I am from Europe, and while i lived in suburban US, i made the mistake of walking home in the evening (on this narrow "sidewalk", if you can call it that). It was natural for me, but evidently not for anyone else, because a police car stopped next to me, asking if i was alright, if i needed help. That was soooo surreal for me!!! The biggest culture shock i had while living there!
As a New Yorker who doesn't drive and lives in a small apartment, I also think what motivates people into purchasing these huge houses is that community spaces don't exist in many, many parts of the country. I can bring two, three tote bags to the park, to which I can take a bus, and have an afternoon barbecue. If I walk a little further, I can go to the public pool. If I forgot my sunscreen or need extra ice or whatever, I can walk to the corner store. I can take a bus to the beach and spend the whole day there. Suburbs require so much: car, gas, tolls, parking.
Definitely! Suburbs and small towns seem to reject community areas besides churches and the occasional library or a coopted highschool school gym. Anywhere else might be a fitness center, a Wal-Mart, or a private country club with dues. So it's all mostly privatized space.
And don't forget that those tolls don't pay for the additional infrastructure wear and tear nor the upkeep of those subdivision roads or utility infrastructures which end up becoming burdens on the denser populated tax paying centers that never even go to the suburbs
I lived in Philly for almost 10 years. The first couple of years I was doing a lot of subway riding, and when I switched to biking my world really opened up no longer being tethered to the transit schedule. I still did use transit and would take cabs, but biking was the best form of transportation. I did everything possible on my bike, even if it seemed a little crazy (ie, biking a frozen turkey home in my backpack for Thanskgiving.) I have moved to the southern US and while there is some biking infrastructure, the car culture is so pervasive that I don't feel safe biking to get my weekly groceries. Now all the bikers I see are people in spandex who are recreational bikers, every day and underpaid people don't even consider bikes here. Edit: Also wish you'd had time to mention the growing size of cars themselves. I'm 5'1" and there are some newer trucks and SUVs where I can barely see over the front grill. This only makes me more nervous to be a pedestrian at times because I'm worried drivers literally won't see me!
I believe there have been a couple studies showing how dangerous the larger designs of cars can be. With the concern coming not only from the fact that impact higher up the body is more likely to be fatal to a pedestrian in a car crash but also the visibility issue you mentioned. smh.
You aren't wrong to be more afraid of the larger SUVs and trucks. Statistically, they're involved in more accidents with pedestrians because of blind spots.
The fact that there are published studies showing cities with large public transit systems have healthier people is just another reminder that lobbyists are working with the government to keep 'customers' for the health care industry and very little of what is decided by the government is for the health and safety of the people.
I've lived in the Houston area for almost six years now and if you aren't in the urban core, like the very middle of it, this city actively wants pedestrians dead. Would love improvements like expanded rail lines and actual sidewalks out in the burbs.
I visited Houston frequently in the past due to family ... if I ever needed to devise a means of letting my loved ones collect my life insurance early, I'd consider walking in Houston as well. The drivers are - criminally - insane.
I grew up in Houston suburbs and made the mistake of not begging my parents to get driving classes as early as possible and it ruined my social life because I went nowhere. Of course the pandemic didn't help my tendency to isolation but I blame so much of my very long lasting homebody behavior and degraded mental health as a result to the sheer unhuman urban design of this godforsaken city.
As someone who grew up in Moscow until the age of 10, I can confirm the amount of freedom you have in a walkable city where you're a 5 min walk from school, you can take the trolly or a bus, and get on the subway at the age of 10 on your own. It's also important in developing independent adults. I used to have a mixed commute to my extracirriculars on my own everyday. I can also say that that freedom being stripped from me in dreadful burbs of Atlanta was devastating. As soon as I could drive, i begged for a car and when i got it i felt like i had my freedom back. Even living jusy east of downtown Atlanta, i can confirm that I still can not live without a car and its a huge part of my freedom.
The dad part is that most Americans think that investing into mixed modes of transportation in terms of funding for infrastructure will infringe on their freedoms as drivers. It's so sad, as a person who never wanted a car and is really anxious when it comes to driving i really enjoyed my college experience in a walkable area and dreaded life once i became reliant on a car to survive. There's no semblance of social mobility or a sense of freedom when the only option is a car commute 😢 especially here in Houston where ppl are so aggressive and armed
Just wanted to say how much i appreciate you naming the Midwest as well. This can't just be a east coast/west coast conversation. There are a whole lot of us in between who feel strongly about this and want to be part of the conversation. Thanks for the Chicago call outs!
This may be your best podcast yet. I grew up in California and we desperately need public transit, but lobbying is so strong that it gets shot down every time :(
I live in or near Sacramento county and outside of the Downtown Sac area, transit is pretty ass. We need statewide improvements to public transit immediately 9/11/22 🌙 611
I wonder how much of car culture is rooted in classcism and racism. I live in the south and people think walking/biking/busses are for "poor people" or " people on the bad side of town" aka the one part of our city that isn't getting gentrified at rocket speed.
It's definitely classism and racism. Nice neighborhoods even in liberal Seattle often have no sidewalks. It's just, people's yards+road, and I think it's a subtle way of keeping "the walkers" aka poor ppl OUT.
Read about Robert Moses. He had a hard on for cars and car culture and designed even public transit to be racist as fuck. It is all rooted in racism and capitalism as is literally everything
I would argue that racism and classism definitely were at the root of car culture. It was also a way to manipulate a market to make the car a necessity when they weren’t before.
Sexism and ablism/disablism are also wrapped up in these structures. There are disabled people who can only get around by driving, but there are also disabled people who can only get around by doing everything but driving.
This is the video that finally convinced me to try biking to work at least once....now I'm OBSESSED!! it's now one of the best parts of my day! Thank you for evangelizing the e-bike, I had no idea what I was missing
I recently moved to the suburbs and I don’t have a car, and when I talk about how annoying it is to get simple errands done, everyone just says “get a car”. But I work from home and would need to theoretically make
@@InventaChrisCars also cost money, and have unquantifiable impacts on society and the environment. With the upfront costs, reoccurring costs, and the unquantifiable, it’s not worth it.
I recently moved from Toronto to Calgary and the thing that struck me the most was how unwalkable the latter is. I had to wait a couple of weeks to get my car (I wanted a vehicle to go hiking in the mountains!) and I've never spent so much on Ubers. The closest grocery store from my house was 4 km away, buses only came every hour, and sidewalk infrastructure is terrible. I now how a newfound respect for people who are unable to drive
I live in Toronto, Canada in the city and recently had to get rid of my car because of mechanical reasons. I am so happy I can either walk or take transit. i don't feel safe riding a bike, though
As an European who has lived in Miami for a few months, I can say that not having a good public transport network hindered my experience there by A LOT. It's a shame, because the city has so much potential for this (as well as the whole of the US), but people don't seem to realise how much they would benefit from it. There seems to be a sort of stigma against public transport (and those who use them).
You’re right! I’ve lived in Miami for 33 years and everyone who lives in SW Miami has a car and refuses to spend money on public transportation. It’s a pity. Time to change the mindset. Hopefully transportation will be better.
I visited Miami last fall and believe it has at least a decent rail system, at least by US standards. What's more, it now has high-speed rail (by US standards) to Orlando.
I live in a car free village. Yes, it's a thing. I live in Switzerland and there are some small villages around the country that are care free simply because they are up in the mountains (and in beautiful landscapes that need to and have been chosen to be protected) so the're just not accessible by cars. I work in a hotel and sometimes we have to explain to guests that they just cannot get here by car (you can take the train, or the cableway or hike up), and it's very interesting because some people just don't understand or have never heard of such thing. When we tell them it's car free they think it's a limited traffic area or something, but no, we just don't have cars and you cannot access the village with one.There are few electric vehicles with very low speed limit for companies who need them (construction, delivery, hospitality, etc..) and obviously people with impaired mobility have permits to keep vehicles (these vehicles are brought here by train if you're wondering). So yes, it's possible. Of course it's a small village and every essential service is in ten minutes walking from each other but i still like to emphasize that it's a thing and, at least in some circumstances, it' s possible. Proper infrastructure and planning can completely make up for cars. Not only i haven't used a car in one year, i haven't needed it. i can't describe the impact that this has on my day to day quality of life. Spending maybe one fourth a year in transportation compared to a car (without counting the money to buy the thing). Walking to the grocery shop in the summer and smelling flowers instead of car gas. Sledging in the street in december when it's not very busy. Having small children walk in the street freely because it's safe for them. Pets can just wonder around. You can just stroll around as slowly and chill as you like while drinking a coffee and chatting with your friends because you don't need to make room or watch out for cars. The streets are actually used by people and not by cars. And i could go on. I am blatantly biased cause i love this place so much but limiting cars in our everyday life and having public transportation that fully substitutes it is something very overlooked in and it has mind blowing practical effects on quality of life.
Sounds like a literal dream! I went for a holiday in Sud-Tirol, in the Dolomites, and we visited a few tiny town, such as San Magdalena. Since my husband and I don't have driving licence it didn't even occur to us to drive there. The public transport is amazing (especially compare to where we live, in the Côte d'Azur. It's not unlivable, but defo not easy without a car) and we could sense that cars are not welcome in those mountain villages, many NO PARKING signs, but an old local shouting a couple in a car was the biggest giveaway.
That sounds really nice! But I thought of two aspects which at least theoretically make me less inclined with the idea of car free towns. As a woman, I simply don't feel safe going out at night as a pedestrian. I get it, you are located in a small touristy village where that is probably not a concern but right now I live in a big city with very limited parking space and I go out less even though I have more options than in my former smaller city where I could even go to the club by car. The second thing is, how do you teach children to be aware of cars? If I was a parent, I would be so worried when I would move to a different place where there were cars because my children never learned to watch out for traffic.
@@Shirumoon gosh sorry to hear that. Anyway it's super safe, never had problems with any of that luckily. As for the children, they go to middle school down in the valley (where there are cars), and before that usually people go in town for errands or night outs so kids do come in contact with cars but aren't surrounded by them. Also it's generally car free but there's agricultural machinery and electric cars for the companies that need them. They go super slow but in general kids can get the idea of staying away from cars. You have a point though, whenever i leave i find myself not paying attention to traffic and it takes me a while to readjust😅
I live in Switzerland now too and have been to a few car free villages. Curious which one you live in, as an expat? Also, a lot of old towns here are more pedestrian friendly than car friendly and very conducive to walking. I do almost everything in my town on foot, even though we have a car. It is set up to make it a convenient choice.
Loved this interview! I live in Chicago and don't own a car. When the pandemic started, I began walking everywhere I possibly could, depending on the distance. Now I feel safe taking public transit but I still walk if I can! It's so nice knowing I have such a reliable mode of transportation lol. But I went to the burbs for a wedding and the hotel was 800 feet away from a restaurant I wanted to pick food up from. 800 feet in a city is like a block, nbd. But because of this mega 6 lane residential street I had to walk close to half a mile around and about just to safely cross the road and make it to the restaurant. And the parking lot wasn't even pedestrian friendly! No where to walk besides the road or the grass medians. Got lots of weird looks by cars passing by too because I'm sure it's not common to see people do that. I'm so grateful I live in a walk-able city!
Thank you so much for talking about these topics, Chelsea & TFD! I'm from southwestern Ontario (Canada) where it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to live without a car. My parents forced me to get my driver's licence as soon as I could. They had two cars (a necessity since my dad worked in a different city and drove to and from work every day), and I ended up becoming my families' taxi driver. It was awful. We wasted SO MUCH MONEY on gas, parking fees (I would have to pay exorbitant parking fees for a spot on the uni campus), care, and time when instead, my sister and I could have taken the bus and (partially) walked to high school/university. I bought one car (secondhand), sold it less than a year later, and haven't looked back since. HOWEVER, I have lived in many countries for work (including Canada where I now work from home), and some have had AMAZING public transport systems (affordable, more than one option of transport, etc.) and support for alternative transport (Shanghai and Tokyo) and other places where, like Canada, there was such an obscene attachment to owning and driving a car that there was absolutely NO infrastructure for pedestrians/cyclists (Kuwait, Oman, Qatar where there are A LOT of STROADS, not unique to the US, lol!). My friends and family in Canada laugh at the fact that I don't own a car. They laugh that I bought and use an e-bicycle or take the bus (at 40 years of age). I don't mind because I am healthier, calmer (I ended up having extreme road rage because I was a bit too safe when driving and ANYONE who didn't follow road rules sent me into a rage I didn't think I was capable of), and wealthier. I also love walking and cycling. But heaven forbid I don't love driving-and don't even get me started about environmental impact and consumption/waste. One last point: I think that walking and cycling has offered me a better connection to landscape and an appreciation of my surroundings 😊
I came to your channel for the financial stuff, I stayed for the cultural. As a German, I know we have our own problems with car addiction, but man ... you guys are on an entire different level o.O I've been biking since I was 4 or 5 years old. The thought of owning a car is o foreign to me ... and yes, a lot of it as to do with the bubble I grew up in and live, and there are definitly other bubbles in Germany too, but still :D
As an adult who doesn’t drive, I appreciate this intelligent and insightful conversation! I’d love to see the U.S. become less of a car culture and more of a walking/cycling/public transit culture like some other countries.
