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My dad on his bike got hit by a pick-up truck on a stroad and ended up in hospital for months. The investigating officer tried to convince me that it wasn't my dad who was hit by a truck, but it was the truck that got hit by my dad. Thanks for doing this.
Oh wow I'm sorry to hear that. This is what I meant by "it will be *your* fault if you're hit by a car." I hear these stories all the time. I hope your dad recovers soon!
When we visited (from the UK) my daughter who was living in Atlanta, we thought we would walk to a nearby supermarket. This was difficult because there were no pavements. When we reached the store, we couldn't find the entrance. Eventually we realised we had to go into a multi storey car park - the store entrance was in the basement of the car park. There was NO provision for a pedestrian to access the shop.
As a Houston resident, one of our most common complaints that you hear from people living here is "There's nowhere to just go walk around, even downtown"
Well also, the fact that this time of year it is so damn hot outside that nobody wants to walk anyway lol. The heat index from my weather station has been an average of 111 degrees this summer. Ridiculously hot
I recently just moved to Kingwood a suburb of Houston. I have no intention of going to downtown Houston unless someone else drives, I don't like the city, and that may because US cities are not human friendly. That being said my neighborhood has miles and miles of bike and walking trails. The odd part is in order to get to them I have to walk in the street out of my neighborhood. I will soon put a back gate in my backyard for quick access to the Greenbelt and to keep my out of the street.
I’m a Houston native and you omitted one HUGE HUGE problem; flooding. There is so much concrete that covers Houston that when it rains, it floods, because there is no soil to absorb the large amount of water from a large storm. The water has nowhere to go. Sure, drainage systems are built but as expansive as they are, they are still unable to accommodate the occasional hurricane or tropical depression that plague our coastal city.
It's not it's not that it's covered in concrete instead it used to be a swamp and it's supposed to be under water That's why there's so many mosquitoes and the roads are designed to flood to carry the water away.
I live in Houston, I'm 17, in a single parent household. My mom is too blind to drive, so my entire life my family has never had a car. We still don't. I ended up missing out on a lot of experiences going on, and I hardly ever got the chance to go to places. Often times when my family needs to go grocery shopping, we go walking to the Walmart nearby. That one grocery trip takes up the whole day. Sometimes when were finished shopping, it's already dark out, and we ask our relatives if they can give us a ride home, even though they live 30 minutes away. We do that because it's just not safe to walk back in the dark for 30 minutes. There's no street lamps, and we live in an unsafe neighborhood. There used to be a bus going to the Walmart, which helped us a lot, but they shut it down. I've asked my aunts and uncles to teach me how to drive but its always "you live far away and I'm too busy" It feels at times as if I'm stuck. I can't learn how to drive without a car. And we're not financially stable enough to even afford a car. It's hard for me to get a job and help out because, well, how am I supposed to go to work. I ask for rides, and lately we've been relying a lot on ubers just to live. It gets expensive, making it even harder to save up for a car. My mom takes the Metro in the morning to work, and an uber at night. I've been looking for cars online, but everything good is way out of our budget. And if we get one too cheap then it'll be too expensive to keep up with it. I've had a friend trying to teach me how to drive, but she lives almost an hour away so we've only been doing lessons once a week. And I still need to go to a driving school and get my permit. Its hard living here without a car. I feel stuck. I feel like I'm trapped into a small bubble and being able to leave it is an expensive luxury we cant always afford. When I was younger I thought I would have fixed our situation, but I was so wrong.
Honestly, I'd try signing up for a driving school. Form what I heard, some will come and pick you up and you spend your time in the car with the teacher and other students taking turns practicing. It's really a shame they took drivers ed out of school.
What part of town are you from? I have many friends from this city since I've been here since highschool (college student now) if I know anyone near you I could ask if they're willing to help
I think motorbike or electric bike can be your solution.... Its cheaper and you must have known how to ride it... instead of walking or taking uber to go anywhere
I'm so sorry, that's no way to live a childhood. And it's not your fault, or your parents' fault. I imagine that you will feel some guilt if you decide to leave Houston and not be able to take care of your family. But honestly if you don't, nothing will ever change or get better, it will only slowly get worse. You will never make much more than minimum wage if you're stuck doing retail or whatever is available within walking distance or if you need to Uber to work, and you will never get out of the trap of poverty. University isn't really affordable for most people, and going into debt is a bad idea without an ironclad long term career plan. You can always call admissions at a local community college to see if they offer something you'd be willing to do and if the prices are reasonable. They all have informative websites and people happy to talk to prospective students or offer tours. Alternatively, look at trade school or apprenticeships, which often let you work while studying and get paid while still training, and lead to very high paying work. There are also easy to get certificates that let you get your foot in the door in offices, and even hospitals and schools, which usually pays better than retail and is actually a benefit to society.
I am a disabled individual. I literally cannot operate a motor vehicle in a legal capacity. I cannot live in most US cities because of the lack of public transport and inability to walk places. I WANT THIS TO CHANGE. I am visually impaired, but I want this to change not only for me, but others like me whose disability would not hinder their life nearly as much if the cities they lived in were walkable cities. This would also benefit the mental and physical health of future generations, granting younger people the opportunity to see more of their home town in a safer environment.
Ive never actually visited the US, but once had a layover at Houston on my trip from the Netherlands to Argentina. We had about 6 hours to spend at the airport, so we thought of having a walk around just to kill some of the time. I was so confused when you simply couldn't. There was nowhere to walk to, and nothing to walk on, it was a huge culture shock within the first minutes.
@@adjudicator4766 this was in 2015, has it changed since? I also thought it was really odd that it had carpet everywhere. Its hard to keep that clean in your home if its just you walking on it, cant imagine how nasty it gets in just one day with thousands of people. Seems like such a weird choice for an airport. But anyway, thats besides the point.
USA is very diverse. NYC, Houston, Miami, Seattle, are different from each other. There’s plenty of states/cities where they have side walks and bike lanes.
@@jamilsuriel4406 I dont know, ive been all over Europe and i dare to say its an even more diverse place. Yet ive never found a place that did not have side walks, its not like an optional thing youd have to specify, theyre just there...
@@msjodh88 You're comparing a whole continent to one country. The US is like 50 countries within one country with well over a 100 differently designed cities, etc......
True story. When I was nineteen (I'm from ireland) I moved to the suburbs of Chicago. I decided to go for 'a walk'. I met NOBODY on my 30 minute walk. It was surreal. I felt like I was being watched even through the quiet streets. When I pressed the button to cross the street I nearly got run over by a car because they could turn left on red or something. A cop pulled me the same day for Jay walking. It's honestly so stressful just to go for a stroll in suburban America
When I was in Chicago, I stayed in a cheap airbnb in the suburbs and ended up walking along the side of the highway every day to get to the train station, cos I was young and poor and couldn't afford ubers into the city. There were no sidewalks for 5km of the 8km walk to the train station
So sorry you went through that, especially being stopped by a cop. In my experience Jay walking is ABSOLUTELY a lot safer than waiting at a cross walk. As you mentioned, sometimes the goddamn left turn is a "yield" turn and cars aren't looking for or are too distracted to notice possible pedestrians. Then cars can also turn right at any time that might otherwise be a good time for a pedestrian to cross. I've seen pedestrian lights literally go on for 3 seconds, people take a couple steps forward, then it goes back to the red hand again and cars start trying to enter the intersection Luckily I was never seen / stopped, but honestly. It's so much safer to stand somewhere where you can VERY CLEARLY see any incoming traffic, icky gave to look left and right and glance at nearby driveways / exit areas to check they're clear, and HURRY across (even then too many people shuffle along as they walk, looking at their phones) than it is to wait for traffic in 4 directions to be clear, and then still have to worry about people speeding past a red light or turning right or making u turns
Bro that's cause your in goddamn suburban Chicago lmao. That's to be expected. Try going to Manhatten which is also semi car dependent but has a much larger subway and public transport system than most major cities. In the five boroughs most people don't own cars,they either walk or take the subway to Manhatten. private parking in Manhatten is incredibly expensive and parking on the street is unreliable and expensive,so most people simply can't own a car. It is true that most cities are car centric New York is not one of them.
As a European visiting the USA, my first cultural shock was an airbnb host who told me with a lot of enthusiasm: "this neighborhood is great because it's walkable!". I thought it was a joke. It was like saying "I love this restaurant, the food is edible!".
As a disabled houstonian I love this video. This city is highly and I mean HIGHLY inaccessible for wheelchairs. I sometimes have to ride on the side of the road risking my life because there is no sidewalk on the way to my destination. It's incredibly frustrating and depressing.
Yep. Anyone on crutches with an injured leg, or with a cane, or using another mobility aid like a walker or white canes used by visually impaired people, you have a pram with you, etc - trying to use those pavements is basically announcing they have a death wish 👀 it's crazy to me that the pavement can just....... end, with no indicators, no markers, no (deliberate) textural difference on the road etc.
Honestly, I LOVE walking everywhere and I am from Houston. I’ve always had to walk everywhere since I was in middle school. Luckily, nothing was more than 4-5 miles away from my home. When I stumbled across your video, it hadn’t occurred to me that we have drastically failed to put sidewalks/bike lanes for pedestrians. I guess being raised in Houston it was normal for me to just walk on grass and across random little areas that were dangerous. I’m glad you’ve brought this to attention. The older I’ve gotten, them more I’ve thought about where my taxes go? Why do we have to drive everywhere? Why is America so different than the rest of the world? And the answer is always the same: it’s all for business. Time to make change and I’m all for it!!
@@Willowtree82 I recommend watching more videos from this channel. You'll realize that it's not some kind of natural law that a country with overall low population density such as the USA is so incredibly dependent on cars.
@@Willowtree82 US is big and spread out on average. But cities tend to be dense. You should still be able to walk or bus to/from/within the city, and also drive (or preferably train) to faraway places. There is no excuse for little to no public transit. The homeless/criminal problems in America’s public transit systems is because of low budgets and maintenance. The cities do not care. They only want cars.
I’m in Houston and honestly I love it and nobody say I did not watch the video because I did I’m just saying that I live in Houston and I love it you don’t have to
Everyday I would walk .8 miles to school. A rather pleasant 12 to 15 minute walk. Definitely would not have been the case if we lacked sidewalks on the road.
@@gamermapper Because they grew up with it and have a better mental model for for those units as compared with metric. Metric is a superior system for most purposes, but I can more easily imagine five feet than 1.5m, even though they're (very roughly) the same distance.
@@KaasSchaaf666 That's really not very helpful; when someone basically says "I grew up with the Imperial system and it's been ingrained in my head since birth so I have a much clearer concept of what those units are" and your advice is "just change", you're really not offering anything that will help that person make that change, and you're replying to someone who acknowledges that the Metric system is superior so you're clearly talking to someone who already wants to make that change.
@@gamermapper the numbers are more rounded. you walk 5 miles per hour, bike 15 miles per hour and cars go 25 miles per hour. 8 km per hour is harder to remember isn't it? edit: I grew up on the metric unit in Toronto and went to college for MSE...
