North America Will Never Be the Netherlands - Interview with Not Just Bikes

[@peter1062]

"There were only a handful of people swimming across the river, so we had no idea that so many people would be using this new bridge we just built here."

[@tabeatwinkel3044]

Great analogy!

[@dewaard3301]

So wonderful to finally see a face to the popular KZbin voice of NotJustBikes.

[@NotJustBikes]

You never watched my first video? 🤔

[@SecretMountainTroll]

He's shown his face alot

[@PinkBunnySlipers]

@@NotJustBikes must have missed that one. But it’s good to put a face to the voice nonetheless the less. Keep up great work.

[@dewaard3301]

@@SecretMountainTroll I haven't been looking, I guess.

[@dewaard3301]

@@NotJustBikes Nope, just watching what the YT algorithm suggests; I guess it wasn't beneficial suggesting your face 😁 Don't mind me though, it also took me years to see the faces of many other youtubers that don't customarily show their faces, like @3blue1brown and @coldfusion. For what it's worth, you have a very young and fresh voice. Totally thought you were late 20s.

[@j.vanderson6239]

Biking is not a hobby for me. It’s just the most comfortable, quickest and healthiest way to go from A to B within Amsterdam

[@lv2982]

I remember when i was a kid i thought growing up in America would be so much better than here in Europe, but as i got older i realised that actually, I'm more privileged in many ways. In my neighbourhood alone I have 5 shops, gym, dentist, pharmacy, vets, swimming pool etc etc all within 10 mins walking distance. I'm in my mid 20s now and never needed to buy a car, everything is reachable by either walking, cycling, bus or train.

[@BuildNewTowns]

Yeah, you are probably happier being in Europe than if you were in the US

[@oov55]

'merica is finished. The appeal of the USA was always freedom, ability to make a home, nature. Now the USA is driven by WORK - so you can afford Medical, College, Dentistry ... and inflated prices for Food and Houses (houses that are built to a shit standard; that can only be afforded in the dead, depressing 'new ' neighbourhoods' that are like living in a wooden Toy Town) In just one generation, the USA has inflated prices, interest rates, and costs across the board. At the same time, they have exported 'good' employment to China and the Far East. At exactly the same time Large Corps, have taken their 'Tax Liabilities' abroad... so Apple and many others, do not contribute properly to the USA system. If you add-in a TIDAL WAVE of non-working, non tax-paying immigration - you have a country in a tailspin

[@xander9460]

@@oov55 You know. You bring up an interesting point. "The appeal of the USA was always freedom, ability to make a home, nature." So, give me some "concrete" examples how the USA has more freedom, ability to make a home, nature over the EU. And I say the EU here and not Netherlands. Since we can move, live and work freely in the EU. Especially freedom. What stands out in the USA. Since we have LOADS of freedom in the EU. Maybe even more than the USA. And always had. I'm Immediately going to give you a freebie to get started in good faith. The USA Nature Reserve system is phenomenal! We have nature reserves in the EU. but they don't hold a candle to the USA reserves

[@oov55]

@@xander9460 The USA Nature Reserve is fantastic, wonderful, exceptional - but so many USA residents cannot afford to travel and enjoy them... add-in the very very short paid leave for so many working Americans.

[@fallingphoenix2341]

Maybe for now, but Americans are wealthy, way richer than the average European. Their median income is almost twice that in the eurozone. While we might have nicer social arrangements right now, Americans will just buy up the world and in the process build a future that suits them and force it upon us. They'll build self driving pickup trucks that will then drive down our inner city roads. They'll build ai slaves to do every worthwhile job and leave us with nothing. They'll fill up every orbit around Earth at a price no European Company can meet. They'll build the weaponry we will need to buy to stop the Russians from invading. This place needs to change in order to stand still.

[@nfboogaard]

Hello Canadians! Thanks for liberating our little country 🇳🇱❤🇨🇦

[@dimmerridder7377]

Today the Netherlands know that Breda was liberated by poland just watch NAC-RKC ❤

[@kailahmann1823]

Yep. the differences between Dutch and German cities are details - in both countries you *always* have all four options (walking, biking, transit and driving) available, just with different levels of comfort. And it's the same in other European countries, which is why you can copy those ideas there. But in North America it's a completely different type of urban planning, that doesn't just prioritize cars, but almost completely ignores other options - like streets without sidewalks or like a shopping center, that doesn't have a walking option to the neighborhood directly across adjacent. Or building a grocery store that's so far away, it even takes forever to even drive there. As I often say: As if it's made _intentionally_ hostile to anyone outside of a car.

[@daphnelovesL]

The Germans love to hike in the mountains the Dutch can't.

[@kailahmann1823]

@@daphnelovesL well, the south does. The North wants to know, who's coming for dinner tomorrow (mostly to hide from them) :)

[@daphnelovesL]

@@kailahmann1823 So we have mountains in The Netherlands maybe in Saba.

[@miles5600]

have you been to Germany? they love their cars and make cycling a hell. I'd never want to bike there again.

[@BalaenicepsRex3]

​@@miles5600 "Cycling in Germany is normalized, but marginalized." I couldn't agree more. I appreciate that people usually respect the bike infrastructure quite a lot, the problem is that the infrastructure is designed like shit! During my 1 year stay, I struggled in multiple intersections, ridiculously steep ramps, conflict with pedestrians on sidewalks by lack of bike lanes on wide streets, stairs without alternatives, non-marked tight one-way passages in bridges, and one aggressive, confrontational driver yelling at me for circumventing a non-existing segment of bike crossing. Things desperately need to improve. Still preferable to what we have in the Americas, though LOL.

[@SaeedVAmnab]

This interview and Jason's channel changed my perspective on transportation and traffic design, the same way the MM podcast changed it on the housing crisis: it's complicated and multi faceted. I learned about Strong Towns organization and now I'm a member who wants to make real change in my town. Thank you Kara, Mike and Jason!

[@Pykenike1]

This is going to blow up because of proud dutchies.