I had to go to the Netherlands for business, and even outside of the bigger cities (I was in Amsterdamn, Eindhoven, and Weert) I was stunned by how walk-able it was. I did not need my local colleagues to chaufer me around in the way that I did when they came to my office Stateside and I was immediately jealous. It's just SO much more pleasant to walk/ride in. Speaking of that, I'd love to see a conversation with Not Just Bikes or Strong Towns as well, since they were mentioned so much here!
It drives me up a wall when people think the only place that is walkable is Manhattan. Small rural towns are some of the best urban places. They have main streets. They have beautiful tree canopies and shade for walking.The have relaxed zoning laws that let your neighbor have a different increment of house than you. And so many of them were built around train stations.
I was born in rural, raised in small town county seat USA in the south, they are not walkable, whatsoever. Same problem in smaller scales, no sidewalks, food deserts, lack of infrastructure, etc. for example I walked a mile to school, fine, but crossed 2 truck routes.
@@jasminewilliams1673 oh I 100% believe you. There are many small towns where people walk to visit friends and do other daily things and they don’t have sidewalks. But i can think of several small towns in Missouri and southern Illinois that have beautiful main streets with houses all around them where they used to be able to walk to the local grocer and doctor times changed when Walmart rolled into town.
Agree, George! I was raised in a town like this, have lived in many cities around the country since then, and now am working towards moving back to one of these pre-motor age towns with a true urbanist appeal. I want my kids to have the independence from a young age that a walkable community like this allows
Thank you for articulating this. Some Jersey towns are totally walkable and have train lines running through - they are also the most expensive 😳. Not all people want to live in high-rises.
“… a freedom to do what whatever we want versus the freedom from the consequences of everybody else doing whatever they want.” That’s a very concise, mic drop sound byte. Great interview!
I live in a suburb in Northen Europe and it's great. There is good train connection to the city and I use my bike to get to the station. We also have a school, library, pharmacy and 2 small grocery stores - so no need to drive for basic necessities. I hope US can re-imagine what suburbs could be!
Same situation here in central Europe. When I moved to the suburbs public transport wasn't good so I needed a car. But as soon as a train station was built near my neighbourhood and the bus lines were reorganised I could get rid of it. Now I ride my bike (no e-bike) to the train but on days with very unpleasant weather I can take the bus. In the city center I have a second bike for trips to make there. I save myself a lot of time and money because I was able to cancel the gym and have almost no costs for my vehicle. I do larger transports by taxi or with car sharing and, together with the network card for public transport, the cost is still a tenth of the cost of a car. But most importantly, my health has recovered because daily exercise makes a big difference compared to going to the gym every few days.
Chelsea, you 100% are correct! The impact on health is incredible when you don't rely on a car. I lived in Sweden and within one year changed my health by 360 degrees just walking and riding a bike wherever I went and the bonus, I loved it. It was a positive factor on my mental health. Keep these great videos coming, please!
The local civic association had a meeting about adding bike lanes to the main road through the neighborhood. They were very against it. Came up with contrived situations where they have to slow down for someone in the bike lane and get hit from behind. Saying "if I get hit from behind I'm going into the bike". Really the argument boiled down to if there is any situation I can think of where this improvement to other modes of transportation will inconvenience me as a driver in any way, then I'm against it.
I’m only 90 seconds in but I already love this. I live in suburban NY (Westchester) and I don’t drive. Everyone I know thinks I’m crazy but they have no idea 1) how many people actually should not be driving yet have a license… as a pedestrian, I get hit almost daily; 2) how low I can keep minimum monthly expenses by not driving; and 3) how handy it can be to know how to navigate public transportation in case of an emergency/major traffic disruption.
As American I feel we have a size insecurity complex: Big house Big car Big watches Big phones Big guns Big body parts Big debt But small bank accounts
Depends on who you are. I'm an American with a compact house (could afford larger), efficient electric cars that are not large, normal watch, no guns, not overweight and have a good size bank account!
Oh my god I haven't watched this yet but I'm so excited. I've been subscribed to The War on Cars for so long and have constantly been talking about how forced car ownership in the US needs to be talked about more from both a financial, safety, and environmental perspective! And macro, car infrastructure is disastrous for US cities financially. Almost every city in the country is in debt and a large part is due to the enormous cost of maintaining roadways - wear and tear that is MAJORLY from cars and trucks. It'd be fascinating to have someone from Strong Towns talk about this on TFD! Going beyond individual financial effects to municipal and city! I'm so excited to listenn!
I am a suburb person, but I very much appreciate this discussion. It has been and continues to be a huge, huge issue of mine that no one is building SMALL. My house is about the size of those 1000 sqft apartments but NO ONE is building that size anymore. So the limited stock there is just continues to age while McMansions go up around the corner housing the same number of people. It's an absolute travesty.
What an intelligent discussion. I have so many thoughts to this. I have been saying developers need to offer smaller homes for the public for years - it's flat stupid that we as consumers do not have the option to purchase a 1k sq foot home; its only huge houses available. I do not need that much space, nor do I want it.
OH MY GOSH I FORGOT TO ADD. NOT HAVING A LICENSE IMPACTS YOUR CAREER CHOICES. Like I can't apply for a housecleaning job which could make a decent amount of money. Most parents want a childcare provider who has a license (which I get if you're picking them up from school but if for emergencies sake, I promise you want an ambulance with tools and professionals, not a nanny in a car.) Even some government desk jobs are like lol you need a license. I'm confident I could work in any one of those careers but no license means no way. Or a giant uphill battle. There's the fact that 999999999.99% of side hustles accessible to the average person (how easy is it to get a part time, remote, data entry job compared to literally just downloading Uber Eats and filling out some forms and starting that week?) And then there's the assumptions. Oh my gosh. I'm not an alcoholic, I've never touched alcohol. I've never had a license so I couldn't have it taken away. I've wanted to learn for years but didn't as a teen, and college I was in a walkable city (also shout out to college towns being walkable/bikeable, you don't need to be a big city to make non-car transport a priority.) yet it's assumed that I'm just lazy. When cars are just speeding past in droves and you're just kinda standing around at the stop like I'm an adult too! But it sends a signal of child waiting for the school bus theme. It affects not only the potential to make money and have financial security, but your reputation. Like getting to church there's one bus an hour on Sundays. So I get one shot to be on time or I miss. So I ask for a ride, but it is honestly embarrassing to continually ask. We should prioritize carpooling. That's literally what the carpool lane is for! But everyone refuses. So yeah, if anyone has thoughts on that as well.
I don’t go to church but I relate to all the rest of what you said. My mom told me when I was a teen that I had to ask my abusive dad (they’re not together) to help my pay for my license so I just never got one. Even when I became a mom I found a way to make it work. Either my husband drives us or we take public transportation/ cabs etc. I live in a city with decent public transportation which helps
The poeple at your church should be empathetic and willing to help another human in need. It's sad they don't just offer to carpool if they know it is difficult for you. If they aren't, you're going to the wrong church.
I live in a village in the south of England, it has decent bus connections to the closest town and villages as well as the airport. But the best form of transport is the train which takes you to the nearby towns and also to London and Cambridge. I still have my complaints here, a lot of people still use their cars (especially their 'Chelsea tractors') which puts me off cycling! One thing I didn't realise about life in the USA is the concept of dog parks, when I take my dogs for a walk I take them out to the local park or around the countryside, both options I can walk to from my house using the pavements and old footpaths. It blows my mind that a dog walk for some people starts by going in a car.
I dislike cars and have never wanted to own one but my family has been pressuring me for years to get one. Seeing someone defend being voluntarily carless is so refreshing. I'm glad there is a community that can see what a waste of money and brainspace and a strain of the environment they can be.
As long as you are not relying on your family with cars and licenses to give you rides, then it shouldn't matter to them if you have a car. If you are relying on them for rides, it makes sense why they would want you to be less dependent upon them. My mom didn't have a car for decades and running her around for hours weekly with 3 little kids was exhausting and expensive.
I just had a discussion this weekend about how the average family can't afford the average car. And then you have a few who want to buy the escalade instead of the suburban and really can't afford it.
Loved this conversation! Recently got an E-bike because after surgery last year I just don't have the stamina I used to. I'm able to make the same 10 mile Saturday market run that I used to drive to, now even faster on my bike! It's such a game changer and it's the best purchase I've made recently. Also, I live in FL and I don't even want to imagine how much more sweaty I would be on a manual bike. 😆
Great video. It's rare for me to come across someone giving financial advice who talks about the soundness of transit/ending or reducing car dependence. I happily live in a dense, fairly transit rich part of LA (Koreatown) with a bike and love not having a car, though transit and city design could be so much better here. Subscribed.
On the ableism point: I have a variable disability which means I can physically cycle, but it's dangerous for me to do so around cars or without company because my knee can fail without warning. I live in a middle-of-the-road city, London. We have cycle lanes, but they're too small and on roads, so still dangerous for me. I would love to be able to just cycle places safely.
I have epilepsy and can't drive. I've lived places with no public transit, no sidewalks, nothing and let me tell you not only does it suck having to walk an hour to work while everyone stares and yells at you for being too close to the road but I felt like I was in constant danger of being ran over. Not to mention it was generally more unsafe especially for a small woman to be walking around alone, random people loved to slow their cars down and follow me asking where I was going and trying to convince me fo get in their car after I said no thank you 20 times. Of course safety can be an issue in some areas of cities with good transit options as well, but in a lot of places it's a problem EVERYWHERE, even in the very public uptown areas of the city that should absolutly be walkable and "good" neighborhoods. But when you're the only person outside of a car in an area you're a target, as opposed to places where it's normal to see humans. People also assume you're up to no good when you walk through neighborhoods and I got stopped constantly so people could berate me about existing in a way that inconveniences them or makes them feel uncomfortable. This wasn't even the middle of nowhere. It was a college town. I live in a city now where most people do have cars but there is public transportation and almost always sidewalks, sometimes bike lanes. It's so much better and so much safer for everyone involved. Also rideshare apps like lift are great for those of us that can't drive, I'm so glad it's a thing now! It's crazy to me how uncomfortable it makes people to see a human just existing outside of a vehicle in some places. We do need more infrastructure but we also need to normalize pedestrians in a lot of US areas. In some places people stare like they've seen a ghost if they see someone walking somewhere going about their day! People also assume I must be super poor and so sad that I don't have a car. God forbid someone choose not to have a car! Obviously I have a disability as well and love to save the money, but I really have never wanted to drive anyways. I prefer to walk and use public transit and not have to think about driving. That idea really blows some people's minds! Luckily I prefer to live in the city anyways, but I feel for everyone who lives in places you can't get around without a car. Cars are convenient and great accessibility tools for some people, but they absolutely should ne optional and there has to be options available for people with disabilities or who can't drive for whatever reason!
Thank you for speaking up about this. I know someone whose autism involves motor clumsiness and thus they cannot drive. It's totally bizarre that the common mindset is to not consider healthy ways to get around.
Ugh people get such a ego trip behind a vehicle. Carpool shouldn't just be for soccer moms, but people don't like to share what they have or live collaborately. I want to live my overcrowded over gentrified home city, but am so against the car centered infrastructure across America it's difficult
Bike theft is such a barrier to this! I live in Toronto, which is quite cyclable, but the bike theft is too much, I can’t afford to buy a new $300 bike each year or come back and find my bike gone. Bike shares are good for that though, but less flexibility in where you can leave them.
@@xLightningboltFair! My options aren't biking instead of using a car, i use public transit, i just love to bike as I can go more places faster and it is cheaper long term, but everyone in my family has had their bikes stolen, and I guess I am also curious what cities can do to help that.
When I visited NYC I was surprised to see the amount of really nice cars parked outside of residential areas. I'm living in a suburban sprawl situation myself and it blew my mind that people were choosing to get a car, even a luxury car, in the one place where you really don't need one. Cars are an expensive burden and even the nicest one can be totaled in a second.
Well public transportation in NYC is not equally distributed. People who visit NYC say 'NYC' when they usually mean Manhattan. The other boroughs may not have equal access (or any, or reliable access) to public transit.
You keep hitting all my favourite topics and are doing collabs with so many TH-camrs that I also watch, whose content is so relevant! This is great, and increasingly the world shrinks 😅
Jaywalking is a stupid thing to anyone who grew up in a country where public transport and walking is normal. When I lived in Oregon the grocery store was 20 minutes walk, the Americans didn't get why I walked
This feels like world colliding lol, I work in Active Travel Infrastructure and having the financial diet talk about what I do as my day job is like. Mind blowing xD
While we were in Montreal a month ago we saw public bike fix-it stations where if you get a flat or bend a spoke you can fix it for free! Mind blown. The 2nd Ave contractor was late and over budget and still got a multi six-figure "bonus". Public infrastructure is built and funded by 100% cronyism here in NYC.