Cities that prioritize people’s safety is a must. I got hit by a car two years ago on a stroad but even though no evidence pointed at it being my fault I wasn’t covered by insurance and the police labeled it as my fault. I was 15 and just wanted to go to the library, I didn’t deserve a permanent disability for riding a bike. That area was a place 2 people died before I was even hit but it still hasn’t been changed until now. How do you let 2 people die and 1 person get hospitalized without budgeting a change.
Lmao, meanwhile here in Germany, the default assumption is that drivers have to look out for pedestrians. So it's usually really hard to not be blamed as the guy in the car. You can always be more careful after all.
This just made me realise why Jaywalking is a crime in America. It's to protect the driver in case an accident does happen on the road, even if they're at fault. wtf
If anything it teaches you mostly about your own country. When you've travelled a lot and seen many cities/countries, coming back to your own with a different perspective each time will truly make you see your city/country the way it actually is.
"The world is a great book and those who do not travel read only the first page." The Navy took me around the world, and I've been blessed to have been able to travel on my own. There's so much that I've learned as a result.
I had a friend in the US make some long explanation about why it was important that jaywalking was illegal and punishable by pretty large fines (at least for the context). I was just gobsmacked until I realised it was just because he was so reliant on his car, he wasnt even thinking about the pedestrian that probably had nowhere to walk or cross the street
Regardless of how unwalkable US cities are, there's zero excuse for criminalizing crossing the road. Unless it's crossing the free way, no one should be fined or put in jail for crossing the road.
@@Purpletrident I mean they shouldn’t be jailed for crossing the freeway either, if they are they are desperate and have some problem and needed or need help
@@mareksicinski3726 Jailed? Who's being jailed?!?! I'm pretty sure you only receive a ticket for jaywalking.. Unless you have outstanding warrants for other crimes, LOL.
This also severely chokes and takes away independence from children and the elderly due to the poor public transportation and over reliance on cars because of our auto industry owning our government.
It really sucks... I've taken 2 hour school bus routes when i was in middle for in houston and switched over to metro. that dropped it down to an hour bus ride and a half hr walk. Additionally, I've had co workers and friends who can't drive, yet need to get to work or school or public services so they have to schedule metro ride trips and wait in 30 minute intervals to get picked up.
I live in Phoenix and it’s just like Houston. You have to drive everywhere, the public transportation sucks, etc. I’m moving out of this state luckily.
i couldn't help but imagine how stranded anyone in a wheelchair must feel living in a city without sidewalks. also people with vision impairment, elderly people, and anyone who struggles with driving and can't walk across uneven ground like the grassy areas NJB was forced to walk along. it makes me so upset to think about how our society makes it exponentially harder for them to even exist.
@@picksey4736 well, even though wheelchairs are hard to use longer distances in US, most shops and business are made to be accessible to disabled and elderly, along with handicap parking. Also street crossings are typically very safe with lights and walking lanes, along with ramps. I know when I was living in Italy I struggled to get around even as a fit man with how uneven roads could be and stairs were horrible, and there simply weren't any crossing lights or ramps most anywhere.
Maybe you are just thinking too much about it? People generally look at all kinds of things and just because people look in your general direction doesn't mean they are thinking anything in particular about you. What makes you think anyone cares you are walking? I haven't had a car for over a year now and I walk and ride the bus a lot. I live in Ohio near Dayton and while my city has decent walking infrastructure plenty of places I walk outside of my city but close to it don't No one really cares. They most likely look at you to make sure they aren't going to hit you. When I was driving and saw someone walking I never once thought to myself, "you know that person is weird and probably is a horrible individual" lol!!! I mean what in the world would possibly make you think that people think you are weird for walking?!
The lack of walking areas actually makes DRIVING much worse, because now traffic is crazy even in small towns, because of people driving half a mile to the store.
I would say vice verse. I am from Europe, and it is much easier to drive in Houston as at least people don't walk/run/cross the roads without looking around and trying to die in a car accident.
This reminds me of the time we had an exchange student from the US over here in Germany and he was literally in shock because people *walked places* and that we had sidewalks connecting businesses and shops.
When we first moved to Houston, my father was stopped by a cop when walking on a thin sidewalk and asked for identification. It's just not normal seeing people walk here. I've watched your video twice now, and love it every time I rewatch. Funny I recognize every areas you point out on the video. Very educational and reflective.
And everyone else thinks you're crazy for walking. We live in a crazy world where the normal are considered "crazy". Welcome to Houston (it is a great city, but it does have its flaws)!
Their excuse is for your "safety" I went through the same thing when I decided to walk home from school than taking the bus. The cop was _"Why would you want to walk when the school bus can take you home!"_ I guess I couldn't have a choice and needed to be treated like a child at 16
@@link2442 Honestly, I'd argue that it's better to walk than take the bus. School buses often don't even have seat belts and kids miss their stop all the time, and kids have absolutely no control if the bus driver is bad at driving. If Houston was a little more pedestrian friendly and I was still going to high/middle school, and if my parents were cool with it, I'd rather walk home than ride in a sweaty bus or wait hours outside for my mom to pick me up from school.
As a teen growing up in Houston, I’ve never considered that everything described in the video is unusual or dangerous in any way, it’s just all I’ve ever known. I’ve always had to walk on grass, rocks, over railings, narrow strips of concrete across bridges, etc. Of course that’s just when I walk places, but I usually have to get somebody to drive me when I want to go someplace. And I guess it is surprising that my school is an hour and a half walk away considering I live in a rather densely populated suburban area. This video was very eye opening for me, great video Not Just Bikes!
Yeah if I walked to school it’d take about an hour and a half but driving is about 20 minutes😬 I live about 25 minutes from downtown houston and the last time I ever walked to school was in middle school because my school was in a housing community that had a lot of sidewalks. It’s literally be impossible to walk to my hs because there’s a giant freeway that cuts near it. Fun.
I grew up in Amsterdam and I had the exact opposite experience. As a teen I was lucky enough to get accepted into a very good school on the other side of the city and I biked there every day for 45 minutes. Now I take the train to go to college in a different city. It takes an hour and a half at most and costs me nothing because public transport is free for students. The ferry that connects my part of town to the rest of Amsterdam is free for everybody, which always confuses tourists. I guess I never realized how good I had it until I watched these videos and read your comment.
@@elmer4090 Ever since my grandparents took me to Germany when I was 16, I realized how much shittier my childhood was. It’s sort of a weird sensation since you sorta believe “america is a developed nation” until you go abroad and realize how much is yet to be done and how far we are from it. It is a desolating sensation, I have no hope for this country and believe the infrastructure will never be fixed, outside of maybe a few initiatives here and there that won’t go anywhere. (Edit) Source: I also grew up in Houston
@@justpassinby4477 I traveled abroad to Berlin Germany last year for a fall semester, and compared to rural Vermont, they amount of freedom I had was incredible. I felt more at home when I was abroad than I did when I was actually home.
The quality of the walk is so important. It can make me feel like an intruder. The loud traffic, the hard pavement with little shade or greenery, even the rush of air as large vehicles go by. And how lovely to walk across a large asphalt parking lot! These have a big effect on my desire to walk.
Why would you want to walk to a place where you can only get the shopping done and that its 6-10km away from your house? The points of this vid are so stupid. American cities are made to hold huge populations in dispersed quiet residential areas. All the amenities you need to walk to are in the residential area, if you need anything else, you drive.
@@gabrielalbeldaochoa8234 It'd be nice if there was a grocery store about 5-10 minutes away that I can just go out for a quick walk to to quickly grab a couple of groceries as I need em
@@HyenaBlank that only happens in the centre of European cities and in small towns, if you live in the suburbs of any European city you are most likely not gonna have that advantage.
My relatives came from Madrid to visit us in Oklahoma City they wanted to walk from the airport to our suburb which is like 35 minutes by freeway, they tried to walk and people were honking at them ,, then they sat in our front yard in a lawn chair and someone called the police on them crazy
This happened to me just yesterday. Needed to go to Walmart. Only 0.8 miles away or 10 min walk. But if I walked it meant I’d have to walk along highway 6 (like 6 lanes wide). So I opted for an Uber. For a 0.8 mile walk
Thats strange🤔: In Tampa, Walmart stations their stores in walkable/bikable distances from neighborhoods, and most of ones i've seen are somehow connected to the bus lines....no in fact: *One walmart sits north of a Tampa bus station* 🤣😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣
I live in Houston and I had a friend who had immigrated from Japan. She asked me why I drove to school since I lived 10 minutes away. I told her it’s because I didn’t want to cross 10 lanes of traffic with no sidewalk.
I've been to (and driven through) a lot of large and medium sized cities in the USA and I want to say 90% of them look just like this. All big and open and boring and pavement everywhere and hardly and trees. It really takes the fun out of traveling to a new place when you can't tell 1 city from the next and you don't dare try walking around.
I agree with the sentiments here. But the narrative that ALL US cities are this way is an embellishment. There is no doubt the majority of US suburbs are this way but there are a lot of older cities that don’t follow this blueprint. My hometown of Chicago being one. The real root cause for this is government policies that for years have favored the oil and auto lobbyists as a means of economic growth. Ensuring people HAD to buy cars and thereby gas as you stated. FWIW there is a lot of resistance to this idea now but certainly not enough. It is disappointing. But we still do have some amazing cities and urban areas in the US.
@@acdc5507 We can't have that! That would be giving subsidies to the poor! Instead let's add another car lane so I can drive my personal car on a publicly funded expressway into the city that subsidizes the infrastructure of the suburban neighborhood I live in!
All the poor persons, who will be forced to find a new home now... In earlier times, this happened at such a high degree, only if an overmighty conqueror has attacked your country, and was slaying everyone on his way to the country-center !!!
I lived in Houston all my life, so I've never even known or thought about how this city is car dependent. It wasn't until I got into my first car wreck that I realized driving everywhere sucks and is dangerous. And this video opened my eyes even more on how this it's getting out of hand.
Car dealerships have the city by the balls. They lobby so hard against public transportation and better infrastructure to get more people to buy cars. That's not even including all the money they make after a hurricane or a bad storm. Now all our roads and highways are wearing and tearing at an enourmous rate. Soo much car theft too. Every minute I see a car with paper plates which a lot are fake according to the police.
@@lemonfish1890 That's true. It made me think of other cemented parts of Houston, though. If you look at a satellite image, you see a lot of land covered in concrete.
I had the same frustration when I, naively, tried to walk from the airport in San Diego to my hotel, just 500 metres. I crossed the oversized parking lot and ran into a bunch of uncrossable highways, it just wasn't possible, even though I could basically see the hotel. Went back to the airport to ask, they confirmed it wasn't possible and I had to take a shuttle bus 🙄.
Sounds like that scene in Planes Trains and Automobiles when Steve Martin's character had to walk across *a runway* to get from the rental car lot back to the terminal
@@sebastianchampagne1318 to be fair, trying to get to and from Schiphol on bike or walking is… well, the last time I thought about it I got discouraged. That said, if I wanted to get to Schiphol bike in tow I’d just take the train and come out of the underground station directly into the main hall.
