What counts as the world's steepest street?

Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand, has the Guinness World Record for "steepest paved road over a continuous distance of more than ten metres". Which is enough to bring in quite a few tourists. What's the history? And what counts as "steepest street"?
Thanks to Mayor Dave Cull and to Gary Blackman. You can see some of Gary Blackman's photography in Te Papa's collection: collections.te...
And an interview with him: www.odt.co.nz/...
Updates:
In November 2022, Gary Blackman passed away: his obituary, and many of his photographs, can be found here. blog.tepapa.go...
In 2019, the Welsh street took the record: www.bbc.com/ne... -- but in April 2020, the New Zealand street appealed and took the record back: www.bbc.co.uk/...
CITATION: von Worley, S. (2010). More Steeps Of San Francisco - A New Steepest Street Is Born. Retrieved from www.datapointed...
The Guinness World Record data is here: www.guinnesswor...
And the Welsh street is referenced here: www.theguardia...
Edited by Michelle Martin / @onthecrux
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[@TomScottGo]

I had a technical hitch on the interview with Gary Blackman, and I've tried to recover the footage as best I can. That's an embarrassing mistake when filming a photographer! There are also links in the description to some of his photographs, and an interview with him. [Update: in November 2022, Gary Blackman unfortunately passed away. You can now also find a link to his obituary in the description, and it's worth reading.]

[@rebane2001]

Did you roto him out and replace the background?

[@alexpooper112pooper9]

How can the comment be 2 weeks old

[@jakehellyeah]

its ok

[@MrHack4never]

As usual: Tom is a time traveler

[@ules5799]

@@alexpooper112pooper9 Finish editing > Publish private > write comment > publish on schedule 2 weeks later

[@hamishlilley8342]

I was the paper boy for Baldwin street for five years! Never had to worry about skipping calf day at the gym let me tell you 😅

[@tompw3141]

Did you start at the top?

[@bisken6547]

@@tompw3141 i think that would have just burnt up his brakes instantly

[@robloxpathe9296]

Damn!

[@ciaindeed8657]

This is practicality.

[@tron.6041]

Bisken his brakes would have been S A N D.

[@jesshill4279]

I walked up that street in New Zealand in 2008 when I was 9 and I felt very accomplished until I turned and saw a guy cycle up...had mad respect for that guy

[@Yolwoocle]

Cycle up?!‽

[@kahukura5154]

Knew someone in my class who pogo sticked up it.

[@NewsFlashStudios]

@@kahukura5154 absolute madlad

[@SO-Negative]

Not saying going up that road with bike is easy task no way, but going down would be even crazier. (Considering there's traffic road ahead with dead corners.)

[@kahukura5154]

@@SO-Negative Some drunk students went down in a wheelie bin. I'm not sure if they survived.

[@dozer1642]

I’d like to relocate there but the asking price for the houses seem a bit too steep.

[@martinebonita2658]

Idk how to communicate my heavy sigh at this comment via text

[@dELTA13579111315]

I'm proud of you son, go get a cookie

[@dELTA13579111315]

you deserve one

[@dozer1642]

dELTA13579111315 I’m not sure if the sarcastic humor I intended was actually portrayed in my original comment. “Steep” is the word I used to subtly hint at a higher listing price whilst also implying that the actual percent slope of the terrain is above a normal range.

[@HamuelPter]

Dozer1642 yes everybody understood that

[@davidmcalevey6465]

I used to live two streets down from Baldwin for years. There are streets close by that almost equal Baldwin. Unfortunately one year two intoxicated students decided to take a wheeliebin to the top and jump in. Tragically they both lost their lives. Ok I have been revised by more studious peeps than me. One died, one ended up Para after hitting a trailer parked at bottom.

[@the_lomax]

i had a real derp moment and read that as "Technically they both lost their lives"

[@Laous223]

@@the_lomax lmao

[@ellalalalol]

I thought only one of them died and the other one just got a TBI

[@amac203]

Only one of them died.

[@davidmcalevey6465]

Ok apparently only one died!! 🙄 tragic enough especially inside a wheelie bin

[@niks6852]

Why is no one talking about the historian, the dude is almost a hundred years old and is still able to recall events in detail.

[@MAD0C96]

Why is that weird? Not everyone gets dementia

[@WraithLK]

@@MAD0C96 it’s not weird, just admirable

[@ABRTPDR]

And his voice is so soothing!

[@rjtimmerman2861]

1929!! Not a lot of those left anymore

[@horanghaeng]

@@MAD0C96 many things can cause loss of memory, not only dementia, so the fact that he's almost 100 years old and has such good memory and his speech is still very stable is quite admiring indeed

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

This is a more believable story of what my grandparents had to go through, in order to go to school

[@mnorth1351]

Uphill ONE way!

[@ibie27]

I meet u again archnemeses

[@rieldebonk1044]

@@ibie27 He's Sad attention seeker lookin for clout.

[@Lilyjem39]

Okay stop these comments plz

[@sirMAXX77]

Except it was 10 miles long and uphill both ways and in the snow.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

This world's steepest street was temporarily not the world's steepest street from July 2019 to April 2020, because that town you mentioned in Wales (Harlech) claimed the record for a street called Ffordd Pen Llech (gotta love the Welsh language) with a gradient of 37.45% compared to Baldwin's 35%. But Guinness gave the record back to Baldwin Street because they determined the best way to measure and calculate the gradient was to do it from the centerline. And according to that, Baldwin Street had a gradient of 34.8 percent while Ffordd Pen Llech had a gradient of 28.6 percent. So the Kiwis stole the Welsh's thunder

[@rogeriopenna9014]

There are Brazilian streets with 50% grading

[@sweetbabygangnz5260]

Then we claimed the title back and are officially the owners of the World's Steepest Street again! 😀

[@MrVascoCrv]

They just didn't look hard enough for steeper streets. Come to Brazil and you find that very common.