I think, in addition to the acute need for better bike infrastructure, there needs to be more awareness about how to share roads with bikes. I currently live in southern Bavaria and often ride on the street (because the sidewalks are used *surprise* by pedestrians). Despite the sometimes heavy car traffic from tourists, I feel waaaaay more comfortable riding on the street here in Germany than I ever have in the States, because I can tell that drivers are aware of bikes here.
Viewing from Copenhagen, working with cycling politics on a national level, this is very interesting to listen to. Thank you so much. I just had so many things to I wanted to add to your conversation for a Danish perspective. Good job on explaining all the very specific details on cycling culture. Speaking about cargo bikes. Next weekend August 20th we have the Danish open cargo bike championships here in CPH. Svajerløbet it is called. Again. Thank you so much. 🙏
I drive a small car that I have completely paid off. I live in the suburbs and chauffeur two kids around. The car was well affordable and just the right size for my small family. When I drop my kids off to school or camp, I see these massive lifted GMC Denalis and Ford F-150s. I see these same people with just as many kids as mine complain about gas prices and scoff at my compact car. How any reasonable person can drop $60-80k on these giant vehicles is beyond me.
Never felt like the "laughs in European" has fit better. In all seriousness, love that we're having these conversations and there is so much to improve everywhere including most places here
I remember hanging out and having a conversation with a Parisian friend once who was talking about issues with the Paris Metro and RER and I talked about my experience with American public transit and both of us coming to the conclusion that it's a lot easier to complain about public transit when it's good compared to when it's bad
what an amazing conversation and video! i just moved back to the us after living in spain for 3 years and traveling to different places in europe. not enough words for how much i miss being able to walk for everythingggg. i'm also someone with not a lot of drivng experience and so i'm still not feeling 100% confident in gettng behind the wheel alone. i loved the convo on freedom and what is true freedom in terms of this conversation. also i think it speakes volumes how a cousin of mine, his wife is from japan and she has lived in the us for 15/20 years. one time i asked her what she misses most about japan, (expecting her to say something food or culture related) and her answer was "walking, just being able to walk everywhere like going to the store etc"
Great interview. Sick of being the prisoner of the car. We all know someone who was killed by a car. I know some people that were injured or killed as pedestrians. As for abelist, I also know a person in an electric wheelchair that's been hit more than once by cars.
Ah, yes, the old "able-ism" argument. Because cars, which can only be safely operated by healthy adults who are between the ages of about 17 and 70 and have functioning eyeballs, legs, and hands, are not able-ist. Somehow.
Also, having no infrastructure to walk/bike/catch public transport forces everybody into cars, which means that people who can't use active transport have to spend a lot longer in a car to get anywhere, which is ableist in my view. And to be honest, a good walkable street is able to have a person in a wheelchair on it better than forcing them to drive or be driven everywhere they go.
I live in Southern California and would love to not need a car! Luckily I am totally socially isolated and work from home so only drive 30-40 miles a month. I love when I go to New York and don't need to workout bc I am walking so much, often up and down stairs to the subway. I have a bike and ride it when I can but it has been around 90 degrees everyday and riding my bike in this weather is too much for my body. Good for you Chelsea for riding the bike on 100 degree New York weather! The worst part in my mind is trash smell in that heat and the need to breathe more deeply bc of the exertion.
RE: "ablism" and cars. TLDR: this argument is mostly bullshit. My Mom developed MS in the 1960s, when I was born, and was in a wheelchair from the 1980s to her death in 2016. She spent the last decade of her life in a care facility for people with various disabilities. In my experience, very few severely disabled people use cars as their primary transportation: specially adapted vans and SUVs for power chairs are very expensive (100K or more), and most cities and towns have wheelchair transit services or wheelchair cabs that can be booked to take you door to door. That's what they use. People with greater mobility, the elderly or those who have heart disease or arthritis or COPD that limits how far they can walk, often have a scooter to replace longer distance walking and use other aids for short distances. They stick the crutches or the rollerator or the cane on the back of the scooter and tootle along the sidewalk until they get to the place they're going to, then they use their cane. These people also use transit for the same reason the power chair users do. The people who use cars as their primary mobility aid are mostly younger paraplegics in manual chairs, of Madison Cawthorne's level of disability. They have specially adapted hand-controlled cars, and the upper body strength to sling the folded chair into the back seat. The other category of car-dependent disabled are limited mobility people who live in car-dependent places -- they will literally park their pickup in the wheelchair parking in front of Target and shop with their canes in the shopping cart. For car-dependant disabled people living in the city (a pretty small community) it's easy to issue special license plates or temporary permits (for the "I have to drive my mom to the doctor's office" cases) and limit access for all other drivers.
It really is such bullshit, and I almost guarantee the people making the claim of ableism are not disabled. I have epilepsy, and so do a lot of other people. We don't have a choice to drive or not, and when I had to take up cycling because transit wasn't working with my work schedule I got hit by a car. I now have too much anxiety to cycle, so I just have to live with our bus system no matter how inconvenient it is. I don't even live in the suburbs, I live pretty close to my city core.
With all due respect to Doug, I think the person who asked for tips about overcoming anxiety with regards to public transit deserved a little more grace in the answer. YES, statistically speaking, you are way more likely to experience bodily harm in a car compared to on public transit. HOWEVER, especially if you are a woman or a racial minority (especially Asian or Asian-American as Doug rightly pointed out), it's not just bodily harm you are concerned about, but also the psychological harm of being cat-called or verbally abused or sexually harassed on public transit, or otherwise made to FEEL unsafe regardless of what actually happens to you. And this is NOT a rare occurrence. Anyway I lived in LA for a couple of years and regularly took public transit, here are some ACTUAL tips for helping yourself to feel safer on public transit and overcome transit anxiety (until the day comes that public transit is prioritized the way it should be and we can all feel safer traveling together!): 1. Chances are, there will be certain "lines" that are known to be safer than others (for example, the Expo line in LA is known for being cleaner and less likely to be verbally abused vs. the Red line). Figure them out and either avoid using certain lines or prepare yourself mentally when you do take them. 2. If you end up taking the bus and feel nervous, sit near the bus driver. If someone tries to bother you chances are the bus driver will shoo them away for you, especially if they are causing a disturbance near the front of the bus. 3. If there is a route you will take often, try taking it on a weekend when there will be fewer people on transit to get used to it. 4. Set some reasonable boundaries about when you will/will not take transit. For example, maybe you will not take transit after 9pm, and budget the rideshare/scooter/ebike/etc you will need at that time. 5. DO NOT listen to anything over noise-cancelling headphones until you are 100% comfortable with riding transit! Even when you are more comfortable, consider letting some noise filter in through the headphones so they are not totally noise-cancelling.
To add: Some bigger bus stops (like park and rides and bigger transfer centers) where i live also have security there. They're very approachable and friendly and good at their jobs. If you can, make friends with them, but even if you don't, they will look out for you.
This is a HUGE issue in rural areas too. Those areas get dismissed sometimes, but we ride on the backs of agriculture and manufacturing there, and older residents, sick, ill, financially disadvantaged? Its a huge barrier to accessing groceries, social events, medical care and more. We need rural areas. We can't pave the world with cities and survive. By the same token, there is virtually no infrastructure to serve those in rural areas who need, for example, access to cancer treatments.
I live in San Antonio, TX. Today I drove 3 minutes to go to a coffee shop that I could've walked to in 15 minutes. I chose to do this because the walk to get to the coffee shop makes me feel incredibly unsafe. Not just because of crossing and walking along busy streets but also because of being one of the only people (especially women) walking in an otherwise deserted cityscape. Despite Texas (especially the Austin-San Antonio corridor) being one of the fastest growing places in the country, we continue to sprawl rather than encourage density and investment in public transportation. It's incredibly frustrating. I used to live in Birmingham, Alabama (a surprisingly walkable city!) and one of the things I miss the most is feeling safe while walking to the grocery store, gym, and coffee shop within 30 minutes of my apartment.
I love the freedom my car gives me. AND I would love to decouple my car from that freedom. But that’s not possible in my area under most circumstances. I’ve known people who can’t drive for different reasons (age, disability, etc) and it is terribly isolating. Just recently I did not want to drive in a major city, and tried to use public transit instead. It was not possible without driving an extra hour to use transit from a different side of the city, or taking an Uber.
Loved this episode. I feel the same way. I live rurally and having a car is really the only option. We have been a one car family for years (until my husband was able to use a work vehicle to and from work) and still only own one compact crossover. We have no plans to buy a second vehicle. People always said “how do you do it?” And even when we didn’t use a work vehicle it would be a bit annoying sometimes but really it was fine. We made it work. In the nearest towns there is no public transit, no bike lanes. I really want to advocate for better transportation options and for infrastructure as the town expands. Not just for eco friendly purposes but for people of all income levels and the betterment of society as a whole. Let’s not sprawl!
45:01 The saddest meal I ever ate was Arby's drive through, alone, in my car, on a rainy night after my wife asked me for a divorce. It was sorrow eating, pure and simple. I just had to get out of the house and drive, and I couldn't pass up an Arby's in that moment.
Doug mentions that our subways do not have elevators, because only 25% of NYC subway stations have elevators, a gross ADA violation. However, that is NOT the case in other cities. 100% of MBTA stations in Boston have elevators and so do all Metro stations in DC. NYC buses also do not allow moms to have open strollers on them but require them folded up (try doing that while waiting for a bus and holding a baby). This is again not the norm in other cities. NYC is uniquely ableist and anti-family/kids, which is why so many parents with more than one kid still own cars there. It's too difficult to get around otherwise. I always mention this to family / friends in NYC who don't have little kids, and they usually haven't even noticed it.
I was on a bus with a mother and a couple kids. Her baby was asleep and she was only going a couple stops. The bus driver would not moved and called the police. It was terrible
For the question at 16:20 : living in a city is much better in terms of carbon on many points : - Insulation : most units in a city are apartments, which means they do not lose heat on all 6 sides of the unit (4 sides + top and bottom), but usually on only 1 side. - Cars : less car trips, less carbon. - Car infrastructure and utilities : the sheer length of road and utilities that need to be built for detached housing makes it unsustainable financially and ecologically. That's too much material and that needs to be replaced too often to be sustainable when it serves only a few houses. That's why most cities in the US have gone bankrupt, sometimes several times. This series of videos goes into much more details than I ever could in a comment, I suggest you watch it : th-cam.com/video/y_SXXTBypIg/w-d-xo.html There are other points as well, but this would make this comment way too long I believe. Short answer though : ecologically speaking it is much better to live in a city. Unless you want to live in the woods with no utilities and no car, completely off-grid.
Internationally, public transport is a fundamental offering to provide a means to get around. Cars coexist just like bikes, scooters, etc. Domestically, the suburban mindset about limited or no public transport was designed around “keeping people out.” This mindset of fear mongering residents to be entitled about transportation was also by design. When residents see people who don’t live in the area instantly they think crime, etc. Now that the suburbs have become a neighborhood / community bottleneck, limiting the expansion of transport offerings is now the battle. Cars first; the rest last. Switzerland, Netherlands, and other countries aside, catering to rural areas are priority vs. cities.
Also a cost of living requirement. Unintuitive as it sounds, people actually like to live somewhere with a high cost of living - it keeps out all the undesirable lower classes. All countries do it, but the US does it more than most. Nice expensive sprawling suburbs for the middle class, and then some tower blocks for the poor people, where they are kept out of sight.
@@vylbird8014 depends…. Take Paris for example: the poor or less income stable live in the suburbs while those who can afford to live in the city proper. Same for London, Tokyo and San Francisco. In these cases, it’s not keeping people out but, land locking real estate values and cultural amenities.
Sounds like areas around me. Once we started making buses extend to the suburbs in Minnesota we saw another round of white flight or really just rich people fleeing because they thought buses and transportation = more crime and diversity. I’ve heard people say they were moving out of a burb because a certain ethnicity was starting to show in numbers. Just sad all the layers of this. I was born and raised in an urban area and I currently live in the suburbs. People ask me all the time why I live so far out/ it’s a personal choice and I have the means to do it. My home isn’t massive, my car is older and I am partnered so double income household. We chose the area we live in based on how close we are to some family since we just had a child as well.
@@ashawntiford1457 We do the same thing in Britain, except we never actually /say/ it. We're British! We're not racist! Absolutely unthinkable that we might be racist. But those forigners, there's something that looks a little shifty. I mean, I'm not a racist... but you can never be sure about them. Maybe we should more to somewhere out in the country, somewhere more traditional.
This really put into focus for me another issue you only touched on a bit, and that’s how being a parent changes the situation even when one is inclined to walk or bike. I live in a small Midwest city. For a time I lived close enough to my job that I could walk or bike there, it was doable to bike to the grocery store, and so forth. I had my first kid, when he was two I could put him in a seat on the back of my bike and take him to day care, then bike to work. Now I have two kids and any bike trip I take is going to be an outing. The amount of time it takes to prepare, the knowledge that I have to keep my kids safe on their own bikes, even walking is a different calculation because I know the trip will take longer with them. Yes, I know there are benefits to making that time, but I’m already stretched thin with everything expected of me and I don’t have the time or energy.