[@user-wp7zn8ii5u]

Great video. Thank you for not talking over each other, you made it a pleasant experience to listen.🧡🧡

[@BuildNewTowns]

Good point about how North America used to have more nice walkable areas - but they were bulldozed to accommodate for cars

[@buddy1155]

Three 'not just bikes' plugs in the first minute, Well done Jason!

[@jstewart8817]

Jason is right - I've lived/worked in NL in the '90s; then to Ottawa. Visit NL yearly post COVID, this year is the first year I actually biked; the previous years it was walk/public transit. When I moved back from NL a generation ago, I looked for a place where walking/transit/biking was easiest; it was in a not-so-desirable hood, now, 30 years later, it's VERY desirable. Things are changing, but it takes decades.

[@_Matt_Matt_365_]

As you're watching this, Doug Ford's provincial government in Ontario, canada, (where Toronto) is trying to pass legislation to stop building new bike lanes, and ripping out ones installed is the past 5 years. Truly insane.

[@_Matt_Matt_365_]

Edit: (where Toronto is located*)

[@rogerk6180]

Regressive politics lol.

[@sommebuddy]

Because the city is in gridlock, we do not have the luxury of being in Holland, where they have a massive petroleum industry that gives them the wealth to be "green"...something they seem to forget in most videos.

[@rogerk6180]

@@sommebuddy having a walking and biking oriented city is sooooo much cheaper then a car centric city. Building and maintaining roads and all the infrastructure it requires is freakishly expensive. Having so many cars in a city is how a city becomes poor..

[@blazikem]

Meanwhile down in America, the world's richest country. They've hit $1.2 _trillion_ in deferred maintenance costs for their crumbling infrastructure. Car dependency ain't cheap.

[@theooppie9615]

Hello Canada, greetings from The Netherlands 🙂

[@test_ing_123]

Happy to see big names popping up on this podcast! I genuinely love this channel, and I'm excited to see you guys get more recognition and subscribers! Behind the scenes I imagine the conversation between Mike and Jason going a bit like Kramer's reality bus tour episode of Seinfeld Jason: Why do I have to go on the podcast? Mike: Jason, you're a minor celebrity, you know if you go on this thing it could create a minor stir!

[@Be-Es---___]

Because we have less space, we ran into the problem earlier. Because we had problems earlier, they weren't that big.

[@Ronnet]

In the Netherlands the issue in the 70's wasn't space. It was safety first and then congestion. There were just too many accidents with cars involving children. The left was in power and they had the political willpower to enact change, with support of the population (unimaginable nowadays). Bike infrastructure just happened to be part of the solution and its success spread rapidly. The facts that it was cheaper to maintain and was a more efficient use of space were happy byproducts.

[@dutchman7623]

@@Ronnet It's a combination. Until 1970 no construction, shop, or office worker could pay any car. And because of school reforms kids from 12 and older had to go to enormously big schools. A break point in society when there are many traffic deaths and an oil crisis.

[@sonnylatchstring]

In the field of cycling infrastructure, there were two initiatives in the mid-seventies in my hometown Tilburg and in The Hague where a continuous cycle path paved with red asphalt, as free of intersections as possible, was constructed. That was in fact the start of a cycle path system through an entire city in the following decades in the whole of the Netherlands. With every redesign of existing streets, specific infrastructure for cycling was taken into account from then on.

[@TregMediaHD]

Greetings from the netherlands , imman expat from the real london ,, 17 years here in Zwolle , Netherlands, love tnat the algorithm bought me here ,, i shall follow your channel with interest

[@strikeformatik]

Fellow Zwollenaar, waving hello!

[@FaustsKanaal]

Go back Anglo. We didnt fight three channel wars for you to come here.

[@Rob-ee1im]

Jason is right! Redesign of a whole city / country and step by step! Not only 1 road etc.

[@cyrielwollring4622]

it is also the zoning. Allow shops and little shopping centres in neighbourhood. I live in an inner city in Netherlands and have 4 supermarkets in walking distances, cycling distance there are 10 to 15 supermarkets where I can cycle to.

[@nunyabidness3075]

I lived in an old trolley neighborhood where the trolley was gone, but the shops at the stop remained. It was really nice and convenient for me because I was a block away. It wasn’t so nice for the homes right next to the businesses. So long as the people whose lives you want to change get properly compensated, it’s a great idea. Otherwise, not so much.

[@sirBrouwer]

@@nunyabidness3075 in the Netherlands often smaller shopping malls are often build in the plint of new flats. people very often want to live in them as it is very convenient the rest of the homes may still be lower homes. So the flat it self functions as a beacon as where the center is of said neighborhood.

[@nunyabidness3075]

@@sirBrouwer Which is nice, but doesn’t solve the problem here at all. The problem here is how to deal with changing the rules to not punish people who followed the rules.

[@sirBrouwer]

@@nunyabidness3075 well that is the thing. if you implement a change from the get go. you know it is there. same if a shop already existed there before you move in to a place. That is something you can consider when moving in to said space. It's only a issue if a store is placed in a space when there was never one to begin with.

[@nunyabidness3075]

@@sirBrouwer Absolutely, but the whiners and the government don’t want to work with developers to solve the problem. They want systems that have no responsibility. So, either there’s a public hearing for everything which prevents anything new, or there’s got to be a rule change that allows pop ups in neighborhoods.

[@carolinenagel7085]

My sister's father-in-law lived in Dordrecht and used his bike to get around well into his nineties.

[@severance1961]

I like the clips where you study traffic lights in the Netherlands. You must be a real nerd to stand for hours or even days near a traffic light and watch it change color. But I learned a lot of things that I never knew living here for several decades. Thanks

[@karinturkington2455]

I don't ride for fun. I don't think of it as a luxury. It was a primary reason for moving to Montreal from Ontario seven years ago. I hate sitting on my butt in a car. I don't own a car. I need activity - movement. I love getting around using the power of my body. Riding my bike works my lungs and heart, although not my upper body, unfortunately. So I guess it's my main form of exercise and it's productive. I do it because it gets me somewhere using my own body's effort. That thrills me. I always ride alone.

