Urbanism Is Not Climate Masochism 

Cars are worried bikes will slow them down. Bikes are worried cars will kill them.

Having an older elementary school kid gives me an easy argument: I want my child to have the ability to go places safely on her bike. That painted bicycle on the shoulder of the four lane highway doesn't meet that criteria.

People have gotten so much used to cars that whenever they see other forms of transportation, they ridicule it.

I once had a coworker in Ottawa tell me that McKenney's cycling infrastructure proposal was nothing but a waste of money. He said no one wants it, and that he had a bike already but it just sat in his garage. He didn't really know how to respond when I asked if maybe his bike stays in the garage because he doesn't feel safe riding it on our roads.

Last weekend I was taking a break in a park to cool down when someone approached me and started a conversation about my bike. they were very passionate about cycling and I thought we were having a good conversation. During the conversation I made a passing comment that I stopped driving years ago because I like bicycle touring, and use commuting to keep myself fit. They looked at me incredulously and said, "Oh, you're an environmentalist." then walked away. I did not say a single thing about the environment, and I'm still dumbfounded.

I often get the idea that some people think that the Netherlands is a bike Valhalla so it must be terrible for driving a car and nobody does it, completely oblivious to the Netherlands having some of the best car infrastructure around.

I'm really curious what is the percentage of people who buy their first car because they really want to as opposed to because they don't have any choice. A 16 year old kid buying his first second-hand car because he can't wait to go places without his parents driving him around doesn't buy a car by choice.

Whenever I get a compliment for commuting to work, my coworkers sometimes comment on how I’m trying to save the environment. This is not my main reason. I tell how it’s much more pleasant and stress free to ride because there’s no traffic. For example, my commute is always 50 minutes. That never changes. In a car, it can be 20 to 45 minutes, which is stressful, especially after all those relaxing bike rides!

For years I was a full blown climate denialist libertarian but still biked to work because I thought it was insanely inefficient and silly to drive to the gym to hop on a stationary bike. I also thought it was crazy to wear down one of the most expensive things you can own just to go a couple miles down the road and be stuck in traffic and not get fresh air. To me biking was freeing to my finances, time, and physically. I continued to do it even in far-flung suburbs because it was that much of an obvious winning choice. While I now am the total opposite of a climate denialist, during the time I was biking was still a stupefyingly obvious win

I can't blame the car owners. It's really hard to understand without experiencing firsthand. We sold our family car and switched to bikes thinking we'd make a noble sacrifice. Boy was I wrong. There is an indescribable quality to getting around by bike. I never expected this, but switching to bicycles has been a reward instead of a sacrifice.

It never would have occurred to me that biking could only be about the environment. When I was growing up, my dad had been biking to work for over 20 years. It was exercise, less stressful, and it allowed the family to save money by owing only 1 car. I don't think he once mentioned the environment as a reason, since that was back before anyone considered climate change!

This is a really crucial piece of messaging for the release of our city's Calgary Plan - basically the closest thing our city has to a constitution, and we're replacing it soon! It enshines walkability, wheelability, and transit efficiency just as important as car mobility. It's not about making cars worse (though you do need to remove space for cars to achieve these goals meaningfully), it's about finally not prioritizing any mode over another, and making all forms of mobility viable and convenient for everyone. "I have to drive because XYZ" is just another way to say "Transit hasn't quite considered folks with XYZ yet." But we CAN, and we WILL!

"You're not saving the environment, buddy" Not to mention some people are legally not allowed to drive cars but may be able to ride bikes.

My father had a stroke over ten years ago, and I believe the one thing that kept him going after that was that he was motivated to walk again. Sadly he had to walk in the street because the sidewalks in Dallas are atrocious. Now as I'm getting older I find myself with lower back problems and trying to stay active and researching biking to replace the jogging that I can no longer participate in. You're correct in stating it's not just about saving the environment, urbanism and advocating for other modes of transit is also a way of saving folks via the therapy of outdoor exercise, bike commuting, and mass transit.

the 15 minute cities thing is so ridiculous. "Hey, how about changing zoning so we can put a coffee shop in this residential area?" "Oh no you're trying to trap me in my neighbourhood!!!"