I feel like an idiot every time I drive to the gym. But, it's too far to walk and too dangerous to ride my bike (which would defeat the purpose anyway). I just want to use the pool and the studio without spending an organ in gas 😭
If your goal is to remove personal ownership of cars why not focus on new city development and planning. Moving to the city center is a tough sale where at best you pay the same money for less space and control over transportation
I live outside of Seattle and recently became disabled. Even with the bus routes all around me, kneeling buses, and near guaranteed seating, I still ended up getting a car just because using the bus was painful. It was a couple of blocks on bad sidewalks to the uncovered bus stop, then a few blocks from the bus to my office with what feels like 45 degree hills. I would be wiped for the whole day just getting myself to the office.
Loved this interview/discussion! Love that your content in starting to include this sort of thing! These are such important topics to discuss. Keep it coming! 😊
The state where I live absolutely refuses to invest in public transportation. There are many affluent neighborhoods that have the NIMBY view and they raise hell every time the idea of expansion is brought up. The transportation we have here is limited and stops at an insane time like 11pm so it’s essentially useless. Some people have to take 3 and 4 buses to get to work which severely impacts their quality of life and job opportunities. Then there are some bus operators who have no idea how to work the function that allows people in wheelchairs to board. It’s a mess.
Love this topic!! The guest’s comments are really insightful. I love using buses or trains. I would read so many books and occasionally even take a nap in a bus. We have a 12 year old car and we know it might not work in a couple of years, so now we have to sell it to get a new car, which I hate. I’d love for this car to work forever. I live in a suburb and have to drive for everything.
I lived for 10 years in San Francisco without a car. Loved it. Didn't have to look for parking, pay for insurance, maintenance, etc. I know it's different when you live in Fargo, North Dakota, and you can't walk or bike when it's 20 below in Winter. I get it! However, substituting one car trip a week with walking and/or biking is much healthier for you.
It is an infrastructure issue. Watch « not just bikes » episode on winter biking in Finland. If I lived in a place with such well maintained winter biking infrastructure I would bike in the snow also. It looks beautiful.
Talk about timings! On holiday in The Netherlands and Germany from the UK and these guys make our public transport look like trash. I wish we had a biking culture like the Dutch; we would all be so much happier and better off financially.
I lived in the NL for a year and the cycling was the BEST thing about it. So much freedom, endorphins, fun - I pray for the day the UK adopts this culture. I don’t think it’ll happen in my lifetime sadly but I live in hope. The public transport was the next best thing.
Just an anecdote from non-city, I-15 arterial Utah: a UTA train station *just* opened within walking distance of my home and I'm super excited to take the train to work this Fall. Unfortunately, it's still a 10 minute drive up a Wasatch range foothill to get to the grocery store. My town is far from the transit oriented dream my city council has; but at least we're dreaming.
a lot of suburbanism is rooted in fear, or basically "phobia" of the other. the whole point is not to mix with the other demographics, whatever they may be.
I'm lucky enough to live within walking distance (along a6 lane stroad) to a pharmacy, grocery store, small shopping center, and emergency services. I am a huge car guy, and I can't ever picture myself without a car, predominantly because it is a hobby of mine. With that said, I definitely wish that a lot more places would be built in a way that doesn't revolve around a car. I would greatly appreciate more places that I don't have to take my car. Even the places that I'm within walking distance, are still in areas that are less than safe to walk on. It's almost always a 45 mile an hour road that I then have to walk alongside with little to no protection from the street.
I think if your suburb is big enough to be a small village, it should have its own corner store(s), maybe preferably next to a neighborhood park with a smaller parking lot for disabled spots, bikes, scooters, and maybe golf carts. And then more people will be able to get their necessities so much quicker!!!
27:34 if you think that cars are considered as one of the five milestones of adulthood then you get to understand how we got here. I think it's insane and it shouldn't be considered a milestones.
I bike 90% of the time to work ( including winters) We have limited bike lanes and car drivers seem to have zero understanding of road rules. Both in lanes and out I have been sworn at, spit at, put in dangerous situations by drivers. We have to do better and offer safe alternatives. As to Freedoms, like guns, fireworks , cars etc does not and should not mean that we have NO responsibilities for the common good. I find that most of those who are soooo fixated by freedoms ( like guns etc) do not recognize the social contract.
The funny thing about cars as a status symbol is if you live or work in an affluent area, like Seattle, Redmond and Bellevue (Eastside lake Washington cities) there are SO MANY fancy cars around here, that you just get used to seeing all the the Tesla's, Rolls-Royce, Bentleys and Lambos, that it takes a more and more expensive or weird car to surprise you. Now I only get excited if I see a mazarati or a Ferrari with a unique paint job and rims. And then somewhere like Panama City Beach, when my family visited Florida for spring break, there were SO MANY tall squatty jeeps and pick-ups... It just becomes comical.
When I moved to a place where having a car was necessary - I'd spent many years in a place where I could do without - I was SO ANNOYED that I couldn't walk to anything I needed. Edit for typos.
About to move to uni in the U.S. and many (not all) college towns and college campuses are not centered around cars, but instead bikes and walking. I live 5 min walk from campus and 15 min walk to the grocery store, I am soooo excited! I am only taking a car for when I drive back home :/ thats a long drive. I love my bike I could just cry! I also hate driving because I drive the speed limit, but it seems majority of people drive over the speed limit
I am a car guy and I love to drive a lot, but I am completely for mass transit in the cities. I grew up in the DC metro area and taking the metro to the city from my area in the suburbs was much better than driving. I currently live on the edge of the suburbs and driving is needed. In my area, the sidewalks are relatively new and very wide, so many people will ride bicycles or drive golf carts to buy groceries if they are nearby.
this is so interesting. a germon non fit person here, the german part is important because of the likewise strong car lobby here. but i started commuting via bike 2 years ago and recently ramped it up: I sleep much better, I am less stressed / frustrated and yes I lost weight. after getting a bike i pay rough 120 e a year on my vehicle. now bike lanes are not nearly as good as in the netherlands, but the bicycle lobby grows stronger and with the rising fuel costs this year the biggest automobile club advised its members to ride more bicycles. I live in a city ( on the countryside this could be more difficult) and I can see how the municipal goverment is trying to make the centre less and less attractive for casual driving. great idea for a video
Thank you for this episode!! I love my bike and hate my car! 🤣 If I could I would ride my bike everyday if the year but I live in the middle of Alaska and it gets a bit too cold. I do, however, ride it as much as possible in the warmer months.
This was such a cool episode! I feel like I've been thinking about a few of the themes discussed here, but haven't been able to weave it as wonderfully as Doug! I used to live in Somerville, MA (mentioned in the video here) and it was so wonderful living there. I didn't have to drive and there was so much opportunity for community and mutual aid that didn't require you to spend a lot of money. I am back in my hometown of Los Angeles and it has been dreadful to drive and spend money on car expenses. Thank you so much for having Doug on here. I learned so much and felt inspired that a better world where public transit and better bike lanes reign!
I live in Missouri and I HATE driving. I had to get a car to be able to get to work, travel, handle tasks etc. but wow driving with other people on the road and how UNSAFE and impulsive they can be gives me anxiety every time - let alone how EXPENSIVE it is- I will finish paying off my car in September and I can’t tell you all the ways I desire to celebrate. I started working from home October 2021 and the level of relief I felt is indescribable. Knowing that I don’t have to go out there and drive every day, I’m able to save money on gas and car maintenance, and only drive when it’s absolutely necessary because fortunately I am walking distance from my grocery store, a dollar store and a health food store. I appreciate this conversation thank you as always TFD 💙
Being dutch 🇳🇱, I love this discussion. I am a woman over 50, have rheumatic artritis and walking, cycling and public transport are very possible and healthy for me. I only drive if I have to. For me driving is the more exhausting way of transportation (and the most expensive).
As someone who likes to drive, I'd point out that most motorists genuinely seem to be terrified or incompetent - I don't think the "car culture" (as experienced by the majority) is so much by choice, as it is by necessity (most motorists are "commuters" rather than "drivers" - you can identify "commuters" from the utter lack of care or effort they show for piloting a 3,000+lb chunk of metal). I suspect everyone would be happier if better transit options made driving an option, rather than a necessity.
So glad you guys touched on disabilities with car ownership! I love to walk to the store, but have a long term disability that hits me at random times and I literally have to drive across the street on those days. Awesome interview as always!
I think this might have been the best episode y'all have ever done. I absolutely loved this!!! Thank you both so much for such an educational and empowering conversation!
Former Philadelphian, where there is an ever growing infrastructure for bikes/scooters. I lived there at two different periods of my life; first was 89-96(my early 20s) and the second time was 04-20. In my 20s, the first time, I rode my bike everywhere and loved it!! My safety was MY responsibility and I needed to be very aware of both pedestrians/motorists, but it was great to not need and ultimately got rid of my car. When I moved back in 04, after years of living in the Florida city I'd grown up in, entirely car culture... the biking infrastructure had become exstensive in Philadelphia As we moved through to early 2000s and more and more people were biking/scootering for transpotation... the more dangerous being a pedestrian was/is becoming. Despite bike lanes, countless cyclists/scooterists refused to use the bike lanes and started using the sidewalks and pedestrian walkways through parks, so they wouldn't have the danger of cars to deal with. They are completely entitled; have zero concern for pedestrians, won't even say "behind you/on your right/left" and would run over your dog, knock people out of the way... they'd actually become far more dangerous than drivers. I LOVE being back in car culture, despite traffic.
The Back Forest Family channel has a couple of great, in-depth video on urban planning in Germany vs. the USA. I recommend it for your upcoming videos on American suburbs.
Amazing interview, thank you! Seriously considering getting an e-bike now, as I'm lucky enough to live in a more walkable suburban area but it is still easier to take a car places and its a hilly area so biking is pretty difficult
I live in Amsterdam, grew up there as well. My parents never owned a car and I now need to buy my own car because as a MD I need to do nightshifts. If it wasnt for the nightshifts that I need to do I wouldnt need a car and could just ride my 50€ second hand bike everywhere. So Im getting the smallest car possible!
I've gotten by my entire life not driving a car. I've never had a liscense, I've never owned a car. It hasn't been easy, but I'm glad that I made the decision. I never wanted the cost or responsibility.
I really loved this episode. Personally, I agree that a car-dependent society has eroded the well-being of people and communities everywhere. And that's to say nothing of the cost it takes to own and maintain a vehicle. It's part of the reason why I choose to live in denser areas with good public transport, even though I can afford to do otherwise.
I am from Europe, and while i lived in suburban US, i made the mistake of walking home in the evening (on this narrow "sidewalk", if you can call it that). It was natural for me, but evidently not for anyone else, because a police car stopped next to me, asking if i was alright, if i needed help. That was soooo surreal for me!!! The biggest culture shock i had while living there!
Oh no, you're walking!! Why? Are you OK, were you OK?? 😆 🤣
Reminds me of the short story “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury
As a New Yorker who doesn't drive and lives in a small apartment, I also think what motivates people into purchasing these huge houses is that community spaces don't exist in many, many parts of the country. I can bring two, three tote bags to the park, to which I can take a bus, and have an afternoon barbecue. If I walk a little further, I can go to the public pool. If I forgot my sunscreen or need extra ice or whatever, I can walk to the corner store. I can take a bus to the beach and spend the whole day there. Suburbs require so much: car, gas, tolls, parking.
Definitely! Suburbs and small towns seem to reject community areas besides churches and the occasional library or a coopted highschool school gym. Anywhere else might be a fitness center, a Wal-Mart, or a private country club with dues. So it's all mostly privatized space.
@@Iquey I live in Alabama my small city has a few parks and a state park do not own a car I bicycle commute
I live in surbub that has propper sidewalks but i also dont live in america
Yes
And don't forget that those tolls don't pay for the additional infrastructure wear and tear nor the upkeep of those subdivision roads or utility infrastructures which end up becoming burdens on the denser populated tax paying centers that never even go to the suburbs
I lived in Philly for almost 10 years. The first couple of years I was doing a lot of subway riding, and when I switched to biking my world really opened up no longer being tethered to the transit schedule. I still did use transit and would take cabs, but biking was the best form of transportation. I did everything possible on my bike, even if it seemed a little crazy (ie, biking a frozen turkey home in my backpack for Thanskgiving.) I have moved to the southern US and while there is some biking infrastructure, the car culture is so pervasive that I don't feel safe biking to get my weekly groceries. Now all the bikers I see are people in spandex who are recreational bikers, every day and underpaid people don't even consider bikes here.
Edit: Also wish you'd had time to mention the growing size of cars themselves. I'm 5'1" and there are some newer trucks and SUVs where I can barely see over the front grill. This only makes me more nervous to be a pedestrian at times because I'm worried drivers literally won't see me!
