Join me on my quest to make our cities safer, healthier, and more livable by improving biking for all! This channel is through my lens and perspective as a North American city planner and explores different principles and strategies that can help make our cities more bikable. I also plan to present videos on other urban planning related topics including land use, sustainability, and even some fun videos.
If this channel amounts to anything, I plan on donating the proceeds to the city I work for in Utah to contribute to active transportation safety improvements. Sometimes if you take a first small step in the right direction, it can change your whole trajectory into the future.
Thanks again for checking me out and stay tuned for more to come!
Thanks for making this video. I live in a new urbanism, planned community in Denver. There are many similarities to Daybreak. Lots of great ideas implemented, and also a lot of room for improvement. But it's a great place to raise kids, especially the part about walking or biking to school and many nearby amenities.
I was just in Denver last weekend and mostly saw areas around downtown and near the botanical gardens. I wish I had more time to see other areas! I know Stapleton is a pretty big new urbanist community and Lowry is also a decent sized community. Definitely some similarities to Daybreak, but maybe a bit better location since they are closer to downtown Denver than Daybreak is to downtown Salt Lake. Thanks for checking out the video!
Here in Oulu Finland, there is an entire network of bicycle paths independent of the automobile roads. Bike lanes show road plannees "doing something", but don't make any sense.
It is so true, our Utah DOT puts painted bike lanes down on the shoulder of a high-speed road and says they are providing active transportation! Only for the brave and fearless that is. Though, I do see some people in our DOT who get it and are pushing for positive change from within. Oulu is awesome and I would love to visit someday! I have seen a lot of videos and checked out the bike path and road networks on Google Earth, pretty great stuff! Seems that the center of Oulu could use some bike/ped only streets or some good shared bike streets like the fietsstraaten I saw in the Netherlands, Though I haven’t experienced the area firsthand to know how comfortable and safe it is there. In the town I work for, we have a ways to go on our bike network, but we have managed to get some good paths off of and disentangled from the roadway network. Much more work to do especially as I advocate for a change to our transportation system paradigm. Thanks for watching and for the comment!
Certainly there are a lot of reasons that driving would make sense, especially outside of areas with good transit coverage! When I was visited last year, short local trips often were made more convenient by bike than by car, but regional trips or traveling outside the Randstad area from city to city can take more time by bike due to distance or by rail depending on coverage of the area. When I went to Nijmegen for example, we went there by car, but then rode around on bikes to see the city and over to Groesbeek. We used rail between main centers like Amsterdam to Utrecht or Delft up to Amsterdam. People will typically get around in the way that is most convenient, though there are exceptions to that.
I also wish more Americans would go check it out! My director and I went on our own accord last year, and it was awesome! I have been encouraging others to see it as well. Not just cycling infrastructure either, but the big picture of roadway circulation (where not to put traffic, traffic calming, buried freeways, all kinds of stuff!), more mixed land uses, access to nature and other issues. It isn’t easy changing the transportation paradigm, but I’m trying the best I can here for Utah 😀 Thanks for checking out the video!
Mike: America Me: _Immediately starts playing the Team America theme in my head_ But seriously, one of the things that has always bugged me about urban (or suburban) development is that the "default" development pattern is pretty awful. It wouldn't really take much (if any) extra money to build residential or minor arterial streets the way shown at 7:40 (minus the bike paths for low density residential), and it would make those places much more pleasant compared to the current default.
Now I’m hearing the Team America theme in my head 😂 It really doesn’t take much when the people in charge have a mindset of safety and livable cities first and foremost! I don’t believe American cities are a lost cause and we can definitely make some good improvements. I hope many more cities will start to catch on and update their standards for road design. Thanks for watching!
I know a lot of content (including some of my own) is pretty harsh towards the US. Often for good reason, but there are some great examples here of positive change as well. Just about everything that has been done in the Netherlands has been done somewhere in the US, just typically not systematically throughout a city or region. I would like to show more good US examples in future videos as well as show how some of our problematic designs could be improved, rather than just complain about it. I will say, Daybreak here in Utah compared to most US suburbs offers a pretty high quality of life in the sense that I see kids and people of all ages and abilities getting around the community independently. There is always room for improvement, but it is so much better than typical suburbia. I find biking here to be more safe and comfortable even than places like Salt Lake since bike paths are usually going through parks and have more limited numbers of conflict points with cars. The problem with Daybreak (and much of Utah) is housing affordability and its somewhat decentralized location. An example of some great change in the US I saw when in Minneapolis a few weeks ago. They have some great stuff happening there, not just in mobility, but with zoning and housing policy as well. Their new Bryant Avenue bikeway is a great model for other US cities to emulate!
