I think one of the worst things about America being so car dependent is that kids do not leave the house anymore. They don’t walk around town or bike anywhere. If they want to hang out with their friends they have to get their mom to drive them to their house, or get their moms to drive them to a specific location and then pick them up at a certain time later. Kids have no way of exploring the world around them without planning in advance what their ride situation will be.
I was shocked by how bland and boring American kids' lives are when I first came to the US. They literally can't go anywhere without their parents driving them, thanks to the terrible public transit.
So many times I thought how clean and beautiful are these places but now I am realizing how much tough it is to just feel the nature which is absolutely free. What I like so much about American house and neighborhoods is, it has so many trees.
As a kid, I was fortunate to live in an older style suburb that had opportunities to leave the house and ride bikes and at least some decent walking to small stores. I never realized how fortunate the environment was until I lived to other parts of the country
While visiting a friend in the US, I once suggested we could go for a walk around her neighbourhood. You know, so I could get a feel for the place and to get some fresh air away from the roommates. She found this idea charmingly adventurous.
Tf? Who doesn't occasionally walk around their neighborhood? At least the city I'm in, it's very common for people to do that, or they know it's common to do it but don't want to. Somebody finding that adventurous is quite uncommon, at least where I'm from. The only reason I'd think that people would find that adventurous is if you live in the downtown area or in a big city like NYC.
I live in an American suburb yet I have never owned a car in my life. Although it takes time to walk places I value the open spaces and would not want to live in crime ridden American city.
I had my first seizure when I was 19 due to adult onset epilepsy. The worst thing about it was the fact that I couldn't drive (I'm in TX). I spent a total of 2 years being unable to drive due to seizures and it was horrible. Made it super hard to do anything. I couldn't get a job because there's no public transit and there's no way to get a ride from someone every day, no rideshare either which even if there was it would be super expensive. I pretty much became a NEET for a lot of that time. Easily the worst 2 years of my life.
@@brandonm1708 seizures got under control. You have to be seizure for a certain period of time depending on where you live. In Texas it's only 3 months which is lower than anywhere else (other states are 6 months to 2 years) but you also have to have permission from a doctor. Most doctors here in TX think 3 months is too short so I would have to go 6 months without having one.
A few things I don't understand about US life now 1. How do people drink alcohol since they must drive everywhere. It seems like the only option would be to drink alone at home 2. How do people go jogging and dog walking with these suicidal roads and lack of footpaths? 3. If you take a plane across the country to another city, then what do you do? Are you forced to rent a car? Life just seems impractical and restrictive there.
@@ElZilchoYo 1. Not sure, but I think alcohol is unnecessary. 2. I guess they find a path that isn’t suicidal. Pets are generally unnecessary as well. 3. Yes, unless you have contact with a family member or friend. Where are you from
@@ElZilchoYo Their only option is to drink at home? Unfortunately no, people just drive drunk. We constantly hear lots of cases on the news of drunk drivers causing deadly accidents. It's so common no one thinks it's that shocking. People also usually drive 30 minutes to a park or a gym...or neither.
@@Phillowownz why don't you move to Europe if it's so wonderful? If you hate America so much why do these videos? You could move to one of these wonderful places and find out about all the problems they have.
@@peterwelby You seem easily offended by someone who has pointed out the truth and yes European countries have some bad stuff too but the US not much of walkability,good transportation,or cycling paths can impact some Americans.
I'm 19 and live in the suburbs and I have no car, and I'm completely dependent on my parents and other people to get anywhere. The nearest bus is a 1.5 hr walk to the mall, which would be a 10 minute drive away. The nearest grocery store (Walmart) is a 30 minute walk away and there are barely any sidewalks, crosswalks, etc. A year ago I applied for my job because it was one of the few remote jobs available entry level, but now they've moved to a hybrid schedule and I need to walk over an hour to and from work part of the week because there's no public transport near me and Uber is expensive. People who cannot drive a car or do not have a car are almost kind of punished and ostricized. It shouldn't be this way.
If possible maybe you can move to an older suburb in the Philadelphia, New York or Boston area. I grew up in an older suburb where I could walk to small stores for basic errands and there was a trolley station where I could go further for more errands
This!! I'm often insulted for not driving at 21. I have a huge fear of driving because there's a huge drunk driving issue in my city and I was already sent to the hospital because of a drunk driver. Focusing is also very hard and I'm visually impaired. Seeing in the dark has gotten harder for me as well. It doesn't help that some vehicles have lights that don't allow you to see too well either.
@@bigbk3278 get a car loan, then a mortgage, then a better job (maybe student loans too???), for better car/house, health insurance, medical debt,...family?? then more debt trap,.... get out now at 19 before american debt trap catches you. When I was in europe I saw lots of people living with less things and less desires, walking everywhere, eating much less food too, just paying their taxes, have NO DEBT and living happily.
I live in Stuttgart, Germany. Getting groceries is a 4 minute walk, getting to a mall takes 20 minutes through walking and public transit and dinner is an 8 minute walk, but you can extend it to 15 minutes to have a wide variety of options of where to eat. Stuttgart is considered a car-friendly and car-infested city in Germany with lots of traffic in and around it, but you can get anywhere you need to go, without a car, in a reasonable amount of time. This video is shocking…
The traffic comes mostly from outside the city, since there is no way to build around. I just visited Stuttgart and besides the cars, it has a nice public transportation and walkable streets without cars. I love Stuttgart.
I stayed in Köln for about a week and even that city was surprisingly walkable. And it was a scenic place to be! I love how in Europe there’s always a cheap way to get around.
@@tybarker5038 Sofia, Bulgaria is like that as well. By foot you can have (almost) everything needed in 15-20 minutes. And by using public transportation, it is even faster.
It's funny. As someone from Europe, I'd often watch Kitchen Nightmares America with Gordon Ramsay. They'd talk about how their business is struggling and how they just don't know why! Being an innocent naive European person, I'd always look at the exterior shots of their Restaurant and be like "The location!! It's horrible! That's why they don't get customers, they're located on the most ugly street I've ever seen!" And I thought it was a coincidence that ALL the Restaurants featured on the show had similar locations. It literally took RU-vid urbanists to let me know that apparently all food places in the US are located on horrible stroads. As someone who is used walking to a small little family owned place in the middle of a pedestrian zone near a little spring or surrounded by trees... this was quite the shock! Americans are really missing out. The soul needs peaceful places designed for people. Places you can discover spontaneously and organically. A Starbucks off an intersection ain't it.
And because these food places are on stroads they need to be corporate chains or franchises in order to survive. People driving down the stroad won't stop at your business if they don't recognise it from 500 feet away
This idiot makes it seem like all of US suburbia is designed this way, lol. Most have an arterial road that looks like this, the rest is UTTERLY walkable in every way, shape, and form. It is perhaps the whiniest fucking video I've ever seen in my entire life. Oh no! You had to... walk somewhere and you had to do it while adjacent to a bike lane that you didn't like the look of! Oh, heavens no!
@@glenngordon846 The channel Not Just Bikes has an excellent video on that. Basically it's a street that's designed like a road and becomes very dangerous and unpleasant because of it.
Yeah, I remember visiting a friend who lives in a suburb. I walked to the store. Took like 20 minutes, which is fine. But I remember I was the only person walking outside. Everyone has a car in a suburb. And the people in cars stare at me walking like they never seen a person walk to a store.
I didn't thought things in Usa are THAT bad, but this video really opened my eyes. I live in small town in Poland with around 3000 inhabitants. I could easily do all of these 3 things: go to grocery store, eat dinner and buy clothes, just under one hour by simply walking. Even if public transport sucks here and closest big city is 60km away. I have sidewalks on every street, bike lanes on main street and even some bike roads to closest villages. And suburb next to Minneapolis in "wealthy" country like Usa doesn't have any of these... I can't imagine how would I be able to live in such a horrible place like this?
When you grow up here you get numb to it I guess. I mean no one actually likes it like this but it’s all they know. They don’t know another way of life is possible.
You don’t have to live in a suburb u can easily live in a nice apartment in a walkable neighborhood and is usually cheaper than a house in the suburbs.