The size of vehicles is discussed a lot on his podcast War on Cars. The car show episode talks about how ridiculous the size of these cars are
I believe there have been a couple studies showing how dangerous the larger designs of cars can be. With the concern coming not only from the fact that impact higher up the body is more likely to be fatal to a pedestrian in a car crash but also the visibility issue you mentioned. smh.
Aaaaahhhh
You aren't wrong to be more afraid of the larger SUVs and trucks. Statistically, they're involved in more accidents with pedestrians because of blind spots.
I live in Alabama I bicycle commute a 10 mile radius is not far for me and drivers want to kill me
The fact that there are published studies showing cities with large public transit systems have healthier people is just another reminder that lobbyists are working with the government to keep 'customers' for the health care industry and very little of what is decided by the government is for the health and safety of the people.
America wasn't built with peoplenin mind. It was built with businesses in mind and is the product of their shady practices to maximize profits.
I think it‘s just enough that policy doesn‘t care about health and is just focused on the car industry.
We need to unite and fight back against these absurd ways they want to build America. No more exurbs!
I've lived in the Houston area for almost six years now and if you aren't in the urban core, like the very middle of it, this city actively wants pedestrians dead. Would love improvements like expanded rail lines and actual sidewalks out in the burbs.
I visited Houston frequently in the past due to family ... if I ever needed to devise a means of letting my loved ones collect my life insurance early, I'd consider walking in Houston as well. The drivers are - criminally - insane.
I grew up in Houston suburbs and made the mistake of not begging my parents to get driving classes as early as possible and it ruined my social life because I went nowhere. Of course the pandemic didn't help my tendency to isolation but I blame so much of my very long lasting homebody behavior and degraded mental health as a result to the sheer unhuman urban design of this godforsaken city.
@@HSQadri drivers out here do not give a damn about your life or theirs. It's wild.
@@wattthefaqameye1146 it really does mess with your independence being stranded like that in such a car-dependent place.
Sadly, you could substitute just about any large American for Houston in this case.
As someone who grew up in Moscow until the age of 10, I can confirm the amount of freedom you have in a walkable city where you're a 5 min walk from school, you can take the trolly or a bus, and get on the subway at the age of 10 on your own. It's also important in developing independent adults. I used to have a mixed commute to my extracirriculars on my own everyday. I can also say that that freedom being stripped from me in dreadful burbs of Atlanta was devastating. As soon as I could drive, i begged for a car and when i got it i felt like i had my freedom back. Even living jusy east of downtown Atlanta, i can confirm that I still can not live without a car and its a huge part of my freedom.
The dad part is that most Americans think that investing into mixed modes of transportation in terms of funding for infrastructure will infringe on their freedoms as drivers. It's so sad, as a person who never wanted a car and is really anxious when it comes to driving i really enjoyed my college experience in a walkable area and dreaded life once i became reliant on a car to survive. There's no semblance of social mobility or a sense of freedom when the only option is a car commute 😢 especially here in Houston where ppl are so aggressive and armed
Just wanted to say how much i appreciate you naming the Midwest as well. This can't just be a east coast/west coast conversation. There are a whole lot of us in between who feel strongly about this and want to be part of the conversation. Thanks for the Chicago call outs!
This may be your best podcast yet. I grew up in California and we desperately need public transit, but lobbying is so strong that it gets shot down every time :(
I live in or near Sacramento county and outside of the Downtown Sac area, transit is pretty ass. We need statewide improvements to public transit immediately
9/11/22 🌙 611
So true!
So true!
I see buses in California. I don't know who takes them.
thank the democratic party and the car companies
I wonder how much of car culture is rooted in classcism and racism. I live in the south and people think walking/biking/busses are for "poor people" or " people on the bad side of town" aka the one part of our city that isn't getting gentrified at rocket speed.
I’m guessing a lot 😩
It's definitely classism and racism. Nice neighborhoods even in liberal Seattle often have no sidewalks. It's just, people's yards+road, and I think it's a subtle way of keeping "the walkers" aka poor ppl OUT.
Read about Robert Moses. He had a hard on for cars and car culture and designed even public transit to be racist as fuck. It is all rooted in racism and capitalism as is literally everything
I would argue that racism and classism definitely were at the root of car culture. It was also a way to manipulate a market to make the car a necessity when they weren’t before.
Sexism and ablism/disablism are also wrapped up in these structures. There are disabled people who can only get around by driving, but there are also disabled people who can only get around by doing everything but driving.
This is the video that finally convinced me to try biking to work at least once....now I'm OBSESSED!! it's now one of the best parts of my day! Thank you for evangelizing the e-bike, I had no idea what I was missing
I recently moved to the suburbs and I don’t have a car, and when I talk about how annoying it is to get simple errands done, everyone just says “get a car”. But I work from home and would need to theoretically make
I am having the same issue as well 😢
@@dianaaguilera4386mannnnnnnn ugghhhhhh the sentiment of “car- car- car” in suburbs is annoying
Move to the city
Time is money.
Cars save time.
@@InventaChrisCars also cost money, and have unquantifiable impacts on society and the environment. With the upfront costs, reoccurring costs, and the unquantifiable, it’s not worth it.
I recently moved from Toronto to Calgary and the thing that struck me the most was how unwalkable the latter is. I had to wait a couple of weeks to get my car (I wanted a vehicle to go hiking in the mountains!) and I've never spent so much on Ubers. The closest grocery store from my house was 4 km away, buses only came every hour, and sidewalk infrastructure is terrible. I now how a newfound respect for people who are unable to drive
I live in Toronto, Canada in the city and recently had to get rid of my car because of mechanical reasons. I am so happy I can either walk or take transit. i don't feel safe riding a bike, though
First and foremost: one bus per hour is no bus at all. Ops, missed the bus. I'll wait 59 minutes!
As an European who has lived in Miami for a few months, I can say that not having a good public transport network hindered my experience there by A LOT. It's a shame, because the city has so much potential for this (as well as the whole of the US), but people don't seem to realise how much they would benefit from it. There seems to be a sort of stigma against public transport (and those who use them).
You’re right! I’ve lived in Miami for 33 years and everyone who lives in SW Miami has a car and refuses to spend money on public transportation. It’s a pity. Time to change the mindset. Hopefully transportation will be better.
If you're in the US, public transit is only "for poor people."
I visited Miami last fall and believe it has at least a decent rail system, at least by US standards. What's more, it now has high-speed rail (by US standards) to Orlando.
I live in a car free village. Yes, it's a thing. I live in Switzerland and there are some small villages around the country that are care free simply because they are up in the mountains (and in beautiful landscapes that need to and have been chosen to be protected) so the're just not accessible by cars. I work in a hotel and sometimes we have to explain to guests that they just cannot get here by car (you can take the train, or the cableway or hike up), and it's very interesting because some people just don't understand or have never heard of such thing. When we tell them it's car free they think it's a limited traffic area or something, but no, we just don't have cars and you cannot access the village with one.There are few electric vehicles with very low speed limit for companies who need them (construction, delivery, hospitality, etc..) and obviously people with impaired mobility have permits to keep vehicles (these vehicles are brought here by train if you're wondering). So yes, it's possible. Of course it's a small village and every essential service is in ten minutes walking from each other but i still like to emphasize that it's a thing and, at least in some circumstances, it' s possible. Proper infrastructure and planning can completely make up for cars.
Not only i haven't used a car in one year, i haven't needed it. i can't describe the impact that this has on my day to day quality of life. Spending maybe one fourth a year in transportation compared to a car (without counting the money to buy the thing). Walking to the grocery shop in the summer and smelling flowers instead of car gas. Sledging in the street in december when it's not very busy. Having small children walk in the street freely because it's safe for them. Pets can just wonder around. You can just stroll around as slowly and chill as you like while drinking a coffee and chatting with your friends because you don't need to make room or watch out for cars. The streets are actually used by people and not by cars. And i could go on. I am blatantly biased cause i love this place so much but limiting cars in our everyday life and having public transportation that fully substitutes it is something very overlooked in and it has mind blowing practical effects on quality of life.
You are living my dream. That is all.
Sounds like a literal dream!
I went for a holiday in Sud-Tirol, in the Dolomites, and we visited a few tiny town, such as San Magdalena. Since my husband and I don't have driving licence it didn't even occur to us to drive there. The public transport is amazing (especially compare to where we live, in the Côte d'Azur. It's not unlivable, but defo not easy without a car) and we could sense that cars are not welcome in those mountain villages, many NO PARKING signs, but an old local shouting a couple in a car was the biggest giveaway.
That sounds really nice! But I thought of two aspects which at least theoretically make me less inclined with the idea of car free towns.
As a woman, I simply don't feel safe going out at night as a pedestrian. I get it, you are located in a small touristy village where that is probably not a concern but right now I live in a big city with very limited parking space and I go out less even though I have more options than in my former smaller city where I could even go to the club by car.
The second thing is, how do you teach children to be aware of cars? If I was a parent, I would be so worried when I would move to a different place where there were cars because my children never learned to watch out for traffic.
@@Shirumoon gosh sorry to hear that. Anyway it's super safe, never had problems with any of that luckily. As for the children, they go to middle school down in the valley (where there are cars), and before that usually people go in town for errands or night outs so kids do come in contact with cars but aren't surrounded by them. Also it's generally car free but there's agricultural machinery and electric cars for the companies that need them. They go super slow but in general kids can get the idea of staying away from cars. You have a point though, whenever i leave i find myself not paying attention to traffic and it takes me a while to readjust😅
I live in Switzerland now too and have been to a few car free villages. Curious which one you live in, as an expat? Also, a lot of old towns here are more pedestrian friendly than car friendly and very conducive to walking. I do almost everything in my town on foot, even though we have a car. It is set up to make it a convenient choice.
Loved this interview! I live in Chicago and don't own a car. When the pandemic started, I began walking everywhere I possibly could, depending on the distance. Now I feel safe taking public transit but I still walk if I can! It's so nice knowing I have such a reliable mode of transportation lol. But I went to the burbs for a wedding and the hotel was 800 feet away from a restaurant I wanted to pick food up from. 800 feet in a city is like a block, nbd. But because of this mega 6 lane residential street I had to walk close to half a mile around and about just to safely cross the road and make it to the restaurant. And the parking lot wasn't even pedestrian friendly! No where to walk besides the road or the grass medians. Got lots of weird looks by cars passing by too because I'm sure it's not common to see people do that. I'm so grateful I live in a walk-able city!
Also from Chicago! Love it here!! So mad about our lack of protected bike lines, wild drivers and constantly delayed cta tho lol😩
Sounds like you went to Oak Brook or Naperville! Lol
Thank you so much for talking about these topics, Chelsea & TFD!
I'm from southwestern Ontario (Canada) where it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to live without a car.
My parents forced me to get my driver's licence as soon as I could. They had two cars (a necessity since my dad worked in a different city and drove to and from work every day), and I ended up becoming my families' taxi driver. It was awful. We wasted SO MUCH MONEY on gas, parking fees (I would have to pay exorbitant parking fees for a spot on the uni campus), care, and time when instead, my sister and I could have taken the bus and (partially) walked to high school/university.
I bought one car (secondhand), sold it less than a year later, and haven't looked back since. HOWEVER, I have lived in many countries for work (including Canada where I now work from home), and some have had AMAZING public transport systems (affordable, more than one option of transport, etc.) and support for alternative transport (Shanghai and Tokyo) and other places where, like Canada, there was such an obscene attachment to owning and driving a car that there was absolutely NO infrastructure for pedestrians/cyclists (Kuwait, Oman, Qatar where there are A LOT of STROADS, not unique to the US, lol!).
My friends and family in Canada laugh at the fact that I don't own a car. They laugh that I bought and use an e-bicycle or take the bus (at 40 years of age). I don't mind because I am healthier, calmer (I ended up having extreme road rage because I was a bit too safe when driving and ANYONE who didn't follow road rules sent me into a rage I didn't think I was capable of), and wealthier. I also love walking and cycling. But heaven forbid I don't love driving-and don't even get me started about environmental impact and consumption/waste. One last point: I think that walking and cycling has offered me a better connection to landscape and an appreciation of my surroundings 😊
I came to your channel for the financial stuff, I stayed for the cultural. As a German, I know we have our own problems with car addiction, but man ... you guys are on an entire different level o.O I've been biking since I was 4 or 5 years old. The thought of owning a car is o foreign to me ... and yes, a lot of it as to do with the bubble I grew up in and live, and there are definitly other bubbles in Germany too, but still :D
In Europe public transit is normal and connections makes unnecessary to use cars also with bicycle way
My car was the worst financial decision I ever made. I felt like having a car was a necessity. America had brainwashed me.
Walkability and public transport infrastructure were the most important factors when deciding to purchase my home.
As an adult who doesn’t drive, I appreciate this intelligent and insightful conversation! I’d love to see the U.S. become less of a car culture and more of a walking/cycling/public transit culture like some other countries.
I had to go to the Netherlands for business, and even outside of the bigger cities (I was in Amsterdamn, Eindhoven, and Weert) I was stunned by how walk-able it was. I did not need my local colleagues to chaufer me around in the way that I did when they came to my office Stateside and I was immediately jealous. It's just SO much more pleasant to walk/ride in.
