Fun fact - there's a 60 mile bike trail from DC to the AT/Harpers Ferry which is a cool get for the car free nature lovers here (can also take the MARC there for dirt cheap but it only runs at commuter hours rn).
I live in rural England. My options are hourly buses (if they turn up) or walk/bike along 60mph roads with endless blind bends it always puzzles me when people say cars are for rural people as if everyone in a rural area can a- drive and b- afford a car. I am extremely lonely at the moment walking around the lovely countryside is only fun when you have friends to do it with (and don't have hay-fever) you made the right choice to priorotise human connection over a romantacised vision of rural living. Also please keep making the funny explanation skits they bring me much joy.
Wanting to bike fast and getting winded is pretty relatable. I walk at a leisurely pace so I don't know why, maybe I subconsciously act like I'm driving despite not owning a car.
This is a great observation - I too usually try to go super fast trying to minimize my commute time. I've also heard sport bikers turned commuter also having to adjust to step back on their speed.
100% check out how Second Thought transitioned from more stock image type stuff to much more on site footage through the past few months, a great reference for that sort of transition that you seem to be wanting (full support from me! I love your content)
I hope you take the NIMBY Group's invite to help advocate for the BRT. Imagine their faces when they realize that the person they invited has come in support of the busses!
in honesty, the original video already damn near convinced me to plan on moving to Philadelphia. im gonna be moving out in 3-5 years and am sadly quite deadset on staying in the United States for personal reasons, so deciding where I want to live for the next major portion of my life. I've been researching housing in Philly for a few weeks now, and while I dont love the architecture as much as I do Boston, it looks like its probably actually possible to get to at least 75% to my preferred lifestyle. I enjoyed the video very much and had my dad watch it as a discussion piece over dinner the day you released it as well. I very much hope for more content like this! (That comment about second thought is a very good take!)
I'm more of an NYC fan, but Philadelphia has its charm, heartening that it has its colonial feel. Housing is cheap there from what I've heard, plenty of things to see, and it has direct access from South Florida to someone who lives in Miami.
I'd love to go car light, have 2 e bikes and a bike trailer. Don't use them much because of safety concerns and stroads. Much of the bike infrastructure in the Baltimore area is a joke or designed for recreation. We not only need bike infrastructure, but aa change in attitude toward bikes and cycling.
For me, recreation is riding a Gravel bike through the villages around city. I live in a smaller city close to friends and family, yet I can get out of town within half an hour on my bike. I'd be quite interested to see a video of how long it takes to bike from downtown Philadelphia to somewhere on the edge of the city, and whether there are any dirt, forest, or village roads with minimal traffic around the city at all that are suitable for recreational cycling. The one trail shown in the middle of the city looked a bit narrow and crowded. Maybe +1, -2 Philadelphia edition. ;-)
At the moment I'm learning how to live car free in Germany... I'm really nervous to see what's gonna happen when I move back to the US and try it. I'm happy to hear that it works well around Philly!
I think Germany is a good intermediate between US car centrism and European transit-oriented planning. I was also surprised to see lots of cyclists in York despite US levels of scant bike-specific infrastructure - although traffic is much more calmed.
Have you seen the paper by Bill Vigrass about how many studies have been done of the south Jersey corridors over the years? All but one recommended construction.
I love Philly but it's so flat around there. Trains to the mountains from NYC are better, but of course you pay for it. Some out west cities offer public transit to mountain places, like in Portland OR, the bus up onto Mount Hood. City bus to a glacier? Yes, please.
I guess Coaster enthusiasts moving to Orlando, LA, Eastern PA, or Ohio counts as moving for recreation. Connecticut probably good for New England-but no one talks about that one probably because it’s cold and they aren’t quality properties