Smaller towns and cities in the U.S. are generally very walkable. I live in a city of 14,000 in Oregon and I have a full grocery store, several convenience stores, a laundromat, bank, a movie theatre, restaurants, and other shops within a 15-20 minute walk. The older neighborhoods and downtowns of large cities are also pedestrian friendly. Suburbs, though, are often bad for anyone who isn't driving, especially those built since the 1960s. It's worse in the central U.S. than in other parts of the country because sprawl has been allowed to occur unchecked, partly due to the lack of mountains or older developments.
@@scsstopmotions989 But, most people still need a car for their job, kids, etc.. It is the rare lifestyle that can do reasonably well and not make major sacrifices without a car in the US.
@@DDBurnett1 True. And, sadly, it is illegal to build most of those small-town downtown areas today. The zoning laws don't permit it. The obsession with R1 single-family zoning and strict separation of residential from any commercial in most cities prevents walkability. It is the rare city that zones for mixed-use that was the norm until the age of the automobile.
The United States decided "the car is the future" back in the 50s and overbuilt for it, not for people, while also actively removing the robust public transportation the country used to have. Now, everyone is forced to drive a car because all the other options are either inconvenient, nonexistent, or dangerous... and the constant "freedom" propaganda patting the backs of the motor vehicle and petroleum industries reinforces this economic dead end. It needs to do better.
Actually we did the same in the Netherlands. But then there were a lot of protests in the 70s of kids on bikes being run over by cars. We then decided that every road user should have equal rights to the road. In the end this is what made our country the best for walking and cycling. Those sub-urban roads shown in this video would be considered illegal here.
@@SanderEvers I really hope what happened in the Netherlands happens everywhere eventually. If we're going to reduce our emissions & not decimate the environment in other ways, we need to build so we can do more with less. Electric cars are not a solution, they're barely even a bandaid. Plus it just improves life in so many ways. Car-centric environments make the world hostile to everything that's not a car & I hate that everyone's just accepted it. The old boomers moan about how "kids don't play outside these days", but they've made outside uninhabitable.
@@InnuendoXP electric cars are a non solution. They don't do anything to make the environment more walkable, they don't make pedestrians any safer than with ICE cars, they're still big and heavy (esp with those batteries). I'm convinced that EVs are just a lazy solution to justify keeping roads and highways exactly the way they are now. If anything, they're less creative and imaginative than recreating our infrastructure to serve people once again.
To highlight just how "free" it is, consider this: the primary method of identification throughout the US is a driver's license. Now, if that does not seem unusual to you, it's likely because you grew up here.
Yes. You do need a driver’s license for ID and since I didn’t need a car in Philly I got a non-driver’s license, and then the same in NJ (both around 30 years ago). But since 99% of New Jersey is suburb I finally got a drivers license and car at 25.
So you can get a normal state ID as well. But I’ve had friends who have had theirs not accepted because it’s not a drivers license. You can’t make it up that some places won’t even accept a valid state ID because it does indicate you drive. This was to buy alcohol at a baseball game by the way.
@@aidarosullivan5269 We do, but they are not really used for anything other than international travel. A driver's license is expected for nearly everything else, and most companies will not even hire you if you don't have one.
So when you lose your license you lose your ID? But i guess a US license is cheap and easy to get? Here in Germany its super expensive, you have to take so many hours of private driving classes, theory classes, first aid class, ... before you can take the tests.
I'm epileptic so can't drive, made it impossible to hold down a job in the suburbs. Had to move to a more urban town where I ride my e-bike on the sidewalks. Life is good now, but I empathize with the sentiment completely.
So you can't go a year without seizures so you can get/hold your driving license? I went years with atleast 1 seizure pr day and everytime that happened the clock resets (one year without seizures to drive), luckily orfiril and lamictal works and now i've been driving for years! So good luck and stay healthy! Greetings from Norway
@@Kay-jg6tf It took about 15 years to find the right meds but I finally have it under control. However in that time I totaled 3 cars having seizures at the wheel. Couldn't drive for 6 months after the first, then a year after the second, and after the third the state said 'send us your license you're done bro' and I agreed lol. It's been 6 years since I've had a seizure but with that history who knows if I should ever drive again.
This is my biggest problem with North America. In Canada I knew of the problem but didnt understand the scale until I worked at a factory and saw the reality. People drive 2 hours a day just for work. People often live in semi-rural areas where a cab is $60+ and there is 0 transit. Throw in alcohol dependence and thats what you get.
I lived in a Detroit suburb for a summer and my girlfriend visited from Germany. She didn't have a car and so I said she should walk to the town. She said that the entire time it was loud and people wouldn't stop staring at her. She was so uncomfortable that she never tried it again... American bare minimum is well below the global standard... Also, how do you crank these videos out so fast?
As an international student in the US, getting around the city/ suburbs is quite a task.. There is okayish public transportation, BUT weekends are quite bad since every bus/ light rail isscheduled like 30-45 minutes apart. For groceries, the nearest supermarket is like 30 minute walk away and I dread the days when I have to get those milk cans. The bike lanes leading up to the university are a joke as I see those petrol-guzzling monstrosities called "pick up trucks" frequently making generous use of a fricking bike lane! I don't know how I've made it 7 years here without a car, but thanks a million 'Murica- I lost 20 kilos and haven't been fitter lol!
As someone with massive fears of driving, the amount of roads with no sidewalks or bike lanes genuinely makes me think it should be a requirement so people can still travel with less fear of being hit by a car
This is one of the many reasons I left America. I now live in Istanbul where there are many bakeries, cafes, and markets within a minute's walk. And, the mass transit system is excellent.
@@WillmobilePlus Embarrassing. Americans can't take one comment about another moving away from our country without talking shit. But I bet you're one of those who'll also say "if you don't like it you can leave" whenever someone has an opinion differing yours.
@@WillmobilePlus and if he doesn't work online or has his own business then I must agree that that's very odd indeed, he could just move to a better place in the us or idk, something even more developed than his homeland such as netherlands
I am surprised the cops never tugged your collar & accused you of being a stray vagabond . From what I heard in parts of the USA if you don’t own a car ,they think you’re from another planet .
In USA life without a car is so limited and distressing it causes hopelessness and depression. But we have a "Mental Health Awareness Day" now so that should help.
4:25 This right here is the reason why a lot of people are financially struggling. Because almost the entire majority of our country sees a car as an absolute necessary. Because you can't go to work without it. Not to mention basic tasks you tried in this video. I also feel bad for the disabled and elderly people are left abandoned to die if they don't have anyone to drive them everywhere. America is turning into a pretty shitty country.
I'm getting awfully tired of American exceptionalism only being invoked to defend things that America is exceptionally bad at anymore, as though that makes it okay to be bad at something. We really need a new vision for the future, rather than just clinging to the broken stuff we have now.
Having no Sidewalks in a populated Area speaks on so many social, economical and cultural levels. It´s so weird to see as a German. Only expect no sidewalks around Autobahns or Interstate roads and even interstate roads gradually becoming parallel Sidewalks and Bike Lanes even in the middle of nowhere. What are the elderly People with no car are doing? Thanks for sharing.
It’s one of the reasons elderly people drive way beyond the point of it being safe for them to drive. We want them to give up driving when it’s unsafe for them, but do not give them safe alternatives. *sigh* 😔
Older neighborhoods here from the 70s and 80s tend to not have sidewalks, as it was seen as an eye sore and attractive to buyers at the time to not have one. Older and newer homes have sidewalks. Elderly people drive with no car as even walking is to far. We also have assisted living homes which you live on your own but they have staff to help you with things like getting groceries. Then nursing homes for people who can't take care of them selves. When I worked in a coffee shop every morning we had a group of old men come and sit for a drink. Over time the group started to shrink and one day the guy told me he is legally blind but still has a drivers license. That he no longer feels safe driving and we won't be seeing him anymore and this was his farewell morning coffee with the boys. Growing up I felt safer riding my bike then I do now. So I have not ridden a bike in over 15 years. My childhood home had really nice sidewalks that were not up against the road and had a ditch between us and them, and as a kid you are allowed to ride your bike on the sidewalk. You can get a ticket for riding a bike on the sidewalk as an adult and must use the right lane of traffic. It was a 10 minute walk to a forest with trails we use to ride our bikes through. A 20 minute walk to the mall and a 10 minute walk for groceries. Now I have 3 busy roads surrounding my subdivision with the south road connected to both of them and needing to follow one of them. The one north of me has skinny sidewalks that have cars passing by at 60km/h about 2 feet from you, east has no sidewalks but is more of an old industrial area becoming commercial and west of me is regular sidewalks with busy roads.