100% - I often find people are more convincible when you approach biking/transit from the lack of stress, happiness, connection, and money saving angles rather than larger societal reasons. (Kinda similar to getting people to try eating plant based - don’t tell them they need to to save the world, just say you felt physically better. Now if we could just make urbanist experiences safer (concrete bike lanes and dealing with semi-frequent harassment/crime on some metros) we’d be set in convincing a lot more.

4:40 that's the same comment I made on that video. It was well intentioned, but it isn't the job of Canadians to tell Americans where and how to get involved locally. Also, I do find it silly how derisive some drivers can be of other modes of transport when the majority of what I hear from them are complaints about parking, traffic, or costly repairs. Drivers don't even make driving sound appealing!

I couldn't imagine WANTING to drive in downtown Halifax and then complaining about someone on a bike

It's weird that more people don't talk about the success story that is the province of quebec with 100% renewables. It's an interesting story and proves it is possible.

I don’t care about much about saving gas because I don’t drive during the weekdays. I am fine driving on the weekends. But I am still a big fan of walkable neighborhoods, middle income housing, biking and public transit.

The complaining about 15-minute cities is only exceeded by how car dealerships are ripping people off.

I'm all for the environment and all that, but the main two reasons I cycle in Dublin are that it's faster and cheaper to get around town on two wheels. Infrastructure has improved a lot over the 25 years I'm here but it's still non-existant in many places and shite in others. They just don't get it. Bike theft is rife and the police don't care. People park in bike lanes and the police don't care. They park in bike lanes and on footpaths themselves to go and get a coffee. And still I cycle...

A person riding a bike isn't going to save the environment. But increasing cycling mode share from 1-2% to 20-30% in large cities around the world can make a substantial difference.

Babe wake up, our favorite urbanist couple just uploaded!

The best perk: You can bring your bike onto public transit. This gives you quick and convenient access to the entire city without having to worry about traffic.

I bike to work every day because its the cheapest way to get there .

I personally find that it's more effective to treat envirmentalism as more of a footnote when talking about urbanism publically. I strongly agree that the face of urbanism should be the increased livability and the economic benefits. Environmentalists also generally know that transit, walking, micromobility and such are already quite environmentally friendly. So you won't get the opposite effect of having those groups assuming that the added livability of urbanism comes at some cost to the environment. Also on the point about the Nth review's video, while I don't completely agree with it, I do agree that urbanist youtubers don't mention actual activism enough. (Though that's definitively a complaint I have much more with some other channels.) I think that even though activism is indeed a very local thing, I don't think it's pointless to show viewers groups and resources that may not be local to them. As simply showing that these kinds of groups exist and what they look like, can prompt people into looking up things that _are_ local to them. And even just showing people that it is possible for them to do more, and getting that on their minds, can push some people towards actually doing more. It doesn't need to be the focus of an entire video, and definitively not every video, god no. As you two say, it's very important to get examples of successful urbanism out there. But I think even just passively mentioning the activist groups involved in success stories, providing links to such groups and resources (Even better if its in an *i* card.), and such things would go a long way towards spurring on more proper activism in people who otherwise would remain fairly passive. Does what I'm saying make sense? Am I missing anything, or does anything I said require clarification?

I've been car-less in Minneapolis for 35 years now and it's been all about the Benjamins($). I paid off my house in less than 20 years, funded a very healthy retirement account and traveled overseas on holiday more than 50 times (not so great for the environment). I'm slightly overweight but I would probably be morbidly obese if I didn't use my bike to get around for much of the year. Finally I just really, really enjoy riding my bike.

There is really good podcost near me where they interview different people who cannot drive for different reasons (anxiety, other medical conditions, too old, too young or income), and the impact it has on their lives. It's a low social economic area and way out of town - it's interesting how they discuss transport is designed around men - going to work and home again. One point they make is city planners should spend time getting around with a pram, in a wheelchair, riding - actually catching the public transport to try and get between multiple medical appointments, as part of the process.