Speaking of that, I'd love to see a conversation with Not Just Bikes or Strong Towns as well, since they were mentioned so much here!
It drives me up a wall when people think the only place that is walkable is Manhattan. Small rural towns are some of the best urban places. They have main streets. They have beautiful tree canopies and shade for walking.The have relaxed zoning laws that let your neighbor have a different increment of house than you. And so many of them were built around train stations.
I was born in rural, raised in small town county seat USA in the south, they are not walkable, whatsoever. Same problem in smaller scales, no sidewalks, food deserts, lack of infrastructure, etc. for example I walked a mile to school, fine, but crossed 2 truck routes.
@@jasminewilliams1673 oh I 100% believe you. There are many small towns where people walk to visit friends and do other daily things and they don’t have sidewalks. But i can think of several small towns in Missouri and southern Illinois that have beautiful main streets with houses all around them where they used to be able to walk to the local grocer and doctor times changed when Walmart rolled into town.
@@jasminewilliams1673 come to New England. Gorgeous walkable towns.
Agree, George! I was raised in a town like this, have lived in many cities around the country since then, and now am working towards moving back to one of these pre-motor age towns with a true urbanist appeal. I want my kids to have the independence from a young age that a walkable community like this allows
Thank you for articulating this. Some Jersey towns are totally walkable and have train lines running through - they are also the most expensive 😳. Not all people want to live in high-rises.
“… a freedom to do what whatever we want versus the freedom from the consequences of everybody else doing whatever they want.” That’s a very concise, mic drop sound byte. Great interview!
I live in a suburb in Northen Europe and it's great. There is good train connection to the city and I use my bike to get to the station. We also have a school, library, pharmacy and 2 small grocery stores - so no need to drive for basic necessities. I hope US can re-imagine what suburbs could be!
Same situation here in central Europe. When I moved to the suburbs public transport wasn't good so I needed a car. But as soon as a train station was built near my neighbourhood and the bus lines were reorganised I could get rid of it. Now I ride my bike (no e-bike) to the train but on days with very unpleasant weather I can take the bus. In the city center I have a second bike for trips to make there.
I save myself a lot of time and money because I was able to cancel the gym and have almost no costs for my vehicle. I do larger transports by taxi or with car sharing and, together with the network card for public transport, the cost is still a tenth of the cost of a car. But most importantly, my health has recovered because daily exercise makes a big difference compared to going to the gym every few days.
Chelsea, you 100% are correct! The impact on health is incredible when you don't rely on a car. I lived in Sweden and within one year changed my health by 360 degrees just walking and riding a bike wherever I went and the bonus, I loved it. It was a positive factor on my mental health. Keep these great videos coming, please!
The local civic association had a meeting about adding bike lanes to the main road through the neighborhood. They were very against it. Came up with contrived situations where they have to slow down for someone in the bike lane and get hit from behind. Saying "if I get hit from behind I'm going into the bike". Really the argument boiled down to if there is any situation I can think of where this improvement to other modes of transportation will inconvenience me as a driver in any way, then I'm against it.
that’s revealing on most of said neighborhood’s attitudes:
drivers over bikes
I’m only 90 seconds in but I already love this.
I live in suburban NY (Westchester) and I don’t drive. Everyone I know thinks I’m crazy but they have no idea 1) how many people actually should not be driving yet have a license… as a pedestrian, I get hit almost daily; 2) how low I can keep minimum monthly expenses by not driving; and 3) how handy it can be to know how to navigate public transportation in case of an emergency/major traffic disruption.
As American I feel we have a size insecurity complex:
Big house
Big car
Big watches
Big phones
Big guns
Big body parts
Big debt
But small bank accounts
Big butts are sexy. Every other trend can go to hell, though.
Big egos. That's the jump off.
Depends on who you are. I'm an American with a compact house (could afford larger), efficient electric cars that are not large, normal watch, no guns, not overweight and have a good size bank account!
Oh my god I haven't watched this yet but I'm so excited. I've been subscribed to The War on Cars for so long and have constantly been talking about how forced car ownership in the US needs to be talked about more from both a financial, safety, and environmental perspective! And macro, car infrastructure is disastrous for US cities financially. Almost every city in the country is in debt and a large part is due to the enormous cost of maintaining roadways - wear and tear that is MAJORLY from cars and trucks. It'd be fascinating to have someone from Strong Towns talk about this on TFD! Going beyond individual financial effects to municipal and city!
I'm so excited to listenn!
You should check out the channel "not just bikes" as well. I think they've done collabs with Strong Town in the past
@@SwingAndAMiss. Definitely! I've been a Not Just Bikes subscriber since the beginning of the channel!
I am a suburb person, but I very much appreciate this discussion. It has been and continues to be a huge, huge issue of mine that no one is building SMALL. My house is about the size of those 1000 sqft apartments but NO ONE is building that size anymore. So the limited stock there is just continues to age while McMansions go up around the corner housing the same number of people. It's an absolute travesty.
What an intelligent discussion. I have so many thoughts to this. I have been saying developers need to offer smaller homes for the public for years - it's flat stupid that we as consumers do not have the option to purchase a 1k sq foot home; its only huge houses available. I do not need that much space, nor do I want it.
OH MY GOSH I FORGOT TO ADD. NOT HAVING A LICENSE IMPACTS YOUR CAREER CHOICES.
Like I can't apply for a housecleaning job which could make a decent amount of money.
Most parents want a childcare provider who has a license (which I get if you're picking them up from school but if for emergencies sake, I promise you want an ambulance with tools and professionals, not a nanny in a car.)
Even some government desk jobs are like lol you need a license.
I'm confident I could work in any one of those careers but no license means no way. Or a giant uphill battle.
There's the fact that 999999999.99% of side hustles accessible to the average person (how easy is it to get a part time, remote, data entry job compared to literally just downloading Uber Eats and filling out some forms and starting that week?)
And then there's the assumptions. Oh my gosh.
I'm not an alcoholic, I've never touched alcohol.
I've never had a license so I couldn't have it taken away.
I've wanted to learn for years but didn't as a teen, and college I was in a walkable city (also shout out to college towns being walkable/bikeable, you don't need to be a big city to make non-car transport a priority.) yet it's assumed that I'm just lazy.
When cars are just speeding past in droves and you're just kinda standing around at the stop like I'm an adult too! But it sends a signal of child waiting for the school bus theme.
It affects not only the potential to make money and have financial security, but your reputation.
Like getting to church there's one bus an hour on Sundays. So I get one shot to be on time or I miss. So I ask for a ride, but it is honestly embarrassing to continually ask. We should prioritize carpooling. That's literally what the carpool lane is for! But everyone refuses.
So yeah, if anyone has thoughts on that as well.
I don’t go to church but I relate to all the rest of what you said. My mom told me when I was a teen that I had to ask my abusive dad (they’re not together) to help my pay for my license so I just never got one. Even when I became a mom I found a way to make it work. Either my husband drives us or we take public transportation/ cabs etc. I live in a city with decent public transportation which helps
The poeple at your church should be empathetic and willing to help another human in need. It's sad they don't just offer to carpool if they know it is difficult for you. If they aren't, you're going to the wrong church.
I live in a village in the south of England, it has decent bus connections to the closest town and villages as well as the airport. But the best form of transport is the train which takes you to the nearby towns and also to London and Cambridge. I still have my complaints here, a lot of people still use their cars (especially their 'Chelsea tractors') which puts me off cycling! One thing I didn't realise about life in the USA is the concept of dog parks, when I take my dogs for a walk I take them out to the local park or around the countryside, both options I can walk to from my house using the pavements and old footpaths. It blows my mind that a dog walk for some people starts by going in a car.
A lot of people here will start their own walk or bike ride by getting in a car.
@@karikling6751*sigh*
I dislike cars and have never wanted to own one but my family has been pressuring me for years to get one. Seeing someone defend being voluntarily carless is so refreshing. I'm glad there is a community that can see what a waste of money and brainspace and a strain of the environment they can be.
I feel that, but having an extra $600 in your pocket every month makes it easier to ignore them. 😄
As long as you are not relying on your family with cars and licenses to give you rides, then it shouldn't matter to them if you have a car. If you are relying on them for rides, it makes sense why they would want you to be less dependent upon them. My mom didn't have a car for decades and running her around for hours weekly with 3 little kids was exhausting and expensive.
I just had a discussion this weekend about how the average family can't afford the average car. And then you have a few who want to buy the escalade instead of the suburban and really can't afford it.
@ivanbraginskienjoyer2089car’s a road trap
get it?
Loved this conversation! Recently got an E-bike because after surgery last year I just don't have the stamina I used to. I'm able to make the same 10 mile Saturday market run that I used to drive to, now even faster on my bike! It's such a game changer and it's the best purchase I've made recently. Also, I live in FL and I don't even want to imagine how much more sweaty I would be on a manual bike. 😆
War on Cars + TDF?!? This channel has the best collabs!!
Great video. It's rare for me to come across someone giving financial advice who talks about the soundness of transit/ending or reducing car dependence. I happily live in a dense, fairly transit rich part of LA (Koreatown) with a bike and love not having a car, though transit and city design could be so much better here. Subscribed.
On the ableism point:
I have a variable disability which means I can physically cycle, but it's dangerous for me to do so around cars or without company because my knee can fail without warning. I live in a middle-of-the-road city, London. We have cycle lanes, but they're too small and on roads, so still dangerous for me. I would love to be able to just cycle places safely.
I have epilepsy and can't drive. I've lived places with no public transit, no sidewalks, nothing and let me tell you not only does it suck having to walk an hour to work while everyone stares and yells at you for being too close to the road but I felt like I was in constant danger of being ran over. Not to mention it was generally more unsafe especially for a small woman to be walking around alone, random people loved to slow their cars down and follow me asking where I was going and trying to convince me fo get in their car after I said no thank you 20 times. Of course safety can be an issue in some areas of cities with good transit options as well, but in a lot of places it's a problem EVERYWHERE, even in the very public uptown areas of the city that should absolutly be walkable and "good" neighborhoods. But when you're the only person outside of a car in an area you're a target, as opposed to places where it's normal to see humans. People also assume you're up to no good when you walk through neighborhoods and I got stopped constantly so people could berate me about existing in a way that inconveniences them or makes them feel uncomfortable. This wasn't even the middle of nowhere. It was a college town. I live in a city now where most people do have cars but there is public transportation and almost always sidewalks, sometimes bike lanes. It's so much better and so much safer for everyone involved. Also rideshare apps like lift are great for those of us that can't drive, I'm so glad it's a thing now!
It's crazy to me how uncomfortable it makes people to see a human just existing outside of a vehicle in some places. We do need more infrastructure but we also need to normalize pedestrians in a lot of US areas. In some places people stare like they've seen a ghost if they see someone walking somewhere going about their day! People also assume I must be super poor and so sad that I don't have a car. God forbid someone choose not to have a car! Obviously I have a disability as well and love to save the money, but I really have never wanted to drive anyways. I prefer to walk and use public transit and not have to think about driving. That idea really blows some people's minds! Luckily I prefer to live in the city anyways, but I feel for everyone who lives in places you can't get around without a car. Cars are convenient and great accessibility tools for some people, but they absolutely should ne optional and there has to be options available for people with disabilities or who can't drive for whatever reason!
Thank you for speaking up about this. I know someone whose autism involves motor clumsiness and thus they cannot drive. It's totally bizarre that the common mindset is to not consider healthy ways to get around.
Ugh people get such a ego trip behind a vehicle. Carpool shouldn't just be for soccer moms, but people don't like to share what they have or live collaborately.
I want to live my overcrowded over gentrified home city, but am so against the car centered infrastructure across America it's difficult
Bike theft is such a barrier to this! I live in Toronto, which is quite cyclable, but the bike theft is too much, I can’t afford to buy a new $300 bike each year or come back and find my bike gone. Bike shares are good for that though, but less flexibility in where you can leave them.
Do you have pawn shops there? If so, try there. If not, check resale shops, yard sales, and online resale apps and platforms.
$300 a year is still cheaper than buying and running a car.
@@xLightningboltFair! My options aren't biking instead of using a car, i use public transit, i just love to bike as I can go more places faster and it is cheaper long term, but everyone in my family has had their bikes stolen, and I guess I am also curious what cities can do to help that.
When I visited NYC I was surprised to see the amount of really nice cars parked outside of residential areas. I'm living in a suburban sprawl situation myself and it blew my mind that people were choosing to get a car, even a luxury car, in the one place where you really don't need one. Cars are an expensive burden and even the nicest one can be totaled in a second.
It's another useless status symbol tiny egos need.
Well public transportation in NYC is not equally distributed. People who visit NYC say 'NYC' when they usually mean Manhattan. The other boroughs may not have equal access (or any, or reliable access) to public transit.
@@candlesandcarnage I spent the _least_ amount of time in Manhattan. I stayed in the Bronx and took the subway to every other burrough...