Wow, I went food shopping this morning (near Brighton, UK) and walked past a clothes shop and several restaurants on the way. 30 minute round trip. I've a feeling that the car industry had some input into urban planning in the US years ago which accounts for a lack of alternatives. In the UK, most cities and towns were already here long before the car.
Oh it did. I have a book filled with pictures of my city in Massachusetts, from about a hundred years ago. We have a population of 40,000 now, a century ago it was much less. But there was a cable car. Lots of cities had them. General motors bought out cable car companies all over the place and then dismantled the infrastructure so people would be forced to buy their cars. It's like if Hoover (I'm referring to the specific brand) came into your house and put wall to wall carpet down on your nice hardwood floors, and then when you got home said, "it looks like you could use a vacuum, my friend!"
thank you for bringing more awareness to this issue. im chronically ill, blind in one eye, and have never felt confident driving. after my friend died in an accident last year and i almost died, my life has been ruined by driving anxiety. im trying to get over it, but it just feels so unsafe for me. but it's impossible to live here without driving, even though i live in a city with 130,000 people. my 15 min commute by car would take almost 2 hours by bus. this country simply doesnt care about disabled people. just look at these comments. people saying we're whiny and weak for not being able to drive. yes, i am weak. i am literally disabled and have an incurable autoimmune disease. what am i supposed to do about it other than whine and hope others start to care?
@@RAAM855 key word is "commute". Having to use ubers just to take care of basic necessities becomes prohibitively expensive very fast, especially depending on the city
@@RAAM855 whenever I had McDonald's delivered directly to my job (which was literally right across the street!) It would always cost at least 30-50% more than had I just walked over due to the delivery fees and markup
@@RAAM855 That fails to solve the problem. It is meant to be cheaper, it is public transport there for the public, not public transport there for those with heavy wallets. A fifteen minute drive being a two hour bus drive is *hilariously* bad. Where I live the worst conversion of a 15 minute drive is a 30 minute bus trip.
One of the features of a free country is that you don't need a special permit from the government that licenses you to go to school or visit a grocery store. A country that relies on private cars for transportation can therefore never be truly free
lol holy woke nonsense batman just say "I can't afford or drive a car yet but I will one day," damn! 🤣🤣 Cars exist so freedom is not? Because there are clear and obvious safety measures in place? Oh hell no, 13 year old, hell no
So what is stopping you from moving to a city? Too expensive? BS. You can move to any minority neighborhood and live cheaply and have all the mass transit access you want. What’s that? You say you are scared of blacks? Why? It’s not nice to be racist, you know. Take a diversity class, do some homosexual exploration of yourself and learn to love and live. A cheap apartment, some cool fresh out of prison neighbors who want to top you(hope you are a power bottom), and the dirtiest subway cars can all be yours. Nothing stopping you. All your talk of not being able to live the dream is nonsense. The cities are waiting for you!
I like how you just skipped the "how to bring back home your goods" portion of the trip because it was probably too miserable to bring up. From personal experience, carrying groceries in a backpack along a stroad in Florida summer for 20+ minutes is a character and strength builder to say the least. I also had many 7-mile treks from school to home after track practice since I couldn't get a bus home.
Last time I checked, few people enjoy unloading the car of groceries too, so let's not pretend that anything will make the chore more pleasant. But I should at least be able to walk to do it
1) when is AssBlaster9004 coming out? 2) yeah, I remember how horrible it was to pull groceries in a cart with my bike back in the day. It’s a minor miracle I never got hit in Orlando while trying to cross their 6-lane highways nears the grocery store.
@@onesob13 Yeah at that time I lived in a "food desert" about 2 miles from supermarket with sidewalks. Still closer than my other friends. But that's the thing. If I can easily walk to the store, I can carry less and visit more frequently and that gives more convenience and freedom. But if I wanted to do a weekly drive for groceries, that would also be an option. In suburbia, it's just a pain to not have a car.
@@AV57 Lol but yup I always worried being the next casuality for the booming Orlando pedestrian death rates. I swear it was safer to jaywalk with the medians than at the intersections in Orlando.
Finally, a video I can relate to. My family has been in the rough with finances since before I was born. A little over 18 years old now, and still we cannot afford to buy me a car so that I can travel beyond my suburb. With one parent having a ever-flexing schedule and the other being able to neither drive nor work, we do not have a reliable method of transportation to go anywhere except when my working parent is off for a day. Without enough money coming in to sometimes get groceries, nothing comes easy whatsoever. And yet, I hear all the time about how other people get their first car on literally their 16th birthday (even if the car is merely a beater car, which is still too expensive for me). But what about those like myself, who do not get such mid-teens luxuries? Overall, living in this remote suburb, too far from any jobs that I can work, is a whole lot of fun... That's America for you.
@@cowfat8547 I am speaking of physical location. The only jobs nearby require that I know how to drive (food delivery) which I don't, or there are jobs that sell tobacco and alcohol products (at convenience stores), which, by age, prohibits me from taking those positions. And they're the only positions within walking distance.
As a European I dont get it, dont have a car then dont go live in a suburb lol. Tough luck for the kids but they will just say “theres no bike lane so I cant ride my bike” and complain about it on youtube instead of just riding it on the street like everyone without a car does🤦🏽♂️
@@blanco7726 Blanco, in Europe in every city there are suburbs but also many living opportunities (flats) closer to the city center, still at a reasonable price. The problem in the USA is that it is completely forbidden to build houses in the commercial areas. You have to live only in a suburb because houses are allowed only there. Furthermore: in European suburbs there are still some shops (grocery shops) that are reachable by bike or walking. In USA suburbs ANY commercial building is forbidden, bars, restaurants, grocery shops, and even doctors are forbidden!
@@BICIeCOMPUTERconGabriele I doubt there's no option other than suburbs. You have the city for one, which should have some cheap real estate, since in general half the workforce in a city is not that well off.
I moved from a suburb of Chicago to the city itself last year and I have absolutely LOVED not needing a car to get me everywhere. After spending my teens and early-mid-20's in the suburbs, a car-dependent life is all I knew, but I can't even imagine going back to that at this point. The next neighborhood I move to will be either equally or more walkable than my current one.
Canada is quite similar in a lot of ways. However, I noticed that when I moved to Calgary, most suburbs have their own little "town square", where you can buy groceries, get dinner, a haircut, and other necessities within walking distance. There is also a bus route that goes through all of the communities that will take you to the closest transit station or shopping plaza/mall. Pathways lead through parks and cul-de-sacs, which sometimes even makes it easier to just walk vs. driving to the store. I see a lot more people walking here compared to the US. Calgary only has about 1.3 million people, but it's spread out over the size of all of NYC (including Staten Island). I'm not saying that this is ideal, and Calgary is definitely not a good example of urban planning, but it's a huge improvement compared to most American suburbs and goes to show that IS possible to maintain walkability and quality of life despite the suburban sprawl if municipal governments are willing to provide the funding for it.
Most Canadian suburbs are far worse. Where I live, not a single street, even major roads, have even a single thin sidewalk on one side, not a single local store. The suburbs are still being built, and nobody can afford to move in, but of course it's pretty much illegal to build anything remotely dense. If I want to walk to school, I have to walk through a busy, 6 lane highway, and a large 6 point intersection, and I ahve to walk in the street. I fucking hate this country..