[@philplasma]

Nice to see my city (Montreal) mentioned. Yes, we have been having a lot of bike lanes being added. Yes, the REM is there and will expand in the coming years. It sucks, though, that the CAQ government doesn't want to help transit agencies with operations subsidies.

[@JesterFace9]

Hopefully they are voted out soon enough!

[@vanderquast]

We love Canada❤Greetings from The Netherlands

[@aislingbooks]

I've heard lots of complaints about the trains in Germany, a 15 minute delay time being one of the norms, and that type of norm deters people from totally relying on public transport. Here in the Netherlands we've had many post-Pandemic cancellations of trains frustrating commuters ... some even opting for cars to avoid the stress and hassle of not arriving to work on time. And post-Pandemic there are currently fewer trains running, which is also causing uncomfortable overcrowding. No situation is perfect and we need to keep working on our transport problems all the time too. But, simply said, if you build it they will come. And if public transport is made reliable - if bike paths are safe and comfortable to use - many more individuals will opt for this mode of getting around instead of having to deal with costly car and road tax expenses in our country.

[@EdwinMartin]

German railways were being neglected for a long time leading to delays. Currently, the railways are being fixed, leading to (temporarily) even more delays.

[@aislingbooks]

At least it's temporary - and the same with Dutch rails

[@Erik-fx9ld]

As an architect I design every building from the perspective of the user. That can be the owner of a home, but also their visitors. Every type of person you can expect in a building is what I think about when designing. The same way should be done with designing cities. What do different kind of people need. What feels practical, what feels safe, what makes people connect and look out for each other, what brings people peace and quiet spaces. You can use this in every scale possible when designing a city and you will for sure create well functioning places. Not just bikes showed me how a lot of things aren't as obvious as I thought they were living in The Netherlands. I have taken certain elements with me in how I perceive my work.

[@renecaminada5867]

Sorry for the long post/ answer. It is easy to say that you should just implement the Dutch model in other cities/countries. It does not work if you only tackle part of the problem, because you only shift the problem. Exactly what you see with regard to widening the roads to avoid traffic jams. In the Netherlands, people also think about how bulk goods are transported. Because moving consumer goods from factories or warehouses to shops is not done by bike. But if you think about how people live and in what radius they can meet their needs (going shopping, going to work, going to a doctor for example), you come to the conclusion that a lot can be achieved within a radius of the center of a community, and the delivery of goods can be done outside. There is no need to build a big fat highway into the center. It is not attractive and it only causes problems, to mention a parking problem or the appearance of a center that you completely destroy with it. It should be said in advance that in the Netherlands (and in many European villages and small towns) we have a lot to do with old city centres, with winding streets, many protected monuments, and infrastructure that does not fit in with motorways to the centre at all. People tried to work around it and indeed there was a time when the focus was on the car industry. Until they noticed that that was not the solution. It should also be said that in the EU we have to consider the use of land because we often do not have the space. Reusing old buildings is something of the last 30-40 years here in the Netherlands, before that everything was also demolished and ugly monotonous buildings were built in their place. And we really regret that. When I look at old industrial complexes, people are currently thinking about what can be preserved and used to make homes or to meet the need to convert them into community centres; doctors, vets, physiotherapy practices, community space such as a local coffee shop, a hairdresser, a florist or a small supermarket. To fulfil the need and to make good use of the space. Indeed, the political will must be there. The will to radically flip the switch and get started. Start with one street and connect it to the street next to it and connect the desired infrastructure. Think about what you are doing and look again at all the regulations and think about whether this is still necessary. A street in a residential area does not have to be 9 metres wide because a fire engine has to be able to park there and cars still have to be able to pass. It will be quite a change for many if their street suddenly looks completely different and you can drive much slower through a residential area. But you will notice that in the long run it will feel much more pleasant and the municipality where you live can drastically reduce the tax for road maintenance.

[@friesingthebeat]

I would recommend looking into how Edmonton is tackling this issue. They're probably one of the most progressive cities in Canada with good local solutions to the car problem, in spite of funding issues caused by the Alberta Government.

[@JewishMusicToronto]

Love how that joke at the end caught Cara off guard.

[@drizer4real]

In holland biking is not primarily only as recreational activity. It’s most of the time just easier, faster and cheaper to cycle to work/school/groceryshop etc. Because our public transport is very frustrating and quite expensive to be honest

[@whazzat8015]

Dang, Jason , You're right I have it backwards, bike just show that the city works. My brother has a boat in Makkum that he goes to every summer, and his tales of Holland, Denmark and Sweden draw my own Dallas into sharp relief.. I sub to you and think you are on target and do it with style. You and City Nerd help me live in Fake LA. Election may be what determines where we end up.

[@MagnoliaFerratt]

urbanplanadvisor AI fixes this. North America differs from Netherlands.

[@JaNouWatIkVind]

Eh?

[@egelmuis]

Poor children were not such a major reason in the Netherlands. Until the early 1970s, Dutch municipalities were small and poor. Cities tried very hard to become as modern car-friendly as American cities, but found out that with their budgets they would never succeed in reasonable time. Only the biggest cities came close. There was also a total ban on demolition of habitable houses.

[@karinturkington2455]

Even in Montreal, where I live, there are certain neighbourhoods (quartiers) that are better-equipped with bike infrastructure. This is fine if you stay in your own quartier, but if you want/need to go further afield you need to connect with a metro or bus for the remainder of the journey and leave your bike outside the station. As a 65 year-old woman I find riding my bike less stressful than the metro, which is crowded, chaotic, full of announcements and bells and whistles. I'm usually exhausted by the time I get to wherever I need to go as a result of the switching transport methods and dealing with lots of people. I'm an introvert, so other people are a challenge for me.

[@Snaakie83]

I love language... Even though we're thousands of miles/kilometers apart and speak a completely different language...I also live in a quartier (kwartier in Dutch). Pretty sure one of the inspirations for the street names in my quartier is named after some fella that helped 'discover' Canada. (I live in a Zeeheldenkwartier/Sea Heroes Quartier). There you go, your portion of free worthless info 😂

[@harrym740]

I hardly think about it because it's all so natural growing up here. But seperated bike lanes are HUGE for safety and there is always trees/bushes/grass in between the car and bike lanes which makes the experience more enjoyable then a concrete jungle.

