German Neighborhoods are ILLEGAL IN AMERICA (American Reaction)

My name is Sean Huggins, I'm from America and living in Germany. Watch as I react to German videos, memes, compilations and more. American reacting to German culture, this should be funny!
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Original video: • German Neighborhoods a...
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[@Himmelgrau68]

North American suburbs are worse than most North Americans realize. I grew up in the US, and lived in both semi-rural, and suburban environments, but never realized just how horrible they were until after I moved to Germany then came back to visit the US after several years. Although the German town I live in has only about 40,000 inhabitants, I can still walk out of my home and within 10 minutes and have access to any amenity that I wish: shopping, restaurants, pubs, theaters, outdoor/indoor cafés, bakeries, supermarkets, doctors, train/bus station, etc... just about everything - and that is in this town alone. Most other towns of this size are similar. People are out and about all day and even at night during the warmer months of the year. If I want to visit that next, much larger, town over, I can bike or take a bus, or even drive my car, but I don't have to drive, and prefer not to as driving can be more inconvenient depending on the situation and available parking. Why drive somewhere if you know you might drink a beer? The US is TOTALLY different, and not in a good way. About a year ago I came back to the US to visit my brother who lives in a single home suburb in the Denver area. I was amazed by just the width of the road in front of his house. (Why had I never noticed that before?) It is more than twice the width of the road in front of my home in Germany, which was only built in 2014. One day when my brother was not at home, I figured I would go for a meal in the closest nearby restaurant for a hamburger and fries. I figured I may have a beer or two, so I decided to walk rather than drive, which turned out to be a mistake. The walk was nearly an hour in one direction, with a “stroad” and no other pedestrians along the way. On my way home, a nosy cop pulled over along the side of the road and asked me what I was doing walking along the road in the dark. Luckily, he left me alone, but not after admonishing me for not having a way to get home “safely”. It was surely my authentic, yet fake, German accent that got me out of that one. I was in the Denver area again about a month ago, but this time I stayed in a hotel. Looking out my hotel window toward the back of the hotel, all I could see was a huge wall with a highway flyover behind it, and when looking out the front of the hotel from the lobby all one could see was a HUGE parking lot with a strip mall way off in the distance. What does it take to come up with the idea of building a hotel among so much ungodly concrete? This experience was more soul-crushing than the visit to my brother last year. I can now understand why so many Americans unashamedly and casually admit to having “therapists”. I find this all very unfortunate and have decided that I will not be spending the time and money to bring my wife to visit my suburban family members anywhere in the US outside of New York City. Most American cities and towns are just too boring and ugly, and are essentially just huge parking lots. There are plenty of much nicer places to visit here in Europe. If I start feeling nostalgia for America, I can just drive for 20 minutes to Ikea and walk around the parking lot.

[@seorsamaclately4294]

Your last sentence is priceless.🤘

[@lynnm6413]

@@seorsamaclately4294 that‘s savage, for real!

[@norbertzillatron3456]

As a kid in Germany, it was also nice to be able to simply go to some corner stores and buy some sweets, ice, or small toys with pocket money. No corner stores in US residential areas.

[@danielw.2442]

2:20 my first surprise was... there are no 'gardens', only lawns. 😱

[@MarcelHeldt1983]

I live in Germany. Inside a radius of 300 meters from where I live there are 2 bakeries, 2 pharmacies, 1 grocery store, 2 restaurants, 2 fast food shops, 1 ice cream shop, 1 butcher shop, 3 flower shops, 1 clothing store, 1 barber shop, several doctors, 1 retirement home and 1 Amazon locker. But it's still very quiet and by bike I can get out of town and into the woods in all directions within 5 minutes. I love it.

[@surenot9491]

inside of 5-10 minutes bike ride I have public in- and outdoor swimming place, butchers, bakeries, 3 Rewe, 2 Aldi, 1 Penny, 1 Rossmann, Doctors, Dentists, pharmacy, kindergarten, schools, barbers, many different restaurants from Vietnamese, Chinese, Croatian, Greek, Italian. And that’s while I live in residence area with max walking speed allowed (play street) in a 28000 ppl city. There are also some small businesses included in some houses of my neighborhood. From Ingenieur-Office, lawyers, print shop for shop marketing, measurement technology manufacturers. All live nicely side by side.

