5 ms·

Bit out of context but I just came back from US (living in Netherlands). Holy flipping hell that place is full of cars. Literally everywhere. I mean I understan

Bit out of context but I just came back from US (living in Netherlands). Holy flipping hell that place is full of cars. Literally everywhere. I mean I understand using a car upstate New York where things are further apart and everyone has a huge isolated villa. But do you really need 4 lane roads in freaking manhattan? Seems like regulating "car stuff" in general is always a good thing if you ask me.

jokoon 5y ago
I'm french, I really don't know how the US are going to get out of cars, it's going to be incredibly hard or impossible. Mandatory ride sharing by taxing gas, or heavily subsidizing public transport? Uber would have an unique opportunity to group rides for small busses.
airza 5y ago
There is a great youtube channel called "Not just bikes" which talks about urban planning in the netherlands and how it results in much more livable cities than the US.
- tonyedgecombe 5y ago
  This map of cyle paths in Europe tells you everything: https://imgur.com/Fkye6Nt https://imgur.com/Fkye6Nt
  - gpvos 5y ago
    That's not really about cities, more about cycle paths between them. But there's a relation of course.
- xvector 5y ago
  Seconded, amazing channel that describes why American cities are a disaster. I've lived in a walkable area and QoL goes up immensely. No amount of money or luxury in an American suburb will compare. There is nothing like the sheer convenience of being able to get your groceries in a 3 minute walk.
  - Robelius 5y ago
    Adding “City Beautiful” to the list of channels if you enjoy “Not Just Bikes”! It talks more generally about city planning/urban design, but satisfies the same itch of content.
- scrollaway 5y ago
  My god, you weren’t kidding! I’ve been watching his videos since seeing your comment. His intro video immediately signals the fantastic quality of the channel. So far the guy did get me excited about sidewalks. https://youtu.be/9OfBpQgLXUc https://youtu.be/9OfBpQgLXUc
- paul_f 5y ago
  Keep in mind, the Netherlands is the flattest country on Earth. If livable == mostly bicycles, it might be a somewhat unique situation. I am from Atlanta, GA, which is literally built on top of the Eastern Continental divide. There are no flat spots.
  - Broken_Hippo 5y ago
    I'm in Trondheim, Norway. There are few flat spots. It is livable - livable doesn't mean mostly bicycles. I walk most places: There are walking paths and crosswalks lots of places. I have nearby grocery stores in a short walking distance (10 minutes or less). Lots of folks ride bikes, and an amount of those folks put on studded tires in the winter. I simply do not as it is literally an uphill battle and I didn't grow up in a mountainous region. I can rent a manual bicycle or an electric scooter and be safe while riding. I can take public transport both across town and out of town. I have choices: There is a small tram line for some parts of town. Busses go both in town and between towns. I can take a train through much of Norway (from up north to Oslo) or over to Sweden if I want. Taxis exist, too, and they are clean. (Illegal taxis are here too, but I've never used them). And sure, there are cars and they are convenient - and like the US, you probably need one if you live in the countryside. But I can get by just fine without a license, too.
chrisseaton 5y ago
I can't understand who would want to drive in Manhattan. Like where are they coming from and where are they going? Where do they intend to park when they get there? It wouldn't occur to me in a million years to attempt to drive into a metropolis like that. I see normal private cars driving through New York and London and can't imagine who is in them and what they're attempting to do that means their best route is through a city.
- FartyMcFarter 5y ago
  > I can't understand who would want to drive in Manhattan. I think the idea is that people will drive if their tolerance level for slowness is satisfied. So the amount of traffic will always be high enough to look acceptable for some people, unacceptable for others. As for parking, in London there are definitely parking lots scattered around the city - can't speak for New York though. > Like where are they coming from and where are they going? Probably going between their homes and family / friends / shops / entertainment venues / restaurants.
  - chrisseaton 5y ago
    > Probably going between their homes and family / friends / shops / entertainment venues / restaurants. But in cities these places don't have parking outside. So where are they parking?
    - FartyMcFarter 5y ago
      > But in cities these places don't have parking outside. You won't always be able to park right outside your destination, but between street parking and garages there's definitely parking in many places.
    - volkl48 5y ago
      There's in excess of 100,000 public off-street parking spaces in Manhattan below 60th St (as of 2009 - Manhattan Core Parking Study). Plus street parking.
refurb 5y ago
I love the US car culture. I’ve lived in places where car ownership is more restricted and I feel well…poor.
fallingfrog 5y ago
I visited the Netherlands a couple years ago and the convenience and practicality of the public transportation was eye opening. I sure wish we had something like that in the US! But it would cost money, money paid by taxes, which means that rich people would have to pay more than they benefit, so politically it’s impossible. In America we try to push all social costs to the individual, which in practice means the middle class and the poor. Therefore because the public transportation is so bad, only people who can’t afford cars use it, which means you have lots of homeless people using the bus as a dry place to take a nap, and so forth. It’s usually dirty and the bus is always late. So it has a really bad reputation.
maccolgan 5y ago
You absolutely do need 4 lane roads in Manhattan.
- qntty 5y ago
  Really you don't even really need cars in Manhattan, except for delivery trucks and other exceptional cases. They should ban them.