[@JdeB-h2o]

Shared on Mastodon ClimateJustice by JdeB 🇳🇱

[@TheDutchGuy6238]

Thanks for talking about our country. We're really proud of the country and its social democracy, and of course its urban and rural planning. But remember, The Netherlands is NOT Amsterdam. There is so much more to the country.

[@Anonymous-sb9rr]

The Netherlands has streets without a sidewalk. If a street has no through traffic, then it's fine to mix pedestrian and car traffic, because there'll be so few cars.

[@JaNouWatIkVind]

The mix of cars and pedestrians is often used to make streets safer; it’ll force cars to be more careful and it reduces their speed.

[@sirBrouwer]

a way for US or Canadian towns an or citys to become more bike/urban friendly is when they build a new development. To then at least include that principle. Like to keep it easyer for them you can build most homes just like they always have done. Just plan with in the area a small strip mall with above the shops a 1 or 2 story apartment. (keep it light) get a school close to that strip mall. maybe even some other community buildings. make function like a neighborhood town square. if it works you can both replicated it with a new developments or if existing neighborhood need to be redone plan said neighborhood as a hole. it even works with smaller villages. Where my father used to live in the US that ''town'' (was more a village) that was for a big part very much walk friendly as the main street had people living above the shops. it was very much a town that could function with a bike. (safe of 1 insane hill)

[@jeffafa3096]

Travelling from one point to another is always done with a purpose. For example, when I need to go to the supermarket here in Leiden (a city of about 130.000 people in The Netherlands), I can pick any point in the city and will find a supermarket within 15 minutes of walking distance. Do the same in Toronto, and you might need to walk for over an hour before finding the first supermarket. The same holds true for things like pharmacists, doctors or dentists. You don't need a car if everything is easily accessible to you, and that's where true change in urban planning starts...

[@AnotherDuck]

I've always seen zoning as the main problem for Canada and USA. I'm so used to how things are built here in Sweden that's it's (or was, before learning more about it) completely foreign to me to just build for cars. The 15-minute city isn't a concept; it's just the basic way of building urban and suburban areas. Pretty much wherever you go here that's more dense than a sparse village has a "centrum", or a local "town" centre with most things you need on a daily and weekly basis. Being able to walk everywhere is seen as obvious. There are always pedestrian paths leading from one area to a neighbouring one. Cycling just follows, as that uses the same paths. That's probably the main problem we have here in Stockholm with cycling. It's more of an afterthought compared to walking, public transit, and cars. But we still have that connectivity the American suburbs lack. No isolated suburbs or shopping malls. Basically, the benefit we have here is that even when cars became popular, we never stopped walking, so we never stopped designing cities for that. Oh, and the fake concerns people have about snow and hills and stuff, we have that. I'm reminded of another video, if not NJB it was probably City Beautiful, that had a graph for why people didn't cycle. Here, in the dark north, darkness was less of a concern than in more southern areas. If you live in an area with environmental challenges, you learn to deal with them. You don't make excuses for them.

[@sommebuddy]

you also do not have 380 million people, your entire population is less than a medium sized city....but please, keep on preaching.

[@AnotherDuck]

@@sommebuddy More people should make it _easier_ to build denser, more walkable cities, not harder. Your argument is stillborn. But please, keep making excuses.

[@sommebuddy]

@@AnotherDuck Go take a walk through Baltimore, or Detroit, Compton, Newark, Chicago.....Gaza is a safer walk.

[@AnotherDuck]

@@sommebuddy Dude, you're talking about walking on the streets, not through your schools.

[@ramarkble101]

You have to work from the center of the city to the outskirts.

[@bebobism]

You start with the development of new neighborhoods.

[@JaNouWatIkVind]

You could start with new neighbourhoods , but Paris was more or less overhauled to be more bike friendly during COVID. Less traffic, so room to do street works.

[@musictempest7296]

Dutch people have a car or two but also everyone owns a bike. We send our kids to school on a bike, so we learn how to cycle from a young age. So car drivers know what cyclists are up against

[@CrownRider]

North American cities centers have been de- urbanized long time ago and office buildings, shops and hotels took over those city centers. People moved out to the suburbs so they had to travel downtown for work. It means roads from all directions into the heart of the city. Zoning also pushed people out of the city center. European cities have circular roads around the city. When the cities expanded a second or third ring way was built. Due to mixed zoning people can live close to where they work.

[@donmc1950]

The city of Ottawa has great recreational cycle pedestrian paths built by the Federal National Capital Commission, but these paths do not extend thru the center of the city. The City is including protected cycle lanes when roads are being restored, but these restored roads are often not connected to each other . It will likely take another 30 years before these cycle lanes will be connected

[@nimaxwerker]

RVV 1990 was the catalyst for all that cycle infra. For the first time responsibility was adjudicated to the driver in a car , taking in consideration that everybody is fail able. There will be a moment that even the car driver can point to the government and say . My insurance does not have to pay because this road is set up that crazy that keeping it this way is negligence.

[@Treinbouwer]

It should be mentioned that you still need a car if you don't live in a big city or have family in villages. You can't get everyware by public transit and it can be rather impractical. It takes me more then 1½ hours to go to uni, while It is less then halve an hour by car. I just don't have my driverslisence yet and get free public transit included in student funding.

[@JWS-66]

the only thing is that in the canadian suburbs, there are no shops close by ....in the suburbs, I mean in walking distance....right?

[@Bubble-Foam]

Yeah, that’s one of the big problems of suburbia/car dependency. Why build anything close by when you can drive? This results in people not wanting to switch away from cars, because they built their world around them.

[@highway2heaven91]

There are, depending on the city. You can walk to them depending on where you live but it’s nowhere near ideal. Even so, it’s way better than American suburbs.

[@JWS-66]

@@highway2heaven91 yes okay, you need safe sidewalks/ bike lanes separated from the main road, especially in areas with a lot of car traffic, towards the the shops, stores and schools especially❤thank you Canada...NL

[@robertboender5816]

Why not assign a part of a city to develop a Dutch like city and build from there??

