American Reacts to Not Just Bikes | Even Small Towns are Great Here (5 Years in the Netherlands)

[@Vonononie]

The towers of the bike bridge in Nijmegen didn’t originally have holes. They were towers on either side of the railway bridge next to the new(er) bike bridge. They aren’t that old (I think late 1800s) although done in a faux medieval style. I think one was a water tower for steam trains. One of the towers used to be open to the public and is worth a stop off

[@platinaatje6134]

The tower look like a former water tower for steam locomotives.

[@henrijansen4224]

I think I heart, it was used like a prison!

[@Vonononie]

@ I think that is the tower,on the old wall, in the park

[@henrijansen4224]

@@VonononieYou mean Kronenburg park?

[@Vonononie]

@henrijansen4224 yeah the (Kronenburgerpark) tower is much older than the bridge towers. Started out as a battlement but then was used for other reasons over the centuries. I think it was used for detention at some point. But you might be right that the bridge towers were used to imprison people as it was used during WW2 occupation

[@sanderdeboer6034]

9:32 the NS will not send extra trains for a speed cube contest! What he meant was that they have a high amount of trains serving the local station every hour.

[@joyl7842]

I believe they only do that for large football matches, to keep the celebrating supporters contained and away from people who are not traveling to the sporting event.

[@wozzablog]

Yup. It was more than a little tongue in cheek, absolutely - he was commenting on the normal level of service.

[@szandorthe13th]

football matches might see extra trains, zandvoort sees extra trains when f1 comes to town, and Heerenveen has that IJsstadion station just in case the Thialf ice stadium ever needs it

[@jbird4478]

@@joyl7842 Yes, and with some large events like King's Day and de Nijmeegse Vierdaagse. Definitely not for a rubik's cube contest.

[@JustRoharas]

On average each station with 2way tracks will have 1 or 2 trains going per track every hour. The big cities might take that up to 4 or 5 per track. Boosting total trains to dozens per hour. So it's safe to assume that even in the smallest of towns like mine, with not even 5000 inhabitants you have at least 2 trains an hour, 1 in both directions. That's the bare minimum and considered a little bad.

[@barbaraout5038]

Mind you: we pay a lot of tax in the Netherlands. Close to the most in the world. Americans don't want to pay so much tax. But that's what is whats needed to keep things nice.

[@ArtemisWestenberg]

Not really, We pay taxes, but many countries (even the USA) actually pay close to what we pay in the Netherlands. The thing is, in the Netherlands, we actually GET SOMETHING back for the taxes: the best infrastructure in the world, not just bikelanes, highways, but also internet and electricity, water, access to shops/supermarkets/schools/public transport/canals/rivers

[@dagemervideos]

11:00 We use standardized street signs for nearly all things, learning those would help much more, the only things that have text are things like "road closed temporarily" but even then there is still an icon you would recognise and you would know what to do when faced with it

[@Keyboardje]

Please, don't discourage him to learn Dutch. It's important for much more than just being able to read road signs!

[@Be-Es---___]

Only good language teacher is life

[@Bramfly]

Road signage is very similar across European countries.

[@guidostreefkerk8494]

funny thing. Most Dutch people do not think that there are enough buses and trains and certainly not that they ever run on time. but that is because we are so used to the situation here. When we are in another country we often see the more beautiful sides of that country. Not that I'm complaining about the Netherlands. but I think it's wonderful to see how people from other countries see us. I have been to many places around the world myself. enjoyed everything those countries had to offer. but was always happy to be home in the cold country of the Netherlands. continue with your youtube channel. good job.

[@tommarsdon5644]

The amount of buses from where I live to the station recently went down from 9 busses/hour to 6 busses/hour; and oh my god, why are there so few busses now! I need to wait so long now!

[@MLWJ1993]

​@tommarsdon5644 Anything is pretty much an improvement compared to where I live, we get 1 bus per hour (if it doesn't magically dissappear that is) on Monday-Friday. There's 1 bus per 2 hours on Saturday & if you want to go anywhere on Sunday you'd have to figure it out yourself because there's NO PUBLIC TRANSPORT AT ALL. Luckily we have a dorpshuis that will entertain the elderly, so they don't need to go far & for groceries we finally got a Coop instead of Spar, so the pricing is at least sort of reasonable instead of 3x the price compared to a 10 minute drive away...

[@marinvanz.1924]

@guido....goed omschreven!👍

[@NL-SanderH89]

I grew up thinking the US is the best country in the world, but the more i have seen of the world, and on channels like yours where Americans or other nationalities give their perspective, i am so glad i'm Dutch, and lost my desire to move anywhere. Not that we are perfect, far from it, like any county, the Netherlands has its issues. But still, i am happy overall with how i can live my life here.

[@ThePhosee]

The US sells the strong image of self as a paradise, as the best place on Earth. Countless times I tried convincing lots of people that that image is a lie.

[@paulmichaelfreedman8334]

It's not the land, it's the political climate. Things are getting out of hand with wokeism.

[@Ghandi12]

@@ThePhosee The american dream, work 3 jobs and live from paycheck to paycheck. And themost funny thing is that zionist are your boss. They better can change the name usa in usi ( united states of israhel ).

[@JBKNL]

@@NL-SanderH89 Sinterklaas, Santa Claus and USA being the pinnacle of mankind.. biggest lies told to children 🤣🤣🤣 Development country mate. Ego, pride and blind patriotism is limiting their growth.