OMG, same thing at Pittsburg airport. I was 3/4 of a mile away straight up impossible airport is surrounded by a Highway moat and a fence to boot. I called a shuttle
I am from and live in Houston and *everything* in this video is true. Also, drivers are absurdly aggressive and bad. I blame the cancerous growth of convoluted highways here getting people used to making last second lane changes and normalizing other bad driving behavior.
@@Frichilsasta08 Honestly, Pennsylvania has had some of the most picturesque places I've been through. The catch is, often the places with the nicest scenery are also the biggest pains in the ass to pilot an 18 wheeler through. Arkansas and Colorado also come to mind. Beautiful scenery, a hassle to drive through it in a big rig. As far as cities, hard to beat Las Vegas as far cool looking buildings and whatnot to look at. It is Vegas, if they know anything, it's showmanship, even in their architecture.
Eh. Growing up in Miami… I disagree. I’ve lived in Miami, Boston, New York, Detroit and Atlanta. I just moved out here to Dallas Texas and it looks nothing like anything I’ve live in on the Eastcoast. It’s a culture shock to me honestly. Miami is the South just like Dallas… but these two cities are complete opposite.
@@WHYOSHO do you live in the city of Dallas? I've been a few times and it appears to be a placeyground for the wealthy. So many buildings and restaurants/bars.
I've seen pictures of many American and Canadian cities, and honestly... The only cities that stands out are Québec city and Montréal (and I live - and was born - in MTL, so I have a lot of love fot that city) because of their European style and the fact that they aren't as car centric as other towns.
As a Dutchie, I visited Florida some years ago. After checking in in our hotel, we went to the diner across the street (which was terrible to cross by foot). When we were finished at the diner, we decided to not go directly back to the hotel, but to make a little evening stroll (and get partially rid of the hamburger calories). When we walked next te the road, we noticed that the people in the cars where strangely looking at us. At some moment, even a lady in a car stopped next to us and asked if we where ok..! What??! Then we fullly realized how unusual pedestrians are in the US except in city centers or national parks.
@@rcmrcm3370 Part of me wants to guess that Max van Meerten is the whitest Dutchie/European ever enivisioned by man and that the people driving by were really confused by that. Probably not the case, but it's somehow fun to think about.
I had that sort of experience in Mountain View, CA. Got to my hotel, awful 5-minute walk to a diner, and a teenage girl looked at me from her car as though asking "What is he doing with his legs? Is he... commuting?!"
What?? I can't imagine anyone would have even glanced at you for walking, let alone pulled over. It must have been something else. Were you visibly on drugs? Bleeding? Bruised?
I’ve lived in Houston most of my life. I’m in a wheelchair. I don’t have a car. Getting a modifications for car (not the car just the modifications) can cost anywhere from $80,000-$100,00. Without insurance that’s nearly impossible. Public transit and paratransit is shit. So you could imagine how trapped I’ve felt here. I’ve experienced the sidewalk cutting off on me. At least for people that can walk, you can walk in grass or other terrain but as a wheelchair user I’ve been stranded when this happens. Houston you can do better!
Sometimes I wonder how the US expects people to survive. It’s becoming clear that they simply do not care about people. Someone could tell you “Oh just move!l But moving can be expensive and difficult, especially in your situation. I hope things get better for you!
I'm not american, but can't you try suing your city under the Americans with Disabilities Act? Something something you feel discriminated against because your city isn't wheelchair accessible? heh
You should really move here in the Netherlands we are a weelchair friendly country our busses and trains have special places only for weelchair users. Also why is everything in America so damn expensive? $80,000 that's insane.
I moved to Tokyo about two months ago, after living in the metro detroit area for my entire 30 years of existence. I can’t imagine going back to live in America. I absolutely love being able to walk everywhere/take trains and not have to worry about (or pay for) a car.
I actually put your theory to the test. I moved to within 5 miles of where I worked in downtown Houston. I bought a bike and mapped out my route along buffalo bayou. I had bells, a flashing light, mirrors, etc. Within 2 months I got hit by a car, full speed, at an on ramp that is clearly marked a pedestrian crossing just before Christmas. It took me months of PT and pain killers just to get near normal. If you want to bike in America, you either have to either own a $1MM apartment in a big city or plan your life around it in a small community. I've been to Amsterdam, Valencia, Vienna, París...they all got the bike thing on lock. This wasn't even my last experience with walkability. This even affects the livelihood of people I know. America needs to up it's game!
Oh side note, I actually walked that exact route before around Willowbrook so I know how it is in your shoes and it's terrifying. "Oh I'll just walk to the whataburger from the mall, no big deal..." Ah ha ha...oh boy.
Wait, were you actually cycling on that pedestrian crossing? Not sure about US regulations but in Europe you have to get off your bike and slowly walk with it to make a pedestrian crossing. For obvious reasons.
@@dubkds Naw, bikes here are kind of just expected to do whatever is best to keep themselves alive. Not many rules or infrastructure for them make any road here like the old chaotic mess they used to be for every mode of transportation, but instead just for bikes.
@@bigj3508 That is Willowbrook all day! I remember when Toys R us was there... when in traffic, I act like it is a video game and people are trying to hit me... CATCH ME Outside! .. there is a reason for all the ghost bikes... I am glad you healed up.
It’s a huge business. Highway contracts are given to private companies making asphalt, concrete, steel, road signs and markers. Cars are expensive and support the financial industry (car loans), tire companies, Big Oil, and the insurance companies. All the while the average American gets more in debt (car payment, depreciation, insurance, accident costs) and more obese which leads to higher medical costs with no health insurance. It’s a big club and you ain’t in it!
You’re just regurgitating what you’ve heard. You can buy a used cheap car and eat healthy. Americans are lazy and like having a nice car to keep up with the neighbors.
The cities are fundamentally shaped wrong. No amount of frugality will make them more pleasant. You'll just be marginally increasing your life expectancy in the same depressing design. I bike to work and save a ton of money but the grid (or lack thereof) is unavoidable. It's better than driving, but nothing like well-designed cities for human feet.
Car enthusiast here, despite the fact that I love driving and I love my cars (only one of them runs, the other one is my project car and former daily driver), I agree that the car-centric design of cities is miserable to exist in. Cars are meant for places that are low-density enough that public transit is too expensive. The enjoyment that I (and all other car enthusiasts) get from driving comes from empty roads where you can do what you want (within the constraints of safety), so car-focused urban areas are bad for everyone because no one enjoys driving in traffic. I'm from a rural area but go to college in suburbia in another state, and the juxtaposition of the driving experiences in these two environments makes me wish for better transit/bike options in dense areas, even though I would be the last person in the world to go carless. The bottom line here is that no one wins from car-dependent city design, even someone who loves driving as much as I do.
furthermore, if *absolutely everyone* didn't have a car, they could easily relax emissions regulations cause there would be far fewer cars on the road! would make for much more interesting cars
@@sofielee4122 in the USA it would be unrealistic for everyone to go carless due to how big the US is making public transport unrealistic for most of the country
Galveston is one of the only cities in Texas where you can still go around without a car being an absolute necessity, theres always people walking on sidewalks and the streets never feel abandoned, there's always a store or people nearby. Its like a time capsule from what Houston once was.
I used to hitchhike (I wasn't homeless, just wanted to travel cheaply) and it meant I had to walk a lot through towns and cities in the US. I can't begin to tell you how many dangerous situations I got into because I just wanted to pass directly through a town. Dog attacks, cars brushing me, stumbling upon crack dens, slipping through mud or scratching myself through brambles. You'd think I was travelling through some mad max wasteland, but actually I was just trying to get from one store to another.
LOL I had to walk to a friends house to pick up my car after a house party (someone had to drive me home because I was too drunk) and I literally fell in a ditch/river. For reference it was a 15 minute drive at most but walking along the highway took 3 hours. I felt like Indiana Jones exploring through a jungle.
Live in florida for reference. I live in an apartment comunity, was walking to Publix that is just across the street and all of a sudden a PIT BULL charges at me, trying to play. It’s six in the morning however, and I’m trying to keep calm and show the dog I’m not about it. My heart fell to the floor. Stupid owners can’t keep their dogs on a leash.
Haha this is making me excited for my Europe trip, I’ve only been to cities in north and Central America and can’t even begin to imagine how life can be so different in Europe
Walking on the edge of many American business or loop roads feels like a revolutionary act. "Hi car dealership I'm just walking through your lot because you don't have a sidewalk"
I’m from suburban Houston and the most insane part is people will honk and yell at you for walking along the road. And you feel so out of place because there are hardly any sidewalks and you will be pretty much the only person you see walking.
I’ve done this experiment while walking around in Atlanta. Lots of dangerous roadway walking conditions. Kind of shocked me since I grew up in Philadelphia where you can easily walk in Philly from one part of the city to another.
I’m a New Yorker so every time I’m out of the city and some place was within walking distance, me and my friends would just walk even if that meant walking on the roads. People would look at us like we’re crazy
I’ve been without a car in Houston for a couple of years now, I can definitely say it sucks. Especially the stigma and people looking down at you, it’s never easy to ask a person that you need a ride. You become an annoyance for people by either walking on the road or asking for rides. Hope something changes.
There’s metro buses, rails, and even bike rentals. If you live outside the loop Idk how you can go anywhere? Living inside the loop it’s a lot easier to navigate to places. Though; however, it’s a large city and even getting a simple non luxurious car helps a lot.
I would leave if you can. I’ve unfortunately been here for all my 40 years. It will only get worse and worse. Houston is and always will be nothing but cars and concrete. It’s so illogical and depressing. If I had the means to move to the rolling hills of another state I would in a heartbeat
@@thistagworked I have a job, i dont have to spend a stupid ton of my hard earned money on a car when i can just take a tram, my bike or walk because i don't live in grey country. Some people don't have enough money when working either, students who don't want to take a huge loan or who's parents aren't wealthy.
I was once walking to Mc Donald’s as a teenager with my friends family and j walked across a stroad like I’d done many times. My friends dad got mad at us and told us to use the crosswalk from now on. On our way back, he narrowly avoided being hit by a car turning right on red. He never said anything about jay walking after that.
I can't imagine what living in a place like this has to be like when you are a kid. You legit have to ask your parents or somebody to give you a lift everytime you want to get anywhere. Also this explains why the driving age is lower in USA than in most place in Europe I guess. Driver licence is basically like having an ID here. You just cannot function without it in a society
@@naxygene2269 People waste a lot of money on unnecessary shit. Specially when they are forced to do it, like the video showed. What I was implying is that I can go anywhere in my country without a car. And I most definitely do not need one to go about in my city as everything is close to everyone.