[@ChristiaanHW]

Instead of buidling another copy paste suburb, the US could build a Dutch (or even just European) style small city. So having everything you need in that community, mixed used buildings, public transit lanes, short cuts for cyclists and pedestrians etc. And i'm sure within a short time that would become a city halve the US will want to live in. And when other states/politicians see that they will start to copy it. But for it to work you need two things: 1. A group of people with the vision and guts to do it. 2. Do it right. - To much roundabouts in the US are still made to be taken quickly by cars, but that means you sacrifice a lot of the safety benefits of roundabouts. - Or building bike lanes that don't connect a start location and an end location.

[@autohmae]

I keep thinking: can't you make the cul-de-sac's walkable/bike-able ? I'm talking about: is it somehow possible to get smaller shops nearby ? I think you have space for small supermarkets, I think people would even pay more if they didn't have to drive for everything. I guess you first have to make it and show it works to change the culture ?

[@NoNotThatPaul]

Can confirm the gen-x reference

[@larry4674]

Here in Edmonton, if I need to go somewhere, my default mode of transportation is by bike. There needs to be a legitimate reason as to why I can't use the bike before I will take a car. (i.e. I need to carry more than my bike trailer can handle, etc.) Streets exist to move people. Cars are just a tool to that end, and aren't necessary for the majority of trips. Why would you use a two ton vehicle to drive two kilometers to pick up two liters of milk, when a bike would be healthier, cheaper, better for the environment, quieter, more enjoyable, probably faster and take up less space? Use the right tool for the job.

[@kkemp221]

If the dutch build a new district they first look at infrastructure and facilities like schools and (grocery)stores. They have to be within a reasonable (walking)distance for everyone but also to reach for bikes and cars

[@Woekkie]

It's not just road design you can walk to get bread cause there's a small mom and pop bakery.

[@none4641]

This guy in the middle looks like John Oliver, or John Oliver looks like him?

[@JaNouWatIkVind]

Yes!

[@AlfarrisiMuammar]

18:16 The Soviet Union proved that making cities walkable was cheaper than giving everyone a Personal car. Soviet Microdistrict vs US suburbia

[@joeldake522]

This video highlights what, for me, is so focal: just a complete sense of futility with hoping North American cities ever becoming anything but car-centric hellscapes.

[@peterk3008]

Explain to them the open tarmac.... No spray from cars in the rain

[@mdhazeldine]

I live in the UK and have been to the Netherlands 3 times and Canada about 12 times now. Jason is right about the land use. The inner cities aren't so bad in Canada. Most of them (especially the older ones) could easily be fixed with bike lanes and more/better/faster transit. The bigger issue is travel within the suburbs and commuting from the suburbs to into the cities. Housing is so spread out and the zoning laws mean retail and offices are far away from houses. It makes cycling undesirable (because it takes too long) and transit less viable (because of the low density). The UK is built with roughly twice the density of Canada, and even WE struggle with car use outside of London. Canada just needs to stop sprawling out and start in-filling its inner suburbs with more density. It also needs to allow mixed use zoning.

[@highway2heaven91]

American suburbia is wayyy worse than

[@PeloquinDavid]

Where do you get your population density numbers for the UK and Canada? In my mind, there's no way the UK's population density is only twice that of Canada. We have roughly two-thirds of your population but a massively bigger land area. Admittedly, a lot of the latter here is wholly unoccupied wilderness (which probably shouldn't be taken into account), but even if you look just at metropolitan areas and their surrounding suburbs, "exurbs" and "bedroom communities" that give way to progressively less densely populated agricultural areas that still figure in our definition of the "population ecumene", I'd be surprised if tightly packed UK cities (unless extremely narrowly defined to include only city centres) were only twice as densely packed as here in Canada...

[@mdhazeldine]

@@PeloquinDavid I looked into it a long time ago now and can't remember where I got data from, but I was comparing two towns of a similar population, about an hour away from Toronto, and the UK town had about 50% of the built up area of the Canadian one. So it is a bit anectodal, I admit, and not super precise, but I looked at a few other towns and it was a similar story. You can basically ignore the countryside and wilderness, because it doesn't really influence things very much. The vast majority of the population lives in cities, towns and suburbs. The general urban/suburban fabric of Southern Ontario is relatively dense compared to the country as a whole, but the suburbs and smaller towns are still roughly half that of similar places in the UK. Bigger lot sizes, bigger roads, parking lots etc. It all adds up.

[@PeloquinDavid]

@mdhazeldine Yeah. That makes sense. Even in towns of, say, 50K population, you'd expect to see a lot more row housing in the UK (with correspondingly small gardens) and relatively large single family dwellings (with large lots) in Canada. I haven't walked extensively anywhere in the UK but in the last decade I have walked extensively across France, Spain and Italy. Having walked through countless towns of all sizes in those countries, I can safely confirm that it takes a lot longer to cross a similarly populated town in North America...

[@mdhazeldine]

@@PeloquinDavid Yeah, UK density is pretty similar to the rest of Europe. The main difference is we have less apartment blocks and more row and semi-detached houses (in the outer suburbs). The inner suburbs have a lot more blocks, like France/Spain. We're probably most similar to Holland, or somewhere like that.

[@lydiacarels7912]

I've been in Japan and it's réàlly not better! It is very, very crowded and not easy for tourists. As for Copenhagen (been there often), Denmark has had the help of us, Dutchies, for the bike lanes (and their canals). Hence why it's recognizable to the Dutch traffic structure. The infrastructure of the US and Canada is that cities are built for cars. Which makes sense, because it's big. It will probably take another generation before it's changed.

[@JaNouWatIkVind]

It’s not “because it’s big”, it’s because people accept driving an hour and a half to get anywhere. If you’d make the city more dense, you wouldn’t feel as if it’s big all the time.

[@tiemen9095]

North America is very different from The Netherlands. But the key take-away is: think, from the perspective of each city, how to make the city better for people. Destroying homes to put cars there is not better for people, so don't do that. Instead, you might think you want to do the opposite: remove roads and car parks in favor of parks, houses and businesses. You have to make a long-term plan on how to develop the city, and incrementally change the mobility plan for in the areas where you want people to spend their time to require fewer cars.