[@MarcelHeldt1983]

@@surenot9491 My city is about the same size. Small cities are awesome. You have the best of both worlds. You can get everything you need without the noise and traffic of big cities but are not far away from everything like little villages.

[@loswochos9176]

Bei mir wohnt ne nachttankstelle mit rewe to go

[@surenot9491]

@@MarcelHeldt1983 👍 I hate driving around in bigger cities 😅 I wouldn’t want to move to bigger cities. Still ppl and shop owners recognize you if you walk the city.

[@lanamack1558]

Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841) proposed that a functioning neighbourhood would need to have 3 components; 30% housing, 30% manufacturing/commerce, and 40% schooling and entertainment. A man who was ahead of his time.

[@Muck006]

One of our best architects ever ... AND involved in one of the most important german invention ever: *THE INDUSTRIAL NORM!*

[@_qlone]

I wouldn't want to live in the US residential areas shown here as examples. It's so bleak and generic. And what is called a garden in this vid is not a garden, but just a desolate lawn.

[@d34d10ck]

"7% Wow. That's like less than 10%" 😂 When you are right, you are right.

[@reginamichelstein3453]

The best thing about in Germany is that all generations live together in the same area or in the same house. Children learn from the old and the old retain their mental flexibility. The fact that all shops, pharmacies, doctors, bus stations etc are within walking distance allow us to actively participate in life. Children become independent at an early age and old ones stay independent longer. It is also often the case that grandparents take care of the grandchildren if parents are too busy at work.

[@negativ-dekadent]

My son is going to the bakery on sundays to get Brötchen since he was six, he can use the tram to get to sports practice or the library or any other place in the city, while his school and all of his friends are located in our district, as are the shops, so over time you see and get to know the people in your community. I like having all my basic needs met within walking distance and it is still very quiet with lots of nature around here, plus many playgrounds.

[@RustyDust101]

Ashton is a great content creator. She finished her PhD dissertation on the comparison of US and German zoning and their effects on the respective society. So she really (!) knows what she is talking about when discussing this topic. Her videos are amongst the best researched private videos I've ever seen, easily rivaling professional productions by big budget tv channels. She often lists her sources, and shows you her calculations to check up on her reasoning for effective peer review. Her scientific approach shines through regularly in her videos. She is definitely worth subscribing to.

[@wandilismus8726]

@TypeAshton is the best

[@eisikater1584]

Whenever I see these pictures from American suburbs I wonder why they use all the area that they have just for an ugly lawn instead of planting something beautiful (like flowers) or useful (like fruit trees and vegetables). I have red currants in my garden as a hedge on one side, and an apple tree, and almost everyone in this Bavarian village has some flowers somewhere. Unfortunately, the last remaining store in the village is the butcher, as the grocery store and the baker couldn't compete with the supermarkets.

[@Dreamfox-df6bg]

I might be wrong as my knowledge is third hand at best, but I think what you can do with your lawn is regulated by Home Owners Associations and has to do with property values. Something to do with keep it appealing to the lowest common denominator. If someone sells the house it's a sure thing that someone else will buy it soon and not reject the area because they might have to step up their gardening skills or something like that. I think that's the idea behind it.

[@eisikater1584]

@@Dreamfox-df6bg I understand what you mean by the "lowest common denominator", and you sure have a point in that. It's a cultural difference, I saw the whole thing from my German point of view where buying a home means you want to settle there, otherwise you would rent instead of buying. And please excuse my ignorance about what a Home Owners Association is good for and what they are actually doing. I tried to grasp the concept of it but didn't get it, so please do not try to explain, I'm really stupid when it comes to that.

[@biloaffe]

It is not true that Germans do not have such large gardens. Our garden is 1200m², the gardens in our neighborhood are between 1000m² and 7000m². 1. It all depends on how I want my garden to be! Large gardens also need care, which costs a lot of time and money. 2. How much money do I have or do I want to spend on a garden. 3. Here in Berlin, in the districts where the rich and super-rich live, some gardens are up to 15,000m² in size.

