Happiness is contagious! Seeing so many people enjoying the weather and their activities is just wonderful. People seem to enjoy meeting other happy people the most; they smile and greet each other ❤ Social-physical activities make people happy. Happiness is the free part of your health. We pay the highest price for not providing such opportunities in communities. Nice video Brandon!
2:06 The idea of a bike parking service at the farmers market is great. If the bike is cleaned and pumped up quickly during this time, it will be perfect.
The city is so totally different from everything we regularly see from the US. Even videos from areas, where cars are more relevant, it never looks like this "roads are racetracks and pedestrians are only obstacles" driving style.
Me and my wife were there just last week, LOVED IT, not the least of it that Monon trail. Carmel got it going on, we'd absolutely move if a move was on the agenda.
Great little montage Brandon. Here is a thought. Maybe interview some of the people of Carmel and ask them how it is living there. Also ask the Mayor? Not sure if that is within your comfortzone though.
I love the idea and it has been on my mind, but I'm not quite comfortable pursuing people for on-camera questions yet. Maybe one day. Thank you for the idea! 🙂
Nice video. Do you know how Carmel affords to build all of this? Are the trails, parks, etc partially funded by developers? Most cities are struggling to even keep up with maintenance but Carmel seems to be thriving.
@collintheviking2082 that's not really how it works. There are many rich cities and suburbs in the US, but it comes down to what you decide to invest that revenue into. The "Carmel is rich" thing really doesn't hold any water. It was a lazy tag line started by some cynical people through the years.
They save all the money, other cities would need to spend for powering and maintaining traffic lights. And because of the mode share, they don't need to constantly widen roads or keep large chunks of land empty for parking lots.
@@AmericanFietser I suppose it's true that a lot of other rich areas decide to invest in car infrastructure and become boomburbs with no real place-making like what Carmel has accomplished. But I also can't imagine that a place like Gary, Indiana would ever be able to afford investing in what Carmel has unless affluent people start moving in and gentrifying the current residents. What @benhogan7036 said about cities struggling to keep up with maintenance is very true. Bloomington is a relatively dense college town, but it struggles to keep up with a lot of it's streets. If I didn't have a fat tire ebike, I would be crashing all of the time from the potholes and loose asphalt that I encounter. Still, I have had a few close calls. Perhaps it could allocate funds better, but I think age is also playing a role. NotJustBikes talked about how the federal government chips in to help cities develop new roads, but cities are then responsible for covering the repairs. Carmel is a relatively young city and I bet it has a lot of roads that are close to brand new or have been repaired only once. It also has a lot of suburban sprawl despite having such a lively downtown, so I wonder if the maintenance costs will eventually add up. I've noticed that Bloomington's worse roads are non-arterial downtown roads, which are unfortunately what bicyclists have to rely on since they're safer than the arterials. This is probably because all of the federal investment is going toward its suburburban roads, and its arterials are prioritized because they carry heavy traffic. Perhaps it is more fair to say that Carmel ended up being such a nice place because it is rich, is relatively young, AND has competent leadership. You're right that it could have just become another rich boomburb with nothing to offer except gated communities, and whoever is responsible for not making it that way did a great job. Still, there's always the chance that new leadership down the road will follow the incentive structure laid out by the federal government and prioritize new suburban development while leaving the downtown to rot. Though I imagine that Carmel's residents would not appreciate that since they have a taste of what it's like to have such a nice downtown, so there would probably be a lot of resistance.
@@AmericanFietser For some reason I can't see my original reply to you, so I'm just gonna repeat what I said here: I suppose it's true that a lot of other rich areas decide to invest in car infrastructure and become boomburbs with no real place-making like what Carmel has accomplished. But I also can't imagine that a place like Gary, Indiana would ever be able to afford investing in what Carmel has unless affluent people start moving in and gentrifying the current residents. What @benhogan7036 said about cities struggling to keep up with maintenance is very true. Bloomington is a relatively dense college town, but it struggles to keep up with a lot of it's streets. If I didn't have a fat tire ebike, I would be crashing all of the time from the potholes and loose asphalt that I encounter. Still, I have had a few close calls. Perhaps it could allocate funds better, but I think age is also playing a role. NotJustBikes talked about how the federal government chips in to help cities develop new roads, but cities are then responsible for covering the repairs. Carmel is a relatively young city and I bet it has a lot of roads that are close to brand new or have been repaired only once. It also has a lot of suburban sprawl despite having such a lively downtown, so I wonder if the maintenance costs will eventually add up. I've noticed that Bloomington's worse roads are non-arterial downtown roads, which are unfortunately what bicyclists have to rely on since they're safer than the arterials. This is probably because all of the federal investment is going toward its suburburban roads, and its arterials are prioritized because they carry heavy traffic. Perhaps it is more fair to say that Carmel ended up being such a nice place because it is rich, is relatively young, AND has competent leadership. You're right that it could have just become another rich boomburb with nothing to offer except gated communities, and whoever is responsible for not making it that way did a great job. Still, there's always the chance that new leadership down the road will follow the incentive structure laid out by the federal government and prioritize new suburban development while leaving the downtown to rot. Though I imagine that Carmel's residents would not appreciate that since they have a taste of what it's like to have such a nice downtown, so there would probably be a lot of resistance.
Happiness is contagious! Seeing so many people enjoying the weather and their activities is just wonderful. People seem to enjoy meeting other happy people the most; they smile and greet each other ❤
Social-physical activities make people happy. Happiness is the free part of your health. We pay the highest price for not providing such opportunities in communities. Nice video Brandon!