[@skeebob]

15:55 Markham?! The example I didn't expect! RE: the Cornell neighbourhood of Markham: the first phase of its "new urbanism" was built in the early 2000s. While it is *more* pedestrian and cycle friendly than The Rest of Markham's Sprawl, they failed to actually allow for sufficient non-residential uses. Need to get groceries? A coffee? Closest grocery store is 4km away on the other side of a freeway. The result is a dense neighbourhood...with nothing to walk to but the hospital. (And don't get me started on the bus terminal with no pedestrian connections to anything.) Poor land use strikes again!

[@Flaggyt]

Please don't become like the Netherlands, we manage to be one of the most influential countries in the world with a tiny country. Just imagine what we could become with all that space and oil... The whole world would speak Dutch and ride bikes!! 😁

[@jhgrd]

Some People Are To Lazy To Cycle. Even in the netherlands. I have hardcore dutch friends and they dont cycle.

[@jackienijhuis3551]

The Netherlands is one of the best places for logistics, public transport by train, tram, big and small busses so you can reach every town or village. Bike lanes are normal here. The downside, it is one of the most populated countries the world. And our mentality is typically European, with a tendency to explore the world. But for me, Amsterdam has gone down the drain. Just spent 3 days there again, and honestly, I found it ghastly. Dirty, stinking, weed smell and overcrowded. Personally, I hope to return to my beautiful Tregor, Bretagne France, or one of the Greek islands.

[@065Tim]

Id just like to live where I work, or work where I live. But that wont happen. Or, affordable public transport. Somehow no Political party tries to push for affordable public transport. Eventhough its the cleanest and most sustainable way of transport.

[@rogerwilco2]

Don’t just look at Amsterdam. For example the claim that Canada had a lot more growth than the Netherlands is false if you compare with cities like Almere. 300.000 inhabitants and it was sea floor 50 years ago.

[@PeloquinDavid]

The reality of space - ample "geography" and low population density that go well beyond what has LONG characterized any Western European country, let alone the Netherlands - are a reality that just cannot be ignored. There are huge economies of scale associated with infrastructure in densely populated areas: that's what makes it cheaper on a per capita basis to do the kinds of things the Dutch do in the Netherlands. It will take decades - if not a century or more - and consistently high immigration (which I think is acceptable in Canada - in the US maybe not so much anymore) to move towards a more dense population pattern in established (sprawling) (sub-)urban areas of the sort that would make it practical (in per capita public taxation terms) to recreate today's Dutch-style cities in North America. Calls for "political will" always strike me as an intellectually lazy throw-away line that assumes away the thorny political problem of how you get people to accept encroachment on their spaced-out suburban lifestyles: in the Canadian/Ontario context, how exactly does a government get re-elected if it is seen to work against the interests of people spread out across the "905" belt? (i.e. Toronto's very extensive suburban belt, for non-Canadian readers)

[@JaNouWatIkVind]

Huh? I’m so confused right now. You start with “low population density”. That’s the definition of the US - some cities and then stretches and stretches of nothingness, where you could easily build a city with bike lanes. So huh?

[@JaNouWatIkVind]

Huh? I’m so confused right now. You start with “low population density”. That’s the definition of the US - some cities and then stretches and stretches of nothingness, where you could easily build a city with bike lanes. So huh?

[@PeloquinDavid]

@JaNouWatIkVind I guess my run-on sentence at the start wasn't as clear as it should have been. Its gist is that in North America (and Canada even more than the US), population densities (even in metropolitan areas) are much LOWER than in the countries of Western Europe (or the most densely populated Asian countries, for that matter) - and the distances between them are much GREATER. As a result, the kinds of highly engineered infrastructure that may be economical in Europe, Japan and maybe China (due to economies of scale) don't make economic sense here. Even for urban-focussed infrastructure (like mass transit) in North America, it would take decades of population growth (mostly through immigration in this day and age) to reach the kinds of metropolitan population densities found in those other countries. And as for inter-city fast rail, I can't imagine a scenario where that will be an economically (or even politically) viable option in North America outside of a handful of (COMPARATIVELY dense) metropolitan corridors such as in the US Northeast, southern to central California and MAYBE the Greater Toronto to Québec City corridor.

[@JaNouWatIkVind]

@@PeloquinDavidok got it 👍😄

[@sommebuddy]

Do you have a large family? Do you cycle to shop for 4 kids?...

[@MissingMiddlePodcast]

@NotJustBikes has several episodes that cover grocery shopping. Here's one example: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qILLq3ikjKiafqM

[@scrappedlives]

Yes we do. Because shops are nearby, you go 2 or 3 times a week to the grocery store.

[@sjaakendorienevertzenvanbo9591]

Zone regulations, first of all, when building a new suburb, try to incorperate shops, litle supermarkets, a hairdresser, just like for a surburb of 1500-3500 people, a GPA-doctor/ dentist/ supermarket/ hardwarestore,, i know the big companies want to take it over, but it will also be the change to build satelite stores. Please excuse my gramatical mistakes.( I wonder where the google IA is right now to correct things) For most occupations it would be good to have this community (1250-3500 residents) to have a private business, hairdresser, nailspecialist, supermarket, church, security, drogerystore, and so forward.

[@Patatteke1]

He really loves his monologue!

[@marcodigits4321]

Long term planning, real educated long term planning people And eh.... pssst.... if you guys are serious about it in Nort America than why not hire some good urban planners from the Netherlands.. or .... just send some guys and girls into the Dutch education system.

[@gertstuve3933]

I am Dutch. Dutch cities are very compact and old. They were designed for horses, boats, walkers and carts and later bicycles. People were poor. And its all flat. In 1860 we started with a railway net. A lot of canals too. And shops were alway small and many. The clever thing is indeed switching to cycling in road design. And to separate traffic users.

[@065Tim]

The same goes for North American cities. The Netherlands just stopped transforming their cities to facilitate cars in the 70's/80's. North America kept on transforming.