[@velumtuossoup408]

@@MrVascoCrv not how world records work

[@otaviooddone8667]

@@rogeriopenna9014 eu tenho certeza q os caras n checaram as pistas brasileiras

[@kungebbe1672]

wierdly generated village paths in minecraft

[@CaveyMoth]

I love it when the farm is at the TOP OF A FREAKING MOUNTAIN.

[@RabbiB0Y]

@@CaveyMoth how do the villagers get up there why did they put it there if they cannot reach it villagers I need you to awnser

[@harleyserafini51]

@@CaveyMoth or when there is a ravine splitting the village in two.

[@tristan6495]

@@harleyserafini51 ravine*

[@harleyserafini51]

@@tristan6495 thank you, I couldn't remember the usual name for ravines.

[@elijahdage5523]

Shoutout to the stranger who walks into frame at the very end.

[@ishaanagrawal3575]

lul

[@saturnpeax]

lul (2)

[@asher9571]

lul (3)

[@glizzygobberblob]

lul (4)

[@val-nt8tx]

lul (5)

[@cosmicjenny4508]

Imagine coming back from the pub and tripping down this. At least it’s a quick way home...

[@ID-107]

Not if thepub is at the bottom and you live at the top. If you trip you're back at the pub. And when you are already there, why not have a beer or two? :D

[@cosmicjenny4508]

+ID:107 Oh Lord, it’s a vicious cycle... WHAT HAVE THEY DONE??

[@jespoketheepic]

That sounds more like a quick way to the hospital.

[@rooneymara8061]

Assuming home is heaven

[@piranha031091]

They see me rollin'... ^^

[@linkayy35]

It's so cool being a New Zealander I've walked up this street and I felt very proud that this is in my country

[@johnmorrison6287]

Ex Aussie PM Scott Morrison's belly dangles left and right while he is roaming on the beach

[@kinghomeboy]

random question. Have you walked down Liverpool st in the Auckland CBD? It's considered to be the second steepest street in New Zealand

[@LukeAps]

That is so dumb.

[@wta1518]

It's not even the steepest street in the world. Bradford St. in San Francisco has a 41% grade.

[@MistahFox]

You know you've got a problem when the sidewalk has to be built out of stairs.

[@tammurrell1444]

SIDEWALK! Well clearly you are not a New Zealander. They are called footpaths.

[@icannotcomeupwithanything4609]

@@tammurrell1444 People have different terms for the same thing. Although footprints sound better than sidewalk.

[@6z0]

@@tammurrell1444 Sure bud, I hope you know only 0.71% of people on this earth are new zealanders

[@rootgotter355]

@@tammurrell1444 I'm a kiwi and I say pavement

[@GaffsNotLaffs]

@@tammurrell1444 we say sidewalk in America Well at least in the Midwest

[@Astinel]

Imagine you accidentally dropped your coins in that street.

[@weegle.]

Who the hell carries around coins?

[@amegardenia8296]

@@weegle. I do

[@EvanHeidingsfelder]

imagen droping any thing cylindrical down that street

[@weegle.]

@@EvanHeidingsfelder "not my pringles!"

[@alex.hleconte6007]

@@EvanHeidingsfelder or a phone with a slippery glass back😬😬 imagine it sliding down

[@kadthejedi]

Imagine trying to do any activity with a ball on that street

[@zhanjie9305]

Mission: Try not to get tired when the ball is falling

[@yellobanana6456]

It's like greg heffley's street

[@Basbxyy]

@@yellobanana6456 omg that's what I thought

[@CyberOrion]

You'd probably roll down the hill along with the ball

[@pjotrtje0NL]

No worries, just kick the ball up and it rolls back automatically. Not rocket science, is it?

[@jennyarnold9350]

I had grown up next to this street, and had walked up and down many times. Always really tired afterwards but great exercise for anyone. Great to see it on the map now. Go Dunedin!

[@iiu19xx]

I love the way Gary speaks. It's so calming

[@WingedAsarath]

I visited this street 13 years ago when I was on a trip over from England. It's a lot steeper in person than it seems on camera here. I also didn't make it very far up before my legs noped out.

[@AndrewBrowner]

is the street too steep to walk up... or are you just miserably out of shape?

[@yoursleepparalysisdemon1828]

@@AndrewBrowner both i think

[@lucycowie7245]

geez these replays are mean, it's difficult for some, I didn't think it was that steep but other people think otherwise

[@S050683]

Was thinking that because looking at this video the walk up to the top of Lincoln seems steeper. But given this place has the record it obviously can't be steeper in Lincoln. So in person it is steeper than it looks.

[@tsunamis82]

I had to do the postie run on this street a couple of times. I zig zagged up it and that worked. Dunedin posties are very fit, no bikes for most of them as it’s a hilly city.