[@StefanVeenstra]

Same here but for Japan. It looks like a paradise, the people seem polite. Until you get to know them. Not looking forward spending 100 hours a week at work for a pay unbecoming, not getting to enjoy time anywhere, not even with family. And the people are actually extremely rude at the core. The politeness is just a societal obligation, not their truest personal sentiments.

[@erikdenhouter]

For potholes and other problems with our roads, my experience is that when you encounter such situation, and you take a picture, send it to the council, it will be repaired within a few days, or earlier when really dangerous. That contributes to the feel of our roads.

[@GuusJanssen]

Dat is omdat op het moment dat de gemeente de melding heeft ontvangen ze de verantwoordelijkheid niet meer kunnen afwenden. Wanneer er na een maand of ze een ongeluk gebeurd is door de melding aantoonbaar dat de gemeente nalatig is geweest. Dat geldt zelfs voor straatverlichting en loszittende stoeptegels. Daarom wordt het probleem normaal binnen maximaal 5 dagen opgelost, of afgezet met borden of pilonnen bij grotere problemen.

[@erikdenhouter]

@@GuusJanssen Yep, dat heet verantwoordelijkheid en aansprakelijkheid, en moet door de rechtstaat levend gehouden worden. Rechters zijn daar eigenlijk het belangrijkst in.

[@dagemervideos]

9:19, there are no extra trains for events like that, there is just a lot of public transport here!

[@walkir2662]

Yeah, who cares about speed cubing? You get extra trains for sports events or something liek that where there's a crazy extra load of passengers. Not some random event most people haven'T even heard of.

[@CyberBeep_kenshi]

here in Zoetermeer, we have an old center (no cars) and the modern center, which is elevated. meaning, you can drive underneath, park at the logistics door of i.e. shop selling kitchen appliances, and load it into the car. the walking part with the shops: only pedestrians. also, the additional parking garages are free of use (2 hours). The logic is that it attracts customers. Also, 2 trainsstops, bus center next to it, bicycle parking etc.

[@lorrefl7072]

I live in Belgium and our public transport and bikes stuff is pretty close to what it is in the Netherlands. So it's nice to see it from the perspective of an American. When Charlie says he would have to drive at least 30 minutes to even get to a bus, it's funny, cause here's me complaining about the fact that round the corner from where I live (2 minutes walk) the bus only comes every 20 minutes and not every 10 minutes like in other parts around my town. Riding your bike is just a part of our lives to go to work, school, shopping, to go out in the evening... It saddens me that because of my health I can't ride a bike anymore because there's this beautiful wide bike lane (width of a big truck) with woods on one side that starts around the corner from where I live all the way into town. But luckily I do also have the option of a bus just around the corner too.

[@ThePhosee]

About the caption "Why isn't USA like this". The US was like this 90 years ago. But then people let the cities to be demolished in favor for cars.

[@wozzablog]

Towns of a few thousand people had bus lines, streetcars and a rail station that could take you to the neighbouring towns. The destruction of infrastructure was criminal

[@erikdenhouter]

Americans see Europe as the 'old world'. Our cities are build much earlier, and closer, and the solutions we progressed are different. Distances and petrol prices have been huge factors true time.

[@ProvidenceNL]

@@erikdenhouter Many cities in the US would be amazing with better infrastructure and less sprawl.

[@keesdriessen565]

Europe is Europe and america.... what is it???

[@micade2518]

Not "the people" but the super powerful car, oil, airlines lobbies! You should find this interesting, by the same "Not Just Bikes" channel: "Would You Fall for It? [ST08]" - Not Just Bikes

[@CruelViper88]

7:28...that arm is a old (rain)water drain. It's a old tower next a river, so they used that send of liquid down the river (before the bicicle bridge existed).

[@Jurjen_Warrel_Ottenhoff]

As a Dutch person I'm so happy that people back in the day protested to the car-centric plans our government had back then. They are a big part of the reason the Netherlands is as it is now and not some "car-centric wasteland". And to quote Not Just Bikes again. "The US wasn't built for cars, it was bulldozed for them."

[@caspervanelli6502]

That's right, in the 1960-1970's the Amsterdam city councel wanted to demolish big parts of the old city neighbourhoods to make room for wide, car centred streets. Thank you so much to those who prevented it....

[@wimvandemeerendonk4720]

@@caspervanelli6502 true, in Utrecht they wanted to do the same. Thank God, the old city canal that was then reconstructed into a car road is now filled with water again!

[@RTomassi]

Happy new year! And thanks, nice reaction vid again.

[@ItsCharlieVest]

Happy new year! Thank you

[@PH61a]

I'm amazed about how much you already know about the Netherlands without ever have been there.

[@yaxiegwel]

he knows more then most dutch people😁

[@bjorndebeere7987]

Niet genoeg gezien die Ajax klok😂

[@wimvandemeerendonk4720]

@@bjorndebeere7987 🤣🤣🤣

[@Kami69247]

8:31 This type of wide bike lane is one where cars are allowed as guests. Meaning that bikes take precedence. If you can go past in the speed limit you're allowed if you don't run over a bike to do so. But you're never allowed to run over bikes. It's just extra emphasis on bikes when the roads are red.

[@davidkwakkel3816]

Noviomagus was the roman name for Nijmegen which means New Market. It's around 2000 years old.

[@jpfoto64]

an other big difference between dutch and north american infrastucture is that all cables for power and communication are underground. there are no cables hanging in the air exept for the hig voltage power lines that come directly from power centales. but every house, factory and other buildings get the power and other cables from under ground. cross the border to belgium and you will see many cables hanging in the air.

[@Kap3lka]

I think cables hanging in the air are a massive eyesore.