Walking is way better for the environment. So every time you see someone walking be sure to heckle them about their political agenda. EVERY TIME.

When I started biking to work 24 years ago, my main reasons were that I was watching cyclists pass my bus on the way to work, I wanted to increase my physical activity, and it looked like fun. When I sold my car 2 years later, the main reason was to save money. Having less impact on the environment was just a bonus.

When you hear people say things like that, it’s not that they believe anyone is doing it for the environment. All they care about is privilege, the promise of having a car is to go where and when you want faster than other people can. Which of course is a lie, because if everyone has one you’re not better than any of them. But what’s worse is having bought privilege is to learn you don’t actually get to enjoy it, and having people on bicycles going about their day just as easily as you without the expense is just a reminder you were duped. Being able to go faster is just the release to feel superior, and when the cyclist rides past you again when you’re stopped by traffic it’s easier to malign them than yourself.

This is just another example of people with car brain unable to comprehend that not everyone wants to drive a car.

I don't share all your biking enthusiasms but thank you for giving me a new perspective with the "eat your peas" criticism. I have been guilty of this outlook.

Takes me seven minutes to ride to work and ten minutes to drive and no need to find parking, added time. As a pedestrian I can go through lights when it is safe or take non-streets. Plus heart health or something.

'How do you know do deliveries' The same way we do now only faster because the trucks don't get stuck in rush hour traffic.

I recently had a great conversation with some friends regarding environmentalism. I've had a long standing opinion that there must be a change in lifestyle for the greater society to reduce energy consumption (since it is cheaper than increasing energy production). This viewpoint is entirely sacrificial, and when you live in an auto-oriented region like I do, it is a sacrifice. The benefit comes in the margins: taking the train into the city when possible (even if it may take extra time), biking/walking in the city instead of enduring traffic in a car, etc. Tackling the issue from a QoL improvement is something I need to learn to incorporate in my discussions, and I'm thankful for videos like these

In the Netherlands there is a saying What the farmer doesn’t know, he doesn’t eat. North American fanatic drivers have blinders. They should see Not just bikes on RU-vid the episode Driving is way better here. Driving in the Netherlands is way better. It’s a country where roads are designed not only for cars but for pedestrians, bikers, public transport and drivers. And it proves to be saver and nicer for drivers too. I live 4 miles from the city center. There I take a coffee with my wife and friend. I can choose between driving, biking, walking or public transport. It’s all very save. That’s freedom. When it is not raining I prefer the bike.

As a resident of Halifax this is very common occurrence. Most drivers here live outside of the city center and therefore need a car to get around reliably (including myself!). However, this also means a ton of people have never experienced cycling so they don’t have a lot of empathy for bikers. Although it seems like the culture is changing a bit thankfully ! Thanks for the great video!

The biggest reason I don't cycle is that in Vancouver, BC, everyone gets their bicycle stolen. Even in closed parking lots.

I am a senior and I bike every day for everything. Not because of the environment but simply because it keeps my body and brain healthy.