Me and my family moved to Houston when I was around 8 year old. Before moving to Houston we lived in Gainesville, Georgia , it kind of had the same problems as Houston but in my memory it was really fun growing up. I remember that we could take a bus to the main area of the town and after that we could easily walk to the park, go to school, go to the grocery store, every thing was much closer to each other. Then when we moved to Houston and I literally couldn't go out side 1 because it was to hot or 2 there was literally no place to go because we didn't have a car. I'm 16 years old still living in the same neighborhood in Houston and honestly it really depressing growing up here. It feels like my teenage years are going to waist, and I'm barely learning how to drive and I don't feel safe driving on my own here because of crazy drivers and asking my parents to give me a ride is a no because my dad comes back from work @ around 7 and my mom can't drive. Living in Houston as a teen ( with no car and no driver license) is like living in a cage.
@@catbeara Season 2, episode 5 - where the officials from Baroqua come to visit. “This city was planned? On the drive in, I saw a tattoo parlor, next to a school next to a Taco Bell. It looks like it was designed by a very stupid rodent.”
@@olegstacie Curious to know how a rural city with a population of 70k compares to cities with 2 and 10 million people? How totally innocent and genuine of you. Why don’t you look it up? Go ahead and format it like an email forward from the 90’s and you’ll be all set.
After coming to Hiroshima Japan I was surprised by how well the streets were designed for bikers, and walkers. Having grown up around Houston, and loving biking and to bike places I was very annoyed by how it was difficult to do even in residential areas. In Japan I have had a vastly better experience biking and walking to places I need to go without worrying about getting run over.
6:12 This is perhaps one of the most frustrating things about US infrastructure. A sidewalk can just.... end. Just like that. No warning, no way out, you are just dumped into the gutter on the street and expected to deal with it.
@@Gerbera726 You tough it out and push your stroller hard through whatever is in front of you, if you can. I’ve dealt with this many many times. It sucks and has ruined cheaper strollers for me before. Or you can turn around and go back the way you came.
I've got an intersection down the road that has crosswalks (signals, painted lines, sloped curbs, the whole deal) but no side walks on either road for a least a mile both directions.
On a science channel that was talking up the benefits of self-driving cars, I pointed out that we needed to transition to walkable cities to solve the real problems with cars. I was told that to change American cities to be more walkable would be impossible, that they would need to demolish millions of homes. Turns out no, they're already demolishing houses and more for freeways.
@@vaibhavshirole You don't know what's in my head, and I don't know where you're getting your information from, so you're going to have to elaborate on both things that you said if you want to make an actual point.
I live in Seattle and we've made some of our widest streets walkable retroactively. Unfortunately here it seems like you can only get a raised walkway erected if someone dies in a car accident, but still it demonstrates that it's possible. Even if you only have a couple meters of sidewalk width, you can absolutely connect the two sides of the street with a raised walkway. In fact, with a little more space, you can have a helical ramp making it wheelchair accessible. We've split the atom and connected the whole world. It's time we stop pretending that making public works and walkways for everyone is somehow impossible when so many people have managed to do so even in difficult conditions.
This is one of the things that gets forgotten so often in this conversation. Walkable/bikeable neighbourhoods gives enormous independence to children and teenagers, which is extremely valuable to both them and their parents. The Dutch have the worlds happiest teens, largely because they get so much more independence than most places (I think NJB has a video on that). The youth don't get to vote either so they tend to get ignored in this whole urban planning conversation.
As a teenager in Houston, even if I did try to sneak out of my house, I couldn’t have gone anywhere because my house was near the intersection of two major highways, meaning everything was designed for access by car
YUP. I was gerrymandered into a school that was so incredibly far away that I was completely isolated growing up. Only child living off of a freeway, in an area that was split between three different suburbs. I just stayed home and hung out on Tumblr every day. So depressed.
Damn, I feel bad for you. I ive one or two blocks away from an interstate that cuts off my neighborhood from the rest of my city. But I can get around In my neighborhood.
@@assaultedpress bro 😂 that’s extremely dangerous. I’m an EMT for Houston and I can’t tell you how many autoped incidents I’ve seen on Houston freeways
I recently moved to Houston and decided to try running to my gym because it's only a mile or so away and holy shit, it took me like 30 minutes of running though parking lots and drainage ditches to avoid bridges on busy roads with no side walks and back tracking and literally having to side skirt through someone's yard to get there... like wtf
That sounds like a nightmare. You sure you need to live in Houston? 30 minutes of running for a location a mile away means you nearly got your workout done before you can get to your workout.
YES, I travel through Houston with no car I feel like a conquerer because I have to travel through Highways, Parking Lots and under bridges and then a small hill under a highway with trash thrown in the sides just to go home, Mind you it's a 15 min drive but walking?..... 🥲
@@NotJustBikes Ah yes, really doing their best to compete with the tobacco industry for being the biggest bunch of lying dicks. At least their jaywalking propaganda campaign was kind of clever and creative...
and even then paris is pretty car-centric for european standards. now it's becoming much better for walking and biking because of new legislation, and even though it's still a far cry from somewhere like amsterdam it's infinitely better than many american cities
Paris convinced you?! I've been in many European countries and cities and Paris has BY FAR the worst drivers (or traffic design, not sure). But then I imagine Paris is much better than what you find in America, especially that the center of Paris is actually not that bad.
I remember a cultural shock, when I first arrived to the States from Asia, and my friend and I walked about 2 km to a small shop! We were the ONLY ppl walking on the streets! On the other hand My son also has had cultural shock, when he visited Asia, and he saw ppl walking outside, he asked me: Why are they WALKING, is it a some kind of event or some celebration?
@@Anonymous-df8it If i remember my geography correctly: *Tampa, Florida is a part of USA,* & *it is normal to see pedestrians & cyclists on the sidewalks. Cyclists merging into car traffic undisturbed, or seeing children walk in the middle of neighborhood roads where traffic is calm.*
I was born in Australia, when I went to America, I wondered why women were carrying (tiny) babies in their arms on the street. My friend said that they are too poor to buy a pram. I was shocked, (a pram is a bit like an automobile, for the purposes of this video). Yes, having a pram meant there would be place the mother could not go, like the bus and even every pavement which did not have a ramp, to get up and down. Have A Nice Day.
@@YesYesYoureRight In my city, baby strollers (what we name "prams" here) are a normal sight whether they carry babies or domestic animals. Most buildings, trams, & the buses in my city have wheelchair access ramps, automatic door buttons, wheelchair-only elevators & paraplegic bathrooms. It's harder to find what's *not* wheelchair accessible in Tampa than what is. Also, back on strollers, this the rules for strollers when inside the buses: 1. If the bus is crowded, then the stroller must be folded & stored on the cargo hold(just a rack on top of the RF fender) 2. If the stroller mustnt be folded, then it must be strapped in like a wheelchair
@@MainMite06 For reference I live in the second biggest city in Indiana behind Indianapolis. You might see 1 pedestrian for every 500 or 1000 cars. The only time you see more is right when schools are letting out, though most kids are picked up in a giant line of cars that wrap around the building multiple times. You see people jogging etc in parks, but they generally drive their car there first. For most people they see the trails as primarily for leisure or exercise as opposed to actual transportation. As soon as a park is built the number one comment on the facebook page is people complaining there is no parking garage within 1 block. If I see another bicyclist on my commute I always nod or wave because it's such an unusual event. My Kroger grocery store removed it's only bike rack 3 years ago and has never put it back, so I always bring my bicycle inside. The bus schedules run only once per hour, are fairly limited in destination, don't run late enough, don't connect to the airport, and don't operate on sundays at all. We have a fairly extensive trail network (125+ miles) but much of it is also placed along rivers in designated flood zones and therefore during some of the year the trails are actually underwater and unusable. Also, because it primarily follows bendy rivers, the travel distance is unneccesarrily longer than if you were to take a more direct course on a straight street. Trail crossings with roads always give right-of-way to the automobile with no safe crossing. So for example if kids are using the trails, they have to judge whether or not they should jump across 4 lanes of traffic with 55 mph traffic from both directions that isn't supposed to stop. In the late fall/winter, the number of walkers/cyclists decreases even further. Parking lots of businesses are plowed onto the sidewalks. Residents don't shovel their sidewalks even though they are required to. The pedestrian paths/shoulder on bridges are covered in hardened plowed snow/ice. The bus shelters are plowed full of snow drifts so you can't step inside.
This channel was actually what opened my eyes to urban planning just recently. I've grown up in a sprawling stroad-filled city my whole life. My parents were neglectful of me, so I was pretty adjusted to walking throughout the suburbs and other awful areas. I thought it was normal to feel unsafe while walking! It feels a bit like biting into the forbidden fruit to learn this, as I'm low income and cannot afford to live anywhere walkable. I'm stuck out in car hell. But as an adult, I've had a chance to walk around Ybor City in Tampa as well as my own city's downtown proper. The difference is so palpable and so upsetting, and like you once did, I didn't understand why I did or didn't like it. Notably, I spent a few months when I was 18 living in a rural town in Wisconsin. I lived on the main street of the town and being able to walk to get groceries or perform any basic functions was amazing. Hopefully one day I'll be able to afford somewhere walkable. City centers anywhere are so much more expensive!
That's great! My target audience for this channel is "me, 20 years ago." I wish I knew this when I was younger, but now it looks like it's my destiny to ensure that other people learn it earlier than I did.
@@NotJustBikes I hear ya say this on the Small Towns podcast. I just wanted to let ya know how much this channel means to me, it's because of channels like yours and City Beautiful that I am pursuing a Master's degree in Urban Planning. Even tried to do it in the Netherlands, too, but for a series of complicated reasons, I am going to Norway instead. Hope to still get an internship in the Netherlands and be inspired by these cities in real life that you have brought to my attention. So thanks again and keep up the good work!
@@NotJustBikes Maybe in the future you could even do a video on some of the improvements happening in places like Norway. It ain't quite to the dutch level but cities like Oslo and Trondheim demonstrate you can have plenty of dedicated bike lanes despite very hilly terrain, so could be an interesting vid, since that is the biggest pushback I hear from many people regarding better bike infrastructure.
Find a Swedish girlfriend or boyfriend online. Once you have a relationship they'll give you a permanent residency within no time and with full access to the EU. No marriage required. Don't get me started on how this compares to the US immigration scheme which more reminds me of modern slavery. You need to get out of there lol
Funny thing about that stretch of Sidewalk you showed in Houston. They're now building TWO MORE LANES to "help combat traffic", instead of, you know, investing in Buses or SIDEWALKS.
Funny enough: *Tampa Florida has invested in more HART bus routes and has already constructed miles of sidewalks complimenting nearly every surface road and a few low-traffic neighborhoods*
@@grqfes I loved the 4.5 sidewalk along the Bay when I lived in Tampa. Running without worrying about cars, and watching dolphins jump out of the water was wonderful. 90+ degrees in December is why I am back in Houston.
Dude the walk in Houston is insane. Where are the sidewalks? Where is vegetation? Where are noise shields? How the fuck did Americans manage to build a country where moving around without a car is actually next to impossible?