[@marcelmoulin3335]

With cables underground in the Netherlands, one does not see streets and roads littered with unsightly (hideous) telephone poles which are ubiquitous in the US.

[@jpfoto64]

It also is less lyable for breadowns. Poles can fall over after a colission or torn down by falling trees, cranes etc, and other courses

[@Quark0611]

The cables in Belgium are moving more and more into the ground. I've lived in Belgium for 20+ years now, and you see less and less cables above ground! Though there are still cables above ground, especially in the south. But not exclusively!

[@Bramfly]

No ugly billboards either.

[@lesasawahata4652]

since i moved to NL 22 years ago, i have been amazed by the ease of non-car transport (not possible for a west coaster in the US!) But to be fair: the Netherlands is a very tiny country, and it is absolutely flat (unless you're in limburg). Ideal for biking or roller skating

[@beetle.fleetle.1582]

95% of your viewers are dutch people being happy over the fact that their country is being praised

[@marinvanz.1924]

And rightly so🤭

[@erikabee3498]

Terschelling (the island) is not just farming, but it is a great holliday destination. Very much woods, nature and North Sea beaches. Cute little authentic villages... popular by youngsters for their first holliday and their second etc etc. But not only for the young, for everybody in the Northern part of the Netherlands. I've been there for about 10 times.

[@marcotruschel9427]

The concrete pole sticking out from the tower with the bicycle path running through it is for water drainage, basically a not so fancy waterspewer, it drops the water far from the stones so it doesn't flow along the brickwork and erode the mortar. You can also see the other side of the tower on the other side of the traintrack

[@jhonnycubero21]

I live in Veenendaal, funny to see it represented in your video. Actually grew up right next to that train station.

[@rinusbeckers119]

Reaction about the absence of a tramcar system in Assen: In many towns in the Netherlands double-length electric busses are used nowadays. They can load their batteries at the endpoints of the routes during short driver breaks (inductive afaik). Those busses are a lot more quiet than tramcars and are still emissionfree like trams (within the town). There's a bus builder in Eindhoven, MDL, who builds these double-length types.

[@gertvanderstraaten6352]

They really did cut through that tower in Nijmegen for the bicycle path to Lent (now part of Nijmegen municipality). It was a landmark long before this bike path was cut through it.

[@qualitytraders5333]

You don't have to know Dutch to know how to behave on the roads as we have pictograms instead of text for that, which are self-explanatory. And that goes for other European countries as well. Also the ubiquitous utility poles in the US and Canada are eyesores. In The Netherlands that infrastructure is underground. Easily seen in the videos.

[@Judith_Remkes]

Came here to say this, no need to 'read' signs because they're pictures. And be patient and go with the flow and you'll do fine in traffic. You'll pick up on things like red road surfaces quickly enough.

[@la-go-xy]

10:52 Look up Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals if you want to be prepared: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Road_Signs_and_Signals Table for Europe: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_European_road_signs including the national speed limits boards at the borders

[@jbird4478]

Not just Europe. Lots of countries around the world use the same standard road signs. In Europe Ireland is an outlier. They did not sign the Vienna Convention and still use their own signs.

[@CyberBeep_kenshi]

to bad we still have tokkies here in vw golfs and gabber music that shouldn't be driving 😂

[@crazymonkeyVII]

9:12 I'm from the next town on that train track next to Ermelo! Ermelo is one of the many places between Utrecht and Zwolle (both major railway transit hubs) and these trains come by every half hour in either direction (between 06:00 and 01:00 hours). Not that often compared to Rotterdam, Den Haag, Amsterdam and Utrecht, but still not too bad. Note, these are only the commuter trains. There are also intercity trains that cover larger distances faster that use these same tracks and also come by every half hour in either direction, but they don't stop at the smaller stations like Ermelo (except the last one of the day in the direction of Zwolle, which makes a stop at my town for some reason). Edit: And of course there are freight trains using the same tracks as well!

[@marinvanz.1924]

@crazymonkey....Harderwijk(next station after Ermelo) zegt Hi 👋

[@lolololol7573]

10:05 is actually really easy to go through. The point of the traffic calming is to have it calm in your head also: there's not 1000 things to watch out for. It's a step by step system instead of everything at once. So it's not just literally to slow you down - but also to create a better oversight of the situation you are entering where people make decisions (turning and crossing instead of just going straight). For example if I am the car and go straight; no worries because everyone has to give me priority. If I am a bicyclist who wants to cross like he did at 9:32, I look left. No car? I cross. Then I am in the middle. I look right. A car? I stop. I don't have to worry about my left because of the island. The system takes away a lot of worry and decisions because you can make the decisions one by one. And it might seem to you like a lot is happening on the road, with all those markings and signs... But very quickly it becomes logical what things are relevant to you: Which path/lane, the difference of a crossing with priority and without, and those triangles I'm sure you have learned about. Heck, as a kid I didn't even know the signs until I had to get my drivers license. So they're not 'that' important to be part of traffic if you're on a bike or just walk. They're important once you start driving. Much of it is additional information, but you already know most information based on the type of road you are on. Most of the places don't need signs, but they have them anyway to make sure. So don't worry too much about street signs at first, unless you want to drive here. But yeah, get an ebike. That's a way better idea if traffic makes you uncomfortable. You'll be fine :) Hope one day you get to visit.

[@opoxious1592]

The so called "castle" was a closed building. Up to 2013 wgen the bicycle bridge was build, they opened the building to give acces for the bicycle traffic.