Wonderfully said!
this makes me smile to see so many people out & about! i wish every city in america looked more like this
2:06 The idea of a bike parking service at the farmers market is great. If the bike is cleaned and pumped up quickly during this time, it will be perfect.
The city is so totally different from everything we regularly see from the US. Even videos from areas, where cars are more relevant, it never looks like this "roads are racetracks and pedestrians are only obstacles" driving style.
So many images of happy, smiling, active people. It makes me smile just watching it.
Me and my wife were there just last week, LOVED IT, not the least of it that Monon trail. Carmel got it going on, we'd absolutely move if a move was on the agenda.
Great little montage Brandon. Here is a thought. Maybe interview some of the people of Carmel and ask them how it is living there. Also ask the Mayor? Not sure if that is within your comfortzone though.
I love the idea and it has been on my mind, but I'm not quite comfortable pursuing people for on-camera questions yet. Maybe one day. Thank you for the idea! 🙂
Love it! Nice video montage, Brandon! 🙌
Nicely done!
Beautifull !!
This makes me happy
Nice video. Do you know how Carmel affords to build all of this? Are the trails, parks, etc partially funded by developers? Most cities are struggling to even keep up with maintenance but Carmel seems to be thriving.
They are a very rich suburb of Indy 😂 lots of tax revenue I'm sure
@collintheviking2082 that's not really how it works. There are many rich cities and suburbs in the US, but it comes down to what you decide to invest that revenue into. The "Carmel is rich" thing really doesn't hold any water. It was a lazy tag line started by some cynical people through the years.
They save all the money, other cities would need to spend for powering and maintaining traffic lights. And because of the mode share, they don't need to constantly widen roads or keep large chunks of land empty for parking lots.
@@AmericanFietser I suppose it's true that a lot of other rich areas decide to invest in car infrastructure and become boomburbs with no real place-making like what Carmel has accomplished. But I also can't imagine that a place like Gary, Indiana would ever be able to afford investing in what Carmel has unless affluent people start moving in and gentrifying the current residents.
What @benhogan7036 said about cities struggling to keep up with maintenance is very true. Bloomington is a relatively dense college town, but it struggles to keep up with a lot of it's streets. If I didn't have a fat tire ebike, I would be crashing all of the time from the potholes and loose asphalt that I encounter. Still, I have had a few close calls. Perhaps it could allocate funds better, but I think age is also playing a role.
NotJustBikes talked about how the federal government chips in to help cities develop new roads, but cities are then responsible for covering the repairs. Carmel is a relatively young city and I bet it has a lot of roads that are close to brand new or have been repaired only once. It also has a lot of suburban sprawl despite having such a lively downtown, so I wonder if the maintenance costs will eventually add up. I've noticed that Bloomington's worse roads are non-arterial downtown roads, which are unfortunately what bicyclists have to rely on since they're safer than the arterials. This is probably because all of the federal investment is going toward its suburburban roads, and its arterials are prioritized because they carry heavy traffic.
Perhaps it is more fair to say that Carmel ended up being such a nice place because it is rich, is relatively young, AND has competent leadership. You're right that it could have just become another rich boomburb with nothing to offer except gated communities, and whoever is responsible for not making it that way did a great job. Still, there's always the chance that new leadership down the road will follow the incentive structure laid out by the federal government and prioritize new suburban development while leaving the downtown to rot. Though I imagine that Carmel's residents would not appreciate that since they have a taste of what it's like to have such a nice downtown, so there would probably be a lot of resistance.
@@AmericanFietser For some reason I can't see my original reply to you, so I'm just gonna repeat what I said here:
I suppose it's true that a lot of other rich areas decide to invest in car infrastructure and become boomburbs with no real place-making like what Carmel has accomplished. But I also can't imagine that a place like Gary, Indiana would ever be able to afford investing in what Carmel has unless affluent people start moving in and gentrifying the current residents.
What @benhogan7036 said about cities struggling to keep up with maintenance is very true. Bloomington is a relatively dense college town, but it struggles to keep up with a lot of it's streets. If I didn't have a fat tire ebike, I would be crashing all of the time from the potholes and loose asphalt that I encounter. Still, I have had a few close calls. Perhaps it could allocate funds better, but I think age is also playing a role.
NotJustBikes talked about how the federal government chips in to help cities develop new roads, but cities are then responsible for covering the repairs. Carmel is a relatively young city and I bet it has a lot of roads that are close to brand new or have been repaired only once. It also has a lot of suburban sprawl despite having such a lively downtown, so I wonder if the maintenance costs will eventually add up. I've noticed that Bloomington's worse roads are non-arterial downtown roads, which are unfortunately what bicyclists have to rely on since they're safer than the arterials. This is probably because all of the federal investment is going toward its suburburban roads, and its arterials are prioritized because they carry heavy traffic.
Perhaps it is more fair to say that Carmel ended up being such a nice place because it is rich, is relatively young, AND has competent leadership. You're right that it could have just become another rich boomburb with nothing to offer except gated communities, and whoever is responsible for not making it that way did a great job. Still, there's always the chance that new leadership down the road will follow the incentive structure laid out by the federal government and prioritize new suburban development while leaving the downtown to rot. Though I imagine that Carmel's residents would not appreciate that since they have a taste of what it's like to have such a nice downtown, so there would probably be a lot of resistance.
Hey, Carmel bike/ped people, who's recording street-level image of paths with Mapillary, KartaView, Mapilio to help with OpenStreetMap editing?