How? Zoning, convenience, weather. I dont care if Texas has perfectly viable bike lanes and footpaths everywhere, I'm not biking or walking if I'm GOING somewhere, unless its incredibly close. The southern half of this state spends 75% of the year in 85+ temps and half of it over 90. Its 1am right now, and its still in the 80s with 74% humidity. As an employer, I'm not at all interested in hiring people who need to take a shower when they get to work because they walked 6 miles in 95 degree heat at 8am. I'm also not keen on every day being an adventure of how fast I'll sweat through literally every piece of clothing I am in. I do that in Florida for a few weeks a year, I'm good. Give me cars with AC in this place any day of the week, and the advantage of being in the suburbs is free? Ill take it.
I recently downloaded CS again after watching some of Not Just Bikes videos to try creating some more friendly cities without using mods. I see I didn't add nearly enough pedestrian pathing, and too many highways ....
@@Curt-0001 My first cities were so bad they were full of streets with dead ends, without any pedestrian paths and littered with multiple highways in the middle of the CBD. Good thing nowadays I typically don't put as many highways close to the city.
This is me when I went to the US. I was in a small city for 1 week and I decided, I wanted to go shopping and eat something. I saw a mall which was around 1km away so I wanted to walk there. At the hotel, I asked the receptionist about the mall and she said, yeah it's cool, let me call you a cab. I said, no it's ok I will walk there, I get to see the surroundings. She looked super strange at me and said that I cannot walk. In my mind, I was wtf is she talking about, I thanked her for the help but I insisted that I will walk and left the hotel. 5 minutes later I was back and asked her if she can order me that cab because after I left the hotel and walked 2 minutes, there were no sidewalks, none, zero. My mind was blown. This was many years ago but I still think about it and I still cannot comprehend.
yup its that bad here 😭 the only walking I can do in southern U.S is to my school and to a nearby convenience store, and even then, that’s only because I live close by to a school.
@@rania6674 Same my school didn't even have a side walk until like 3 or 4 years ago. I had to walk on the side of the road to get home and risk getting hit by cars everyday because my school zone also had kids who shouldn't even have a license driving around and they didn't care to look out for pedestrians smh
Man I live in Houston and you have made me think about my life now.... I really actually wanna cry. I've had it hard. Houston streets made it harder, always having to deal with Metro. It is hard getting around without car. I've walked on those grass walkways on sides of streets, even on many fancier sides of town. Everything is good now though. I even have two kids now, and two cars.
I feel you. My kids and I walked, rode bikes, and took Metro buses for about five years because I couldn't afford a car when I was in college. It was very difficult and where I lived, worked, and shopped, my children's daycare, where I went to college, and where we went for entertainment all revolved around the Metro bus system. I spent countless days in the hot sun and humidity, exposed to the elements and air pollution while waiting for the bus. Houston's public transportation is very inefficient, confusing, and slow, requires a lot of planning and a very early departure to get anywhere on time. When we lived in Frankfurt, Germany, we didn't even need a car or have to know the bus routes or schedules because the buses, streetcars, and subways traveled in a mostly straight line and came about every 10-15 minutes. My life improved drastically when I was able to afford a bucket of bolts car and get a better job, make more money, have more options. I am sympathetic to people who still have to rely on Houston's public transportation.
@@selveneleven Thank you so much I am. That part of my life was a real struggle but it paid off in more ways than financially. It made me a more patient, kind, tolerant, sympathetic person.
Okay I live in Houston. Have my whole life actually. And you’re completely right. When I got into a wreck and didn’t have my car for 3 months my whole life turned upside down it felt like. If I didn’t have the help from my family. I’d have lost my job and everything else I’ve worked so hard for just because I didn’t have a car to get anywhere.
Every so often I run across something on youtube that changes how I view the world. This was one of those videos. I've experienced this "walking in a driving city" numerous times but it never even occurred to me how absurd and wrong it is. Well done.
I live around Houston. It's pretty frustrating how many roads and neighborhoods have no sidewalks at all. Anybody walking, whether it's to get from point A to point B or to exercise, has to do it on the road, which isn't as safe. Even when there is a sidewalk, it eventually just STOPS, like that one did for you, and it's super narrow and close to the road.
So true, Houston is in dire need of sidewalk regulations. There are so many safety issues even when there are sidewalks. To add to your list, you’ll see a random utility pole in the middle of the sidewalk, or the concrete has a six inch gap between each slab from tree roots.
Small town near Houston call kingwood, it has side walks everywhere except for the front of the town, where the Business areas are and food court’s are. When you do, walk you get a lot of shade and good scenery from nature
I grew up in a small city in the middle of the US. I always laughed at people who wanted better public transportation and never understood the argument, after all, cars are fine. Then I lived in NY for a few years and didn't own a car. I had a job that allowed me to travel to Europe. I absolutely fell in love with not having to have a car, with being able to walk everywhere or use public transportation. When I had to leave and move back to my hometown, I hated it. And there's not a day that goes by where I don't hate having to get into a car and drive. I think once people experience what it's like to live or visit somewhere where you don't need a car, they realize how much better it is. I miss it so much that I'm actually trying to save up and move over to Europe as soon as possible (for a variety of other reasons too of course), but just so I can get back out of this car culture.
where in europe? i wanna move to tallinn or helsinki but the only problem is language for getting a job could maybe move to france or belgium since im canadian so i had to do french, id love to live in switzerland but it seems wayy too expensive lol
I have the opposite experience. Lived in inner city Boston till I was 19 and had no problems not having a car or license. Because of the military had to move to Texas. Fucking hate it here.
I had 5 hours to kill once waiting for a bus in portland's airport and could not physically leave the airport on foot without either trespassing or walking on a road, its insane.
I've lived in Houston all my life, and I walked to and from high school a lot, and your walk sounded distressingly familiar to the many walks I've taken here in my life. And for the longest time I just thought that was normal, and that was just how walking places in a city was. You just...needed a car, and if you didnt have one you just had to learn how to balance on curbs and walk across areas not meant for pedestrians. When I studied abroad in Osaka my mind was like, blown. i could get all over the city on foot, it was amazing. i wish things were like that here. it's a shame there's a lot of people like me out there who spent like the first 20 years of their life not realizing how fucked up the walkability of their hometown was. I'm glad you touched on the katy freeway, too - when I was growing up, there was a shopping center near my house that was actually fairly pedestrian friendly, and I used to walk there all the time. I remember one of those expansions to I-10 just completely bulldozing half the shopping center but forcing the entire center to move out, and for the longest time there was just this horrible ugly concrete slab there with nothing on it. They went and cut off several neighborhoods too it was wild. I remember being bitter about losing that shopping center for years as a kid.
Same here. When I was younger, I thought owning a car and driving was great. After 20 years of driving in cities like Houston, and traveling around the world, I realized we were brainwashed into believing there were no other options in urban design.
@@sabinoluevano7447 Thats what i tell my friends and they think im crazy! vehicles are a money sink, thats all they are! they depreciate and ontop of that you have to maintain it. But ofcourse here in Houston its not like we have any other choice...
Perhaps join up with Geneva Marie and get at least footpaths. Few councillors and the city planner will want to defend wheelchair inaccessability. Ideally find some at the local veterans hospital as telling a veteran he must risk his life again just to get to the shops/hospital is a career killer and social pariah. Work from the city centre out. Contact some retail giants who want to greenwash and get them on-board. There is bound to be a few well off lawyers who want to do some good PR pro-bono work thats easier than working in the local prison.
@@uwe1996 No it was just a small neighborhood shopping center. There was a dance studio and a party store and a sandwich shop and a chinese restaurant among other things. All the walkways were outdoors. But don't get me started on Town and Country I'm still mad about what happened to that one too.
I'm a civil engineer in land development, and content like this is exactly what we need. It starts at the city planning level, because developers will always go with the cheapest option that makes them the most money, and we as the engineer are tasked with designing to the developers needs and meeting city requirements. If the city doesn't require bike lanes, for instance, the developers will fight tooth and nail to not include them.
And then welcome corruption and investor planning & building, instead of common sense planning & building. It happens all over the world in different ways and variables.
I have to think that it is the developers that are the main influence to do huge projects that spend a lot of government money, and in the process do nothing to address the problems and only make things worse. Spending billions to expand a highway and make traffic even worse than it was before is asinine. But we see that taxpayer $$$ is just a feeding trough for the big developers.
Just a caveat. Nonprofit and/or affordable housing developers often don’t fit this generalization. I agree that rules need to be in place so as to require developers to design and build a certain way. It’s difficult to expect developers to put in certain amenities that are not already in the vicinity. Why put in a bike lane if it doesn’t connect to other bike lanes?
ever since visiting more people-friendly cities, I can't help but be astonished every time I come back to Phoenix and notice just how massive the Valley actually is. you really can't walk anywhere here because it's just one absolutely gigantic suburbia from North Phoenix to South Chandler. I can't go virtually anywhere without getting on a highway!
@@jakejaramillo i've gotten lost in the suburbs here multiple times driving around. it's hell. you take one wrong turn and suddenly you don't know where you are, everything is the same, and you have no hope of ever finding your way back without gps. I've gotten lost in suburbs ALL around the valley (like 15 miles apart) and they literally are the exact same visually. And then you get into a nice neighborhood and it's all cute little houses, nice stucco, some shops, even a sidewalk, then another 1.5 miles and you're in another shitty suburb and it's like you haven't gone anywhere at all.
I agree with you a lot. I am from Russia. After getting married an American, I moved to Houston. I have never felt needs of car, or driving license bcs our public transportation is developed very well. And once I moved in this city , the first thing I noticed is how people are uncommunicative. The smile or nice fake “hiiiiii” doesn’t make them close. Everybody by themselves. I am 5 month here and can’t go out bcs feel weird. Staying at home all days and nights. This city is designed for roughly business ideas. Not for people to live, communicate, have a nice walk by the evening. The worst disappointment I have even had about anything, bcs to get visa for this country cost me more than 10 years of my life.
As a disabled person who can’t drive that was born and raised in Houston, I cannot adequately articulate just how utterly trapped I feel in this city. I can’t even get my own groceries, man. Its like I’m not allowed to be an adult here because cars are *that* required for normal life. :(
I know EXACTLY how you feel Bon Hill, because I am in the same situation, even though I don't live in Houston, but in the suburbs of metro-Detroit (Oakland County) which is basically the same in terms of the utter lack of options and infrastructure for those who cannot drive. At least now, thankfully because of Instacart, Shipt, and other grocery delivery services I can get groceries even if/when I don't have family able to get them, or take me to get them. But for so many years, especially when I was living on my own (for a few years in my 20s when I was living in an apartment) it was PURE HELL. Even though the closest grocery store at that time was about 2 miles away (at some point, after I had moved out of that apartment, a grocery chain opened a branch literally just across the street and a couple buildings down from the entrance to my apartment complex) because I couldn't drive, and there weren't sidewalks/bike paths the entire way and part of the way there, was a design similar to the situation (not a bridge, but some other obstacle, I can't recall what though, as its been 20 years) like to the guy in this video on that narrow stretch of road, that made it difficult if not impossible to walk while lugging even a rolling cart with groceries. So my family who lived like 20 or 30 minutes drive away would have to come by once a week or once every couple weeks to drive me 2 miles away to the grocery store. Its RIDICULOUS! How much time and gas wasted driving so much, just to take me to the grocery store, when a few bus routes or even just decent sidewalks could conserve that!