[@andreamuller9009]

I grew up in a small town on the edge of the Harz with a huge forest, 3 small lakes in the middle of this forest, several small streams, hidden valleys and caves, meadows, rocks to climb around our town and fruit trees to steal cherries or apples.... This was our adventure playground... everything accessible with our bikes. The city is well structured with small shops, supermarkets and industry, basically everything you need so you don't have to drive far and good bus connections to the neighboring towns. So yes, you can have everything, so everything is within easy reach and peace and quiet and plenty of space for children... it just depends on where you live in Germany I still live there, I don't want to live anywhere else.

[@JMJones-hb1fr]

I grew up with a 2500m² plot in germany. In places we do have those large gardens, but you mainly find those in "old" residential areas, like built back in the 1930's, when people had to selfgrow some veggies etc. I mean my mother still cares about stuff like potatoes, beans, peas, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, strawberries, and other small veggies in some patches of the garden. And she still has 9 old appletrees, 2 plum trees, 2 cherry trees and a quince tree. And she planted some new trees like new apple trees and peach trees. But in the past 30 decades the residential area changed a bit and more and more backyards were sold seperately and new houses were built on those former gardens. And i know for sure that there had been a "Tante Emma Laden" in the area as well, eventhough i never seen it myself because it was closed before my birth, but the old store nowadays is used as election space. And as others mentioned previously: i struggle to see actual gardens in the videobits of US residential areas. It's mainly more or less sterile lawns... Is there really almost noone homegrowing some veggies or fruits?

[@norbertrottenari4516]

Depending on the area you have lots of open space and forrest around small villages so kids can run around freely

[@puarterquonder]

nimby: Not In My Back Yard

[@elmarwinkler6335]

Please do not forget the space, you have over in the US. And as another commenter said. This yards are not nature, this is artificial. We live close to Stuttgart. We have woods, playgrounds made of wood and natural material. OOHHH I forgot, before moving to Germany, Ashton was already teaching architecture at a university. You be safe in dangerous Germany😁🤣😇. Elmar fG

[@generalrodcocker1018]

we have probably more space as kids and in general then you in the us because here in germany you can go everywhere. you aren't allowed as landowner to prohibit entering your forest or lake. there is no "no trespassing" in germany except for your private houses or company buildings and perimeter. you can go everywhere here in germany

[@ItsLeeXyt]

9:19 is literally my bakery😂

[@darthfather1294]

Gesundheit left me laughing bro, your so german already, because you know what counts....nice and entertaining

[@marrykurie48]

I for once can't really argue about what I had prefered as a kid, because I grew up in Germany. And I only had to walk like 5 Minutes to reach the woods or a meadow or a small river or a pond according to which direction I chose to go. I must say so that when I was small, there used to be two Kiosks (small shops where you can get almost anyhing) a bakery, a hospital and a post-office in my area, which all have vanished by now. We almost every time use the car now to go shopping. So in this way we got a little bit"americanized" where I live. On the other hand there still is a "Grundschule". We even have a "Kindergarten" here, wich hasn't been there when I grew up.

[@elmarwinkler6335]

You know that she is a Dr. phil. and teaches architecture at the university????

[@Why-D]

Yes, you are allowed to have a bakery or grocery store or restaurant in your area. Why should you need to take a car to buy a bread. Just walk down the street. In most cities, you have shops in the ground floor and above two or three floors for living.

[@williamrockwood5234]

as a german, I honestly see these american suburbs as very nice as well. but... you have to keep in mind, that in germany we just don't have the space for that. we can't have huge junks of the city be for only single homes, we have too many people and very limited area to build. the housing market is already under a lot of stress. and tbh, a bakery, a little grocery store and a pharmacy would not hurt the suburbs either.

[@Dreamfox-df6bg]

To put it into numbers, Germany has a third of the population of the entire USA in an area half the size of Texas or roughly between Montana and New Mexico.

[@Muck006]

It makes sense to allow "stores" and "living" in the same zone, because many STORE OWNERS LIVED ABOVE THEIR STORES. Since the regulation started before the widespread availability of the car ... that makes total sense. The USA was similar (and they also had TRAMs in the cities) ... UNTIL that was switched in the 50s or so.