You keep hitting all my favourite topics and are doing collabs with so many TH-camrs that I also watch, whose content is so relevant! This is great, and increasingly the world shrinks 😅
Jaywalking is a stupid thing to anyone who grew up in a country where public transport and walking is normal. When I lived in Oregon the grocery store was 20 minutes walk, the Americans didn't get why I walked
This feels like world colliding lol, I work in Active Travel Infrastructure and having the financial diet talk about what I do as my day job is like. Mind blowing xD
While we were in Montreal a month ago we saw public bike fix-it stations where if you get a flat or bend a spoke you can fix it for free! Mind blown. The 2nd Ave contractor was late and over budget and still got a multi six-figure "bonus". Public infrastructure is built and funded by 100% cronyism here in NYC.
Don't be jealous, we've got plenty of corruption in Montreal too. Our potholes are famous around the world.
I think, in addition to the acute need for better bike infrastructure, there needs to be more awareness about how to share roads with bikes. I currently live in southern Bavaria and often ride on the street (because the sidewalks are used *surprise* by pedestrians). Despite the sometimes heavy car traffic from tourists, I feel waaaaay more comfortable riding on the street here in Germany than I ever have in the States, because I can tell that drivers are aware of bikes here.
Viewing from Copenhagen, working with cycling politics on a national level, this is very interesting to listen to. Thank you so much. I just had so many things to I wanted to add to your conversation for a Danish perspective. Good job on explaining all the very specific details on cycling culture. Speaking about cargo bikes. Next weekend August 20th we have the Danish open cargo bike championships here in CPH. Svajerløbet it is called. Again. Thank you so much. 🙏
I drive a small car that I have completely paid off. I live in the suburbs and chauffeur two kids around. The car was well affordable and just the right size for my small family.
When I drop my kids off to school or camp, I see these massive lifted GMC Denalis and Ford F-150s. I see these same people with just as many kids as mine complain about gas prices and scoff at my compact car.
How any reasonable person can drop $60-80k on these giant vehicles is beyond me.
Never felt like the "laughs in European" has fit better.
In all seriousness, love that we're having these conversations and there is so much to improve everywhere including most places here
I remember hanging out and having a conversation with a Parisian friend once who was talking about issues with the Paris Metro and RER and I talked about my experience with American public transit and both of us coming to the conclusion that it's a lot easier to complain about public transit when it's good compared to when it's bad
That's an argument I never thought about. What you don't know, you can't complain about.
what an amazing conversation and video! i just moved back to the us after living in spain for 3 years and traveling to different places in europe. not enough words for how much i miss being able to walk for everythingggg. i'm also someone with not a lot of drivng experience and so i'm still not feeling 100% confident in gettng behind the wheel alone. i loved the convo on freedom and what is true freedom in terms of this conversation.
also i think it speakes volumes how a cousin of mine, his wife is from japan and she has lived in the us for 15/20 years. one time i asked her what she misses most about japan, (expecting her to say something food or culture related) and her answer was "walking, just being able to walk everywhere like going to the store etc"
Great interview. Sick of being the prisoner of the car. We all know someone who was killed by a car. I know some people that were injured or killed as pedestrians. As for abelist, I also know a person in an electric wheelchair that's been hit more than once by cars.
Ah, yes, the old "able-ism" argument. Because cars, which can only be safely operated by healthy adults who are between the ages of about 17 and 70 and have functioning eyeballs, legs, and hands, are not able-ist. Somehow.
@@TheRealE.B. judgmentally pushing for one single acceptable way of doing things is ableist, because that’s not how human beings work. Period.
@@TheRealE.B. plus cars make many people disabled as well due to accident with other vehicles or pedestrians.
Also, having no infrastructure to walk/bike/catch public transport forces everybody into cars, which means that people who can't use active transport have to spend a lot longer in a car to get anywhere, which is ableist in my view. And to be honest, a good walkable street is able to have a person in a wheelchair on it better than forcing them to drive or be driven everywhere they go.
Drivers of motor vehicles kill approximately 45,000 people a year in USA. Cyclists kill approximately 2 people per year. hmmm 🤔
I live in Southern California and would love to not need a car! Luckily I am totally socially isolated and work from home so only drive 30-40 miles a month. I love when I go to New York and don't need to workout bc I am walking so much, often up and down stairs to the subway. I have a bike and ride it when I can but it has been around 90 degrees everyday and riding my bike in this weather is too much for my body. Good for you Chelsea for riding the bike on 100 degree New York weather! The worst part in my mind is trash smell in that heat and the need to breathe more deeply bc of the exertion.
RE: "ablism" and cars. TLDR: this argument is mostly bullshit.
My Mom developed MS in the 1960s, when I was born, and was in a wheelchair from the 1980s to her death in 2016. She spent the last decade of her life in a care facility for people with various disabilities. In my experience, very few severely disabled people use cars as their primary transportation: specially adapted vans and SUVs for power chairs are very expensive (100K or more), and most cities and towns have wheelchair transit services or wheelchair cabs that can be booked to take you door to door. That's what they use. People with greater mobility, the elderly or those who have heart disease or arthritis or COPD that limits how far they can walk, often have a scooter to replace longer distance walking and use other aids for short distances. They stick the crutches or the rollerator or the cane on the back of the scooter and tootle along the sidewalk until they get to the place they're going to, then they use their cane. These people also use transit for the same reason the power chair users do. The people who use cars as their primary mobility aid are mostly younger paraplegics in manual chairs, of Madison Cawthorne's level of disability. They have specially adapted hand-controlled cars, and the upper body strength to sling the folded chair into the back seat. The other category of car-dependent disabled are limited mobility people who live in car-dependent places -- they will literally park their pickup in the wheelchair parking in front of Target and shop with their canes in the shopping cart. For car-dependant disabled people living in the city (a pretty small community) it's easy to issue special license plates or temporary permits (for the "I have to drive my mom to the doctor's office" cases) and limit access for all other drivers.
It really is such bullshit, and I almost guarantee the people making the claim of ableism are not disabled. I have epilepsy, and so do a lot of other people. We don't have a choice to drive or not, and when I had to take up cycling because transit wasn't working with my work schedule I got hit by a car. I now have too much anxiety to cycle, so I just have to live with our bus system no matter how inconvenient it is. I don't even live in the suburbs, I live pretty close to my city core.
With all due respect to Doug, I think the person who asked for tips about overcoming anxiety with regards to public transit deserved a little more grace in the answer. YES, statistically speaking, you are way more likely to experience bodily harm in a car compared to on public transit. HOWEVER, especially if you are a woman or a racial minority (especially Asian or Asian-American as Doug rightly pointed out), it's not just bodily harm you are concerned about, but also the psychological harm of being cat-called or verbally abused or sexually harassed on public transit, or otherwise made to FEEL unsafe regardless of what actually happens to you. And this is NOT a rare occurrence.
Anyway I lived in LA for a couple of years and regularly took public transit, here are some ACTUAL tips for helping yourself to feel safer on public transit and overcome transit anxiety (until the day comes that public transit is prioritized the way it should be and we can all feel safer traveling together!):
1. Chances are, there will be certain "lines" that are known to be safer than others (for example, the Expo line in LA is known for being cleaner and less likely to be verbally abused vs. the Red line). Figure them out and either avoid using certain lines or prepare yourself mentally when you do take them.
2. If you end up taking the bus and feel nervous, sit near the bus driver. If someone tries to bother you chances are the bus driver will shoo them away for you, especially if they are causing a disturbance near the front of the bus.
3. If there is a route you will take often, try taking it on a weekend when there will be fewer people on transit to get used to it.
4. Set some reasonable boundaries about when you will/will not take transit. For example, maybe you will not take transit after 9pm, and budget the rideshare/scooter/ebike/etc you will need at that time.
5. DO NOT listen to anything over noise-cancelling headphones until you are 100% comfortable with riding transit! Even when you are more comfortable, consider letting some noise filter in through the headphones so they are not totally noise-cancelling.
To add:
Some bigger bus stops (like park and rides and bigger transfer centers) where i live also have security there. They're very approachable and friendly and good at their jobs. If you can, make friends with them, but even if you don't, they will look out for you.
This is a HUGE issue in rural areas too. Those areas get dismissed sometimes, but we ride on the backs of agriculture and manufacturing there, and older residents, sick, ill, financially disadvantaged? Its a huge barrier to accessing groceries, social events, medical care and more. We need rural areas. We can't pave the world with cities and survive. By the same token, there is virtually no infrastructure to serve those in rural areas who need, for example, access to cancer treatments.
I recently started taking my neighbor grocery shopping when he needs. It’s cheaper to go “into town” than the one rural grocery store.
I live in San Antonio, TX. Today I drove 3 minutes to go to a coffee shop that I could've walked to in 15 minutes. I chose to do this because the walk to get to the coffee shop makes me feel incredibly unsafe. Not just because of crossing and walking along busy streets but also because of being one of the only people (especially women) walking in an otherwise deserted cityscape. Despite Texas (especially the Austin-San Antonio corridor) being one of the fastest growing places in the country, we continue to sprawl rather than encourage density and investment in public transportation. It's incredibly frustrating. I used to live in Birmingham, Alabama (a surprisingly walkable city!) and one of the things I miss the most is feeling safe while walking to the grocery store, gym, and coffee shop within 30 minutes of my apartment.
I live in sa too, and walking has only gotten worse. Not to mention the heat.
I love the freedom my car gives me. AND I would love to decouple my car from that freedom. But that’s not possible in my area under most circumstances.
I’ve known people who can’t drive for different reasons (age, disability, etc) and it is terribly isolating.
Just recently I did not want to drive in a major city, and tried to use public transit instead. It was not possible without driving an extra hour to use transit from a different side of the city, or taking an Uber.
Loved this episode. I feel the same way. I live rurally and having a car is really the only option. We have been a one car family for years (until my husband was able to use a work vehicle to and from work) and still only own one compact crossover. We have no plans to buy a second vehicle. People always said “how do you do it?” And even when we didn’t use a work vehicle it would be a bit annoying sometimes but really it was fine. We made it work. In the nearest towns there is no public transit, no bike lanes. I really want to advocate for better transportation options and for infrastructure as the town expands. Not just for eco friendly purposes but for people of all income levels and the betterment of society as a whole. Let’s not sprawl!
45:01 The saddest meal I ever ate was Arby's drive through, alone, in my car, on a rainy night after my wife asked me for a divorce. It was sorrow eating, pure and simple. I just had to get out of the house and drive, and I couldn't pass up an Arby's in that moment.
Hope you're doing OK!
Doug mentions that our subways do not have elevators, because only 25% of NYC subway stations have elevators, a gross ADA violation. However, that is NOT the case in other cities. 100% of MBTA stations in Boston have elevators and so do all Metro stations in DC. NYC buses also do not allow moms to have open strollers on them but require them folded up (try doing that while waiting for a bus and holding a baby). This is again not the norm in other cities. NYC is uniquely ableist and anti-family/kids, which is why so many parents with more than one kid still own cars there. It's too difficult to get around otherwise. I always mention this to family / friends in NYC who don't have little kids, and they usually haven't even noticed it.
I was on a bus with a mother and a couple kids. Her baby was asleep and she was only going a couple stops. The bus driver would not moved and called the police. It was terrible
@@AmandaabnamA whoa you mean required that the baby come out of the stroller?
For the question at 16:20 : living in a city is much better in terms of carbon on many points :
- Insulation : most units in a city are apartments, which means they do not lose heat on all 6 sides of the unit (4 sides + top and bottom), but usually on only 1 side.
- Cars : less car trips, less carbon.
- Car infrastructure and utilities : the sheer length of road and utilities that need to be built for detached housing makes it unsustainable financially and ecologically. That's too much material and that needs to be replaced too often to be sustainable when it serves only a few houses. That's why most cities in the US have gone bankrupt, sometimes several times. This series of videos goes into much more details than I ever could in a comment, I suggest you watch it : th-cam.com/video/y_SXXTBypIg/w-d-xo.html
There are other points as well, but this would make this comment way too long I believe. Short answer though : ecologically speaking it is much better to live in a city. Unless you want to live in the woods with no utilities and no car, completely off-grid.
Internationally, public transport is a fundamental offering to provide a means to get around. Cars coexist just like bikes, scooters, etc. Domestically, the suburban mindset about limited or no public transport was designed around “keeping people out.” This mindset of fear mongering residents to be entitled about transportation was also by design. When residents see people who don’t live in the area instantly they think crime, etc. Now that the suburbs have become a neighborhood / community bottleneck, limiting the expansion of transport offerings is now the battle. Cars first; the rest last. Switzerland, Netherlands, and other countries aside, catering to rural areas are priority vs. cities.
Also a cost of living requirement. Unintuitive as it sounds, people actually like to live somewhere with a high cost of living - it keeps out all the undesirable lower classes. All countries do it, but the US does it more than most. Nice expensive sprawling suburbs for the middle class, and then some tower blocks for the poor people, where they are kept out of sight.