[@insanejughead]

I think we've lost Tom to New Zealand... You will be sorely missed, Tom. -The Rest of the World

[@Kihidokid]

New Zealand: the planet's bonus track

[@ARSZLB]

nice to see other RCR fans here too

[@4P5MC]

Hey, I'll welcome him here! =P

[@produKtNZ]

Can't blame him really. Tom , your citizenship is already in the mail =)

[@OrangeC7]

@@Kihidokid This would explain why no one puts it in their maps

[@IndigoIndustrial]

I've jogged up and down this street. I saw a group of uni students do it straight after me. Dunedin is a nice university town and it has a castle.

[@Supremax67]

And if people need to lose weight, they just have to live on top of that street.

[@MegaDirtyberty]

Two castles.

[@Salithin]

Nice university town?! I’ved stayed nights in dunedin and its HELL

[@alliebean3235]

my brother flatted in an old sanitorium when he was at otago - one of his flatmates' bedroom was the morgue! fortunately it was never used as one, but that place was incredibly weird

[@pegeonpera]

"Now that we are at the bottom, there is something I want to say..." "What?" "I forgot my wallet at home"

[@rizwanliaqat418]

HAHAHAHH! Goooooood One

[@axeavier]

Imagine getting to the top of the street, trying to take a picture with your smart phone, fumbling with it and have it fall. It'll keep sliding until it hits the bottom

[@OrangeC7]

@@axeavier That's unsettling

[@1wasinAlpha]

now we're at home I got something to say! what? I was joking

[@wytfish4855]

@@axeavier "oh shucks i dropped my phone." *looks helplessly at phone sliding down the street* "...guess i'll need a new phone"

[@lmpeters]

I think I once tried to ride a bicycle along that ten-meter stretch of steep road in San Francisco. Riding up was extremely difficult, and riding down was terrifying.

[@keagnome106]

God I would have been so pissed if I every day found tourist standing in my garden taking photos.

[@arthurgordon6072]

The price we pay for living in God's Zone!

[@Discrimination_is_not_a_right]

Try it when a school bus blocks your driveway every morning.

[@100GTAGUY]

Green Giant why bother taking the time to grab the robe on your way out to shout at the heathens on your lawn when you could assert even more dominance by being fully nude in your natural habitat?

[@neverstopdatta1402]

@@100GTAGUY wtf lmao

[@jasperharvey770]

Discrimination is not a right. There is no school buses in dunedin

[@DeterminationV5]

here in Brazil you can find streets almost impossible to go up sometimes, definitly not the stepest by a mile. I used to climb a very steep street everyday to school for 8 years, it's almost the same size as the one in the video.

[@GospodinJean]

I was just thinking about that. In brazil there are steeper streets than that one, for sure

[@marcoaurelio4903]

Clearly this brits dont known rua expedicionários in minas gerais.

[@TheXanderLex]

Thanks for visiting Dunedin! Glad you enjoyed our small city 😀

[@samuelmcneill2816]

No one enjoys Dunedin mate

[@LiarraSniffles_X3]

Hey! I've been looking forward to the day that you'd come and visit my street ever since you started touring interesting places. In fact I can even see my dad walking up into our house in the video! You must have filmed this a while ago, as he's had a broken leg for quite a while now. Damn though, I even keep an eye out for various camera groups; it's how I have multiple interviews in German magazines, hoping to see you and say hi/tell you about all the car wrecks since I've lived here.

[@JJRicks]

This is so cool!

[@silkleaves]

Hello from Waverly 👋👋

[@LisaBowers]

Just _slightly_ steeper than my driveway.

[@buddyclem7328]

Same.

[@KuraIthys]

Considering it's a 19 degree slope, I'd argue my driveway may be steeper than that. AND it's more than 10 metres long. XD Too bad it doesn't count as a street. Meanwhile, a house I lived in 20 years ago had a driveway that surely had to be in the 30-45 degree range. But, it's roughly a car length, meaning it's about 6 metres. That was not an easy drive to get down from - I mean, the car we had didn't seem to struggle, but there was a high risk of hitting part of the car against the ground.

[@Beerfazz]

@@KuraIthys I think you are overestimating the slope. At 45 degrees even braking would not stop the car from sliding downwards

[@guy_th18]

My street in Lyon (France) is much steeper and meets the 10 meters rule, so I really don't get this video...

[@buddyclem7328]

@@Beerfazz I have gone up and down a 45° slope before. You can stop and go, but only very slowly, and the car will make some nasty brake noises.

[@maukaman]

It definitely depends on how you define “steepest road” because Waipi’o Valley Road on Hawaii’s Big Island has sections as steep as 45% grade. It’s also much longer and narrower than Baldwin Rd. It holds the title of steepest road in the US. It’s the only road into the valley so when careless tourists break down on it nobody can get in or out until their vehicle is moved.

[@XMysticHerox]

It's less about "definition" and moreso that Guiness world records is not a reliable source and a bit of a joke really. No this is not the steepest road it's just from a community that paid Guiness world records to say so.

[@maukaman]

@@XMysticHeroxValid point.

[@nintendork64]

I half-expected Tom to run back down the road at the end, yelling "One take! One take!"

[@jaunt9191]

Well, this is a bit awkward... You flew all that way and now the record was broken in... Wales. Let's be real, though, it was probably your fault Wales stole the record!

[@EdwardMillen]

Yep, I'd never heard of any of this until the other day and now I've just seen the news that it's not the steepest street anymore!

[@W1llRoss]

How steep is it

[@marksmith2276]

I was going to comment that in Wales that is just about the norm if you live in any of the valleys.