This is really lifeless and depressing. These suburbs depict a dystopian environment that offers an extreme mediocre experience of living. The striking hypothesis that you made concerning the fact that the inability to drive equals an exclusion from society is really scary. Your content is really valued as it pushes for socio-cultural change. The media has always portrayed America as a surreal land full of life and opportunities, and this has affected our perception and attitudes. The truth is that the predatory capitalistic mindset of the powerful corporations has turned the land into a slavery farm that serves their own exclusive profit, therefore, the USA started losing the charm and magic that it once had at many levels. A friend of mine was living in Morocco, he had a decent lifestyle, eating healthy food and running his business, owning a car and an apartment, and living a seriously genuine life, but because of media brainwashing, he applied for the annual lottery and moved to the US, he became obese and drained because of the long never-ending job hours since he runs his own business, he has also become more paranoid, less secure and violent, the guy had never touched a gun, but now he keeps one since he has been experiencing rubbery acts and severe incidents of racial discrimination, he was unable to visit his dying parents due to time and economic constraints, he got married to a native psychopath who threatens him every time since she is a female and a native. The guy regrets every second he thought about leaving his country. Speaking of my personal experience, I stopped thinking about the US as a potential destination for living as a Moroccan. I was dreaming of moving to America since my childhood, I still believe that the country provides some opportunities thanks to its competitive atmosphere. However, I have stopped belittling my Moroccan experience in terms of aesthetics, economy, and culture because thanks to the advent of the internet I have been able to discover more about the hardships and challenges that shape such a country including racism, violence, economic instability, healthcare challenges, lack of aesthetics, crime rate, divisive politics, social alienation and most importantly mediocrizing the lifestyle of American citizens and turning them into NPCs. There is no wonder why many Americans prefer to settle in Morocco and never go back to their homeland. American media represents Morocco or other north- African Eastern places as a lifeless Sahara but when you compare, you may find out that some of the third world countries like Morocco may provide a decent living experience where joy and hospitality immerse the place, stores, shops, restaurants, and quality food are available and cheap, sidewalks, social interaction, and security are dominant. Any country that consumes its people and destroys their mental stability and sense of liveability is not worth living in.
"Predatory capitalist mindset of the powerful corporations has turned the land into a slavery farm that serves their own exclusive profit." That really tells the tale of the tape.
Out of curiosity, how much do the basic apartments in the Moroccan cities you admire cost per month these days? I am actually considering migrating out the U.S. permanently myself.
@@utubeskreename9516 thank you for the feedback. If you are talking about rent, a 300$ would provide you a quality apartment in the center of the city. Owning apartments start from 25k to 70k. If you are an American or European individual with a decent professional experience and/or degrees you may find amazing opportunities and privileges. You know the country is francophone as far as the administration and job market is concerned but international companies consider bilinguals or anglophone profiles. The country itself is heading towards English as the language of the business. You may feel less alienated here since people are humble and foreigners are well treated. You can also consider marrying a Moroccan , it happens alot here.
As a racial minority living in the U.S. , I can assure you that America has never been the land of magic or prosperity for my family. We have always struggled to survive. Never underestimate the power of propaganda. The view of the United States from people outside the country is distorted by the American government, television and movies. Here are two things to consider, The United States has the second highest rate of violent deaths by firearms in the world. (Only Brazil is worse) Americans do not have any national healthcare and many people go without medication or surgery because they can't afford it. Americans are constantly told by their leaders, they live "in the greatest country in the world". It's all lies and unfortunately many citizens believe it.
He literally falsifies the entire video. Pretends distances are longer than they are, that alternatives don't exist that are closer, and omits all the crosswalks he's sometimes standing RIGHT NEXT TO while claiming there are no safe ways to cross a road. Douchebag lmao
The scariest thing for me walking in the suburbs is running across the huge streets without getting run over as many intersections don't have traffic signals. The most annoying is having the bottom of my pants dirty when I have to walk on the wet grass and having mud all over my shoes.
What the hell are you talking about? I grew up in the suburbs and I cannot imagine a scenario where you would ever be forced to get mud on you for any reason whatsoever. Use the fucking sidewalk, lmao. Half the comments here like "ya suburbs suk i used to hate [insert mundane task that every human on Earth contends with]
@@davemccombs Nice that you've lived and experience every suburb in the entire US and can share your experiences with us. You're a real gem for letting us know 💎
I’m a Brit who just spent 5 weeks in Maine and it absolutely shocked me how sparse all the basic amenities were! Considering that in England, you’re always 10 minute walk away from a grocery store and various fast food restaurants, it blew my mind how little you come across when you not in major cities.
uk has an higher urban population rate than any other european country and the car per capita is also the lowest of any high income country outside asia. and in other hand, maine bigger towns are almost rural for north american standards
This is one of the big reasons why I moved to walk, bike, and transit-friendly Berlin after over 40 years in the US. I was paying well over $1,000/month for 2 cars for a family of 4 in depreciation, insurance, maintenance, and fuel. And, not to mention the stress from driving and lack of exercise. And, I save in other ways like not needing a gym membership, Costco membership, etc.. I can always rent a car in 15m time blocks the rare times when I need one. I am happier and healthier here and am kicking myself for not doing this sooner. And, Berlin is not even the "best" transit city or Germany the best transit country.
Maybe the US should have followed both Europe’s and Japan’s footsteps by improving and upgrading the railroads and public transportation rather than letting the oil industry and automakers pressure us into an unsustainable lifestyle.
I remember waking home from the dealership when I was getting my car worked on... Literally no safe way to get home. Just had to run across a busy intersection.
This is what I wish the people who don't care about this would understand. What if you get an injury that means you can't drive? What if your car breaks down? What if the road closes for whatever reason? The go-to argument is "just take an Uber", but have you thought about how prohibitively expensive that would get? Wouldn't it be nice to have options when you need them?
@@safe-keeper1042 yes I know some people say just take an Uber, but those can change the prices unlike a bus or a street car. They don’t set prices they can go up based on how much demand that Uber has at the time you want it
I'm amazed at some of the poorer suburbs where the house looks like it is falling apart yet late model cars are in the drive. The priority seems to be a car over everything else.
Some poor people also prioritize 300 dollar shoes instead of a rack of clothes so what's your point? You need a shoe as much as you need a car, yet I don't see a video about how shoes are needless...
@@AB-pl1ko yes, the guy who made the video mentioned it as if it's the only option. I guess most people in the US would feel poor if they were to buy an older second hand car which I guess can be very cheap in the US. But no it has to have the best air con and electric vibrator in the seats. Just imagine how much cars we make we don't actually need. Imagine the amount of wasted energy and material. Just imagine how much phones we are making which we don't need. This is why the US is draining the world of its energy. The American people are the biggest consumers, per capita, in practically every category-gas, food, energy... It's absurd. Imagine if 1..6 billion Chinese consumed that much. Then we have talks about global warming coming from the US. First you clean your own backyard
@@TheRocknrollmaniac - this reply is just in regards to vehicles. One major reason for that in the US is leasing allows a person to 'punch above their socioeconomic status' so your can lease a flash car that makes you 'look' wealthier than you actually are. To too many that superficial perception is the most important thing they want to project to others/potential mates.
What you showed was bad enough, but you forgot the bit about getting your groceries home once you've bought them! You're pretty unlikely to want to walk 20 minutes with bags of food. Biking might work. Those bike lanes were non-existent, but I wouldn't mind biking without them on quiet suburban streets. The problem would be on the big 4 lane strodes. I would probably just ride on the path, but I'm guessing that's illegal (even though there are no other pedestrians to knock into!)?
No you can ride on the path, I do it all the time at that exact spot in the video. But it is a long walk with groceries, if you do them the American way, where you buy for the whole week or more
@@altriish6683 - I’d get quite annoyed if i had to go shopping multiple times per week. Walking/biking forces that because you can’t carry much. And no, lugging tons of bags on a bus is not realistic.
@@phu5005 it's not annoying if the grocery store is right there, and I waste far less food when I grocery shop every other day as opposed to going every week
@@phu5005 Not really. When we go shoping usually we go out as a family (ie.2-3 people) and its not that hard especially if shops are close. And good public transit wouldn't be overcrowded anyways. You can always just bring a 2 wheel shopping cart which makes things so much easier.
@@phu5005 it is just a matter of habit and surrounding that you are used to. Living in an European city I shop groceries every day, buying just the things I need, never have to carry a lot. Because I have a farmer market ( open every day a week) and several supermarkets in near surroundings, I shop on my way back home. I realized I don't even know how to shop groceries for a whole week: We have a little summerhouse that is six miles away from the first store, and similar to USA, there are no pedestrian or bike lines on the roads there, also lot of hills and curves, a bike ride would be dangerous, no reliable public transport... While being there I realized it costs us up to 25% more to shop (we do it approx once a week) and too much of fresh produce end up in compost, going bad while waiting to be consumed :((((. I know I would be fat in USA. I hate gym but I walk at least seven miles a day and I take time to cook from scratch and with fresh produce, and American way of living wouldn't let me do any of that.