grew up in bangkok and i genuinely hated getting in the car to go anywhere within the city (with exceptions for stuff like going to a school dance because i didn't want to walk there with heels on). i could walk everywhere i needed to go on a daily basis (school and tutors). and i could walk or take the train to plenty of places i liked to go for fun (basically one of the malls). i was used to the weather so the heat didn't bother me at all and the rain would usually stop quite quickly after and the infrastructure was good so we rarely had flooding in my area, and even if it did, it would clear up in like 20 minutes, so you could walk/use transit literally every single day of the year. i grew up like this, walking home from school because taking the bus would take longer (lots of traffic in bangkok lol). just going to the movies whenever i felt like it. going to the mall to do some window shopping. going to the grocery store to get snacks or milk or pick up something we've run out of. going to the corner store at 11 pm on my own because i decided i wanted to get something with my allowance. going over to my friend's place whenever i wanted. stopping at a food stall i liked on the way to my tuitions after school. stopping at a park on my way home to look at some trees and lie on the grass. i used to make fun of my dad for driving to the badminton courts on the weekends when we played badminton because it was such a pleasant walk and only 30 minutes and we were going to exercise anyway, so why did we need the car? i used to complain when he decided to drive to the mall because it was faster to walk or take transit. and then i moved to the us. currently staying at my aunt's place. she lives in a classic american-style car-centric suburb. i can't do anything. going for a walk sucks because it's like being in a ghost town. i never see anyone and it's just road as far as the eye can see. the other day we were out of milk, and i thought i can just run down to the store and buy some. then i realized if i want to go to the nearest grocery store it's a 5 hour roundtrip. i wanted to go to the downtown, and there are no trains or busses. on a bike it would take 2 hours, and there are no bike lanes, so i would have to cycle on a highway with cars going at 70 mph. and the most ridiculous part is, every time i explain how insane this way to live is, i have americans telling me to buy a car! i don't have the money for a damn car?? i don't have thousands of dollars?? and then they'll bring up me complaining about not being able to cycle places as if that's comparable at all, when cycles are infinitely cheaper to buy, own, store, and repair than a car is. i had a friend in college who kept her cycle in her dorm, right next to her desk during the winter months. imagine doing that with a car. and i understand the benefits the car fans are always going on about. it's a box with ac, which is great. you can go door to door. roadtrips do kind of slap sometimes. they're great if you need to be carrying a bunch of shit. but these benefits are not worth being trapped without a car. we advocate for alternative transportation and walkability because they improve your life. and even people who are super against urbanism or 15 minute cities or walking or whatever would agree, because walking down a main street is an infinitely more enjoyable experience than driving to a strip mall. which is why they have to invent things we aren't even advocating for, because by agreeing that good urbanism is a positive thing they would have to agree that something in their life should change, and they are fundamentally against change, not pro car or anti walking. edit: i also think the amount of complaining i've just done about how unpleasant and inconvenient and expensive car dependency is is just more proof that most people aren't in this primarily for purposes of mitigating climate change. that's a nice bonus win-win situation. walking or biking or transit are just better options in many cases regardless of the climate impact.

Thanks for including footage from Edmonton. That city is very underrated. Nice to see the recognition 😊

I try to either cycle or electric scooter to work, but it's a 42km round trip. The last 1-2 km right before work is terrifying.. One coworker has never returned to work after being struck on her e-bike. Otherwise there are some marvelous trails that cut straight across the busy downtown.

When I started cycling about three years after moving to London my two main motivations were fitness and money. Although climate change mattered to me it would not have been enough on its own to convince me to try cycling with the (lack of) infrastructure that existed at the time, especially since I was switching from public transport rather than driving. In more recent years with all the improvements to safe cycling infrastructure, my wife and I like cycling in London because it is actually an enjoyable activity to do together, and a refreshing change from squeezing onto public transport during rush hour. And it's still benefiting my fitness and finances.

Well said! Yes, urbanism is more than 'sacrificial activism' where people advocate for necessary sacrifices for 'greater goods' such as the environment, or even equality purposes. While these are important causes that drives urbanism, I think it's necessary to mention that better urbanism can benefit our quality of life directly, for the most part at least.

I’ve literally explained the cycling thing at the start of this video to my girlfriend’s stepfather several times after he rages at a cyclist, and all he does is blow me off or shrugs. Thank god he’s 65 and I don’t have to deal with his willful ignorance much longer.

A few years before retirement in Toronto I was biking home from work at 8 pm during a small snow fall. Two teenage boys on the sidewalk said, " he mister, you can't afford a car?" My car was snugly in my condo garage. I just burst out laughing. such irony.

We were a car family. We owned multiple cars, loved road trips, etc. growing up. Living in the prairies meant travelling long distances to visit relatives in other parts of the province or other provinces entirely. That being said, my dad ran downtown every morning to work and when he got older, took the train. We walked to and from school, or biked. I bike to as many things as I can, but can no longer bike to work most days as it takes 75 minutes+ each way. We can all get along.