[@MarcFromNijmegen]

And that old crane is in fact a waterspout, now defunct as you wouldn't want to dump that water on your bicycle path. But the fact they could "tunnel" through that protected monument is remarkable by itself.

[@opoxious1592]

@@MarcFromNijmegen I also were sure that it was somekind of waterdrain. I knew it was definately not some old crane.

[@dunk92]

The reason why trains stop at those small towns because the town just aligns coincidentally at the main train track. In the past they where more train tracks in the netherlands. They did might build small towns along the tracks, because it was much very convenient at that time. You also see that for most small towns where there was important industry in the past why they had a train track or build the town near the train track. From there now people takes buses to go to their final destination or going with the bike. The town works like a transfer stop place. Or they park their car there and go with train to the city, because parking in main cities somtimes terrible. You can almost go everywhere with the bike. Except Friesland. It has the least traintracks.

[@rmyikzelf5604]

10:58 most permanent traffic signs (except obviously those for directions) require no reading skills in just about everywhere in the world (but certainly in Europe) except the US. It's all standardised pictures. Sometimes, with a little white sign below indicating either that the sign is only for certain types of road users (e.g. trucks or cars with a trailer in tow) or that the sign is for all except certain road users (or certain times, days, etc). Usually those are marked with a sign with one word meaning 'except for'. In Dutch that would be 'uitgezonderd', in French 'sauf', in German 'frei' with a picture. Traffic signs with words are usually avoided.

[@lws7394]

16:45 The Jutrijp situation needs a sidenote explanation. The hamlet Jutrijp is located 2km south of a market touwn Sneek (which is really, really nice btw.) . Those buses are not with destination of Jutrijp , but they are 3-4 rural bus routes to like 20 small villages south of Sneek, that happen to pass Jutrijp on route to the market town (with railway station, highschools, sports clubs, night clubs etc).. Jutrijp is not the destination, it just happens to be along thoses routes ! And in the weekend there are not 3-4 but 2 bus lines ...with some villlages not having transit on that day..

[@Jurjen_Warrel_Ottenhoff]

Or, like the village I'm from, 1 bus per hour during the day and a Belbus (literal translation: callbus) during the evening. Belbus - A small bus, or a car, you have call/reserve an hour in advance that drives the bus route at scheduled times and you pay bus fare for. Often done by a taxi service.

[@DeziCh]

@@Jurjen_Warrel_Ottenhoff Aside from the Belbus, there's also the Buurtbus (translated "neighborhood bus") that is ran by volunteers! They're more like small vans that only fit 8 people and follow a set route, but you can even get on one outside of bus stops just by raising your hand. I think there's like 100-200 thoughout the country, and anyone with a driver's license for a regular car can sign up to become a driver for it :)

[@audiogek]

You might add the fact that public transportation used the be owned by the government and so there are bus stops everywhere. When the government privatized public transport they obligated them to keep the financially unhealthy routes.

[@maryannecomment3302]

No, I live in Ermelo. There is no speed cube contest. From this station one can travel every half hour to Utrecht or to Zwolle. The trains stops at every small town between these cities. From Amersfoort (one of these train stops), Utrecht or Zwolle one can take another train to go to a different place. Utrecht, Zwolle and Amersfoort have trains that go in several different directions. It is not a nightmare. The traffic is regulated with signs and slow, and in the center there is a walking area. Because it is close to beautiful nature, Ermelo is a touristic place with many shops and supermarkets, terraces and cafés. The signs are usually with images, so you do not have to read Dutch. In the summer, many Germans visit Ermelo and also some people from the UK. They do not speak or read Dutch at all.

[@loultimo-news1128]

Netherlands its such a nice place to live. I'm an expat and everytime that I'm out of the country i cannot tell how much I miss it!! Love dutch people too!

[@MrAntisound]

The tower with a hole for the bikes was actually ment as a military defensive tower, but got never used for that, than they used it as a bridgewatch tower to keep an eye on pedestrians, but it got too old and decayed too much, so they rebuilt it in the old style, and left out a room so we can cycle trhough it, the hoist you see was originally ment to hoist cannons up the tower, it used to be a lot lower there where the bikepath is now. You can drive pretty much everywhere in the Netherlands, those markings aren't to tell you that you can't drive there, it only tells you to watch out for pedestrians (these aren't for bikes either !), cause contrary to what you see in this vid, roads are a whole lot busier than what you see in this vid. If you can't drive there, it has a white round traffic sign (board) with a red edge and a black car in the middle. And the bikepaths wheren't always there, they go out of their way to lay a bikepath just about alongside every road they make in here, apart from the highways, they don't have bikepaths, but they often have parallel smaller roads, and these have bikepaths again, or you're only allowed to drive at 60km/h there so you can also use it with bikes on the side of the road with a small strip, they just make them everywhere every time they make a new road, it's standard practice cause we like to ride bicyles. it wasn't bad in the 70 in here, infact, it was a whole lot quiter on the road, a whole lot, and back then there where plenty bikepaths, albeit not so much as nowadays. there where actually a lot of small roads and bikepaths before WW2, but after WW2 they started to modernize everything and never stopped doing that, like someone else mentions, we pay quite a lot of taxes, and they are used for keeping the roads safe and a lot of other public amenities. that being said, we also earn a reasonable income compared to the states and canada, we're just somewhat richer i guess. But even in here we slowly get less every year, and the rich get more every year, just like everywhere. Thing is, i don't understand why someone that earns 5 million a year wants to have more and more, cause you can't take it with you when you die, but there are plenty of people, even in the Netherlands, that can use a little bit more money to have a good life, we have poor people too. But yeah, we like to keep things neat and tidy and organized..