@@vylbird8014 depends…. Take Paris for example: the poor or less income stable live in the suburbs while those who can afford to live in the city proper. Same for London, Tokyo and San Francisco. In these cases, it’s not keeping people out but, land locking real estate values and cultural amenities.
Sounds like areas around me. Once we started making buses extend to the suburbs in Minnesota we saw another round of white flight or really just rich people fleeing because they thought buses and transportation = more crime and diversity. I’ve heard people say they were moving out of a burb because a certain ethnicity was starting to show in numbers. Just sad all the layers of this.
I was born and raised in an urban area and I currently live in the suburbs. People ask me all the time why I live so far out/ it’s a personal choice and I have the means to do it. My home isn’t massive, my car is older and I am partnered so double income household. We chose the area we live in based on how close we are to some family since we just had a child as well.
@@ashawntiford1457 We do the same thing in Britain, except we never actually /say/ it. We're British! We're not racist! Absolutely unthinkable that we might be racist. But those forigners, there's something that looks a little shifty. I mean, I'm not a racist... but you can never be sure about them. Maybe we should more to somewhere out in the country, somewhere more traditional.
I love the quality of these videos and the information that is provided for free. Keep up the good work,
This really put into focus for me another issue you only touched on a bit, and that’s how being a parent changes the situation even when one is inclined to walk or bike. I live in a small Midwest city. For a time I lived close enough to my job that I could walk or bike there, it was doable to bike to the grocery store, and so forth. I had my first kid, when he was two I could put him in a seat on the back of my bike and take him to day care, then bike to work. Now I have two kids and any bike trip I take is going to be an outing. The amount of time it takes to prepare, the knowledge that I have to keep my kids safe on their own bikes, even walking is a different calculation because I know the trip will take longer with them. Yes, I know there are benefits to making that time, but I’m already stretched thin with everything expected of me and I don’t have the time or energy.
I feel like an idiot every time I drive to the gym. But, it's too far to walk and too dangerous to ride my bike (which would defeat the purpose anyway). I just want to use the pool and the studio without spending an organ in gas 😭
If your goal is to remove personal ownership of cars why not focus on new city development and planning. Moving to the city center is a tough sale where at best you pay the same money for less space and control over transportation
I live outside of Seattle and recently became disabled. Even with the bus routes all around me, kneeling buses, and near guaranteed seating, I still ended up getting a car just because using the bus was painful. It was a couple of blocks on bad sidewalks to the uncovered bus stop, then a few blocks from the bus to my office with what feels like 45 degree hills. I would be wiped for the whole day just getting myself to the office.
Loved this interview/discussion! Love that your content in starting to include this sort of thing! These are such important topics to discuss. Keep it coming! 😊
The state where I live absolutely refuses to invest in public transportation. There are many affluent neighborhoods that have the NIMBY view and they raise hell every time the idea of expansion is brought up. The transportation we have here is limited and stops at an insane time like 11pm so it’s essentially useless. Some people have to take 3 and 4 buses to get to work which severely impacts their quality of life and job opportunities. Then there are some bus operators who have no idea how to work the function that allows people in wheelchairs to board. It’s a mess.
Love this topic!! The guest’s comments are really insightful. I love using buses or trains. I would read so many books and occasionally even take a nap in a bus. We have a 12 year old car and we know it might not work in a couple of years, so now we have to sell it to get a new car, which I hate. I’d love for this car to work forever. I live in a suburb and have to drive for everything.
I lived for 10 years in San Francisco without a car. Loved it. Didn't have to look for parking, pay for insurance, maintenance, etc. I know it's different when you live in Fargo, North Dakota, and you can't walk or bike when it's 20 below in Winter. I get it! However, substituting one car trip a week with walking and/or biking is much healthier for you.
It is an infrastructure issue. Watch « not just bikes » episode on winter biking in Finland. If I lived in a place with such well maintained winter biking infrastructure I would bike in the snow also. It looks beautiful.
Love this! I live in Europe but so much of what TFD discusses is relevant. Car culture is so powerful - thanks for talking about this!
Talk about timings! On holiday in The Netherlands and Germany from the UK and these guys make our public transport look like trash. I wish we had a biking culture like the Dutch; we would all be so much happier and better off financially.
I lived in the NL for a year and the cycling was the BEST thing about it. So much freedom, endorphins, fun - I pray for the day the UK adopts this culture. I don’t think it’ll happen in my lifetime sadly but I live in hope.
The public transport was the next best thing.
Just an anecdote from non-city, I-15 arterial Utah: a UTA train station *just* opened within walking distance of my home and I'm super excited to take the train to work this Fall. Unfortunately, it's still a 10 minute drive up a Wasatch range foothill to get to the grocery store. My town is far from the transit oriented dream my city council has; but at least we're dreaming.
I love these points about how it's not all or nothing, and how better transit and pedestrian architecture would actually benefit drivers.
a lot of suburbanism is rooted in fear, or basically "phobia" of the other. the whole point is not to mix with the other demographics, whatever they may be.
I guess you're one of those people who considers Asians to be white?
@@Nelle4ever no why wtf?
@@Creamy_Goodnessi concur
I'm lucky enough to live within walking distance (along a6 lane stroad) to a pharmacy, grocery store, small shopping center, and emergency services. I am a huge car guy, and I can't ever picture myself without a car, predominantly because it is a hobby of mine. With that said, I definitely wish that a lot more places would be built in a way that doesn't revolve around a car. I would greatly appreciate more places that I don't have to take my car. Even the places that I'm within walking distance, are still in areas that are less than safe to walk on. It's almost always a 45 mile an hour road that I then have to walk alongside with little to no protection from the street.
I think if your suburb is big enough to be a small village, it should have its own corner store(s), maybe preferably next to a neighborhood park with a smaller parking lot for disabled spots, bikes, scooters, and maybe golf carts. And then more people will be able to get their necessities so much quicker!!!
27:34 if you think that cars are considered as one of the five milestones of adulthood then you get to understand how we got here. I think it's insane and it shouldn't be considered a milestones.
I bike 90% of the time to work ( including winters) We have limited bike lanes and car drivers seem to have zero understanding of road rules. Both in lanes and out I have been sworn at, spit at, put in dangerous situations by drivers. We have to do better and offer safe alternatives.
As to Freedoms, like guns, fireworks , cars etc does not and should not mean that we have NO responsibilities for the common good. I find that most of those who are soooo fixated by freedoms ( like guns etc) do not recognize the social contract.
Greetings from Germany. Your death by gun per million citizen is shocking!
Combining the 2 issues, during a bicycle commute, I saw someone pull out a gun on someone! It was in a rust belt city in the poor part of town.
The funny thing about cars as a status symbol is if you live or work in an affluent area, like Seattle, Redmond and Bellevue (Eastside lake Washington cities) there are SO MANY fancy cars around here, that you just get used to seeing all the the Tesla's, Rolls-Royce, Bentleys and Lambos, that it takes a more and more expensive or weird car to surprise you. Now I only get excited if I see a mazarati or a Ferrari with a unique paint job and rims. And then somewhere like Panama City Beach, when my family visited Florida for spring break, there were SO MANY tall squatty jeeps and pick-ups... It just becomes comical.
When I moved to a place where having a car was necessary - I'd spent many years in a place where I could do without - I was SO ANNOYED that I couldn't walk to anything I needed.
Edit for typos.
About to move to uni in the U.S. and many (not all) college towns and college campuses are not centered around cars, but instead bikes and walking. I live 5 min walk from campus and 15 min walk to the grocery store, I am soooo excited! I am only taking a car for when I drive back home :/ thats a long drive. I love my bike I could just cry! I also hate driving because I drive the speed limit, but it seems majority of people drive over the speed limit
Love love loved this episode. Thanks for sharing. Been looking on getting an ebike and going to try an “ebike pass” first until I can afford one!
I am a car guy and I love to drive a lot, but I am completely for mass transit in the cities. I grew up in the DC metro area and taking the metro to the city from my area in the suburbs was much better than driving. I currently live on the edge of the suburbs and driving is needed. In my area, the sidewalks are relatively new and very wide, so many people will ride bicycles or drive golf carts to buy groceries if they are nearby.
this is so interesting. a germon non fit person here, the german part is important because of the likewise strong car lobby here. but i started commuting via bike 2 years ago and recently ramped it up: I sleep much better, I am less stressed / frustrated and yes I lost weight. after getting a bike i pay rough 120 e a year on my vehicle. now bike lanes are not nearly as good as in the netherlands, but the bicycle lobby grows stronger and with the rising fuel costs this year the biggest automobile club advised its members to ride more bicycles. I live in a city ( on the countryside this could be more difficult) and I can see how the municipal goverment is trying to make the centre less and less attractive for casual driving.
great idea for a video
Thank you for this episode!! I love my bike and hate my car! 🤣 If I could I would ride my bike everyday if the year but I live in the middle of Alaska and it gets a bit too cold. I do, however, ride it as much as possible in the warmer months.
This was such a cool episode! I feel like I've been thinking about a few of the themes discussed here, but haven't been able to weave it as wonderfully as Doug! I used to live in Somerville, MA (mentioned in the video here) and it was so wonderful living there. I didn't have to drive and there was so much opportunity for community and mutual aid that didn't require you to spend a lot of money. I am back in my hometown of Los Angeles and it has been dreadful to drive and spend money on car expenses. Thank you so much for having Doug on here. I learned so much and felt inspired that a better world where public transit and better bike lanes reign!
I live in Missouri and I HATE driving. I had to get a car to be able to get to work, travel, handle tasks etc. but wow driving with other people on the road and how UNSAFE and impulsive they can be gives me anxiety every time - let alone how EXPENSIVE it is- I will finish paying off my car in September and I can’t tell you all the ways I desire to celebrate. I started working from home October 2021 and the level of relief I felt is indescribable. Knowing that I don’t have to go out there and drive every day, I’m able to save money on gas and car maintenance, and only drive when it’s absolutely necessary because fortunately I am walking distance from my grocery store, a dollar store and a health food store. I appreciate this conversation thank you as always TFD 💙
Being dutch 🇳🇱, I love this discussion. I am a woman over 50, have rheumatic artritis and walking, cycling and public transport are very possible and healthy for me. I only drive if I have to. For me driving is the more exhausting way of transportation (and the most expensive).
And of course I love ❤🤍💙 the channel Not just bikes!
As someone who likes to drive, I'd point out that most motorists genuinely seem to be terrified or incompetent - I don't think the "car culture" (as experienced by the majority) is so much by choice, as it is by necessity (most motorists are "commuters" rather than "drivers" - you can identify "commuters" from the utter lack of care or effort they show for piloting a 3,000+lb chunk of metal). I suspect everyone would be happier if better transit options made driving an option, rather than a necessity.
So glad you guys touched on disabilities with car ownership! I love to walk to the store, but have a long term disability that hits me at random times and I literally have to drive across the street on those days. Awesome interview as always!
I think this might have been the best episode y'all have ever done. I absolutely loved this!!! Thank you both so much for such an educational and empowering conversation!
Former Philadelphian, where there is an ever growing infrastructure for bikes/scooters. I lived there at two different periods of my life; first was 89-96(my early 20s) and the second time was 04-20. In my 20s, the first time, I rode my bike everywhere and loved it!! My safety was MY responsibility and I needed to be very aware of both pedestrians/motorists, but it was great to not need and ultimately got rid of my car. When I moved back in 04, after years of living in the Florida city I'd grown up in, entirely car culture... the biking infrastructure had become exstensive in Philadelphia
As we moved through to early 2000s and more and more people were biking/scootering for transpotation... the more dangerous being a pedestrian was/is becoming. Despite bike lanes, countless cyclists/scooterists refused to use the bike lanes and started using the sidewalks and pedestrian walkways through parks, so they wouldn't have the danger of cars to deal with. They are completely entitled; have zero concern for pedestrians, won't even say "behind you/on your right/left" and would run over your dog, knock people out of the way... they'd actually become far more dangerous than drivers. I LOVE being back in car culture, despite traffic.
I would love to see Adam Conover on this series. I feel like Chelsea and Adam would be a great episode.
The Back Forest Family channel has a couple of great, in-depth video on urban planning in Germany vs. the USA. I recommend it for your upcoming videos on American suburbs.
Amazing interview, thank you! Seriously considering getting an e-bike now, as I'm lucky enough to live in a more walkable suburban area but it is still easier to take a car places and its a hilly area so biking is pretty difficult
I live in Amsterdam, grew up there as well. My parents never owned a car and I now need to buy my own car because as a MD I need to do nightshifts. If it wasnt for the nightshifts that I need to do I wouldnt need a car and could just ride my 50€ second hand bike everywhere. So Im getting the smallest car possible!
I've gotten by my entire life not driving a car. I've never had a liscense, I've never owned a car. It hasn't been easy, but I'm glad that I made the decision. I never wanted the cost or responsibility.
I really loved this episode. Personally, I agree that a car-dependent society has eroded the well-being of people and communities everywhere. And that's to say nothing of the cost it takes to own and maintain a vehicle. It's part of the reason why I choose to live in denser areas with good public transport, even though I can afford to do otherwise.