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The video you cited made me feel both ill and annoyed. The smug proclamations from some guy who judges everyone else was nauseating. It's also based on urban li

The video you cited made me feel both ill and annoyed. The smug proclamations from some guy who judges everyone else was nauseating. It's also based on urban life within a city. Cities with invariably flat landscapes with no hills. The Netherland you cite is basically flat compared to Scotland. Scotland is _very_ hilly. And cold. And _rainy_. Your proposals would NOT work here. Apart from Glasgow and Edinburgh, most towns, villages and other cities here are not suitable to forgoing cars in favour of cycles - electric or not - and that's not down to a lack of cycle lanes or tracks, it's down to the practicalities of life here. Your Utopia cannot happen, and in fact would eventually turn into a dystopia.

oblio 5y ago
You just glossed over the fact that most of the populated areas in the world are not like Scotland. And disregard the tone and listen to the words. We're supposed to be geeks here, do facts or feelings matter more?
- scarygliders 5y ago
  Most populated areas of the world are also not suited to having everyone living in rural areas being herded together into an ultimately dystopian pod-life hellhole. The facts are that whoever is advocating for this have not thought past their subjective experience and are exhibiting a serious lack of empathy for the majority of human beings they quite obviously are unaware of who are living in many environments which are completely different from the ones advocating.
  - oblio 5y ago
    > Most populated areas of the world are also not suited to having everyone living in rural areas being herded together into an ultimately dystopian pod-life hellhole. Most people in the world don't live in rural areas, and where they are the majority, you wouldn't want to live like that because they're subsistence farmers living in undervedeloped countries (think Somalia, Afghanistan, etc). In developed countries and developing countries people are being "herded" in to cities, and they like it because the alternative is worse. And they are the majority. The fact that you don't know this basic fact kind of says all there is to be said about this conversation... https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS Also, off-topic but still relevant: One of the greatest triumphs of civilization is urbanization. All the cradle of civilizations are called like that because they built great cities, for their time.
foobiekr 5y ago
The “Not Just Bikes” guy is well loved by a certain age of cycling and city enthusiasts who don’t have any idea what it’s like to be older or who have to deal with real world non-idealized city apartments. Neighbor noise (and other issues) is a huge issue that these threads always ignore.
- lelandbatey 5y ago
  Neighbor noise can be an issue depending on location, but many of us write it off because we currently live in cities and find that neighbor noise is not a problem and is not something we care about given how minor of an event it is when we do experience it at all. I suspect that your experiences and expectations may differ from others in this thread. What are your expectations and experiences in this area?
  - foobiekr 5y ago
    I dealt with neighbor noise in 3/5 apartments I rented. It is why I will _never_ share walls again. What you're really saying is that you are a person who is not bothered by neighbor noise. That's fine, you've self-selected into an environment where tolerating that is necessary. You should realize that most people find neighbor noise to be a stressor, especially as they get older. Also, as an aside, everyone I know who below the top economic tier and lives in SF _commonly_ complains about neighbor noise. I think you might just be insensitive to it.

oblio 5y ago

You just glossed over the fact that most of the populated areas in the world are not like Scotland. And disregard the tone and listen to the words. We're supposed to be geeks here, do facts or feelings matter more?

scarygliders 5y ago
Most populated areas of the world are also not suited to having everyone living in rural areas being herded together into an ultimately dystopian pod-life hellhole. The facts are that whoever is advocating for this have not thought past their subjective experience and are exhibiting a serious lack of empathy for the majority of human beings they quite obviously are unaware of who are living in many environments which are completely different from the ones advocating.
- oblio 5y ago
  > Most populated areas of the world are also not suited to having everyone living in rural areas being herded together into an ultimately dystopian pod-life hellhole. Most people in the world don't live in rural areas, and where they are the majority, you wouldn't want to live like that because they're subsistence farmers living in undervedeloped countries (think Somalia, Afghanistan, etc). In developed countries and developing countries people are being "herded" in to cities, and they like it because the alternative is worse. And they are the majority. The fact that you don't know this basic fact kind of says all there is to be said about this conversation... https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS Also, off-topic but still relevant: One of the greatest triumphs of civilization is urbanization. All the cradle of civilizations are called like that because they built great cities, for their time.

foobiekr 5y ago

The “Not Just Bikes” guy is well loved by a certain age of cycling and city enthusiasts who don’t have any idea what it’s like to be older or who have to deal with real world non-idealized city apartments. Neighbor noise (and other issues) is a huge issue that these threads always ignore.

lelandbatey 5y ago
Neighbor noise can be an issue depending on location, but many of us write it off because we currently live in cities and find that neighbor noise is not a problem and is not something we care about given how minor of an event it is when we do experience it at all. I suspect that your experiences and expectations may differ from others in this thread. What are your expectations and experiences in this area?
- foobiekr 5y ago
  I dealt with neighbor noise in 3/5 apartments I rented. It is why I will _never_ share walls again. What you're really saying is that you are a person who is not bothered by neighbor noise. That's fine, you've self-selected into an environment where tolerating that is necessary. You should realize that most people find neighbor noise to be a stressor, especially as they get older. Also, as an aside, everyone I know who below the top economic tier and lives in SF _commonly_ complains about neighbor noise. I think you might just be insensitive to it.