@@danielmellott7754 you know NOTHING about what you're talking about! Do you have ANY idea HOW IMPOSSIBLE it is to even GET appointments for that?? I'm not in Houston, but SE. Michigan, and our service like that requires people to: 1.) Call 2 days in advance for an appointment (so forget if you need to go somewhere urgently at the spur of the moment!) 2.) They start taking reservations at 7AM sharp, but EVERY TIME I call, at 6 : 59 I get a recorded message that the office is closed and to call back at 7 AM, and when I dial the phone the second the digit on the clock turns to 7 AM, I get a message saying that I'm the 10th or 15th or 20th, or 25th caller in the line and a representative will get to me when the next one is available. Then I am on hold for the next 20, or 30 or 40 minutes. and by the time I get a human on the phone to book an appointment, they say, "Sorry we're all booked for that day, Try calling back tomorrow" Then the same thing happens the next day, and the next, and the next and on and on! So for you to suggest that as a viable alternative to DECENT public transit, walkability and bike paths is outrageous and offensive! I cannot believe I lost a huge document I was working on, just to read such an asinine comment!!! 🤬🤬🤬
Yeah and since you cant really go anywhere fun, alot of adventures and hang out time with my friend was spent at walmart or hangout in parking lots. Like if we were bored we would go to walmart since it was the easiest and fastest to get to.
This is a damm good video. I lived 2 years in Dubai, and I used to laugh at Ferraris and Lamborghinis being drove at 5 kms per hour most of the time because of traffic when these cars are designed to go 200 km per hour. When I visited Amsterdam on a business trip I loved that city with all its bike and pedestrian culture. But my reality is that I am stuck in El Salvador, where most people dream about visiting Dubai instead of Amsterdam.
For me, as a person who's lived his entire life in the Netherlands and as never been outside of Europe, it is completely impossible to imagine what it would be like to not be able to walk everywhere. Last year I went to the zoo with my brother in a city we both didn't really know. At the train station we met up and just walked to the zoo, about 20 minutes or so. After that we walked to the city centre to have dinner, about 40 minutes. It was absolutely no problem at all as there was a sidewalk everywhere. You are right, it is indeed a crime to design cities like Houston.
For me it was the same until I went on holiday to Florida in December of 2019. We wanted to get a gift for a friend so we tried to walk to a boardgame shop there, about 2km and it just wasn't possible. The sidewalk ended and knee high grass began with no alternative. Also traffic light stood on green for what felt like minutes at a time. (I also missed the ticking our pedestrian traffic lights usually make so you don't have to actually see the light to know it's green). Before Florida I went to multiple other cities in Europe and usually we could walk everywhere or take public transit easily. In the Florida we HAD to rent a car to get anywhere, or be driven everywhere by Uber.
One other aspect of this you didn't get into in this video but definitely could: One group of people that are necessarily without cars is children under age 16. So that means if children in stroad-infected suburbia want to go *anywhere*, they have to have a parent around to drive them. It's basically designed to be anti-social.
I literally grew up in the radius of the featured part of Houston and that is literally exactly how it is. I wrote a long reply about it as a top-level reply to this video. I wasn't even allowed to ride my bike outside of my subdivision (which of course, was cul-de-sac'd to hell) until 13. Even then there was nowhere to go outside of going from one subdivision to another. Contrasted to when I got my first car, and I could finally drive to the mall or the stores.... Only 1 kilometer away from my home.
@@chilanya it felt like (and was) freedom comparatively. I was able to make it to my best friends house a few miles away..... But that was about it. Nothing like the Dutch experience.
@@spencershao7940 It's no wonder suburbia and Dystopian movies look so similar. The depressingly sterile homes lined up perfectly in what success ought to look like, according to whatever ruler of power.
Until the end I didn't realize how incomplete that Houston walk was without a ford mustang deafening you with that ripping farting sound while still failing to accelerate away fast enough.
Yup, I’m born and raised of Houston, we are all very proud of our city but no one has ever acknowledged the dangerous and expensive hellscape that is our city’s design 😩 I’ve since moved away to a much smaller city and get to avoid the driving stress that comes from living in Houston 😊
Yep even as a teenager I’ve seen people texting and driving and quite often I’d flip them off as my parents pass them I’m hoping people drive better in the Midwest so
For those people who have never been to a major urban center in texas, you just simply can't grasp how epic the urban sprawl is. It took us an hour to get across the city and that was us moving at a steady clip.
9:36 - I'm an Urban Planner and I say you are spot on. It is the most obvious thing. Design roads with footpaths, plant beautiful trees, and separate cycling. The costs to include these are quite minimal. The community gain outweighs the costs.
agree except locate the footpaths far enough away from the road or highway so the traffic noise is minimized - realizing you cannot stop that noise entirely even miles away from the traffic.
It isn't rocket science, but when I see some bike paths, I would better use road. Here in my country, trend is just cut space from road and paint bike path there, but you are going next to parked cars so you have riding cars on left side and parked cars on right side and you are still in stress that someone opens door and hit you, I really don't like this, better paint it on side walk if it's wide enough or don't do it at all.
I live in Houston without a car and you are correct. Houston planners hate pedestrians. We simply don't exist in this city, crossing the street is so dangerous and scary just as you stated that most people run for their lives and get killed anyway. The city doesn't care about people it never did. I'm getting out of here asap.🙏
When I was a kid I was a mile from our library “downtown”. My mother was busy working two jobs, and we lived in low income housing. Everyday, after school, my sister and I would make the treacherous journey across a sidewalk-less bridge, just to get to basic services necessary for doing homework: books, internet, and tutoring. Everytime I think about it, I think about how incredibly dangerous that was. Cars would speed by 2 children at 45 mph on the icy roads of winter in Minnesota. It’s a miracle there was never an accident
I’m 15 and every week I have football and wrestling practice and I have to walk home and I have to cross a main road which is always scary to me because I hate how drive can still turn even if the light is red. One of those days I was walking home the thing that let you know you can walk showed the walking person but I wasn’t able to cross the road cos few cars were turning and that made me realized how stupid the rule is
@@worstgamer1162 The solution is simple: Right turn signals. If there is no cross traffic on the pedestrian/bike crossing, cars get a green light to turn. This works for left turns as well, as a signal with an arrow means you have free way through the crossing, no waiting for cross traffic that also has a green light. Often the arrow is only green/yellow, because you are allowed to turn right on normal green as well, but in that case the pedestrians and bikes have right of way as you are turning and crossing their way. (Rather: You have to yield, there is no right of way in Sweden.)
@@57thorns thanks but man I be scared whenever I’m about to cross the main road😂 also the walk sign was shown but cars still kept going and I had to wait couple of more minutes
@@worstgamer1162 It is still dangerous to cross the road, but at least pedestrians are protected by the law, it is _always_ the drivers fault when an accident occurs, unless the pedestrian is extremely reckless or the circumstance make it an unavoidable accident.
I just stumbled upon this channel and it is amazing how it basically summed up everything I hate about most North American cities that I never even knew. Not having sidewalks is pure insanity.
“This…is fundamentally wrong. Nobody should have to own a car just to participate in society. And designing a city that way on purpose…is criminal.” Exactly. Even your pauses…are true!
Why, these city planners are college graduates! They have degrees! They’re educated! They have vision! They are our experts!...now, we discover they’ve been criminal? I’m shocked! Shocked!
Too bad we can't trust city planners or our representatives in the city council. I feel like they're living in a parallel world while there are plenty of examples around the world to learn from.
@@sprague49 A lot of city planners *want* better cycling infrastructure and more walkable cities. They present designs all the time when redevelopment is proposed. but they are often hamstrung by coffers, politicians, city council members, and the citizens themselves. Many citizens get into NIMBYism every time a sensible road diet plan is presented. This just happened for the 2nd time in a few years about a road diet plan for Central Ave. in Phoenix. It's currently considered a "bike boulvard" but is a high speed arterial with zero bike lanes. It's totally laughable that this road has signage calling itself the "Sonoran Bikeway", lol. The road diet was killed again because of citizens complaining that it would cut into their commute times. Drivers almost always win. Citizens commonly vote against their own best interest. And city council members are frequently corrupt. Let's not throw well meaning people in city planning departments under the bus so eagerly.
As someone born and raised in Houston, it was surreal seeing the Willowbrook area, a place I went to probably hundreds of times, in your video. It really is awful, though. I have a relative with severe ADHD who doesn’t feel like they would be a safe driver and has (responsibly) decided not to get their license but now how are they going to get to work?? It’s a nightmare. Also, it’s worth mentioning that transportation insecurity is a big issue here. There are entire charities whose sole purpose is to help people get rides to doctor’s appointments. Food insecurity is on the rise because people can’t get to grocery stores. Lack of transportation = lack of access to so many other necessities
I expected to become a UX Designer designing digital Interfaces - but thanks to NotJustBikes and spending a few years in The Netherlands I now want to improve the UX of cities 🤷🏽♂️. A life changing channel - and a life changing country to live in.
That's awesome! City planning is way out of my field, but watching this channel has encouraged me to leave Houston and suburbia for the Nederlands. I love the in-depth analysis explaining what I've always felt or navigated in Houston, and it sounds really exciting to try something more designed for people than cars.
I was born and raised in Houston, and I’m still here. I’ve experienced everything mentioned in this video, and more. I’m extremely lucky to live in one of the oldest streetcar suburbs, where I can bike to anywhere I need to go. When I venture out of this comfort zone, I’m disgusted and terrified. The pockets of sanity are surrounded by the hellscape we’ve created for The Car.
Similar for me. Also born and raised in one of the more walkable parts of Houston and when I visit my family there I still walk to nearby businesses. Some local restaurants, it is faster (and better exercise) to walk over and pick up the food than to wait for it to get delivered. Of course, the outer parts the city are, buy and large, exactly the same and exactly as shown in this video. And, even if "walkable" parts of the city still have a lot to be desired. There are no bike lanes to speak of. Traffic signals to cross arterials are not frequent enough. Sidewalks still abruptly end when the street crosses railroad tracks, just like they did 30 years ago. And then, there's the cultural aspect. In April for example, I called up a local Wallgreens to schedule a COVID test and asked whether it was ok if I showed up on foot, as I didn't have a car at the time, and the website wasn't clear. After about 20 minutes of waiting on hold, I got back the reply: "no car, no test". I ended up having to go somewhere else for the test that charged twice as much (but covered by insurance), but was willing to see patients that arrive by walking. U.S. car dependency and the U.S. medical system all experienced at once. And, of course, when the COVID vaccine opened up to all adults, the first place available was in the middle of unwalkable sprawlsville. I borrowed my parents' car and got the shot. But I couldn't help thinking how people without cars were supposed to get it and how long they were going to have to wait.