I have biked for years, since I was a kid, but it was doing the math on the cost of my car that made me go out and buy a road bike after moving to a relatively cycling friendly city with an affordability problem (Victoria, BC). It was never about the environment for me, that's just an added bonus.

I had a very interesting conversation working at a sports event this weekend: The cleaning guys asked me for the bike route. Why? Because they've heard us talking about "10 minutes to the grocery store", while they claimed to need almost half an hour on a very complicated route. According to Google Maps it's not really half an hour, but the time is about the same - even with a part on the Autobahn. The rest is indeed complicate and clearly _not_ designed with "only cars matter": The shopping is at the S-Bahn station, while the Autobahn is on the other side of the neighborhood - and you then have to drive almost around it at a limit of 30 km/h.

Amazing video as always. I chose to bike to work in a no so bike friendly city (LA), and while the environment is probably a factor in pursuing this lifestyle, this was not what motivated me to pursue this. I was honestly fed up with how much money I was spending on my car, including gas, insurance and parking fees. I decided to sell my car and buy an e-bike to commute to work and a year later I still think it was an excellent decision. Even before I sold my car, I would frequently bike on the weekends for recreation. I love biking to the beach and biking through different neighborhoods of the city, so it was a natural consideration for me to use this not only for recreation, but also for a legitimate form of transportation. My commute surprisingly is only around 5 minutes longer without traffic, and with traffic I am faster on the e-bike. I also enjoy being outside while I’m commuting, getting exercise, and easily stopping at shops or grocery stores along the way without having to circle the block looking for parking. So no, this was not a sacrificial decision at all.

I think part of the reason - and something that urbanists have to get better at - is a lot of the urbanist messaging, and broader urban groups, have a tendency to lean more liberal, and that typically ends up reflecting in their content. There are exceptions, of course, and some are worse than others (and some embrace it, which I'll always respect) but by and far, most urbanist channels tend to be "liberal coded". Inevitably, on the internet, where everything gets taken to extremes, that ends up meaning it becomes another red vs blue, my team vs your team, conservative vs liberal, issue, when the reality is it's anything but that - it's not even exclusively a city thing! Small towns are just as urban as city neighborhoods, at least ideally.

coming from Alberta, I hear the mindset of car-free cities being a compromise all too much. this is a great video to show those people that don't believe how beneficial it is!

re: the bit on air travel, I see it as that if so many other (and easier) things are improved (through trains, better land use and urbanism, industry, cleaning up dirty power, etc) then it may not matter if air travel can't be fully impact free. It would be a smallish impingement for great benefit and it would still fit within the worldwide equation for the carbon cycle. It doesn't have to be all or nothing (just like having a walkable/cyclable city doesn't mean there has to be 0 personal motorized vehicles), and anyone exclaiming that might just be trying to derail (pun intended) the conversation. :)

Watching this just after reading the Urbanist’s article about land use and climate change

My parents moved us from Amsterdam to a more modern suburb in Haarlem back in the early 1970's. Mostly because Amsterdam was so over run with cars and it just wasn't a good place to raise kids. Schalkwijk (built post WW2) pretty much was already 15 minute city. Our pediatrician, my parent's doctor, our dentist, many stores including big grocery stores, kinder garden, and elementary school, library, etc. Were all reachable within 15 minutes walking, even less when cycling. My dad did work near Amsterdam, but the company actually offered a dedicated bus. He has to walk about 10 minutes to one of central stops for the bus. After a few years a co worker nearby got a car and they car pooled. 4 years after we moved there we got our first car. It was a more convenient way to get to grand parents and other family. The were reachable by public transport, but it would take at least double the time. We still used public transport or bikes for loads of trips. In the nearly 50 years since then, the cycling infrastructure has been improved there. Amsterdam on the other hand, has been utterly transformed. Back then it was becoming really dangerous to bike in Amsterdam. It just shows that the scare tactic of 15 minute cities is totally bogus. Many places exist that already behave like 15 minute cities... It is something to emulate, not be afraid of.