What about making one side walk a multi use trail and keep the other side walk narrow. Then cars don’t need to be parked so close and open doors into oncoming traffic. Also where the multi use trails cross the street slightly elevate the street to meet the multi used path instead on having the path downslope into the street. That would hopefully make cars be aware foot and bike traffic crosses at that spot.
Definitely from a new build standpoint, building the bike path off the street would be best and most comfortable. Raised crossings would definitely help slow cars down and indicate through design the priority for the crossing. I would combine either chokers or a refuge island with a raised crossing depending on how much traffic the road is seeing. Thanks for checking out the video!
Utah: "There's not enough houses and prices are crazy high. Too bad. Nothing to be done." Dutch: "Same. People are protesting because the government should do something about it." Utah: "You can DO that?!"
I live in The Hague in a suburb called Leidschenveen. Its a nice neighbourhood with less cars and peacefull streets especially in the summer. But im a delivery driver for DPD and my standard route is around wateringse veld. Nice video
Thanks for watching! I was there in March and made it as close as Ypenburg and Voorburg, but not quite to Leidschenveen! Some of the suburbs around there did a great job of creating quiet places to live but have access to services, transit, and open spaces. The A4 and A12 are quite large highways, but have good crossing points for walking and biking. The Jan Linzelviaduct was quite impressive to ride across as well!
Yes you right. The only thing Leidschenveen is a bit quiter than Ypenburg. Ypenburg is build wider bigger and has a bigger shopping center. But its around 4km one from each other. @@bikequestwithmikewest
@@bosnahYUG tbh, the reason Ypenburg is bigger than Leidschenveen is because Leidschveen is entirely new, while Ypenburg was a militairy airbase in the past
Absolutely! A routine trip to the store shouldn’t be so difficult and dangerous without a car. It is by design and something that needs to change. Thanks for watching!
I hope that Daybreak Harmon's has more bike users by now. The thing I never understood about the WF was the lack of bike use for errands or getting to work. Many will ride a Century Ride or to get their heartrate up but not for everyday use. I am afraid The Point development will just add to that novelty use of bikes rather than a primary tool in the toolbox of transportation. Forget about UDOT. The widening of 15 north of SLC is a prime example.
I have seen fewer people on bikes going to Harmon’s this winter, but bike use is quite regular in the warmer months, not to mention a good number of people with cargo bikes. I have my skepticism about the Point project as well, but hopefully they can prove us wrong. The biggest two problems I see are that Porter Rockwell Blvd cuts through the center of the project and there are tons of exposed parking structures planned for individual buildings, rather than looking at shared structures underground that allow for more shared parking, more public space at ground level, and smaller building footprints that are more human scale. The river to rail trail through the Point will be nice to have a safe and comfortable connection over Bangerter, Frontrunner, and I-15.
I love seeing the beautiful Utah mountains in the background! Yes I am a pedestrian when I visit Utah. It’s very unsafe to walk there! Plus the drivers are rude, too many fast-food drove throughs that are dangerous and lots of testosterone loaded trucks
What you need is more rules for cylists. Like you don't have the right of way unless you're in a designated right of way lane. Like the bycicle lane. Except you need redlights for cyclists like they have for walking. Also if a car is entering from a higher traffick area, they should have the right of way. Either that or just have enough common sense to realize that it's your life on the line, and you are responsible for your own safety.
If you watch the video then you see how the rules only method works out, not well. Perhaps design roads in a way that is not only so traffic goes fast. There are plenty of ways to ensure that more than just cars are prioritized over pedestrians and bicycles.
@@sevenofzach hmmm let's see. Either spend billions of dollars so that you can ride your bicycle on the highway and pretend you're saving the planet, or just be careful and watch for idiots and stop pretending laws make you invincible.
@@keithwatson8228 Doesn't that go both ways? You can be the most careful cyclist in the world and still get pancaked by someone in an SUV. You can be the most reckless cyclist in the world and still get pancaked by someone in an SUV. Cycling infrastructure doesn't cost billions like auto infrastructure, which should be more incentive to build it.
@@GaigeGrosskreutzGunClub you can be the most careful driver and still have a bicycle cut you off because they expect you to know they're crossing the street when you have a green light.