@@ab-tf5fl Not in Houston but I experienced similar issues dealing with getting the vaccine. Had to wait a few extra weeks to find a shot that was within the city limits and was accessible by bus. I've never taken an actual COVID test because every place that offered one was inaccessible.
100 years ago Los Angeles and San Diego were served by trolly cars on rails throughout and car ownership was unnecessary. The trolly companies were bought out by oil and tire manufacturers and the rails ripped out. Now it’s virtually impossible to live in these places without a car.
They owned horses and carriages untill they discovered cars. So trollys were like buses only they needed tracks and were horse drawn till they converted to a engine
Houston 1.0 had electric rail bus system. Then the oil/auto industry took over and ruined it. We have a small Light Rail for over 10 years that only access downtown to midtown and now a little north of that. Pretty sad, but maybe in a few more decades they'll get it running everywhere. I'll probably be gone or dead by then.
Happy that you pointed that out. When I was a kid, I pointed to a large concrete pylon in the middle of the Maumee river. My father said it was the remains of the trolley bridge that ran from Toledo, Ohio through Maumee and over the river to Perrysburg, Ohio. It made me quite sad when I found out that these trolley companies were bought and shut down to “encourage” the purchase of automobiles and oil products.
Houston is absolutely BRUTAL to everyone who doesn’t drive. Their bus service is beyond awful - and that ‘improved’ service has been the most convoluted confusing mess. Only reason ridership increased was temporary free fares. But even WORSE than H-town are the small towns around it … Humble, Kingwood, Woodlands, Katy - all of them are either drive or stumble through the ditches. So glad I don’t live there anymore
are you just gonna sit there and let your brisket get insulted?? what's wrong with you?? same thing that's wrong with most, the food isn't worth fighting over right?? LMAO!!! [i'm joking sheesh]
Have you ever considered giving a TED talk? I feel like your story and relationship to Urban Planning could be particularly powerful, especially at this moment when, for example, the U.S. is allocating massive spending for urban reform. More people need to challenge the ways in which they live their lives, and voices like yours need to be amplified!
As someone who's lived in Houston since 86, I was prepared to be angry when I clicked on this, but nah, you're right. You summed up so many of the thoughts I've had while driving and getting by in this city, trust me --- I've talked to friends about this too, we're all frustrated with how much of this city is laid out and thanks to TH-cam and a lot of these "walking tour" videos of different cities like Tokyo and Seoul (and of course traveling around ourselves), we're hyper aware of just how stunted Houston is in its reliance on stroads. I wish people who were in charge could watch this video and get their minds changed, but what I really suspect is happening is that everyone here knows this is horrible, but oil/gas influence is far reaching in this city and really shaped the way it was restructured over time, and those attitudes have been burned in by now into a sheltered, get in truck, drive to store, drive home, leave me alone attitude. It's become the mentality here. There are newer developments in the surrounding Houston area that are called "town centers" which aim to replicate the street/pedestrian experience, but those are very expensive to live in (also expensive for retail to lease the spaces below the apartments). I dunno man, I'd like things to change in Houston but its such a massively big city, with so many endless parking lots --- the money and will it would take to restructure these things seems unlikely to emerge.
What is unfortunate is that the USA is the richest place in history, but it could all be undone with the current mindset. The economy is having problems because of these issues, its not just car reliance, it is a lot of everything. The US and Canada need to fix this, Fracking buys you time, but we need a different mindset. The problem is that large amounts of money is required and many people with lots of money do not do much about the problem. Bill Gates, Dave Ramsey and Jeff Bezos have no clue that this is a problem and are helping make it worse. Anyways, here are these videos for thought, they are depressing but I feel the need to share. th-cam.com/video/Q1ZeXnmDZMQ/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/bnKIVX968PQ/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/qSKSjsBv7uQ/w-d-xo.html
drivers are ego-maniacal suburbanites so I say let's use their ego against them. Remove all soundproofing from cars and watch how fast things change when their little comfort is impacted
@@curtislowe4577 What kind of industrial settings are we talking about, they were all originally serviced without the car in mind. The advocation is not to eliminate the car, although that may happen inevitably, but to change the required usage. It is not just the industrial parks that will be gone, it will be all those 'cool' bank towers too, in fact, all the skyscrapers might become ghosts of the past.
I know this is an old video, but man is it prescient! My poor mother is legally blind, 92 years old, but otherwise in great health. She loves to walk. Sadly, after my father passed recently, she and we have come to recognize how shitty living in suburbia is when you are utterly trapped in your own home when you can't drive on your own. She is immensely frustrated and angry at her current situation. Although she does have private transport twice a week, and two of her kids (inc. me) take time away from work to get her to inflexible appointments, etc, it's still a little prison-esque for her. I do not want to be in the same situation when I'm retired. great video!
@@peterjaspers606 nah, Its completely legal. Just look at how healthcare companies are allowed to overcharge for stuff like life saving medicine and procedures.
@@peterjaspers606 It probably was just a tragic accident. From the minimum description here we don't know anything about the situation. Was the car speeding? Did the car fail to stop for a stop sign or red light? Did the coworker cross at an intersection? Were they in a cross walk? Did they have a light to walk? Was it dark? Was it raining? If the driver stopped at the scene, did their best to get help for the injured coworker, cooperated with police and first responders, etc. it's extremely unlikely they will get charged if they weren't violating a traffic law. Or are you implying the husband just shoved the coworker into traffic to execute them? lol
Wonderful video! You're inspiring me to explain why I became an urban planner. Houston is not on my list of reasons why (haven't visited, and trip was canceled due to COVID), but Los Angeles IS on my list. Keep up the great work! Love the channel!
I grew up on suburban Long Island. The main drag is an uncrossable-to-pedestrians state route flanked by low-rise buildings and parking lots for nearly its entire length. It's soul-crushingly dismal. I describe Los Angeles as if my hometown metastisized into a sprawling cancer consuming thousands of square miles.
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My dad on his bike got hit by a pick-up truck on a stroad and ended up in hospital for months.
The investigating officer tried to convince me that it wasn't my dad who was hit by a truck, but it was the truck that got hit by my dad.
Thanks for doing this.
Oh wow I'm sorry to hear that. This is what I meant by "it will be *your* fault if you're hit by a car." I hear these stories all the time. I hope your dad recovers soon!
I’m an Uber Driver here in Houston, and up to 80% of my clients in some parts of the city are minimum-wage workers who cannot afford a car.
80% of you clients are broke bums
@@OmegaRedFan 80% of your brain is smooth.
@@OmegaRedFan Post your real name and your real job so we can see that you aren’t a broke bum yourself.
@@lilporky8565 I'd say you didn't have to fucking kill him like that, but I think he legally already qualifies as brain dead
That's sad to hear about.
When we visited (from the UK) my daughter who was living in Atlanta, we thought we would walk to a nearby supermarket. This was difficult because there were no pavements. When we reached the store, we couldn't find the entrance. Eventually we realised we had to go into a multi storey car park - the store entrance was in the basement of the car park. There was NO provision for a pedestrian to access the shop.
As a Houston resident, one of our most common complaints that you hear from people living here is "There's nowhere to just go walk around, even downtown"
Well also, the fact that this time of year it is so damn hot outside that nobody wants to walk anyway lol. The heat index from my weather station has been an average of 111 degrees this summer. Ridiculously hot
Memorial Park 🤷♂️
@@johnh8705 No! That park has too many Shoobies.
I recently just moved to Kingwood a suburb of Houston. I have no intention of going to downtown Houston unless someone else drives, I don't like the city, and that may because US cities are not human friendly. That being said my neighborhood has miles and miles of bike and walking trails. The odd part is in order to get to them I have to walk in the street out of my neighborhood. I will soon put a back gate in my backyard for quick access to the Greenbelt and to keep my out of the street.
@@fireandiron4181 less asphalt all over the place would theoretically decrease city temperatures.
I’m a Houston native and you omitted one HUGE HUGE problem; flooding. There is so much concrete that covers Houston that when it rains, it floods, because there is no soil to absorb the large amount of water from a large storm. The water has nowhere to go. Sure, drainage systems are built but as expansive as they are, they are still unable to accommodate the occasional hurricane or tropical depression that plague our coastal city.
I was thinking the same thing- that all that bulldozing of land and paving of parking lots and wider highways contributed to the flooding issues.
It's not it's not that it's covered in concrete instead it used to be a swamp and it's supposed to be under water That's why there's so many mosquitoes and the roads are designed to flood to carry the water away.
@@PatrickPecoraro sounds like the roads are designed inadequately
People literally drown all the time when something like highway 288 fills with water and people get trapped in their cars on the freeway.
@@IndigoRhapsody no your fighting Mother Nature trying to mitigate natural disasters and the ecosystem of the area.
I live in Houston, I'm 17, in a single parent household. My mom is too blind to drive, so my entire life my family has never had a car. We still don't. I ended up missing out on a lot of experiences going on, and I hardly ever got the chance to go to places. Often times when my family needs to go grocery shopping, we go walking to the Walmart nearby. That one grocery trip takes up the whole day. Sometimes when were finished shopping, it's already dark out, and we ask our relatives if they can give us a ride home, even though they live 30 minutes away. We do that because it's just not safe to walk back in the dark for 30 minutes. There's no street lamps, and we live in an unsafe neighborhood. There used to be a bus going to the Walmart, which helped us a lot, but they shut it down.
I've asked my aunts and uncles to teach me how to drive but its always "you live far away and I'm too busy" It feels at times as if I'm stuck. I can't learn how to drive without a car. And we're not financially stable enough to even afford a car. It's hard for me to get a job and help out because, well, how am I supposed to go to work. I ask for rides, and lately we've been relying a lot on ubers just to live. It gets expensive, making it even harder to save up for a car. My mom takes the Metro in the morning to work, and an uber at night. I've been looking for cars online, but everything good is way out of our budget. And if we get one too cheap then it'll be too expensive to keep up with it. I've had a friend trying to teach me how to drive, but she lives almost an hour away so we've only been doing lessons once a week. And I still need to go to a driving school and get my permit. Its hard living here without a car. I feel stuck. I feel like I'm trapped into a small bubble and being able to leave it is an expensive luxury we cant always afford. When I was younger I thought I would have fixed our situation, but I was so wrong.
Honestly, I'd try signing up for a driving school. Form what I heard, some will come and pick you up and you spend your time in the car with the teacher and other students taking turns practicing. It's really a shame they took drivers ed out of school.