About to go on a 2 mile trip where the only cargo is a phpne charger and a bottle of vodka. Earlier in my life this would be an obvious car trip for me but instead I'm gonna save money and have fun

I was blabbing with people in a local Facebook group about bike infrastructure, and someone asked if I wanted a fifteen-minute city. I asked if they meant a livable city or if they were referring to the conspiracy theory. They answered the latter, unironically. Genuinely confusing lol... Does that mean they know it’s bullshit or what? Glad you addressed that one critical RU-vid video; I was wondering what y’all would have to say about it

I just want to do my shopping without visiting three separate parking lots each of which are five minutes appart

The thing is here in Europe a lot of urbanists propose highly untactical things that generate a lot of resistance and make it much harder to get approval for later infrastructure projects be it for cycling or transit. For example many urbanists in Germany want to impose a speed limit on the famous Autobahn and in The Netherlands they went so far to even lower the speed to just 100kp/h at certain times. It gets even more absurd in Berlin where the Green Party opposed subway tunneling because of CO2 emissions.Not all urbanists are like this but those who are are extremly loud and those who aren't dont speak against the extremists in their own rows. It is extremly frustrating to see Nimbys activists having success turning average people to their side and manipulate them to stop for example light rail projects just because those average people got angry over mainly symbolic anti car measurements.

Environmental reasons is definitely one reason I try to bike more and drive less but it's definitely not the top or only reason. Easy exercise, way cheaper, actually enjoyable, etc. are concrete reasons that affect me day to day more than my lone contribution (or lack thereof) to climate change/pollution. I don't even mind if it takes longer as long as I don't feel like I'm gonna die on the trip. I'd honestly say the biggest, simplest reason besides just disliking driving is I enjoy being outside and feeling the air and sun on me. Living in LA it's so strange how the world sees this place as perfect weather (I think that's exaggerated) but so many people don't like to be outside and need to go from their A/C'd house to their A/C'd car to the A/C'd building and barely spend any time in the actual sun.

Riding a bicycle is a great way to exercise. Ebikes are bringing many older adults back to cycling. Cities need to do more to encourage people to ride bicycles. Safe protected bike lanes and trails are needed so adults and children can ride safely. Speak up for bicycles in your community. Bicycles make life and cities better. Ask your local transportation planner and elected officials to support more protected bike lanes and trails. Children should be riding a bicycle to school and not be driven in a minivan. Be healthier and happier. Ride a bicycle regularly.

Yup. I've walked, cycled, and bussed for almost my entire life, not because I was an environmentalist or an urbanist. I was just straight-up poor. I've only become an intentional urbanist for a few years.

I am a motorist, cyclist and pedestrian in the downtown of a major city. Because of this I have empathy for all three parties involved. This is what is lacking, empathy for the difficulties and stress that all three contribute to each other.

I ride and use transit for a lot of reasons, but mainly, I can't afford a car.

A whole host of issues are connected to car-dependent cities. It's not just environmental issues like climate change. Oil dependency, gasoline price worries, urban sprawl and bad land use, traffic congestion, unaffordable housing, income inequality, municipal debt, personal debt (cars are huge money sinks), and public health issues like traffic deaths & injuries, lack of exercise, and stress all stem from overly-restrictive zoning laws as well as infrastructure that fosters car dependency.

There's a comic, it's some scientists presenting at a conference and someone in the audience asks: "What if we're wrong about climate change, and we make the world better and more liveable for nothing!"

This 100p. There are a dozens of reasons for good urbanism long before we yalk anout the environmental benefits.

Riding my bike to work is faster than taking the bus. That’s a true fact. The bus is 52 minutes. The bike ride is 35-40 minutes. It’s a 20 minute drive filled with red lights, stop signs, and constant lane changes. My bike route is so smooth with only a few road crossings, riverside views, a couple community gardens, and a golf course. It’s got some ugly power lines, broken glass on the trail in a few places, I must wear sunscreen, and there are zero bathrooms. But it’s easy. It’s fresh air. And I don’t have to get oil changes or stop for gas on the way home.

This video was so spot on, thanks, was a really good one (All your videos are great after all)

At the root of civilization is the ability to share, compromise, and adapt. It is hard for some people to realize that they are already doing these things. The more people continue to do these things, the better life becomes for everyone, even for the person that doesn’t want change.

