeless people and addicts kind of kill the vibe so to speak but the solution is to fix the issues the put people in those situations instead of throwing them in jail where they will vlbe out of sight and out of mind.

[@elizabethdavis1696]

Please consider doing a video on crime prevention by design!

[@DavidMartsolf]

Thanks for sharing your experiences and the creative signs you documented in Atlanta.

[@crypt_hound]

Good session today, CityNerd. Same time next week. Don't forget to pay up front and update your insurance information. ~your therapist.

[@lws7394]

Not the same time ! An hour later ! US go into winter ti.e this weekend 😉 I had to check that out because the vid cam out at 1700 CET instead of the common 1800 CET. ( Europe went into winter time last sunday already ...😬

[@crypt_hound]

@lws7394 you're right! Man I hate the time change. 😠😠😠

[@lws7394]

@crypt_hound I don't ! ! In the winter time you have the benefit of some light in the morning , otherwise, in Netherlands on 20th decembre, the sun would rise at 09:45 , instead of the current 08:45 ...🤔. Getting used to get up 1 hr earlier in march is not fun for 3 days, but the benefit of 180 days longer light in the evening for barbecues, doing outdoor sports or just have a drink on a terrace far outweigh the little jetlag iimo ...

[@BradenHerbert]

This video just reinforces my decision to delete my X/Twitter account.