[@translucenc3lol482]

@@W1llRoss I believe the new steepest is ~37.5%

[@W1llRoss]

Soem Random Dude thank

[@E1craZ4life]

That guy at the end be like “How is that camera standing there?”

[@tmmtmm]

would've been better if they filmed that part on the flat, so a tourist walks past and isn't angled over haha

[@DSQueenie]

Adjustable tripod legs.

[@lucasc5622]

bE LiKe

[@karenmackstewart]

I love that guy at the end. The unexpected = funny.

[@TheCandoRailfan]

Someone holding it.

[@kapybara_park]

Dunno why I'm finding this video three years after it was posted. Went to school near this street and had many fond memories hiking up it (sometimes during school hours when we had to go on milk runs). Lovely city to grow up in

[@Cinemagic53]

“If you’ve seen my channel before...” Yes I have Tom, and are you telling me you travelled from Montana to Finland for a “Shortest River” cutaway, yet for this, you didn’t wait to fly home to England and drive to Wales for the contested “Steepest Street?” 🤔

[@pgre]

The street in Wales has the steepest gradient, but Guinness World Records are bitches and measure in a competely different way

[@isaakwelch3451]

The shortest river is the "D" in Lincoln City

[@coltonsupergame]

Peter Gregson The problem with the Guinness Book of world records is they only give records to people in Olympic Tournaments, or to people who pay up. If you don’t give Guinness money, they won’t count it as a world record, even if you actually did break the record. Of course this does link back to the Olympic thing however, as Guinness doesn’t want to be know as what I just told you, so anything in the Olympics or big Tournaments, they will record.

[@deetvleet]

@@coltonsupergame Are you going to cite any sources for that or just spout BS? Sounds like you're cranky your record attempt wasn't accepted because you didn't notify an official from Guinness before trying.

[@cahallo5964]

I will send you into a rabbit hole, but research the beef Guiness had with the speedrunning community, happened this year, not hard to find.

[@fortnight8685]

CitySkylines when you turn the anarchy mod on.

[@steamcastle]

isn't the game called "Cities: Skylines"

[@LivelyEngineer]

@@steamcastle Doesn't really matter people call it both and just Cities as well

[@steamcastle]

@@LivelyEngineer you are completely right, it doesn't matter, and people looking up the game would likely find it. now I don't get why people are blaming dungeons and dragons for season 8 of game of thrones.

[@LivelyEngineer]

@@steamcastle I've got no clue

[@steamcastle]

@@LivelyEngineer all the game of thrones season 8 videos have commons about "GoT being ruined by D&D" but dungeons and dragons is way older then game of thrones.

[@yourfavoriteclaymationpeng2926]

I'd be so mad if I lived on that street. Tourists constantly walking through my lawn and crowding the street, what a hassle.

[@omardude39]

1:51 "we don't always have front fences in New Zealand", over in the UK we don't either. Would be getting a nice 6-footer if this stupidity started straying onto my lawn, though.

[@mahenonz]

Well it’s not happening at the moment 😕. It’s only gotten bad in the last few years when heaps of tour buses and cruise ships started to arrive. Hopefully post COVID we can reset the tourist industry and do things smarter and better.

[@simonallan9941]

My friends lived up Baldwin street and I had an old Valiant Pacer that I could not park on the street unless I stayed in the car with my foot on the brakes working the front wheels, the handbrake would just cause the rear wheels to lockup and start sliding downtown 😳 😅

[@frankthetankricard]

Could that be solved by turning the front wheels into the curb? I live in a really flat country but have seen people park like that in mountain areas I visited.

[@simonallan9941]

@Frank Ricard a lot of town streets in New Zealand, have a very deep curb/waterways, like Waihi, and when I would roll my bike 🏍 back against the curb, it was very hard to get out again after leaving the Sterling hotel 🏨 😳, but on a steep street it would probably not be so deep, but still might be hard to reverse back up away from the curb to straighten the front wheels.

[@gregorymaroda4860]

Canton Avenue in PIttsburgh is 37% over 6.5 meters. Not 10 meters, but as you say, it's somewhat arbitrary.

[@jSyndeoMusic]

Gregory Maroda I’m actually kind of annoyed didn’t bring up Canton. Funny story: I ended up on it once back when I lived in Pittsburgh, I actually ended up driving on Canton on my way to a different area, and didn’t realize until later on that I’d driven on what may very well be the stepdad street in the world!

[@JoelUniverse]

YES! And hi Greg. :)

[@trey_rdee]

10 meters is 32 feet so canton is steepest because it’s 630 feet = 192 meters

[@glenngriffon8032]

that guy at the end. walking up and looking at the camera like "Oh hey, free camera!"

[@grabthebagnow]

"Oh hey, a free iPad!" -nobody suspicious

[@thelastcube.]

@@grabthebagnow *GoPro

[@liamtownsley3450]

I've been there, it's a lot steeper in person. trust me bruhs

[@Twiggy163]

I dont trust you. Will have to investigate for myself to confirm.... once COVID has buggered off.

[@narbogbugsploda7660]

@@Twiggy163 Please try to visit the rest of New Zealand, don't make that the purpose of your trip. It really is a gorgeous country.

[@Twiggy163]

@@narbogbugsploda7660 The plan is to rent a motorcycle and enjoy the scenery, roads, places and people that way. 'Tis a bit silly to fly around the world just to see a hill.

[@Iron_Scott]

I love New Zealand.