jokoon 5y ago

I'm french, I really don't know how the US are going to get out of cars, it's going to be incredibly hard or impossible. Mandatory ride sharing by taxing gas, or heavily subsidizing public transport? Uber would have an unique opportunity to group rides for small busses.

airza 5y ago

There is a great youtube channel called "Not just bikes" which talks about urban planning in the netherlands and how it results in much more livable cities than the US.

tonyedgecombe 5y ago
This map of cyle paths in Europe tells you everything: https://imgur.com/Fkye6Nt https://imgur.com/Fkye6Nt
- gpvos 5y ago
  That's not really about cities, more about cycle paths between them. But there's a relation of course.
xvector 5y ago
Seconded, amazing channel that describes why American cities are a disaster. I've lived in a walkable area and QoL goes up immensely. No amount of money or luxury in an American suburb will compare. There is nothing like the sheer convenience of being able to get your groceries in a 3 minute walk.
- Robelius 5y ago
  Adding “City Beautiful” to the list of channels if you enjoy “Not Just Bikes”! It talks more generally about city planning/urban design, but satisfies the same itch of content.
scrollaway 5y ago
My god, you weren’t kidding! I’ve been watching his videos since seeing your comment. His intro video immediately signals the fantastic quality of the channel. So far the guy did get me excited about sidewalks. https://youtu.be/9OfBpQgLXUc https://youtu.be/9OfBpQgLXUc
paul_f 5y ago
Keep in mind, the Netherlands is the flattest country on Earth. If livable == mostly bicycles, it might be a somewhat unique situation. I am from Atlanta, GA, which is literally built on top of the Eastern Continental divide. There are no flat spots.
- Broken_Hippo 5y ago
  I'm in Trondheim, Norway. There are few flat spots. It is livable - livable doesn't mean mostly bicycles. I walk most places: There are walking paths and crosswalks lots of places. I have nearby grocery stores in a short walking distance (10 minutes or less). Lots of folks ride bikes, and an amount of those folks put on studded tires in the winter. I simply do not as it is literally an uphill battle and I didn't grow up in a mountainous region. I can rent a manual bicycle or an electric scooter and be safe while riding. I can take public transport both across town and out of town. I have choices: There is a small tram line for some parts of town. Busses go both in town and between towns. I can take a train through much of Norway (from up north to Oslo) or over to Sweden if I want. Taxis exist, too, and they are clean. (Illegal taxis are here too, but I've never used them). And sure, there are cars and they are convenient - and like the US, you probably need one if you live in the countryside. But I can get by just fine without a license, too.

chrisseaton 5y ago

I can't understand who would want to drive in Manhattan. Like where are they coming from and where are they going? Where do they intend to park when they get there? It wouldn't occur to me in a million years to attempt to drive into a metropolis like that. I see normal private cars driving through New York and London and can't imagine who is in them and what they're attempting to do that means their best route is through a city.

FartyMcFarter 5y ago
> I can't understand who would want to drive in Manhattan. I think the idea is that people will drive if their tolerance level for slowness is satisfied. So the amount of traffic will always be high enough to look acceptable for some people, unacceptable for others. As for parking, in London there are definitely parking lots scattered around the city - can't speak for New York though. > Like where are they coming from and where are they going? Probably going between their homes and family / friends / shops / entertainment venues / restaurants.
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  > Probably going between their homes and family / friends / shops / entertainment venues / restaurants. But in cities these places don't have parking outside. So where are they parking?
  - FartyMcFarter 5y ago
    > But in cities these places don't have parking outside. You won't always be able to park right outside your destination, but between street parking and garages there's definitely parking in many places.
  - volkl48 5y ago
    There's in excess of 100,000 public off-street parking spaces in Manhattan below 60th St (as of 2009 - Manhattan Core Parking Study). Plus street parking.

refurb 5y ago

I love the US car culture. I’ve lived in places where car ownership is more restricted and I feel well…poor.

fallingfrog 5y ago

I visited the Netherlands a couple years ago and the convenience and practicality of the public transportation was eye opening. I sure wish we had something like that in the US! But it would cost money, money paid by taxes, which means that rich people would have to pay more than they benefit, so politically it’s impossible. In America we try to push all social costs to the individual, which in practice means the middle class and the poor. Therefore because the public transportation is so bad, only people who can’t afford cars use it, which means you have lots of homeless people using the bus as a dry place to take a nap, and so forth. It’s usually dirty and the bus is always late. So it has a really bad reputation.

maccolgan 5y ago

You absolutely do need 4 lane roads in Manhattan.

qntty 5y ago
Really you don't even really need cars in Manhattan, except for delivery trucks and other exceptional cases. They should ban them.