I did like the Nth Review's video and thought he had a point. I do not disagree with you either though; it would be difficult for existing RU-vid channels to incorporate truly local issues, other than very high-level stuff like, "Please vote". Regardless, great video!

So I live in Sweden, Stockholm specifically, and I find transit very useful. The metro is rather extensive for the population size, and to complement that we have a few other rail lines and a dense bus network. And commuter and regional rail traffic. I'll stick with this over the more car-centric America.

Interestingly, I was just speaking with someone who bought an electric car recently and they get the same “it’s not even better for the environment” comments. They constantly have to remind people that, actually, driving an EV is quite enjoyable and just another option when buying a new car. Lower emissions is an obvious perk, but it’s only one of a few good reasons to get an EV if it works for you.

Another thing to consider here when arguing is that we do not necessarily need to find a green solution to something like long haul flights to reach a lofty goal like carbon net zero. You don't even need to concede that ground though it should be acknowledged.

I ride a bike to help me mitigate my symptoms of anxiety and depression.

I feel like the environment is just the cherry on the top. For me, it's about how liveable it feels, how convenient and just better. I also absolutely hate the aesthetics of cities that aren't built like cities, and have no greenery in the middle, and don't know how to integrate city life into people's home lives. Also I don't drive and made the choice not to get a driver's license because honestly driving seems really scary and not really worth it. It just feels more chill to walk around, take a train, bus... at least in cities where you're left alone while doing those things

Great video as always!

Those conspiracies make me so sad. They're surely seeded by people with big interests in oil, cars, and road construction. There's very little chance JoeFoo in their basement came up with such a damaging conspiracy. I started biking in the 1980s because I had a bike, no TV, no AC, no tech at all but a radio and turntable. Biking is the opposite of oppression, it's complete freedom. I bike because I'm free to. No gas, no taxes, only positive benefits. ❤

I am a urbanist and have become passionate about it; But these fears people have are real and I don't think its right to dismiss them. That is gaslighting. There really are indeed people, who are the elites in society, that wish to clamp down on freedom of movement, completely destroy property rights and make the populace more easily monitored than they already are. Academia, finance, government, media, etc., these people have outright said they wish to do this. Of course this doesn't mean 15-minute cities are a bad thing on their own; Rather bad actors who find themselves in elite positions in society wish to MISUSE and abuse 15-minute cities for their own perverse and nefarious ends. We should, as urbanists, recognize these fears as legitimate but reiterate that just because some people, who act in a criminal manner, wish to misuse something doesn't make the things they misuse a bad thing. Walkable, human-oriented design has been a thing since they very first cities; 15-minute cities aren't bad just because people in positions of power wish to misuse them.

So true. I ride a bike, walk, or take transit most places in the city (depending on distance and weather) because it is so much better than driving. Driving and searching for parking in the city and is a truly miserable experience.

I hate it when people try to lower my standard of living! By making the city quieter, making destinations more accessible, making my transportation costs cheaper, making me healthier...

I understand that I'm an outlier, but my primary motivation in starting to bike for my commute was the environment. And before I got an e-bike, The heat and hills really could feel like a punishment. But now, anytime I see a hill I don't feel like working too hard to climb I just bump up the assist. I'm loving the bike. I genuinely miss when I don't get to bike to work or wherever. My city has almost no accomodations for me, but I still enjoy it and have found safe routes pretty much everywhere. The environment is not the best reason to ride a bike. The exercise, monetary savings, and most importantly, just how fun it is to ride are the best reasons. But the equivalent of 1500 MPG is nice too

This channel is great.

I feel the nthn review made a very good video and had a very good point about urbanism stopping before the politics. I live in Montreal too, and I would really like to get in the thick of helping out the city and my community. Is there anything I can sign up for, or that discord server link? Great video guys :)

Funny, I just recognized my wife in one of your clips.