I'm from the UK but a couple of years ago my family and I went on holiday to Boston, we stayed in the suburbs of Boston in an AirBNB. We walked almost everywhere (as we normally do if we were in the UK) and were surprised to see no one else walking around. I know parts of the UK does not have amazing public transport (many local buses in my area are very unreliable) but I didn't know the US had it much worst.
I live at the outskirts of a major German city. I would categorize it as a suburbia equivalent as the city center is about 30 minutes away (by public transport or car). I could run all three errands in my neighborhood's shopping center, build above a subway station, which is only a 5 minute walk away. Housing around here is much more varied though. You have everything from single houses, 3 floor apartment blocks to a few high rises (about 8-10 floors). I can also walk to a park (with playgrounds and sport grounds), multiple schools, public swimming pool, and other public facilities. Bicycle paths are available on major roads, alternatively many bicyclists use the city's extensive park network to get around in the city. Bicycle infrastructure can be improved though, as there are areas where you are forced to drive on the road next to car traffic. It's by no means a posh area or a desirable location (hip, young people prefer to be closer to the center), but quite convenient for normal, daily life.
@@vladtepes481 Cold temperatures are not really a hindrance, but bicycle paths that are not cleared in winter sure are ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Uhx-26GfCBU.html
@@vladtepes481 But then how do they manage in Finland? Not Just Bikes has a video on Finnish winter biking. I'm pretty sure it's at least as cold there, since it's further north.
@@texicaliblues they are nuts dont you realise🤣😭 they put on 6 layers of clothing to bike on several inches of iced snow, how does this possibly sound normal or even manageable to you lmao. I mean you still need the bike paths for the summer and obviously some people are gonna be on their bikes all year round, but you cant expect people from Minneapolis to say fuck my car, I’ll get around by bicycle this winter😂
I remember my first week in the US as an exchange student. I checked google maps for how far the next Dominos Pizza was and it said 20 walking. So, I thought that's a walkable distance only to find out that I was the first person to ever do that and that there are partially no side-walks 😅
I moved from California to Tennessee and experienced this. The Central Valley is surprisingly walkable (within town of course) but when I moved East, I instantly recognized the lack of sidewalks. It makes a huge difference
The south is hilarious in how car-centric it is. It's kinda crazy that the frozen north has more bike commuters than down south, which barely has winter. There's no excuse aside from simply bad planning.
@@Descriptor413 closest park to me is an hour and 42 minute walk, a 19 minute bike ride or a 6 minute drive. All along the side of a highway. Kills the joy you have of wanting to get out and be active. One thing I will say though, it’s a sweet ride on a motorcycle
that was my experience of socal. a lot of sprawl, but at least the crosswalks actually work and there's sidewalks everywhere. out east i've frequently walked in the gutter of a stroad only to end up at a massive intersection without any way to get across, not a crosswalk or even a light cycle to protect me
What? Im from the central valley and it is not walkable at all. Sure there are some sidewalks, but that is hardly the only problem. You could walk around at mainstreet, but to get to mainstreet you have to drive.
My bestie literally just went to Toronto to work for her family. We're both from Gdańsk, Poland, where we always travel using only public transport cause having a car in the city is unnecessary and expensive. So yeah, she's staying at her family's house in suburban area. Her family is on a trip to Ireland, so this first week she's alone. With no car. For last 3 days she's been telling me she's never felt so lonely and depressed in any place in the world (she's a solo-traveler and been to many places before). It takes her 30 minutes to walk to the nearest market and walking through depressing, same-looking, straight-line streets is not ideal. Same with going to the park. Where we live, and in a lot of cities in Europe, parks are usually very well connected via public transport. There, everyone drives to the park. We didn't know parks could ever have huge parking lots in front of them! She either has to walk 45 minutes to get there, walking through a highway (highways going through the city are also a new thing, as in Europe highways surround the cities, so their centers can remain closed for cars) take a 20 minute suicide bike ride, or go there by a bus, that mostly doesn't even come and, of course, it can take you there, but there is no return line. So yeah, she can't wait for her family to return from Ireland and drive her places, cause she says it's the most depressing trip of her life.
Ugh grow a pair, get a car, rent a car, the hell. Call a uber like why are yall so anal? Europe has the same looking streets too over and over. Is she a child? So people take their car to the park, whats the difference if you had taken the bus? We drive get over it!!!
In the city, Toronto can be quite public-transit friendly. However, the buses in the suburb where I used to live (Vaughan) it’s inadequate and up north in Aurora it’s non-existent. Canada is a lot like the US in these cases and it’s nothing to be proud of.
I can attest to that loneliness part. I moved to a different state for a new job and I'm here alone, no friends or family, and I'm just sitting in my house alone whenever I'm not at work. I'll literally do 16 hour days by choice due to literally having nothing better to do.
@@pianosbloxworld4460 The east end is improving, adding in bus lanes from Toronto to Oshawa about 1/10 done. They added in a new bus route the 900 which follows highway 2 all the way to Oshawa from UoT Scarborough campus that has busses every 15 minutes. Since most people live pretty close to the 900 and work along highway 2 in these cities it has improved the no car life. But it is still horrible compared to any Europe city.
This is basically why I missed Korea as soon as I left. Even with army restrictions breathing down my neck, the possibility of being called back onto base at any time, and nighttime curfews, there was still so much more agency that one person got out of their own two feet and a wallet. You could literally just walk out and get some food if you wanted, take a day trip to Seoul, go out and get drunk with your friends and still be able to simply walk home, whatever you wanted to do. I come home, and it's practically desolate in comparison.
Good God, that was depressing. I live downtown in a small city and I don't want or need a vehicle for most errands. I do visit a Medspa in the "burbs" which requires a $25 Uber both ways. After my treatment, I typically patronize the restaurants on the same side of the street because it is MUCH too dangerous to cross the gigantic stroad to explore the strip mall across the street. There is no crosswalk or any pedestrian signal that lets you know whether to walk or don't walk. The sad part is that if I took the two hour bus trip to this location, I would have to cross this deathtrap of an intersection.
I live in the US suburbs (north of Chicago), but I now feel very lucky to have the closest stroad be a few miles away, and having a charming downtown with no chain restaurants. We have some public transit, and regular commuter trains to Chicago.
I also enjoy the same city layout living in my downtown area, like two supermarkets within a 10-minute walk. But the nearest train is a 2 hour greyhound bus ride away...I'll take what I can get.
I am located in Bucktown, Chicago and it is literally heaven for me. Everything is a short walk away, multiple styles of homes intermixed with shops, dedicated bike lanes, beautiful architecture, low crime, history. 😁 This city doesn't get old for me even after returning from various European cities
That's interesting, I survived 40 years without a car and I will die without one. Not that I do t have money, I can buy multiple cars if I want to, but I have no need at all. Living in Europe, in a good neighborhood is super convenient and easy.
I walked to the liquor store for the first time a few months ago. On my way home some jackass in a lifted black pickup with smoked out windows rolled coal on me. You really aren't welcome in America as a car-less pedestrian. At least i have the privilege of sidewalks and living right next to a strip mall with a Walmart and Target. Although the nimby's had all the convenient walking paths blocked off when the Walmart came in. Now you have to go all the way to the main road and cross the parking lot to get in. You'll never guess why they had all those paths bricked up. It was racism. They asked us to sign a petition to block the Walmart being built because black people might shop there. God bless this country.
I have never seen a comment that so perfectly encapsulated the worst of Middle America. Also, pickup truck drivers are immediately sus to me because so many people only seem to buy them to be as annoying as possible on the roads instead of actually carrying stuff
This is a great video. Now come to Seattle where I live and show the exact opposite U.S. city. I rarely need a car in Seattle. I can walk, bike or take public transit 98% of the time to any where I need to go. People are out, walking, biking, interacting, enjoying parks and staying fit. These cities do exist in the U.S. but one just needs to research them carefully before relocating to a new city or town. The type of living that I enjoy and take for granted daily in Seattle is a necessary quality of life issue for me.
I am south of you and Pierce Co does not have the same volume of Public Gathering places. I want to move north. I used to live in Surrey BC and Vancouver and wholy WOW the infrastructure is AMAZING!!!!!! I have a whole long list of things that make the city impressive. Know of any houses with a garage that is for rent?