[@conallmclaughlin4545]

7:35 nope... they did indeed cut a hole through the building 😂 the pulley is an old water spout/drain

[@niekv9683]

I think there may have been a small entrance. Which they made into a tunnel now.

[@johnverschuren352]

As a native dutch guy its so nice to see how not european people think about our country. I guess we are just spoiled and do not see the things they do. Or at least value it that way. Thank you for the compliments, and come back again anytime.

[@4nz-nl]

10:00 You should try driving here. Actually, this is an invite :) Just switch on the navigation and it's... comfortable. Also, compared to cities in the US, we don't have all that much traffic jams. You can actually drive into and out of our largest cities during rush hour. It won't be quick, but it's faster than walking.

[@paulwassenaar8351]

4:20 This is a safe zebra crossing all right. This zebra crossing is on the grounds of the LUMC. In case you do happen to have an accident, you are very close to the hospital. The yellow building in the background is the entrance side of building 1, the main building of the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). The main entrance to the LUMC is approximately in the middle below a cannopy. The LUMC is located next to the Leiden train- and busstation and the trainstation even has a dedicated exit to the hospital grounds. Normally everything is within walking distance, but if you have an accident on the zebra crossing....

[@22Chad_Reed22]

Veenendaal FECP (fast eddy cycle passion) I can sit in that bicycle shop for hours drinking coffee and chatting with the people there, run by a former pro cyclocross atlethe. And it is only like 30km away from home can cycle there under the hour and over some of the most beautiful cycling routs. I love it. and then around veenendaal you also have all the mountainbike courses of the "Utrechtse Heuvel Rug" it's heaven.

[@reinoutmooijweer2770]

12:41 The best bicycle city/municipality is announced every year by the Fietsersbond (cycling union). Veenendaal and many other municipalities have been getting the title over the last decades, so it's not weird that you haven't heard of this one. It was the first city to receive the title, and it's still a great place to cycle.

[@Bramfly]

City wise it’s Groningen and Utrecht.

[@jornstroetenga3714]

12.20, me as a person from the Netherlands I dit not no that Veenendaal is the best city for cycling.

[@marinvanz.1924]

Greets to all of you from Harderwijk. A small town in the middle of the Netherlands. Very nice video and you know a lot about the Netherlands, more than many Dutch people themselves, I'm sure! Well done👍💪

[@djsokra]

The two towers of the railway bridge in Nijmegen, called Het Landhoofd, were built in 1879 initially to defend the bridge, but because canons soon became stronger they were outdated before they were put to militairy use.Because many people walked the bridge and this was dangerous, the towers were rebuilt each to house a family of bridge keepers. These families could live there for free for their service of guarding the entrance of the bridge. In the 1980s both towers got the status of monuments. When the cycling bridge was built, the towers were rebuilt in their original condition - except for the passage through the tower. The eastern tower is now a music practice room.

[@MeYou-ww9xk]

In 2020 Veenendaal won the overall price, But Enschede won 2 prices, 1 for the same, but than as a big City and for the bicycle Highway, the F35, named after the Fiets (F) and the highway Autosnelweg 35 (A). But the F35 is bigger than that. The F35 literally goes to town around Enschede (stretches even further) without almost no delay (Less traffic and a minimum of 🚦). I you're a training cyclist, it is possible to be home at the same time or earlier with your bicycle! Nice side effect, you do your daily workout on it 😂

[@huntriel984]

The tower where they cut through for the cycle bridge was there before the cycle path. The bridge was for trains only, 20 years ago or something they hung the cycle bridge next to the train bridge. At the time it was the longes cycle bridge in the world. So yes, that tower was cut through.

[@TheRedStateBlue]

you should always keep in mind when trying to compare the USA to Europe that all those towns in Europe have been there for over a thousand years. they were all built when the horse was the only mode of travel. America, especially the American west, was mostly built after the invention of the railroad, and lacking the population density of Europe.

[@alainvosselman9960]

That is indeed a very important issue. Our walking and biking culture are the result of these cities being that incredibly old.. it's not the other way around where we would build our cities around that biking culture. Also the US is so huge that people who came from those older, narrow European towns & cities they'd want to escape this narrowness as well.. maybe looking forward to have wide streets, big houses, big buildings, big shops, ..

[@robinj1052]

Please note that many cities in the Netherlands are very old and the centers were never designed for cars. Woerden was already inhabited in Roman times and got city rights in 1372, Alkmaar got those rights in 1254, and Sneek got them in 1456 (first official city rights). The streetplan of those cities have not been changed significantly over a period of several hundreds of years. That's why most streets in the center are so narrow.

[@barttemolder3405]

In fact may towns around the Rhine are of Roman origin as they used to be outposts of the Limes, the north border of the Roman empire. Castello Fectio named Vechten, the river Vecht and the area Vechtstreek, Traiectum became Utrecht, Forum Hadrianum is now Voorburg, Albanianae is Alphen aan den Rijn and Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum is now Nijmegen. There were more fortifications and towns but their names often have no obvious relation to current towns.

[@rmyikzelf5604]

The basic street layout of the tip of Manhattan hasn't changed since it was New Amsterdam. But look at the cars there... 😂

[@robinj1052]

@@rmyikzelf5604 The difference between Manhattan and typical old Dutch cities, is that most of those Dutch cities have a lot of very old buildings still remaining. So the streets could not be widened.

[@robinj1052]

@@barttemolder3405 Absolutely correct.