I've used my feet and bike as my primary form of local transportation since the 90s. I have a car, I just prefer walking and riding. It's amazing how many of the folks that always accuse others of laziness attack those who are inherently not lazy. I can do a good thing for the environment (my environment), for myself (exercise and less stress), and enjoy it at the same time. I don't know what's not to like.

To the driver, the correct response is: My not driving a car will let you drive yorus for longer before they are banned. So you should be thanking me for allowing you to pollute for longer.

What kind of mockery attempt even is "You are not saving the planet, buddy"? It sounds petty as hell.

I'm glad to report that I've never been yelled at (at least not that I have heard!) while cycling the streets of Halifax. Improvements to our cycling infrastructure are slow, but they are happening! That dystopian "we'll be locked in our neighbourhoods!" worry was on full display in Edmonton recently, while they discussed a district planning proposal. To reassure the conspiracy theorists, the city council even added a clause: "The District Policy and the District Plans shall not restrict freedom of movement, association, and commerce in accordance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms."

WRT long haul flights, speaking as an expat urban vegetarian whose emissions are something like 60% long haul flights because it's necessary for work and seeing family, there are several technically easy but nonexistent solutions. I can (all but about a month per year) work as a digital nomad, so if low emission ferries were available at a competitive price, I would absolutely use it. It would be okay if it took 5 days to do LondonNYC, just make sure there's a good gym onboard. For people with jobs where that isn't an option they should be given more time off for this reason. It's possible someone will go "oh that totally exists!" If it does, please link it. I have researched the QE2. It is both more polluting for the same trip and out of my price range.

Ironically in the UK, we're quite used to public transport, and often expect it when new developments are built (especially in London), but 29% of our power is still coming from coal or gas, nuclear is still a bit of a hot topic (only 16% of our power comes from it) and only 0.5% of our power comes from hydro electric, probably because we don't have huge waterfalls like Ontario and Quebec does.

I'm in agreement with cycling being a cheap convenient transport method that happens to be fun. Fortunately I can choose to cycle. Although there's public transport available in my city it's less hassle to use a bike to get directly to my destination without having to deal with interchanges. It's also great that I'm not squashed up next to many people in flu season or the next Covid outbreak when using public transport.

As soon as I finish college and get a degree in urban planning, I want to get rid of my car and start traveling everywhere without one in any way that I can. I am choosing to do this not only because there are a lot of environmental, financial, and social benefits to not owning a car, but mainly because I just want to show everyone that there should be more options for transportation other than driving. Whether it would be by walking, riding a bike, or taking buses and trains, I just want to expose the problem that we all experience every day, but never come to realize. Millions of people in America and around the world are being robbed of the opportunity to experience many benefits for themselves and others, because most of our cities have been designed only for driving. It’s not that I think that driving shouldn’t exist, I just think that it shouldn’t be the only option. Whenever I talk to any of my friends about these topics, they always laugh at me and say that my ideas are ridiculous and dangerous. Little do they know that they with their giant pickups and SUVs are literally part of the problem. Once we can finally make America a place for people and not just for machines, I will be the one laughing at them.

“If I was trying to save the environment. I’d be (censored) your giant suv!”

I ride because I have a strong dislike for driving. I don't like sitting for that long, I don't like dealing with the impatient morons doing dangerous things, and I don't like the road rage I consistently see. On a bike I have more options on ways to get to where I work, I get to feel active, and for the most part I don't have to deal with morons in cars except for at intersections or on the couple miles where there is not bike path/lane. The environment is secondary for me. The physical health is secondary. The mental health is my primary reason for riding, despite negative experiences.

Honestly, I am very worried about climate change and I try to limit my flights or buy used clothes, furnitures, etc and so on. However, I am not good at self sacrifice, and for me walking and taking transit is just more fun than driving most of the time in the city. Walking makes me happy. Driving doesnt. It's that simple.

You went deeper on argumentation. Cycling has its own challenges as well but absolutely not comparable as car centric designs. Pure empirical thinking to reinforce your argumentation. Take one city and have everyone driving car - and the city will collapse. Take one city and put everyone on bike - the city still will be doing fine.

I personally prefer cycling because I hate wondering around for parking