Man. This video resonates with me. I grew up in the Netherlands, and always dreamt of living in the US for some time. I got an internship in Silicon Valley and thought I had won the jackpot. The best, most innovative high tech region in the world. That stay was a huge disappointment and frankly also an enormous eyeopeners on how much of an influence proper city planning influences your everyday life. EVERYTHING sucked in Silicon Valley. The infrastructure in the 'most bike-friendly place in the US' in near to non-existent and biking there is dangerous AF. I didn't have a car nor bike during the first 2 months of my internship, which meant that every single 'standard' activity costed a ton of planning and time, or was just near to impossible. Just like this clip shows. Doing groceries meant at least a 40 minute walk basically right next to a highway. The 'city center' of the city I stayed in was basically a giant parking lot. It felt like walking around some kind of industrial area. Nothing to do there, no nice little streets, no place to sit in the sun and enjoy a drink. The public transfer that does exist is ancient. BART (the Bay Area's 'light rail' system) looks like it was built in the seventies and didn't get any update, let alone maintenance, since. And that's just the traffic infrastructure. Silicon Valley should be the peak of technology and engineering. In reality, many places don't even have proper electricity. Electricity infrastructure that does exists consists of wires attached to old wooden poles, with shortages happening all the time. Technology used is maybe from the 80s? Here in the Netherlands, all wiring has been put underground more than 40 years ago. The US is nothing short of a Third World country. Most places in Asia and Africa look a lot better than what I have seen in the US. And that's the richest part California, of the richest state of the US. I can only image the state the rural US must be in. Disgraceful.
Lol and SF is considered one of the top US cities in terms of biking and public infrastructure. That tells you how low a bar the US has for this. Americans pay a lot of attention to the inside of a house...but it comes off as overcompensation for paying no attention to how the outside environment works at all
Hey, ik begin binnenkort aan de tu en zou ook graag in silicon valley willen werken uiteindelijk. Denk je dat het beter zou zijn als je wel een auto zou hebben? p.s. Welke studie heb je gedaan?
How is the US a third world country? Bike lanes and public transport are not an indicator of what a first world country is. Especially when the people of the country simply don’t want it because they’d rather just use cars and they can actually afford to do so.
@@cowfat8547 How is the US a third world country? The leading cause of death for children is firearms, beating out cars, and life expectancy for US citizens has been declining. How is it not?
@@flagrarus The US life expectancy is higher this year than it’s ever been. It really seems like you don’t understand what a first world or third world country is because you haven’t been able to give a single valid reason as to why you think it’s a third world country. The only people that would even suggest that the US is a third world country are people that have a personal vendetta and bias against the country.
Your videos explain why, as a retired person in the US, currently in the Seattle area, I'm forced to consider only Europe and parts of Latin America as suitable retirement destinations. My requirements include, a walkable medium to large city, affordable rent, good healthcare, good public transportation (don't want a car), cafe culture, museums, galleries and historical sites and a moderate climate. A laid-back lifestyle and better quality food is an added bonus in many of these other countries. After watching many, many videos and reading many articles, I feel there really isn't a place for me, and thousands like me, in the US. Also, I do have adequate retirement income every month, but I refuse to continue to pay high and increasing rent amount. If there were cities in the US that met my criteria I would happily stay.
@@rbasket8 Yes, quite a coincidence. A beautiful area to be from, for sure. The reason I'm seriously thinking of planning an exploratory trip to Valencia and Alicante is that even though I've been in the Seattle area for almost thirty-two years, I'm originally from Santa Monica and Venice, California and would love to again live near the water and beautiful beaches. Add in the Mediterranean climate, wonderful people, food, wine, walkability, cafe culture and history of Spain and you really can't do much better.
@@brianwhite1189 Never been in USA or California, but knowing from outside, Alicante (Murcia and Almería) is like the SoCal of Spain. Alicante eventhough has a lot of suburbia sprawl because of construction booming, and the thousands of northern european retirees that live there. But there are also high density and balanced areas. I even know "secret" places next to the sea (literally) perfect to be built (I am studying architecture so I always take a look at those things).
Very happy this notion is becoming more widely accepted recently. Still haven't stopped running into people that think any other way besides car dependency is impossible. Like yeah, because it was designed that way, but that doesn't mean we can't try to fix things! There are clear ways to do transportation better, and I think the more people watch videos like this, the less resistance to change we'll see when this problem ultimately comes to a head. Great video.
Naturally, all these roads are just patches of dirt. If you can pave over them with asphalt for cars like we do now, then you can replace them with more varied forms of transportation someday!
Some years ago I flew to Washington DC with a friend a mine and we stayed a bit outside the city in a suburb. We had tickets for a Football game and decided to walk the 3km (2miles) to the stadium instead of taking the car. Well it was an "adventure"...A guy stopped with his car asking us, what we are doing outside in the rain (light rain, nothing unusually here in Germany, we are used to it) and where we are going, people driving by looked at us like we're aliens. It took us like 5-10 minutes and trying out various traffic lights to get a green light to pass the busy street on our way to get there.
Yea not a good idea to walk to FedEx field. It's pretty much surrounded by the hood and is a pretty violent part of town. Seeing white people walking around alone is very unusual in those areas. I'm surprised you didn't get harassed more. If it was nighttime you probably would have been shot.
Sounds like a great way to save money from parking and time from traffic imo. Americans are so used to being glued to the inside of a car that people using the outside world look foreign to us
Washington DC area's old Football stadium RFK which actually is still standing yet rotting away is about 100m from a Stadium-Armory Station on the DC Metro. Both FedEx Field and RFK seem to be really crappy buildings. Its rumored however that when RFK is demolished, The Washington Commanders aka Redskins will build their new stadium on the RFK site if they get approval from the Federal Government.
If you don’t want to use a car, don’t live in the suburbs. It’s really that simple and it’s the same thing for Europe. Suburbs in both places are not meant to be lived in without cars.
That's absolutely not true. Or you've never lived in a french/portuguese/spanish/italian/english suburb. You're speaking of small villages lol. Our suburbs have small one/two lanes max for cars. If there is a street with a bunch of houses; THERE WILL be a shop/bar or smth in the middle or at the end of that road. Even in the small cities that tried those US types suburbs, there still are kind of centers to those places with shops/restaurants/parks for kids and stuff. And btw french suburbs ALL have public transport at least every 15 minutes close to where people live ( < 15min on foot). Accessibility is not a city thing nor a rich thing.
1:35, this is great biking service (at least to American Standards). In my suburbs, there aren't even the "biking lane" road-things like shown in in 1:30. The only actual bike paths are recreational ones in parks. Also, many burbs would never have a pedestrian bridge like in 2:30, so this Minneapolis suburb can be considered lucky. The thing that saddens me is that this would be so easy to change, but almost every American suburb has been going in debt and broke because of car-centric sprawl and it would be so easy to take those millions invested into "less time waiting in traffic" for people in "freedom cars" (AKA 2-ton steel death machines) and give it to just some money to the underfunded and, a lot of the time, not funded at all infrastructure for people who just can't’t drive or afford a car!
Everytime i fly back to the US to visit family, its such a hassle to even figure out how to get from the airport to home. I dont have a license, since in The Netherlands one isnt really needed. So, its always having to hitch a ride off a family member to come pick me up, or hope i get lucky enough to find an uber willing to drive into the rural parts of the state 45 mins from the airport. Amazing, no trains, buses, or anything that i can grab from the airport to get to my final destination. When im back in Europe? Easy, just get on one of the many trains from the airport, and transfer to another train or bus to eventually get even to a smaller village.
How is that in such a list? NYC literally stinks (especially this summer) but you can actually walk, ride a bike, or take the subway to almost anywhere.
Your comment makes no sense. This is a suburb located outside of Minneapolis, it’s not a part of the city… Did you even pay attention to the video, he mentions this at least twice…
I haven't owned a car in 40 years but I've always kept my drivers license up to date for when I've visited areas without good public transportation. Living in the city can be expensive but so is car ownership.
Part of this was intentional, i.e., not just in the sense that cars were intended as the primary means of transportation, but, rather for economic sorting. And, by that, I mean the suburbs were built largely for the 1950s middle-class who wanted to get away from urban centers. In the 1950s, the American middle-class was generally affluent enough to own at least one late-model car. As the suburbs have economically diversified and the American economy has declined over the decades, this isn't always the case. And these suburbs were never intended to be for tourists or pedestrians: they were functional "bedroom communities" for the middle-class city workers, with shops added for their convenience.