[@AninevandenBerg]

13:17 I went to school in Veenendaal and used to ride that bikepath every day 😊

[@budgetking2591]

I very much realize how lucky i am to live in the Netherlands, and particulary, the city where i live, Vlissingen, its just paradise for me, not to big that its to crowded, not to small so we still have all the things a town needs, we have the sea, beaches, forests, biking trails, I LOVE THIS CITY, born here 38 years ago and i will never leave.

[@klaesregis7487]

That's a good pronunciation of Veenendaal!

[@nataliereijnders]

The bicycle paths or footpaths near canals were built for horses which pulled boats in the canals. After these were no longer necessary, they were easily changed into bicyclepaths

[@JasperJanssen]

7:04 re the tower: you can see the different color bricks around the break through, that building was definitely altered. It also definitely wasn’t original medieval, or that wouldn’t have been allowed. This was probably a 1970s ish (visual only) reconstruction, if I had to guess.

[@mrjules1982]

9:32 I would be really surprised if a speed cube event would motivate the NS (national railways) to adapt their schedule. Also, if there is a train station, 1 train per hour in each direction is kinda the ultimate 'in the sticks' situation here. Which would be considered a high amount by North American standards I suppose. A quick search taught me Veenendaal has 2 sprinters (local trains) per hour leaving in the direction of Driebergen-Zeist (mentioned later in the video), so that puts it at least a category above 'the sticks'.

[@Dutchylex]

Cool to hear your opinion about NL. It makes me realize how very well organized and nice it is to live here. Most Dutch people are masters in complaining about everything. They demand a really high standard of living, as showed in this video. We complain ALOT about the high taxes (49,5% for high incomes, general speaking 21% sale tax and much more hidden taxes), but the result is a very liveable country with pretty good education, healthcare, good work-life balance and an awesome infrastructure :).

[@goakutje]

what you also see in America that you don't see here is that people don't walk around with their phones all the time.

[@muncherofpizza]

22:39 I just wanted to say btw, flawless pronunciation! (the stress is on ‘leeuw’ and as such, that part is normally elongated, but you nailed the sounds!)

[@anchesenamonsims5356]

I’ve seen a few of your videos now and you’re always so nice about our country. I really you’ll get the chance to visit it sometime in the future.

[@wozzablog]

@14:22 That is exactly how Europe developed. Prehistoric tracks for hunter gatherers became drove roads for iron age cattle which became routes for the stage coaches, which became routes for other vehicles or were utilised as rights of way by the rail ways in the 19th century. Thousands of historic settlements grew as the distances between them shrank. I live in North London (eng) and if you look at a map from the 16th century its a tiny hamlet a couple of miles from the next tiny hamlet and so on, while being a dozen miles from the centre of london. These same places 500 years later are outer london suburbs with their own idents but still in london with 10 minutes in to the centre of the city. Everything grew orgnaically as the farmland disapeared and the industrial revolution took off - the hundreds of tiny hamlets around london became a giant city as they grew in to each other.

[@uweseemann8571]

Here is a photo of the south portal of the "Spoorbrug Nijmegen, Landhoofd" from 1880: de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Spoorbrug_Nijmegen_001.jpg

[@barttemolder3405]

Link doesn't work but a Google search on the text of the link finds it 🙂

[@pieterwillemsen3184]

The tunnel was indeed created in the tower afterwards, as the picture shows. In fact, the bike lane was attached to the side of the bridge in 2004. See nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snelbinder_(brug). In the movie the tunnel is entered from the other side than you see in the picture. Before 1936 the railway bridge was the only way to cross the river Waal without using a boat or ferry. The towers were part of the (natural) defense line in which the river Waal played an important role, and prevented enemies from entering Holland from the south.

[@mrdanielvdmolen]

Hahaha I just now noticed the Ajax clock on the wall!😄

[@martineluteijn]

10:07 i think it would drive you nuts. It’s insane how much sings we have in the streets. Not only on the ground but insane amouth of traffic sings.

[@simp2662]

The US once had world class passenger train system. Trams too in many cities, even quite small ones, 100000 or so.

[@08shunter]

I noticed there is NO litter or rubbish anywhere, very very clean.

[@mariusfacktor3597]

24:27 "what are they [the US and Canada] doing with the money?" Taxes are a bit lower in North America, but the real answer is that suburban sprawl is extremely expensive to maintain because there are too many streets and sewers per capita. The Netherlands has a denser development pattern so this stuff is a lot cheaper per capita, and thus they can afford really nice things.

[@MarvinWestmaas]

Mostly bs argument. Greater Toronto Area is roughly comparable in size and population density to De Randstad. The part which is correct is in the taxation. Not that our motor vehicle tax is so much higher, but gasoline is taxed heavily ( which is good, as it means those who use the roads most often ( and thus using more fuel ) pay the most for maintenance, opposed to a flat fee ).

[@mariusfacktor3597]

@@MarvinWestmaas Look up "single family zoning map Toronto". It takes up 70% of the land area and the city spends more than it brings in on all that land. That's not the case in the Netherlands. They have a sustainable development pattern there.

[@letheas6175]

@@mariusfacktor3597 And because of that, the Netherlands even have huge green areas (het Groene Hart) in the Randstad area, on which they will not build. So it's even more wonderful, guarantees our area will never turn into a suburban wasteland. An often overlooked fact, but one of the most impressive things of building with density- it will give you acces to everything, supermarkets, healthcare, bars, but also greenery within a walkable or cyclable distance usually. A liveable future and better- it's indeed financially not draining the country.