Everyone thinks of something different when they hear or see the word “cyclist”, but to me it doesn’t matter so much since it benefits everyone if more people choose to ride a bike (ebike or naturally aspirated). I like that the Dutch have two words for cyclists too “fietser” for your everyday people and “wielrenner” for your confident sport cyclists. I also ride my regular push bike about 99% of the time and only use our work ebikes every once in a while. The footage I filmed here selfie-style was just to pickup some lunch on the ebike!
I live in a small city that's designed around cars instead of people. On average, I am almost hit by a car 1.4 times per run (meaning some runs are 2 - 3 times, others are 1, sometimes, when I'm lucky, it's 0). The reasons are: driver decided to run a stop sign because there weren't any cars present, a driver decided to run a solid red light because they were turning right (FYI, driving laws state that cars are required to come to a complete stop at a solid red light), driver decided to ignore the flashing amber crossing lights, even though they were 100m away and had plenty of time to stop, driver decided to enter a parking lot even though I was mid-crossing. Thankfully, I haven't come across any drivers that thought the mixed use paths are for cars as well.
So really it's Walker/runner thought that because "the law states" that he/she is safe to disregard any and all dangers due to driver mistakes. You are the one that could die if something goes wron. So it is you that needs to look for dangers on your route. If you always expect it, you have less of a chance to run into it. Even if not for incompetence, people make mistakes. Those mistakes can kill you. So be more careful.
I am sometimes pretty close to your average! It is mostly right turners on red that just blow through, but I have seen a good number of other things. I hope to not see too many more people actually driving in the bike paths! I don’t think the guy in this case meant to drive on the path, but I sure don’t want it to become a regular thing! The important thing will be to rethink the structure of our transportation system, and quit trying to ask people pretty please to follow the rules. Humans make mistakes both inadvertently and on purpose, and the design of our roads needs to anticipate this. We are way too dependent on signage and striping and it doesn’t result in the types of driver behaviors we would like to see. Thanks for the comment and for watching!
Oh look. A victim blaming comment. How typical. Apparently, critiquing poor driving habits (i.e.: ignoring laws that drivers agreed to follow) and poor infrastructure design (i.e.: infrastructure not designed around people) means I'm just running into traffic all willy nilly like, like how drivers drive their vehicles. It couldn't possibly be that I'm stopping well before I should for drivers that ignore safety laws and classifying that to be a "near miss," like how I specifically worded my previous rant. Nope. That'd be too reasonable.
5:15 I actually agree with what you say about the government, even though it's such a huge oversimplification that I'd call your claim a plain LIE. Anyway... There's no lack of housing at all. WE ARE the problem. The world population has QUADRUPLED in the past century. Our overbreeding is the main cause of many environmental problems, not just housing. Environmentally, having a baby is the worst thing you can do for our planet at the moment.
Actually, the creation of Wateringse Veld was not that idyllic. The ground originally belonged to the Wateringen municipality and was a mix of agriculture and nature. But it was annexed by The Hague because they wanted to expand. This forced several municipalities to consolodate and form the Westland municipality. That new municipality started building houses along the borders with The Hague to protect itself from further annexation. As a result agriculture and nature disappeared in that area. On top of that way more people started living there and surrounding infrastructure could not keep up. This video prolonges the myth that everybody cycles in The Netherlands and that public transport is so great. The fact is that cycling is only feasable for local transport. And public transport is only an option if you have to travel to specific places. This video does not show all the traffic jams on the highway next to Wateringse Veld that are the result of building Wateringse Veld. As a Dutchman I'm getting a bit tired and annoyed by this fantasy cycling culture.
I like how you wove in system design with the Declaration of Independence and Dutch clips with Utah clips. I think there's a lot to learn from The Netherlands, but many urbanists focus on it (and all of Europe) too much in my opinion. As your video shows, we have a lots of great examples here in America, we just need more of them. Looking forward to the next video
Thanks for watching and for the comment! It is great to know and understand the principles of design and planning from Europe, but just about everything that has been done there has been done somewhere in the US. There just aren’t too many places in the US that have systematically applied the principles to a city or region. Even Europe isn’t a perfect utopia, but it is nice to compare what has been done there with what has been done here in the States. Most importantly is to take a step back and look at why we are doing things in the big picture, which is why I wanted to reference the Declaration of Independence.
Great video and on point. However, the medical establishment may not the best system model. Depending on how you define medical mistakes, the US Healthcare system kills 250,000 to 400,000 each year. Just sayin...