I bike through this exact intersection all the time on my way to work in Golden Valley. Surreal. I don't love this area's bike infrastructure, but it's a hell of a lot nicer than what they have further south on Glenwood, especially where it crosses highway 100, which is where I've had the most close calls by far. And don't even get me started on where I live now, out in Mound😬 Appreciate the effort you put into this video. Hopefully it will help make my future bike commuting nicer! Thanks!
'Only a little' farther north in Winnipeg, your options mostly boil down to: -get on a bike and experience just how shitty our roads are, while hoping today's not the day yo become a meat crayon for someone who doesn't like bikes being on the road -use the often-overcrowded bus service (which doesn't come by often enough, and sometimes it just passes you by because there were already too many riders) if it even arrives within 10 minutes of your scheduled time (before or after, sometimes it's much later or much earlier) -get in the wage cage you poor
you skipped the part where you have to bring groceries back home, essentially doubling the trip time, walking with groceries in hand... AND that puts you back at the beginning which is far away from the restaurant. This country is truly sad. I live in fort lauderdale, 5 minutes away from downtown. Public transportation is STILL basically nonexistent... in a major metropolitan area. Yeah there's buses and trains... if you live next to the beach. That's literally it. You can't live in this county without a car. You can't live in this state without owning a car. You can't live in this country without owning a car. Owning a car is the primary way that this country uses to "enslave" (for lack of a better word) us to uncle sam. Now you got car payments, insurance payments, and maintenance payments to make, you got insane gas prices that are constantly rising. But you signed contracts, so you're stuck paying and you fall for the sunk cost fallacy. Gotta work a job that doesn't pay you enough from the start, just to be able to afford those payments. Now you lose 40 hours each week and hundreds of dollars per month just because you are as you said, ostracized for not owning a car. And thats your CAR alone. Just one of the many things this country uses to exploit it's american people to turn them into uncle sam's 9-5 "slaves" (again for lack of a better word). Good luck purchasing a home if you don't come from money. Apartment rentals are yet another way to hold us in these never ending money sinks. You pay 30-40-50-60% of your monthly income to own nothing. Maybe this is a slippery slope but I believe that this then in turns creates idolization of monetary items, which then leads to people leading a fake happy life because the only things of value in our lives are possessions. This makes the idea of losing our phones, our cars, our apartments is the WORST CASE SCENARIO for our lives. How sad? We don't have anything to fall back on. If your car doesn't start one morning, good luck getting to work. Sure you can uber, but thats even more expensive than owning a car. Millions of people live every day without family support, without financial support, and most importantly without mental support. But you got people in this country proudly boasting how enjoyable it is to live here, how much better it is than anywhere else in the world. How US citizens aren't allowed to complain because other countries have it worse. These people suffer from the crazy propaganda this country spews on a daily basis. The US is a fucking horrible country. I will never discredit the fact that it's a much better living situation than people in war ridden or politically ruined countries, because the US will always be a safe haven for many people. But for someone who has lived here for the past 25 years, I frequently wish I was born somewhere else. Most Americans have less than $1,000 in the bank. Most Americans are one emergency away from being homeless. Most Americans can't afford a medical bill if it's not fully covered. This country is depressing as fuck. 25 years in and I want to leave the US every day of my life. Central America is becoming a very enticing region for me. I don't see potential here in the US. I don't see this country growing positively anymore. This country sold out to major corporations years ago. Coming from a huge car enthusiast, watching your videos really opened my mind up a LOT to how sad this reality we live in actually is. Nothing ever changes, and nothing ever will in this country. The US is a broken and corrupt nation and citizens have to resort to living like this because of it. We can't even get politicians in office that care enough to make a difference for future generations, because that's all a game to them too.
You typically bring a backpack or granny cart for grocery shopping trips like this one, but this heavily constrains what you can purchase. Liquid weight adds up real quick!
It's getting better, I think a lot of people are missing it. New suburban growth, at least in my area, almost always includes a prominent bike path or bike lane, which makes it easier to not use a car
Empirical proof (if proof were needed) of the self-defeating nature of the American approach to urban design. No matter how powerful your industry or economy, you cannot make people fit into a system that isn't designed for them... not without mangling them hideously, anyway. Tailor the system to the people and not vice versa. Every frame of this video just makes me squirm in horror at the waste and the lack of basic consideration. Well done.
Yup. As an European citizen, my experience in San Antonio for couple of weeks on foot or bike only was crazy. I sold books door to door (crazy summer job, I know) and the infrastructure is nowhere close to bike friendly. To get to some places, the only road is actually a highway. I remember the funny looks people were giving me when they saw me just cruising on my bike in the suburbs of San Antonio 👽.
Sad yeah, my town is literally just houses with a strip mall and that's it, aside from the invasive car infrastructure, suburbs tend tp be enormous and a minimum 40 minute drive from religious centers of worship, dmvs, high education schools, grocery stores, clothes stores, electronics stores, and major police, fire, and medical facilities which really sucks as one could imagine
It's incredibly depressing that every suburb is a carbon copy of each other and your only choices are Big Box retail or fast food. I live in the city and sometimes after work I crave a certain food, like a burger. The hardest thing is finding which place I want to go to. There are often dozens in a nearby area all from great locally owned stores, so they all have unique flavours and experiences. When I visit a friend in the suburbs and crave a burger our choices are McDonald's or Wendy's, each a 20-minute *drive* down a stroad in traffic, or a Burger King 40 minutes away
I wonder how someone from a place like that would perceive public transportation in a city like Milan, Vienna or Manchester. It would probably look insanely dense, with trains every 2 minutes and buses and trams criss-crossing all over the place. It must be at least as much of a culture shock as it is in reverse
No matter how hard we would like it, unless someone lives in a city with great public transportation like New York city, Americans will never give up their cars.
I am American and I would give up my car if I found a reasonable place to live so I can walk and take public transport. I won’t live in New York City that’s too expensive. But I wouldn’t mind a smaller city.
So then we build out more great public transit and walkability, and then we will give up our cars. There’s quite a few cities that are actually starting to change, it’s pretty cool to see
You and other channels in the same vain are really inspiring me to potentially make similar videos on my experience in belgium, which in my opinion has a spacial planning that in many ways is even worse than american suburbia.
While I live in a suburb that is significantly better for biking and walking to places than the one depicted in the video, and is pretty equidistant between three of the major four local commercial centers, it's still absolutely ludicrious how bad walking actually is. Half the roads lack street trees, very low density makes it rather far to get anyehwere, and having loud cars zip by at 45mph or higher is deeply unpleasant. I sometimes watch videos or livestreams of someone walking or biking around their city abroad, and have the feelig of "Hmm, I feel like biking into town.", before remembering my own reality. It's been increasingly tempting to move abroad, even though my degree sets me up to be able fix things here once I get my foot in the door for a career.
Golden Valley actually has excellent bike infrastructure for a suburb. Minneapolis metro and Minnesota is arguably the most bike friendly part of north America.
The sameness around North American cities is sad. Especially when you are on that pedestrian bridge, if it werent for the USPS van I could easily have mistaken it for somewhere in Ontario (my home province).
Being different costs money; not everyone and every place can afford uniqueness. Urbanists seem to love the wonderfully dense 4+1 apartment buildings going up everywhere, but neglect to mention that they're also contributing to the "sameness" issue.
I am from Europe and spent a little less than a week in D.C. for a work trip. I did absolutely everything using public transports or walking. It was an amazing experience to see how impossible it really was
I'm surprised that you found it so difficult. I live in D.C. and I find it really easy to go everywhere I need to go. D.C. is considered to have one of the best mass transit systems in the U.S., but I suppose it still falls behind many ones in other countries.
@@abhinavpotluri9654 The Northeast really is where it's at, and as much as people shit on NYC, it really is the gold standard for North American public transit.
I'm disabled (visually impaired) living in New Delhi...here we have bus, metro, rikshaw this combination is so good to travel..i don't need to be dependent on someone driving me anywhere...i can travel anywhere around the country alone...i kinda feel privileged after seeing this video lol
Having visited New Delhi for work I would be scared driving there and the pavements are very dangerous for the visually impaired. Still at least they are prepared for pedestrians unlike the US.