[@Stephaos]

07:34 hahaha That caught me off guard

[@PotsdamSenior]

24:00 - I don't see large gardens at all. You can easily reach in your neighbours kitchen window from your own, to grab some bacon or bread from the table!

[@assellator7298]

Ok, Germany has a density of 236 per km², USA has 34 per km². Other point: I like your imitation of Trump. Have you ever thinking about a second channel with Trump satire? Or are you afraid that you won't be able to return to the USA for the next 4 years?😁

[@lhuras.]

I'll take the middle of the woods. Now! Thanks.

[@winny4765]

Well, whenever a larger area of a larger town is constructed, planning will include areas for small trade, schools, citizen center e.t.c.

[@Muck006]

13:20 It isnt very EFFICIENT ... (it IS "effective", because it DOES what it is supposed to do ... which is something stupid).

[@YukiTheOkami]

I live and aleays lived on the outskirt of the german yity of Leipzig we hsbe nature here snd kids pretty much free rome once they also gonto elementary school not so diffrent from what u described and we hVe a small supermarket here snd in germsny i think once u are 7 yesrs old u csn buy things so we would tske our poket money and get something from the bskery inside the store or we would get some popsicles so we had everything u have experienced pluss icecream 😅 and this is a soviet style apartme t block we have 2 kindergsrdens and an elementary school across the street Tve street that goes right inbetween the apartments and school and Kindergsrdens is a so called Verkehrs Beruhigter Bereich (Cslmed traffic area) Or inofficialy Spielstraße (play street) The cars are only allowed to drive through in walking speed and they are aware thst there are children There is a street around where its the full 30kmh But honestly noone who lives here goes the full 30 there eiter mire like 20 ot becouse of the street conditiom but becouse of roaming cats and unpredictable dogs and such its verry quet here as well the loudest thing around are the children

[@hans-peterhegmann2895]

Ich gestatte mir mal eine vermutliche Provokation hier - ich werde auf Deutsch kommentieren. Nicht weil ich kein Englisch (British and American) verstehe. Ich frage mich nur, für wen Sean seinen Kanal macht? Ich kann hier so gut wie keine amerikanischen oder britischen Kommentare lesen (Vermutung anhand der Namen oder/und der Inhalte). Ebenso Asthon Schottler (Type Ashton), die in Freiburg lebt. Sie hat in einem ihrer letzten KZbin Posting selbst gesagt, dass es ein Ausländer, der kein Englisch spricht, in den USA sehr schwer haben wird. Außerdem gehe ich davon aus, dass sie bestimmt nicht erwartet, dass sie, die freiwillig nach Deutschland gekommen ist, hier nur in Englisch kommunizieren kann. Vielleicht würden sich beide sogar über mehr deutsche Kommentare freuen? So lernt man eine Fremdsprache im Ausland (und jetzt Lebensraum) doch viel genauer, als wenn man weiterhin alles in seiner Muttersprache abwickelt. Jetzt zum Inhalt beider Kanäle: Jeweils qualitativ sehr gut, interessant und unterhaltsam. Hier können viele Deutsche Amerikaner(innen) differenzierter wahrnehmen als sie (auch) in unseren Vorstellungen oft existieren. Beide verkörpern für mich zum Glück nicht die vielen Anerikaner(innen) vom Typus "We are still Number One" oder MAGA, die ich unter anderen in den USA kennengelernt habe. Ich freue mich gerne über Kommentare - auch anderer Meinung - solange sie einen wohl überlegten Inhalt haben. Viele Grüße

[@darthfather1294]