[@MarvinWestmaas]

@@mariusfacktor3597 But now you bring in the real issue there -> zoning / planning ( sustainable development ). It's not about population density at all because as we seemingly both agree those are roughly comparable. It's all covered in the NJB video's. ed: ... actually, I misread your original comment, you never say 'population density' you correctly say 'denser development pattern'. My bad, you're 100% correct.

[@thepacifist5968]

To give more perspective: The oldest city in the Netherlands is a status claimed by several cities. Heerlen, Maastricht, Nijmegen and Voorburg can claim this status from Roman antiquity. The title "oldest city in the Netherlands" depends on which definition one applies.

[@Bramfly]

Utrecht, founded as Traiectum in 50 AD by the Romans. 😊

[@DerkvanL]

I live on 1 of the islands in the southwest of the Netherlands, the whole Island has less than 8k people, where I live has like 900, but the whole island has cycling infrastructure or low-traffic roads where it's safe to cycle.

[@marceloudekotte631]

Jutryp is 15 minutes away with a bike, about 4 minutes driving by car to the city Sneek center, Fryslân

[@ciscapietens4751]

In the Netherlands you also get pregnancy relief for the father, 5 weeks paid. 1 week full pay. the other 4 if needed 70 % pay. Mothers get 2 months. And the rent is way down compared to the USA. Plus every Dutch person knows English. It's like normal to the population.

[@rebeccahamer6013]

one of the reasons it looks well designed and well kept is that we pay our taxes. Infrastructure is paid from general taxes, and we have many regulations for new developments as well as for refurbishing old neighbourhoods. And as others say, there are issues here too. But do come and enjoy. If you are interested in Dutch engineering, watch the video Hindsight on our water infrastructure. I'm Dutch and even I was impressed

[@JanBinnendijk]

Jutrijp, that is like 20 minutes from my house, Jutrijp is along the "Main road to the City of Sneek, so, of course there's a bus there..

[@nralbers]

It's interesting to me how different a meaning the word "Suburbs" has to people in the US as compared to us Dutchies 😊. I associate suburbs with small relatively narrow streets with a few feeder roads to connect to the motorway infrastructure. You don't need wide streets because it won't make any difference to travel times, and the daily needs (supermarkets, doctors, dentists, small stores) are all within walking or cycling distance. Many are villages that have become assimilated into nearby minor or major cities (there literally isn't a word for town in Dutch).

[@andzzz2]

I always translate 'town' to 'plaats', figuring it was bigger than a 'dorp', but maybe that is wrong. 'Dorp' also seems to cover settlements bigger than what would be called villages in England. Voor example places like Ede and Veenendaal have around 60k inhabitants, but were called dorpen. In England they would be towns.

[@gerardvansister6007]

You probably mean the city of Groningen in the north which is also the capital of the province of Groningen, which is the most bikefriendly city in my old country, by the way, I quite enjoy your video's Charlie, greetings from Gerard, Melbourne - Australia. I just saw that you have a very nice poster of my favourite Dutch club "Ajax" on your wall, have been a fan for more than 75 years, I grew up in Amsterdam.

[@muncherofpizza]

[9:12] The NS do not usually run extra trains for events; only for ones that attract crowds well beyond the capacity of the existing schedule (and I do mean _well_ beyond; usually it’s for yearly spikes like with the Brabander Carnaval festivities or huge things like the F1 races in Zandvoort, or high‐profile sporting or entertainment events in stadia that are served by main‐line stations). Ermelo is well‐served because it’s along one of the more important rail lines in the country, and it’s important to consider that most routes get two trains per hour in both directions during the day, seven days a week, and busier lines more; some routes - even a few intercity ones⁽¹⁾ - get 6 trains an hour, in some special cases stoppers get even more. Also the hills thing [13:09] can definitely be a challenge - especially for people who don’t have much strength in their legs (yes, if you gear the bicycle right and the distance between them and ‘stuff’ isn’t ridiculous, they too can cycle to places). It’s one of the reasons e‐bikes are a net positive for urbanism, but this might actually be taken into account when designing bicycle paths in the Netherlands, as usually the inclines are more gentle than the ones you’d find in low‐speed car infrastructure. Of course, the reason it’s common place might simply be that landscaping is expensive, but I’ve heard that even breaking wind is considered where possible, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ⁽¹⁾ Imagine an express, intercity, main‐line train, coming every 10 minutes. (Despite living here I can’t do much more than imagine either, all the better‐served lines are conveniently not near where I live)

[@royklein9206]

Charlie, if you ever make it to the Netherlands, hit me up and I'll take you to Friesland for two days! There's alot to love over here but for me nothing compares to Friesland in the summer. You can rent a small boat (sloep) and basically go around the whole region going from town to town! You'll see the most gorgeous little villages where you can park the boat, go for a stroll, have a little drink and head over to the next!! The town where I live (Winterswijk) has won several prizes for having the most beautiful bicycle area in the Netherlands. It is nice over here but for me it's kind of normalized by now so I like places like Friesland and Limburg more!

[@letheas6175]

OMG I would've loved to see an in real life video like as you described, that would be insanely cool!! I hope you will ever do that:)

[@franny4147yoursandmysecrets]

In the Netherlands you can cycle just about anywhere where there is a road except for the highway! Anyone who can cycle wherever they come from can cycle in the Netherlands.

[@MLWJ1993]

I doubt it'd be hard to drive on our roads. Most of the traffic calming setups will naturally make you feel like you should slow down (I.E. a raised curb will absolutely wreck your wheels if you drive with too high a speed, roads get narrower when you're not supposed to be driving at high speeds).