[@gertstuve3933]

@@065Tim Americans even vote for a man as Trump. Need i say more?

[@rogerk6180]

More then 60% of every city in the netherlands was built after the 60s on farmland and woods. Only the city centers are old and built before the car. We just plan to build things in a way that is more useful. I mean flevoland was seabed until the 70s and that is build in a useful way where a car is optional and everything is within reach.

[@gertstuve3933]

@@rogerk6180 Not true. Almost all Dutch cities are several centuries old. Only the Flevoland towns are new and these also have ‘American’ problems. They miss a old, cosy and compact core.

[@rogerk6180]

@@gertstuve3933 only the small city centers are old. Most of everything around them are from after the war.

[@klaasvanmanen8214]

Why didn't you pay any attention to the quite fundamental issue of 'zoning'? Because that's why people have to use their cars. Not Just Bikes explained this several times in different video's: if one can buy a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk in one's own neighborhood, there is no need to take a car. In my opinion, that's the most fundamental thing North America has to come to terms with. Zoning was invented for a car based infrastructure. I live in the Netherlands and I can go to groceries and the like on foot, doesn't matter where I live. Nearly every neighborhood in my town has one or more pubs. We have pubs just around the corner. We have shops anywhere a person sees it fit to make a profitable business. Implementing that in Northern American cities would diminish the need for using cars a lot. It's not just (about) bike(lane)s!

[@moladiver6817]

Why would people in Canadian cities starve to death if you'd take out 75% of car infrastructure? I mean it's not as if Dutch people can go everywhere by bike yet we still survive. Our highways are also jammed during rush hour because people need to go to work. I get that suburbia in North America is basically a wasteland where no business is allowed at all. So well then change the law and allow mixed zoning. Restore local supermarkets. Problem solved. That doesn't seem like a very difficult change to me.

[@eottoe2001]

Thank for posting but I spent a year in Holland one month. It has nice people and nice food, but because of the lack of private transportation that isn't bikes, there isn't the kind of social life you see in Midwest cities here in the US and Ontario. With the exception of places like The Haag and Utrecht with large expatriate community, they roll up the sidewalks at 6pm. North America is vast and spread out, but even so, we are more social than we realize from our high schools, colleges, theaters, bars, library, ball parks, etc. than Holland. What we are and what we are not, we need to think about and appreciate more than we do.

[@raguthanabalasingam2166]

If anything, we need scooter lanes, not bike lanes.

[@p_tblekk970]

we bike here in netherlands a lot of times eletric, nice and quiet and if you want just as fast as a scooter.

[@raguthanabalasingam2166]

@p_tblekk970 Scooter, as in mobility devices, used by old people.

[@fathybalamita1537]

I was thinking the same thing. It should be called the micro mobility lane.

[@raguthanabalasingam2166]

@fathybalamita1537 Our country is full of old people. We have snow. Our jobs are dispersed in the GTA with the largest number of jobs in Mississauga airport lands, not downtown. Most people don't have lifetime jobs in one place. Biking can work for a very few. Does not work for most.

[@yagi3925]

Ha ha, Belgium-hater Jason "Slaughter" posing before a Belgian licence plate!😆😂

[@MRProgressor]

Damn, this is the 1st time I've seen the dude's face. On his own channel all the footage is POV.

[@user-64962]

Especially when you're talking about building on farmland, why compare planning in the Netherlands (less than 0.1 hectares of farmland per person) to Canada (1.5 hectares, the 3rd most in the world)? The common idea that farmland is especially scarce in Canada seems to have come out of nowhere. Liked the point about needing to start from where we are rather than looking to replicate other places, but it feels like the amount of space we have is also part of that. Honestly as a younger person it feels like some false economy to prioritize protecting every last bit of farmland over housing. Less than 1/5 of new builds in Ontario are single family homes already. We can see empty nesters hoarding family homes (largely also built on farmland) for 1 or 2 people even as many claim there is no space for us, and honestly, it's gets old.

[@buddy1155]

The Netherlands is #2 food exporter in the world, so even the farmland we have we use more effective.

[@user-64962]

@@buddy1155 The Netherlands exports a lot of high-value products, which Canada is notoriously weak at (including in many cases a lot of value-added processing being done elsewhere). My understanding is that the Netherlands is not self-sufficient on things like grains that require more land but are less valuable as exports, which Canada largely is. It's not possible for every country to operate like that at once, but yeah, much of Canadian agriculture is not especially intensive and there's plenty of ability to e.g., grow more in greenhouses if its decided local production outweighs the extra energy costs. Not really running out of land.

[@Paul_C]

​@user-64962 Seems to me you are missing a point with your answer: The Netherlands needs to be protective of their farmland because they have too little of it. See, the reason why they started the poldering in the 16th and 17th century: They got mouths to feed and when you have lakes maybe dry them out and feed yourselves. And they kept doing that. 😂😊

[@buddy1155]

@@Paul_C We do not have a 'mouths to feed' problem, we are after the US the largest food exporter in the world. #3 isn't even close.

[@buddy1155]

@@user-64962 We have just insane yields, we used to have the only agricultural university in the world (several countries figured out that is a smart thing to have). We are correct that our products have in general high added value (like cheese and Heineken beer). But we are also good in staple food like grain, potatoes. We are hated for our tomatoes, not only by European countries that can't compete but also African countries, that don't need greenhouses and have cheap labour but still can't compete against Dutch imported tomatoes with high import tax.

[@MysteryAccordeonMan]

Remember that we could never have had this infrastructure when we wouldnt be liberated by the Canadians! Americans can claim they´ve won the 2nd world war, but in NL we know that the Canadians were the ones that set us free.

[@fkaptijn7111]

And what is you're point?

[@MysteryAccordeonMan]

​@@fkaptijn7111I wasn't really trying to make one?