I think it might be easier for him to read english text, particularly if it is long text like yours....further i think he'll benefit by living in germany and having friends and family supporting him. And last but not least germans need more training in english, than that guy, that says "gesundheit" xD to the bauamtblahkacke. Ich glaube mal dem geht's soweit gut. Aber ich mag deinen Ansatz und eigentlich hast du maximal recht mit dem was du sagst. Ich hoffe du denkst genug auch mal an dich selbst. Das ist nämlich wichtig und gut. Ich glaube mein Englisch ist ganz brauchbar, deshalb hab ich inzwischen angefangen Spanisch und Russisch in meiner Freizeit zu lernen xD Mach doch lieber was sinnvolles als Kommentare abzuliefern die weder auf verstand treffen noch auf dankbarkeit. Ich glaube auch man überschätzt die soziale Komponente, auch gerne, also ich auch, und man erliegt schnell dem irrglauben das man teil einer sache ist die garkeine wirkliche ist, das existiert ja alles nur in unserem kopf bis man reinpayd und jemand deinen namen sagt und deinen kommentar vorliesst oder ähnlich. WIr sollte echt besseres zu tun haben. Aber sofern du nicht mehr als 2 Std Social media täglich konsumierst hab ich nichts gesagt xD So ganz viel Liebe und Deutsch und Englisch für alle die es brauchen bedient euch bei uns beiden wir haben hier einen multikulturellen durchbruch mit delay..... vielleicht könnte hier noch einer Rezomäßig reindenglischen xDD Haya mach ich auch manchmal......also peace and love

[@neb-taui-djeser1060]

Americans need community centers, germans just a nice cafe, or i enjoyed the most, student bars, around the corner of your apartment to socialize.

[@Muck006]

17:20 Sorry Ashton, but that is NOT "supporting" euclidian zoning ... it is EXCUSING it ... because the STRICT CONCEPT is still stupid. Having a STORE / small workshop and LIVING ABOVE/RIGHT NEXT TO IT simply makes sense but is completely impossible in the USA, because a plot of land MUST BE EITHER "living" OR "working", it cant be both.

[@mizapf]

Here's a nit to pick: Unlike English "welcome", German "willkommen" has its stress on the second part, that is, "willKOMmen". For that reason, your greeting at the start sounds a bit off.

[@SunshineLove__]

America&Germany for the win!

[@YukiTheOkami]

They still could allowow a small shop at each corner with up tob4 apartments above thsts store I dont think this would destrox any traffic flow lmao just mske the neigtborhhod more liveable and it just needs a little edit on the zoning rules and its done max 10 partking lots that need hsve at leat 2 trees against asphslt heating (Of wich 4 are reserved for the people whonlive there and another 2 for staff and 4 for people who gontonthe buisness U csn basicly rule everything out to not not make it an unpleasent experience for the people who live left and right U could for example Bann al big fastfood chains from setteling there and only allow small grocerie stores Usa just wont Becouse murica! 😅

[@silviahannak3213]

It is illegal to walk to a small Stores, Bakery or nearby (10-20 min) Supermarkets..not Mega Mega Huge Wallmart which we don't have but a middle size Supermarkt where it's not 3 ami Football 🏈 Field but less than 1 half such a Field. It's illegal to walk. Size of Shops are not American Sized. For you it seems smaller or tiny but for us it's a decent size.not overloaded Shops. The Daily necessary things..not drug stop Ikea and Baumarkt all together. These Stuff you have to drive to cause it needs land and so on.

[@iodiimelita7999]

???

[@iodiimelita7999]

It s illegal to Walk, how can this be, Not in germany

[@CavHDeu]

Ich bin gegen Nimby klingt nach Quimby 😂

[@wandilismus8726]

Nimm Bier ist besser als Nimby

[@CavHDeu]

@@wandilismus8726 Bier nehm ich sowieso 😏🍻

[@mynameiseve.1]

😂something being an "-ism" doesnt have everything to do with LGBTQ. remember sex-ism, rac-ism, patriot-ism.... ya that was a rubbish sentence structure oopsies

[@RikaMagic-px6bk]

2:02 Racism...? Antisemitism...? Maybe not the best wording...

[@stampcollector74]

You are an adullt? O.O

[@Muck006]

Sorry, but american suburbia is CRAP ... because it WASTES SPACE ... and instead of "everyone having a moderately large LAWN (because you guys dont do anything creative with that, it's all just LAWN LAWN LAWN) ... how about having a COMMUNAL PARK somewhere and reduce the space of every plot of land by 10%. Traditional german villages start with A CHURCH, A POND, A GREEN ... and one road that goes past this on either side ... and on the outside of that there are the houses, which include shops and workshops.