[@connectthedots5678]

Veenendaal railway station. Those bicycles go under the tunnel which lead you under the traintracks . That building in Woerden is is restored old factory building so it is not new. I live here in Gouda which is 10 min by train to Woerden. He I saw the Lijnbaan in Rotterdam the one 25 min in the video That is a long shopping strip in Rotterdam.. Lijnbaan comes from line .. here they made kabels for the sailing ships in Rotterdam. I was born in Rotterdam in 1960. lived in 6 places between then and now by the way. 27:78 Giethoorn.

[@TimBiester-yu6hu]

It's crowded in the Netherlands already, so please stay in the US. Thank you!

[@Albert1249]

Groningen is mentioned as most bicicle friendly town....Very nice vid again Charlie! I enjoy especially your comments and telling about your situation in the US.

[@Quizzy0000]

im dutch and i never heared someone say veenendaal is the best bking area. veenendaal is a place most dutch ppl didnt even heared about tbh.

[@CrusterfunkShenanigans]

Love to see your channel growing, ( I think I joined back when it was single digit subs ) anyhow keep it up! I think I can speak for a lot of Dutch people when I say this, through your eyes(and others like the vids you comment on) make us see and appreciate how good we have it, also we don't like to brag or toot our own horns much to stay on subject, so it is great we get to do that vicariously through you guys! Groetjes uit Brabant

[@Mjws2907]

27:57 Correct, that cycle path is in Utrecht Science Park. There's one in Grote Marktstraat in Den Haag as well, but that one is a lot shorter.

[@dirkvandenhovenvangenderen6275]

Charlie, around 17:00 min. You noticed the wind in the trees. No joke that's maybe not more then 25/30 km per hour wind. They didn't film,the storms with 130 km per hour.. 😮

[@thomasanoniem7083]

Noviomagus(or, I believe; New Fields) is a city from 5. Yes 2020 years old. Its not the oldest place, but the oldest with city-rights. It has however the smallest settlement of The Netherlands... Just above the mini-player button and the rectangle of the original video... A wholesome 6-ish farms, and a church.. Persingen it's called And didn't knew about the cycling quality in Veenendaal.. Learned something as well

[@vincentvandenberg4532]

Bike trails or cycling paths in the Netherlands haven't been evolving from former earlier pedestrian paths or trails. Most bike lanes or separate paths have been developed to avoid unsafe or uncomfortable interactions between car traffic and slower traffic like bikes and pedestrians.

[@EricvonDorp191]

"Harlingen-the city where I shop! It's just 15 km (9 miles) from my home in Witmarsum. Love seeing familiar things here!"

[@TallisKeeton]

11.23 - OMG all those streets without pedestrian crossings, for me its terryfying to walk around :)

[@paulmertens5522]

7:25 Looks like you're right about the tower. On the right wall inside you can see it's original, so it seems there was already a passage. But I suspect they made it bigger and more perfectly rectangular, probably by cutting out some on the left side and the ceiling.

[@paulmertens5522]

9:56 You'd have to get used to it to be entirely comfortable with it, for sure. But it's usually set up so that visitors are guided away from the residential areas with their small roads and to the services and commercial areas via through roads. So if you're looking for a hospital or an office park, you know as long as you stay on the main road you will get there, and you will not accidentally turn into a narrow road full of speed bumps because that's obviously going to lead into just a residential neighborhood.

[@dandelan]

Nice video! You should also check out that separate video of Not Just Bikes about that trainstation in Zeist. That's a really good one too!

[@janessers-wb5gz]

Small correction on the eldes city in the Netherlands. I live in Maastricht that has been founded by the Romans about 2000 years ago. But next to that Maastricht had already an industry 4000 years ago. Making from rocks cutting tools en selling it in Belgium and Germany and there where 350.000 years ago already people living near Maastricht. Ofcause it was not a city but something like a small village.

[@HexerPsy]

6:40 This is a city gate. Surrounding the city center, you would build a wall for your defense, and gates to access the city. Construction started in the 1876s. Was damaged during the German occupation - now cut through by a rail road. There is another section to the other side of the rail. Efforts have recently been undertaken to restore the building, as you see in the video.

[@jurgenolivieira1878]

The with The Netherlands is that its infrastructure is basically universal. I think somebody called it a well kept theme park. So the infra is the same anywhere you go.

[@jurgenvoogt1638]

Buslines in the Netherlands are usually quite long and pass even the small villages. Every 5, 7,10,12,20,30 minutes or even one hour. Depending on the time of the day. In the evening they drive less. Everyone knows the time schedule. At the end of the line they turn around.👍

[@wimvdfbongers7064]

Hello, nice to see your video...the tower with the bicycleroad underneath is new. 80 % of the people speak Englisch. Everywhere are roadsigns where there are restrictions , so not a nightmere with many questions ! Please visit us, your welcome !

[@diedienat0r522]

Trains in the netherlands usually have a 30 minute cycle so every 30 minutes a train will go in the same direction again

[@fernbeall]

No we don't usually get out of breath cycling up ramps , bridges etc 😂. Cycling against the wind is another story

[@wenwen5891]

Oh yes, the storm yesterday made it quite the workout 😅

[@rmyikzelf5604]

12:53 it all depends who you're asking and who's saying what is the best place for cycling: Veenendaal, Groningen, Utrecht and so many others are mentioned. 😂

[@aknaton6349]

Dont forget we pay a lot of tax for this stuff. 21% is our base tax on products, on top of that we also pay a lot of tax over our salary income. 😊

[@lesasawahata4652]

but worth it. you see what happens the minute you cross the border into BE, the roads get worse instantly (although the food is better!)