[@Twiggy163]

@@alfiedodds7052 I must still investigate. COVID hasn't buggered off yet so it will take a little longer.

[@gemstar3824]

0:39 Mr. Gary Blackman has one of the most soothing voices ever. I need him to read for books on tape.

[@NathanielSnider1017]

Update: The record is back to Baldwin street

[@csheridan7364]

I've driven down Harlech Street it's very uneventful, if it's the steepest Street in the world that's a shame as honestly it's something and nothing even In a car

[@mougmeduro7017]

All things aside, Tom was probably the most famous person in Dunedin at the time this was filmed...

[@MinerZapped]

@Harrison Scott i went to the Ed Sheeran concert in dunedin! came from welly

[@bluz9951]

yes, although depending on who was there maybe the prime minister, a couple bands and singers were born here and visit alot, like six60

[@TheCrowDoctor]

Yep as a dunner I can comfirm.

[@Deadbeatcow]

@Nakor Z scottish heritage, and dwarves are usually scottish in media...

[@raptormaster666]

Famous KZbinr, yes. Famous person, I'll contest otherwise. Hamish Bond is a Dunedinite, went to Otago Boys High School.

[@mikhailangel3258]

running uphill back and forth would be a worthwhile exercise

[@Michaelthekiwi]

Doing it on foot isn't impressive as the footpath has steps on the steep bit. Up and down on a bicycle is the gold standard - only a few videos on KZbin of people doing that!

[@dextrosity7350]

@@Michaelthekiwi that's why u don't use the footpath

[@thelastcube.]

I was just thinking that only

[@reallyfurious]

It's really difficult to show steepness in a video or photo. Also, it begs the question which is the "flattest" street in the world? The Outback Way across the Australian desert might be a contender?

[@zybch]

Length vs altitude deviation would be the best way to determine the flattest I suppose. They don't make builders' levels long enough.

[@EnigmaDRS]

The world record was that street in Wales for 9 months but now it's back to Baldwin Street.

[@stahlschorsch]

I don't get how the streets are passing that record between each other... are they trying to outsteep each other?

[@rehabwales]

As far as I know Ffordd Pen Llech, in Harlech, Wales is 37.4 at some point while this one is just 34. But it was decided that the steepness must be on the central axis. So it only get the title because it's steep at a certain point decided by someone. What a load of bollocks.

[@trinidad17]

@@rehabwales "What a load of bollocks." Fit description for most of the "Guinness World Records"

[@MrGOLDENSHOT25]

@@rehabwales nobody ever mentions Canton ave in Pittsburgh, PA when discussing this. Probably not long enough, idk though.

[@gordonbennett5638]

@@rehabwales Also, the Welsh goat track isn't a street

[@jacobfriesen8377]

Dang that Gary guys voice is so calming

[@zeratulrus142]

Growing up in a place with a lot of hills and staircases all over the place to traverse them, I had nightmarish dreams about not being able to climb a particularly steep street that only existed in my dream, and getting stuck somewhere because of it.

[@danielfrancisco1461]

I'vee had the same deram, trying to go up a hill but my legs are so heavy I barely can walk

[@Terra_Lopez]

I have a lot of dreams where the street is almost vertical, and I can barely hang on. And many other vertical climbs in my dreams that I can't climb, while others can. Any amateur psychologists in the house for me?

[@aryanbhaskar6502]

My dad navigated a camper van up that street when I was 9 and we were on our New Zealand sojourn. The nostalgia is heartwarming.

[@steevf]

I visited that street once back in 1991. It looks the same now as it did back them. The concrete slabs have still not slid down the hill. :)

[@joshduthie3401]

There's another steep street just over a bit where they've done the same thing. I guess the usual method of paving isn't suitable for the steepest slopes.

[@IAmFromTheTop]

One of the reasons they concrete on the steep parts is tar based roading products can melt in the summer and start sliding.

[@PIXELGamerzXvlogs]

Omg that old man's voice is so soothing...

[@Sniper61119]

2:58 My dude droped the bass right there..

[@notabsy]

Why is that actually funny

[@bait5257]

Lmao

[@chaosgamesofficial]

May I just say, it is so hype to see Tom Scott just talking about NZ. So cool!

[@KitsuNoir]

Yup, that's tourism alright. Someone is filming on the side of the road, a random dude walks up in front of the camera. I kind of feel bad for the residents. I'm sure people being on their lawns without permission gets to be a real problem.

[@liamwalton4183]

I'm at a loss at how it's a tourist attraction. People like Tom, who use it as a basis for a KZbin video... maybe. But going out of your way to stand on a steep street? Weird

[@arrgghh1555]

@@liamwalton4183 Hows it any weirder then going to visit the tallest building, or longest wall, or largest statue.

[@liamwalton4183]

@@arrgghh1555 Because those type of things are considered monuments. People dont visit the Great Wall because it just happens to be the longest wall, they visit it for the historic value. Tallest building could be considered to have a modern historical value, also a feat in engineering. And like the largest statue was made as a piece of art to start off with. Created to draw in tourists and/or make a city look nicer. This is just a road that happens to have a high vertical-to-horizontal value. No effort was put into it... In fact it's a feat of lack of effort, and the simplest city planning they could have done, making life difficult for people living there for the sake of keeping roads symmetric. So there's a huuuuge difference there

[@fetchstixRHD]

Liam Walton: I disagree with you on that. There are lots of people who couldn’t care less about the value of engineering in creating the tallest building or the history of the Great Wall, they often just want to go to places that are unique (for whatever reason). Similarly you could argue what the value of climbing mountains with similar reasoning. People get interested by different things and as long as you’re not hurting anyone (that includes trespassing on their lawns!) then it is what it is...