[@jackie14870]

Have to push back on the comments on the culture of cycling in Netherlands raking a foothold in the 70s. Fuel shortages from world war 1 and 2 plus the rebuild period gave cycling the ability to become synonymous with being Dutch. The car culture today in the netherlands is apparently atrocious compared to the 1960s when my mother left. Second point, the comments in the gardner come from a very white collar point of view. I'm sure over 1billion worth of goods and services annually are transported into downtown Toronto to support its residents and businesses. All of those condos have monthly fire alarm testing and frequent plumbing and elevator repairs. Those service people are not coming down on a bike with tools in a backpack. The beer kegs and cases of wine aren't being delivered to restaurants on an escooter like an uber eats delivery.

[@PAPADRACOLIN]

And yet significantly less congestion would take place if majority of the non-delivery/non- service drivers were off the road. The gardiner isn’t necessary for trucks and trades people to access the city, trucks have to drive through city streets anyways to deliver goods. Do you think Dutch cities don’t have services/goods delivered? The Gardiner is terrible for residence of the city and literally only benefits the people who live outside of Toronto

[@jackie14870]

​@PAPADRACOLIN in Amsterdam they use the a10 which I complete ring around the city which toronto core does not have. Most distribution centres are located near schipol and would use thus highway to access the core. In the hauge the centre is not near the water but is beside the a12 highway. Rotterdam the major port also as s100 series ring around the city similar to Amsterdam. Bothh Amsterdam and Rotterdam highways run alongside clostle to the water.

[@a.j.kaastra1317]

Simply not true. In Amsterdam UberEATS, midwives, carpenters, Amazon and supermarkets come to your door by bike.

[@a.j.kaastra1317]

Ehm. Cars are allowed in Amsterdam! If a plumber or anyone else needs to bring a car, he'll do it. You can drive cars in Holland.

[@jackie14870]

​@a.j.kaastra1317 the businesses, specifically restaurants and bars, do not receive food and beer and wine deliveries by bicycle. I would love someone to capture a video if this is incorrect.

[@karinturkington2455]

I know people who hate public transport and won't use it. The idea of being surrounded by strangers who might pull a knife, push you onto the metro tracks is frightening..

[@womenfrom0202]

And how many times does that actually happen?

[@AnnekeOosterink]

And the idea of dying in a car crash isn't? That is infinitely more likely to happen.

[@garthbarrett6067]

In North America, the central thought is about individualism. In Europe, because of the higher density, it is the collective.

[@a.j.kaastra1317]

Simply not true. North American (and any Anglo Celtic) life and culture are way more peer oriented, while Dutch, German and Scandinavian culture is MUCH more individualistic.

[@garthbarrett6067]

@@a.j.kaastra1317 thanks for the information. In NA, because of the vast distances between population hubs, I believe there is more emphasis on individualism rather than community. Living in a high density situation is perceived to be lower class; single family is considered a higher class living standard. Culture.

[@renekuipers4563]

Usa can.t pay these roads .That.s why they so bad...

[@womenfrom0202]

You realize bike lanes do not suffer as much as nothing heavy is using it, therefore low maintenance. But when you do maintenance, better look at the design and include bike and public transport lanes in it.

[@renekuipers4563]

@@womenfrom0202 I mean that the usa build somuch roads ..These cost are .tomuch .for cities ..

[@AnnekeOosterink]

@@renekuipers4563 They're not. Strong Towns and NotJustBikes have made several videos about this. He even talks about it in this very video.

[@RAMDH]

With people like Jason you always have the feeling that they are tipping over to the extremist side. With 75% ban on cars in the city. He has the same tendencies as people he criticizes, such as most car owners in the USA who don't want bike lanes. Expenses of car lanes. My opinion is that everyone has the right to have a car and can park in front of their own home (Do not ban cars from the city (center)). Just as everyone should have the right to walk and cycle safely from their home to wherever they want to go. By means of sidewalks, 30 km neighborhood zones, separate cycle paths, etc., etc. The government must facilitate it and residents must be able to choose of their own free will what they want to use. Whether it is a car, bicycle or public transport. But should not be forced or imposed. No, I am not a car extremist, in fact I do 95% of my commute on foot or on my 30 years old bike (to work, gym, shopping, etc.).

[@Bubble-Foam]

I mean, that’s fair? But the problem is cars are being currently treated as the default, and their infrastructure is heavily subsidized and paid for by taxes to hide the expense for the average person.

[@PauldeVrieze]

The Netherlands has a lot of cars, and is also good for driving, but is designed more cleverly. The way to reduce cars is not banning them, but making the other choices better (ever try driving in the centre of Amsterdam, it's hell, and not because of anti-car infrastructure)

[@RAMDH]

@@Bubble-Foam That might depend on where you live. I speak from my situation. I live in The Hague, the Netherlands' 3rd largest city in the country. About 550,000 people, so it doesn't come close to really big cities. Here they started 20/25 years ago to convert 2 lane car lanes into 1 car lane so that large separate cycle paths could be created in both directions. Where they weren't yet. This means reducing car lanes and increasing independent cycle paths.. In newly built neighborhoods of the last +-30 years, the car is no longer the priority in the Netherlands, but pedestrians (children) and cyclists. The old city centers such as in The Hague, almost 800 years old, are of course not built for this, so compromises have to be made. ..

[@rogerk6180]

Nobody is talking about banning anything. But if you build more public transport and walk and bike infrastructure, every person on a bike or in a tram is another car off the road. If you take 500 cars per hour off the road this way, the roads will seem positivly empty and you are quickly aproaching taking those percentages of vehicle trafic away from the city. Car lanes are simply wildly inefficient in moving people about. A single buslane can easilly replace 2 car lanes and make still make using that street betterfor both transit users as well as drivers.

[@rogerk6180]

​​@@RAMDH what jason is talking about is pretty much exactly what was done in the netherlands, and nobody sees that as extremist or that people have been banned somehow from using cars or whatever. Imagine every pedestrian and cyclist you see on a daily bases in the hague instead being in their own giant suv added onto the street into trafic. That is pretty much how it is in the usa in a lot of places.

[@m8852]

These two put me to sleep.

[@nae4436]

Ah yes, Europe's biggest propaganda machine.

[@Spongeward_Tentpants]

The lady looks to be in pain constantly its very uncomfortable to watch