I can walk and bicycle to my grocery store. It's only 5 minutes away and yes I live in America. I simply looked on a map and figured out where I should live. It's not ideal to live far away from the things you do on a regular basis.
@@techtutorvideos most places around grocery stores are near the grocery stores. Not being dishonest about that. People have commutes to work. Doesn't seem like they're living close to work. Seems like they're choosing to do this.
I lived for a couple of years car-less. And I couldn't help but notice that there were efforts to make it basically impossible to get to certain places if you didn't have a car. I don't believe that's an accident, I believe that's by design, because it's used to segregate away the "wrong sort". Who just so happen to be the same people who've been segregated away from "respectable society" by law at various times.
I love your videos. I deeply resonate with your message, having grown up in a similar suburb to this one. It's truly frustrating. Side note: I'm curious if you have a discord server or anything like that.
Yes this is really sad what you demonstrated. ! And unfortunately you could make the same demonstration in many cities outside of New York City and Boston and Chicago maybe and every city or most city and towns in the United States. I used public transport when I visited Orlando because I didn’t want to rent a car in a city I didn’t know, I know it sounds silly but that’s too stressful for me. the transport , the bus worked fine for where I was going but the crosswalk even though there was 30 or 40 seconds to across six lanes of traffic was dangerous because they allowed people to turn right in cars and because the drivers of those cars were allowed to drive about 35 or 45 mph and the shrubs prevented them from seeing the walkers crossing then I was nearly hit even though I was legally in the crosswalk. My solution to that danger was unfortunately not using the crosswalks but crossing when the cars were stopped at the stoplight and I could cross away from the intersection so no cars were turning right. It’s really jaywalking but then it wasn’t dangerous for me.
This makes me appreciate my small city in the US, we don't have much of this, only buses but many trails connecting areas of town. Not to mention we actually have sidewalks lol
Just out of curiosity, what do you consider small? I live in California and my city has about 70k people. We have a bus system that not many people use because its too slow. That's the only public transit we have here.
Out of shear luck, my apartment is down the street from Walgreens, a Stracks, the expressway, and other resourceful places for human needs that I could walk to more than often. That's because my apartment is literally near a strode. lol. And we all should know how a stroad is. lol.
As a Brit, I had this experience in Athens GA a few years ago. Now I was actually staying downtown, so I could get eat out just fine. Getting groceries though? Unless you're counting overpriced snacks from CVS, nope not happening - no supermarkets you can really walk to. Tbh most of it is sidewalked, but some of it wasn't as I discovered to my horror when I decided to go to Dairy Queen. I used to go to gym using a expensive hourly bus service and get a Lyft back. Whilst they are by no means without issue, ridesharing apps have actually done a lot to make living without a car more viable in the US - but it is still weird af. In the UK, there is no city without at least one decent-sized supermarket in the downtown area - and there will invariably be several mini-stores ran by the supermarket chains. Central London is almost the exception, but there are reasonably-sized supermarkets in the Liverpool St., London Bridge and Holborn areas. Even Oxford Street has a decent-sized Waitrose hiding in the John Lewis department store. London does have areas in the suburbs that have been labeled 'food deserts'. I grew up quite near one, and yeah that seems to be more than 15 minutes walk to the nearest supermarket from what I can see.
22 no car or licenses. Stuck in the suburbs, I feel this lol. I got no life right now and it sucks. I went to nyc a few days ago it felt so refreshing just walking around and taking the subway. If only I had enough money man.
Of course we hear from ‘muricans that alway say it’s about personal freedom to drive a car. Well, I always thought that was absolutely the dumbest way to define “personal freedom” bc personal freedom in this case should be able to have the options to either drive, use public transit, riding your bike or walk conveniently from point A to point B
As an American I don't know any Americans that defend it. Most either don't think about it or are actively frustrated with the state of things. At the end of the day our country is corrupt and our "leaders" sell us out to the highest bidder every time. In this case, they sold out to the car lobby when they created the zoning and the infrastructure
danny hernandez I think the reason owning a car is such a burden is because people think they have to have a driver's license, insurance, etc. when in fact according to the government's own rules those papers are only needed if you use the roads for profit, commerce. The word _driving_ is a commercial term in legalese. Most people don't use their car for commerce so they don't need any of those papers to _travel_ with their car. This is a not well known FACT but it's true and I have some videos regarding that in my favorites playlist that you can see as an example.
I live in Stockholm, Sweden, and I thought our sprawl was bad (which it is in comparison to a lot of European examples), but looking at this, at least there are sidewalks pretty much everywhere except the smallest of roads where cars are expected look out at least a little bit. And even if there’s an iffy road somewhere without sidewalks, it’s usually small enough not to be too much of an inconvenience. We even have good bike paths on most of the major arterials even in the single family suburbs, and the connectivity is way better than what we see here. Of course I can only speak of the places I’ve been to and remember, but it seems to be a pretty consistant trend across the whole Stockholm region, with the notable exception of the literal countryside, where sidewalks are usually too expensive for local governments to consider worth it. Even if we were to chalk this up to America being the land of freedom and capitalism, this sort of planning doesn’t provide freedom, nor is it profitable. Rather, this sort of planning looks more like the result of anarchy and television.
Well, to this American who has been to Sweden, SL (Stockholmslokaltrafik) looks pretty darn good, with its extensive bus, subway, and commuter train networks.
I'm 77 years old and never owned a car in my entire life. The reason why I learned how to drive and why I got a driver's license decades ago was because it's a mandatory piece of ID. There are things you simply can't do without a driver's license. I've driven a car maybe three times in my entire life. Once was late at night and the person I was with was falling asleep at the wheel. My choice was get killed or drive the car. Luckily, I've always lived in an area with good public transit. And I've used public transit all of my life. That includes things such as grocery shopping. I would never consider living in an area without convenient 24/7 public transit. The auto industry and Big Oil has made society dependent on cars. I have no sympathy for people paying insane prices for gasoline and diesel fuel these days. And by the way, the auto industry and Big Oil deliberately tried to kill off public transit all over North America. This is especially so where it involved electric streetcars and trolley coaches. But electric public transit is making a big comeback these days, much to the dismay of Big Oil.
this is crazy to me - I’m from a residential suburb in south Belfast, Northern Ireland, and I can do all three of these tasks within no more than a 5-7 minute walk from my house, and I’m spoiled for choice when it comes to places I can go to complete said tasks (I can think of 4 grocery shops, 4 restaurants and 2 clothing shops all within that 5-7 minute walk radius)
What I really don't get is why neighbourhoods don't have sidewalks. How can a community exist when walking from house to house isn't even given a thought by developers of estates
Im originally from Europe. I now live in a small quaint village in North America, that doesn't have any shops. When my friends see me walking down the street sometimes they ask me if I need a ride? Did your car break down? etc. It's so unfortunate how the suburbs are built around a car. Our lives would be way less sedentary and a lot more healthy if we could just walk to the grocery store or a convenience store. We wouldn't need to drive to the gym, bc you would get that daily exercise, just by living. One other thing that I also find a little nuts, is not being able to bring a backpack to a store, due to shoplifting? (Canada)....if you are a walker like me, bringing a bag and trying to walk back home with it or trying to bike back with it, just doesn't work.
American cities are designed for cars, not people. This is intentional. After World War II ended, urban planning (or lack of planning) departments purposely defunded train travel, abolished streetcar systems (urban rail travel), and stopped making sidewalks and shade trees mandatory. The Interstate Highway System was initially conceived in the 1950s. The current dismal state of the American city is the result of purposeful and intentional design. So, do not think this current state of the American city "just happened." It was planned to be this way. In the 1950s and 1960s it was believed that "What's good for General Motors is good for America."
I made the mistake of driving after a couple beers and I’ve had my license taken away for the last couple months. I truly didn’t realize how bad it was till now. I live in a small city in Indiana and it’s nearly impossible to do anything without a car, we have awful public transport, no bike lanes, no sidewalks on my side of town. I had to change my gym because my old one, yes closer was far more dangerous to get there on foot or bike. It’s so much harder for me to even just get groceries. Yet there is a liquor store on every block. This country sucks.