[@liamwalton4183]

@@fetchstixRHD But I digress, you may not think so by my last comment about sheep, but I obviously dont mind. People do what people do, I wont think poorly pf somebody if theyre in the area and wanted to go visit it. I just personally really dont see the attraction

[@graycuzzies5834]

Who else lives in Dunedin like me? I love Dunedin and the views from its many mountains are amazing

[@bigbenlorax]

Yup, Kaikorai Valley. Grew up a block from Baldwin St. Cool to see it on here!

[@sophie-my1ov]

I lived there all my life until the end of last year where I moved to Christchurch. It's way better in Dunedin

[@rachelcookie321]

There’s nothing in Dunedin.

[@Dorkasaurus_711]

Proud to say I live in Dunners. Wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

[@angusmatheson8906]

Shout out fellow Dunners crew.

[@Ziialan]

So when we are playing City Skylines we are basically breaking a Guinness World Record in that game?

[@steamcastle]

Cities: Skylines not City Skylines.

[@Huntracony]

@@artisiole Its devs.

[@erkinalp]

Install Road Anarchy and you can pave even steeper streets in Cities:Skylines.

[@captainufo4587]

No, because almost avery city in Skylines has at least a couple 50% road AND rail incline. "When everyone is super, no one is super."

[@ollikoskinen1]

@@artisiole Grammatically correct people.

[@VicJang]

Tom Scott is the best. While you take that indefinite break, I’ll just rewatch the 10 years worth of things I might not know. Thanks Tom!

[@ieuanhunt552]

Oof those Dutch angles. What is this Battlefield Earth?

[@ZeroHBRPro]

Thor 1

[@nicholastheologhidis235]

I live next to O'hea street in Melbourne and that has a max gradient of 30% but only an average of 13% over the 200m climb I've **nearly** ridden my bicycle all the way up it but it's really no joke how steep 30% is

[@SO-Negative]

On my old place we had this 14 degree long slope which was really annoying when carrying groceries, especially during winters. Then I moved elsewhere and now I just enjoy the small but meaningful detail that my road to store is flat all the way. Feels good to walk upright instead of tilted to forward or backwards all the time.

[@Clumpfy]

This is amazing, I have been to NZ from October 2016 till february 2017 and it was in Dunedin, 20. December 2016( I'm from Germany) that I bought a car from a midaged guy living in this street. I remember thinking "god damn! This street has to be the steepest I have ever seen. And I am the lucky idiot that wants to buy a car exactly in this street", while I was walking up to his house. I never knew I was walking on some famous, world record holding landmark :D What the hell?! Btw, I was there at arround 7 PM there was no one taking pictures or anything.

[@sweetbabygangnz5260]

😂

[@fluffycritter]

I used to live close to Bradford Street, the San Francisco street briefly mentioned here (41% grade or 22.3°, 30 feet long). It was a heck of a slog to try to walk up it, but fortunately there were stairs lining it which made it feel a lot easier. A shame that being only 9 meters long disqualifies it from world record status.

[@FlabbyTabby]

Hm, I was thinking that some of the San Francisco streets are surely steeper 🤔 I have driven up some of them, kind of scary because it's so damn difficult to see at an intersection

[@wta1518]

It's not like Guinness is an actual record-keeping organization.

[@weeral1]

Looks like any one of a dozen streets in San Francisco. You get your work out on a bike in that city for sure.

[@Heowa]

I spent three months working at a wildlife rescue centre in Ecuador, and for our free days we would take the bus to the city of Tena and spend the night at Hostal Pakay. After a hard day at work, tired and worn out and walking up that road to the hostel, I could have sworn that Calle Manuel M Rosales in Tena, Ecuador was the steepest street in the world...

[@Schnorbitz]

Tom, you should check out the world’s shortest street. Ebenezer Place, Wick, Scotland. Some people are taller than it is long!

[@vasil-yt]

Going with the sleigh down must be so fun! Up... not so much

[@karenhaller9988]

Dumb question- does it snow in this part of New Zealand?

[@vasil-yt]

@@karenhaller9988 Not a question but okay, thanks for letting me know.

[@Kvanttierkale]

@@karenhaller9988 According to Wikipedia it does indeed sometimes snow in Dunedin.

[@iain3713]

Vasil Verdouw they have a race with jaffas down the street, orange coated chocolate things

[@MyNameIsNidos]

Vasil Verdouw Karen was saying that their question might be dumb (it wasn’t), not your statement.

[@Wadenesday]

These videos are incredible! Ever been to the clapping circle on the coast of Ilfracombe, England? Might make for an interesting video!

[@thestudentofficial5483]

Rock Bottom: hold *pfft* my *pfft* glove *pfft* balloon.

[@tennisdude52278]

I can’t *pfft* understand *pfft* your accent

[@enzldavaractl8345]

I'm disappointed in myself for getting the joke

[@novameowww]

Eh don't worry about it. Sorry, that was probably incoherent. Eh *pfft* don't *pfft* worry *pfft* about it.

[@pre-packaged_9692]

Mmmmm pfft, glove pfft flavored. Pfft.