I thought about that and it is a good point! I have a son with special and medically complex needs and I have seen first hand some of the problems with hospitals (in fact I took some footage for this video while he was inpatient!). I like the hospital example because I think most of the general public would agree safety is a top priority in a hospital. The healthcare system could certainly be improved.
And unfortunate that the auto industry still has such strong lobbying efforts with the government. The ideals of life, liberty, and happiness are important, but it doesn’t mean they are necessarily upheld to the fullest extent in every aspect of society.
It's always bothered me how many of the richest men in Utah came from car dealerships and we also have such bad air quality with a huge part coming from cars. The stats you cover in the video are just from crashes, imagine if we could quantify the deaths due to pollutants from cars.
Thank you for your videos. Living in Herriman it's fun recognizing all the locations you have about in Utah and salt lake areas. Though we have a few decent biking trails, it's definitely not enough.
It is awesome you are watching locally! If you’re ever in Daybreak, there is a good chance you will see me out and about on the cargo bike with my kids or on my Dutchified Trek bike! Herriman, like many other cities in Utah and the US, is getting so many major high-speed roadways. It is a tough challenge I have been having for the city I work for too. This is one of the biggest problems for safety and creates a glass ceiling for encouraging many more people to walk and cycle places. Getting more trails is good, but when a trail network is overlaid on a high-speed road network, it doesn’t create a truly bike friendly and safe community. In the next video I want to cover some of these issues and note why a traffic circulation plan is so important. Thanks again for watching!
I live right on the Riverton/Herriman border and ride my Tern almost everywhere. Crossing Mountain View Corridor is definitely the biggest hurdle for me and my family. Also sidewalks will commonly just stop. But we've developed some safe routes and ride to daybreak often. Being able to get to the city hall, library, Walmart, and more by bike has been great even though the infrastructure isn't great.
It's so sad that is so typical for American politicians to learn from Europe considered for them as horrible humiliation! It is not about being conservative or liberal but learn how to make life better!
Are bicycles for transportation or are bicycles for entertainment or exercise? This is the difference in perception that drives the market for communities to have particular characteristics. The majority of Americans see bicycles as toys for kids to play on, or as sporting equipment for the ambitious (and weird) adults.. Or as vehicles for poor people, primarily in other countries.. We Americans need to up-level the humble bicycle to be a vehicle to be used with pride!
For 30 years I drove everywhere, and now I sold my car and bike everywhere or use public transportation. It's way more relaxing because you need to directly interact with someone so you don't wander of in your own thoughts as much.
My parents always complain about highways getting congested when they get into major metropolitan areas like Dallas and Houston, somehow they don't realize that every highway in rural areas only needs to be two lanes either direction and they don't gain lanes until they hit cities. It should be obvious that all the extra congestion is from local traffic that should be taking regular surface streets but somehow they never notice.
The other problem is that people in Utah drive with their heads up their butts, and go as fast as traffic allows. Never seen so many people that ignore the posted speed limits. Guess they want to get to "their heaven".
Oh hey, I live in Davis!! Actually, I access those roads and roundabouts to get to my apartment and the UC Davis campus very frequently! It’s so cool to see this city get some spotlight!
That’s awesome!! It is a really nice connection they made between West Village and the main campus. The inner city has some less desirable wide streets and painted bike lanes, but overall there is a cohesive network that prioritizes the convenience of cycling as a mode. Thanks for checking it out!
Thanks haha! There is a lot to talk about and we tried to match up the rides with similar features along the way, so we sort of change the subject quickly! Thanks for watching 🙂
That is unfortunate and I’m sorry that is what you have to deal with! Everything is relative and I am in the same boat for many roads around here too. Just car lanes and a sidewalk, no bike lanes in many cases. There is always work to be done! Thanks for watching 🙂
Eventually I'll probably lose my driver's license and won't be able to drive a motor vehicle. A bicycle will be an alternative to not being able to grocery shop at all. If you only go at most 20mph then you don't need a license. This is why I would consider a cargo bicycle.
I have found the cargo bike to be so useful in doing many things. In most cases, my cargo bike will carry whatever I throw at it! Things like a full size refrigerator would be the exception. Thanks for watching 🙂
California seems to be progressive overall in terms of bike infrastructure, but this is a whole new level. Honestly, unexpected. Also, very good shots 👍
Thank you! California varies a lot, some cities are trying to great things and some cities have a much harder time trying to get the political will. Davis was pretty awesome, though still not perfect. They still have a few awful roads too.