[@DannyHodge95]

Anyone in the UK that wants a taste of this, go to the Lincoln christmas market (or at any other time, nice occasion for it though). The road leading up to it is literally called Steep Hill, and you wont believe that there are streets steeper when you go up it.

[@GeovaniNogueira]

Come to Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and you gonna meet the truly steep streets, where even cars can't go and only the fittest pedestrians (almost) risk their live to climb it!

[@jimmypage1969]

If cars can't use it, then Is it actually a street?

[@onorebakasama]

@@jimmypage1969 Yes. Streets existed many thousands of years before cars did.

[@FinoClips]

Same in Chile. This like baby tier sloop. I honestly can't believe this got a Guinness World Record

[@holliswilliams8426]

Do you even know how the gradient of a street is actually measured? No, didn't think so.

[@koi596]

@@holliswilliams8426 nobody is talking about the gradient of a street

[@pizzamuncher007]

Imagine your front yard being a constant tourist attraction.

[@cosmicjenny4508]

+Joshua Oana I’d just get the hose...

[@robozstarrr8930]

NZ should knock 50% off income tax or property tax of the ppl who live there since it's touted as a tourist attraction!

[@FactoryofRedstone]

A good opportunity to sell merch and food/water...

[@MonkeyJedi99]

I once lived on a 22-25 percent street, and during one ice storm, everyone parked at the bottom of the hill and walked up through peoples' yards. And I have seen steeper driveways, which seems crazy in a part of the world where the sky drops snow and ice for a few months a year.

[@b3n3418]

I live on a 28% street, and all the kids in the neighbourhood get sleds out in the winter and go all the way down. There’s a park about half way down which most of them crash into!

[@sketchpup5718]

Great to see you in NZ! - NZlander

[@Mar-ft9xu]

Imagine someone with asthma climbing up that street, only to drop their puffer at the top.

[@TheCrowDoctor]

As someone with asthma and has climbed up that street I do not know how I am still alive.

[@cpotisch]

@@TheCrowDoctor Do you live there or did you visit?

[@TheCrowDoctor]

@@cpotisch I live in a suburb of Dunedin which is close to kaikorai valley where it is located.

[@narbogbugsploda7660]

Time to lay on your side and roll after it

[@SpiffingNZ]

Asthmatic here, and I live in Dunedin. I climbed the street and was fine.

[@Flushing2Fishtown]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Canton Avenue in Pittsburgh, USA. It also claims to be the steepest street in the World with a higher maximum grade of 37%, although only over a length of 6.5 meters.

[@bob562010]

Pittsburgh having 2 awfully steep roads in both Canton and Rialto. Wild.

[@Mac11-92]

Bradford St. in San Francisco says it’s 41%

[@mspaint93]

@@Mac11-92 He literally mentioned that

[@quarkonium3795]

I believe there’s a road in Italy called Scanuppia which briefly hits a measured gradient of 45% depending on where you decide to take the measurement. That one is super long too and it’s so steep that it has to be paved with grooved cement instead of asphalt so it’s possible to get enough traction to drive up it

[@helenetrstrup4817]

You know it's steep when the sidewalks are stairs. 🤣

[@tammurrell1444]

SIDEWALK! Well clearly you are not a New Zealander. They are called footpaths.

[@helenetrstrup4817]

@@tammurrell1444 Potato, potato. I'm Danish, I have options. 🙂

[@dmrfnk]

@@helenetrstrup4817 The only danish option with a potato is keeping it in your mouth when speaking

[@SeanChristieMallon]

Thanks for clearing this up

[@stephenwilliams163]

I don't know about no Guinness, but I used to be a commuting cyclist in Pittsburgh, PA. I lived in Bloomfield and worked in Squirrel Hill and I can tell you that at 8am there is no street in the whole world steeper than the Negley hill. I used to bike up it on my way to work about once a week just to feel like a badass.

[@therongjr]

Canton Avenue in Beechview (Pittsburgh) is officially the steepest public street in the United States--by some metrics, the steepest in the world with a 37% grade for 21 feet!--but Rialto Street in Troy Hill (also Pittsburgh) gives it a run for its money.

[@wta1518]

​@@therongjrBradford St. in San Francisco is steeper (41%). And I believe there's also a road in Hawaii that's even steeper than that.

[@MrRobinhalligan]

You missed one thing about Baldwin street the jaffa race.

[@dafoex]

Is that like swede rolling?

[@gurrrn1102]

No they roll aucklanders down the hill

[@lukasschramm5906]

The jaffa race is not happening anymore since mondelez destroyed Cadbury a couple of yours ago

[@arthurgordon6072]

Cadbury is a dirty word round these parts.

[@deanmoncaster]

Not very nice to do to the guys who can't have kids

[@blazingfire_0712]

In Baguio, a city in the Philippines, has tons of steep streets.

[@nomusicrc]

I love your heavy footsteps as you walked away

[@Andrew-ex2ph]

Gary has a very relaxing voice

[@BayLeafff]

You'd be surprised, lots of our oldies in NZ are similarly relaxing. Must be the accent or a cultural vocal inflection or something.

[@Rene-tu3fc]

there are tons of streets steeper than that in Brazil. I live in one of them in Florianópolis, and I'm sure anyone from Salvador also knows several of them.

[@mostlybrokenbritishcars3220]

Then go prove it. You'll probably find that by the Guinness definition it isn't steeper. And if you find that it IS steeper by those definitions, then go and report it and make the place famous!

[@paulssnfuture2752]

@@mostlybrokenbritishcars3220 i see quite a lot of steep roads here in the highlands of the Philippines, but IMO why would it matter though if its not recognised. Not like Phillipines lack any tourist spots. It is so chocked up with tourist before the pandemic that adding this just seem like nothing.. i say let the others have it.

[@GabrielRibeiro-nm5uv]

@@mostlybrokenbritishcars3220 i live in Salvador, and It is true. I'm never going to report It though because most of them must be in the favelas.

[@TheCrowDoctor]

@@paulssnfuture2752 I don't think you realise how steep this street is.

[@maisie4049]

the street is steeper than the video makes it look

[@crobodile]

Living there as a kid would be incredible. Imagine taking a scooter down there.

[@joseluisgudino4309]

Imagine falling

[@BDBarnyard]

If i remember correctly some one went down the street in a wheelie bin (garbage bin with wheels) and died

[@raptormaster666]

As a former Dunedinite, I can tell you what happened. I turned a perfectly circular wheel into a igloo shaped wheel trying to stop on a street not far from Baldwin.

[@deathpony698]

Imagine not making it to adulthood

[@SausageFingers420]

Do scooters get death wobbles like bikes and skateboards do?

[@AuntyStan]

The dairy on the cnr of Baldwin street sells all sorts of little souvenirs to do with the street as well as general dairy stuff, and you can even get a little certificate to say how you navigated the street

[@KiatnissNZ]

I've walked down that street before! It was on a history trip when we were learning about the french settlers of New Zealand!

[@jbkkkkk]

I remember that street. From a certain angle it looked too sharp to drive. I miss Dunedin. Best 5 months of my life

[@JoeBleasdaleReal]

The photographer's voice = ASMR ambush!

[@JoeBleasdaleReal]

No the older photographer. I was watching with new bass-boost earphones and I wasn't ready for it!

[@Salacyous]

It's just the regular NZ older person voice.

[@Lampe2020]

That finishing sentence was so funny I had problems hitting the like button because my laughing sent the mouse cursor around the whole screen, my mouse is very fast.

[@bryantford3054]

There's a street almost that steep in Juneau, Alaska. One icy day my friend Big Sue was trying (failing) to get to her house near the top. I had studded tires on my VW bug and was able to get her home, but there was nowhere to turn around. I had to back all the way down. That was scary.

[@rachelcookie321]

My grandma’s cousin lives on a hill up a very steep long driveway. I remember visiting when it was icy and we couldn’t get the car up. We had to park the car on the road and walk up which was even more terrifying.

[@iankemp1131]

The rival Welsh street is in Harlech; there was some discussion on whether the Guinness entry should be changed. The background of drawing plots on a map regardless of contour lines is interesting. My grandfather in New Zealand was allocated a plot for ex-soldiers which was two flat areas separated by a 500 foot deep ravine, extremely awkward. Again, the plots had been rectangles drawn on a map by an official in Wellington with no regard to the local topography. They were also too small to yield a decent living, and were consolidated and reshaped over the years. Wellington itself has some steep streets which I was told were due to the grid pattern being drawn up by another official in London. Maybe an urban myth, but it seems to ring true.

[@zacmumblethunder7466]

I've walked up the one in Harlech. Absolute nightmare. If there's one steeper anywhere, they're welcome to it. I'd rather perform my own appendectomy than walk up anything like that again.

[@BasilPunton]

Correct about Wellington. I saw one set of stairs that is marked as a street. That is when I found out about the English logic (or lack thereof).

[@fujineetomori]

this reminds me of that time when the memories from my dream altered and became disoriented and the walk to the top of the road was slowly but surely getting steeper until i slid, fell and woke up.

[@seekindova]

1929?!? Gary Blackman is a trooper bro.

[@jacobopstad5483]

There's a street like that in the city where I used to live: Itapecerica da Serra, São Paulo, Brazil.

[@J.R.Swish1]

*sees title* My whole city: hold my beer

[@fawkes9370]

In Italy this feels like a normal street to the villages near the mountains

[@francisp171]

Mika Eickhoff I’ve crossed Genova off as a place to live because I’m always scared of forgetting to put my hand break on or being in a tight spot

[@JoriDiculous]

county road 214 in Sogndal, Norway increases by 36.7 per cent within 52 meters. one of the steepest streets in Norway

[@MansoorAhmedshaikh]

true .also a street with literally 41° angle near my house quite famous actually

[@willojames9910]

myself and 3 mates hired a beat up 30 year old mitsubishi whilst backpacking- urging that beuty up this street was one of the most epic parts of our trip- a memory made forever

[@davespitvalve]

From experience, I gotta say it was full of tourists even _before_ social media!

[@TheOfficialCzex]

Gary Blackman: I don't feel so good...

[@thediamondstewyt8260]

Parents: Thats nothing, I had to climb a 5km 90 degree slope every morning to go to school

[@pizzawonderer5024]

I had to climb a 180 degree mountain every morning to get to school.

[@GraveUypo]

my house is supposed to be a single floor but it has 5 levels because of the steepness of the street. so many stairs

[@Nugcon]

Your parents living in Rock Bottom or something?

[@TheFrogInYourClosetWatchingYou]

@@GraveUypo at least you have stairs.... I had to kick holes in my walls and scale them like a mountain climber. Now all the rats that were in the walls are all over the place but they do make for a quick meal.

[@wuliajeber]

“I had to wake up two hours before I went to bed each night”

[@arilyell3757]

That car passing was perfectly timed!