What part of town are you from? I have many friends from this city since I've been here since highschool (college student now) if I know anyone near you I could ask if they're willing to help
I think motorbike or electric bike can be your solution.... Its cheaper and you must have known how to ride it... instead of walking or taking uber to go anywhere
Ask your aunts and uncles to buy you an electric unicycle (EUC)
I'm so sorry, that's no way to live a childhood. And it's not your fault, or your parents' fault. I imagine that you will feel some guilt if you decide to leave Houston and not be able to take care of your family. But honestly if you don't, nothing will ever change or get better, it will only slowly get worse. You will never make much more than minimum wage if you're stuck doing retail or whatever is available within walking distance or if you need to Uber to work, and you will never get out of the trap of poverty. University isn't really affordable for most people, and going into debt is a bad idea without an ironclad long term career plan. You can always call admissions at a local community college to see if they offer something you'd be willing to do and if the prices are reasonable. They all have informative websites and people happy to talk to prospective students or offer tours. Alternatively, look at trade school or apprenticeships, which often let you work while studying and get paid while still training, and lead to very high paying work. There are also easy to get certificates that let you get your foot in the door in offices, and even hospitals and schools, which usually pays better than retail and is actually a benefit to society.
I am a disabled individual. I literally cannot operate a motor vehicle in a legal capacity. I cannot live in most US cities because of the lack of public transport and inability to walk places. I WANT THIS TO CHANGE. I am visually impaired, but I want this to change not only for me, but others like me whose disability would not hinder their life nearly as much if the cities they lived in were walkable cities. This would also benefit the mental and physical health of future generations, granting younger people the opportunity to see more of their home town in a safer environment.
Ive never actually visited the US, but once had a layover at Houston on my trip from the Netherlands to Argentina. We had about 6 hours to spend at the airport, so we thought of having a walk around just to kill some of the time. I was so confused when you simply couldn't. There was nowhere to walk to, and nothing to walk on, it was a huge culture shock within the first minutes.
Wait when?
@@adjudicator4766 this was in 2015, has it changed since? I also thought it was really odd that it had carpet everywhere. Its hard to keep that clean in your home if its just you walking on it, cant imagine how nasty it gets in just one day with thousands of people. Seems like such a weird choice for an airport. But anyway, thats besides the point.
USA is very diverse. NYC, Houston, Miami, Seattle, are different from each other. There’s plenty of states/cities where they have side walks and bike lanes.
@@jamilsuriel4406 I dont know, ive been all over Europe and i dare to say its an even more diverse place. Yet ive never found a place that did not have side walks, its not like an optional thing youd have to specify, theyre just there...
@@msjodh88
You're comparing a whole continent to one country. The US is like 50 countries within one country with well over a 100 differently designed cities, etc......
True story. When I was nineteen (I'm from ireland) I moved to the suburbs of Chicago. I decided to go for 'a walk'. I met NOBODY on my 30 minute walk. It was surreal. I felt like I was being watched even through the quiet streets. When I pressed the button to cross the street I nearly got run over by a car because they could turn left on red or something. A cop pulled me the same day for Jay walking. It's honestly so stressful just to go for a stroll in suburban America
When I was in Chicago, I stayed in a cheap airbnb in the suburbs and ended up walking along the side of the highway every day to get to the train station, cos I was young and poor and couldn't afford ubers into the city. There were no sidewalks for 5km of the 8km walk to the train station
The US is a 3rd world country
Yeah when I moved to Albany temporarily from NYC it was really strange to never see people walking around
So sorry you went through that, especially being stopped by a cop. In my experience Jay walking is ABSOLUTELY a lot safer than waiting at a cross walk. As you mentioned, sometimes the goddamn left turn is a "yield" turn and cars aren't looking for or are too distracted to notice possible pedestrians. Then cars can also turn right at any time that might otherwise be a good time for a pedestrian to cross. I've seen pedestrian lights literally go on for 3 seconds, people take a couple steps forward, then it goes back to the red hand again and cars start trying to enter the intersection
Luckily I was never seen / stopped, but honestly. It's so much safer to stand somewhere where you can VERY CLEARLY see any incoming traffic, icky gave to look left and right and glance at nearby driveways / exit areas to check they're clear, and HURRY across (even then too many people shuffle along as they walk, looking at their phones) than it is to wait for traffic in 4 directions to be clear, and then still have to worry about people speeding past a red light or turning right or making u turns
Bro that's cause your in goddamn suburban Chicago lmao. That's to be expected. Try going to Manhatten which is also semi car dependent but has a much larger subway and public transport system than most major cities. In the five boroughs most people don't own cars,they either walk or take the subway to Manhatten. private parking in Manhatten is incredibly expensive and parking on the street is unreliable and expensive,so most people simply can't own a car. It is true that most cities are car centric New York is not one of them.
As a European visiting the USA, my first cultural shock was an airbnb host who told me with a lot of enthusiasm: "this neighborhood is great because it's walkable!". I thought it was a joke. It was like saying "I love this restaurant, the food is edible!".
Well What’s new Europeans love talking trash to America
well, neighborhood is walkable but apartments are not livable LOL choose your poison
As an Asian, the food is not even edible in the US......Just look at the shelves in the shops
@@NitroCheng not even sure what’s supposed to mean
@@rafangille i think they’re referring to how processed most foods are, and how they’re inedible
As a disabled houstonian I love this video. This city is highly and I mean HIGHLY inaccessible for wheelchairs. I sometimes have to ride on the side of the road risking my life because there is no sidewalk on the way to my destination. It's incredibly frustrating and depressing.
*Yes. Houston is depressing. I hate this city.*
I feel you, if you can afford, move to other places, even Austin makes infrastructure changes and they have activist there!
I always think about this- even the sidewalks there in the suburbs are covered by people parking their cars over the edge of their driveways.
Yep. Anyone on crutches with an injured leg, or with a cane, or using another mobility aid like a walker or white canes used by visually impaired people, you have a pram with you, etc - trying to use those pavements is basically announcing they have a death wish 👀 it's crazy to me that the pavement can just....... end, with no indicators, no markers, no (deliberate) textural difference on the road etc.
Stage a protest.....make it a public issue.
Because if you don't....it won't change.
Best wishes and stay safe.
Honestly, I LOVE walking everywhere and I am from Houston. I’ve always had to walk everywhere since I was in middle school. Luckily, nothing was more than 4-5 miles away from my home. When I stumbled across your video, it hadn’t occurred to me that we have drastically failed to put sidewalks/bike lanes for pedestrians. I guess being raised in Houston it was normal for me to just walk on grass and across random little areas that were dangerous. I’m glad you’ve brought this to attention. The older I’ve gotten, them more I’ve thought about where my taxes go? Why do we have to drive everywhere? Why is America so different than the rest of the world? And the answer is always the same: it’s all for business. Time to make change and I’m all for it!!
@@Willowtree82 I recommend watching more videos from this channel. You'll realize that it's not some kind of natural law that a country with overall low population density such as the USA is so incredibly dependent on cars.
I'm from Houston and also love walking, and I would love to make our city more pedestrian and bike friendly. Biking here is basically suicidal.
@@Willowtree82 Did you even watch this video? You honestly just ignored everything and started seeking excuses.
@@Willowtree82 US is big and spread out on average. But cities tend to be dense. You should still be able to walk or bus to/from/within the city, and also drive (or preferably train) to faraway places. There is no excuse for little to no public transit.
The homeless/criminal problems in America’s public transit systems is because of low budgets and maintenance. The cities do not care. They only want cars.
I’m in Houston and honestly I love it and nobody say I did not watch the video because I did I’m just saying that I live in Houston and I love it you don’t have to
For those who don't already know, 800m is roughly half a mile. In a sensibly designed environment, it's about 10 minutes walk.
Everyday I would walk .8 miles to school. A rather pleasant 12 to 15 minute walk. Definitely would not have been the case if we lacked sidewalks on the road.
Why do some people use obsolete units of measurement?
@@gamermapper Because they grew up with it and have a better mental model for for those units as compared with metric. Metric is a superior system for most purposes, but I can more easily imagine five feet than 1.5m, even though they're (very roughly) the same distance.
@@KaasSchaaf666 That's really not very helpful; when someone basically says "I grew up with the Imperial system and it's been ingrained in my head since birth so I have a much clearer concept of what those units are" and your advice is "just change", you're really not offering anything that will help that person make that change, and you're replying to someone who acknowledges that the Metric system is superior so you're clearly talking to someone who already wants to make that change.
@@gamermapper the numbers are more rounded. you walk 5 miles per hour, bike 15 miles per hour and cars go 25 miles per hour. 8 km per hour is harder to remember isn't it? edit: I grew up on the metric unit in Toronto and went to college for MSE...
Cities that prioritize people’s safety is a must. I got hit by a car two years ago on a stroad but even though no evidence pointed at it being my fault I wasn’t covered by insurance and the police labeled it as my fault. I was 15 and just wanted to go to the library, I didn’t deserve a permanent disability for riding a bike. That area was a place 2 people died before I was even hit but it still hasn’t been changed until now. How do you let 2 people die and 1 person get hospitalized without budgeting a change.
''Government"
Lmao, meanwhile here in Germany, the default assumption is that drivers have to look out for pedestrians.
So it's usually really hard to not be blamed as the guy in the car. You can always be more careful after all.
america is such a fucked up place
This just made me realise why Jaywalking is a crime in America.
It's to protect the driver in case an accident does happen on the road, even if they're at fault.
wtf
@@kappalhu3574 Jaywalking is when someone walks across the middle of the road instead of the sidewalk or cross walk.
One thing this shows is that travelling teaches not just about foreign countries but also your own.
If anything it teaches you mostly about your own country. When you've travelled a lot and seen many cities/countries, coming back to your own with a different perspective each time will truly make you see your city/country the way it actually is.
Feelin patriotic yet?
"The world is a great book and those who do not travel read only the first page."
The Navy took me around the world, and I've been blessed to have been able to travel on my own. There's so much that I've learned as a result.
@@1958zed Probably another reason Americans are kept poor: corporate interests don't want us to see what life could be like
@Benny Smith what an asinine comment. Haven't you got a more constructive comment to make?
I had a friend in the US make some long explanation about why it was important that jaywalking was illegal and punishable by pretty large fines (at least for the context). I was just gobsmacked until I realised it was just because he was so reliant on his car, he wasnt even thinking about the pedestrian that probably had nowhere to walk or cross the street
Regardless of how unwalkable US cities are, there's zero excuse for criminalizing crossing the road. Unless it's crossing the free way, no one should be fined or put in jail for crossing the road.
@@Purpletrident I mean they shouldn’t be jailed for crossing the freeway either, if they are they are desperate and have some problem and needed or need help
@@mareksicinski3726 Jailed? Who's being jailed?!?! I'm pretty sure you only receive a ticket for jaywalking.. Unless you have outstanding warrants for other crimes, LOL.
@@lizjoe21750 Imagine not being able to pay the ticket.. what happens then?
Too bad for them, right?
@@lizjoe21750 Yea I mean it's not like there are people living in poverty who can't afford these fines, right?
This also severely chokes and takes away independence from children and the elderly due to the poor public transportation and over reliance on cars because of our auto industry owning our government.
It really sucks... I've taken 2 hour school bus routes when i was in middle for in houston and switched over to metro. that dropped it down to an hour bus ride and a half hr walk. Additionally, I've had co workers and friends who can't drive, yet need to get to work or school or public services so they have to schedule metro ride trips and wait in 30 minute intervals to get picked up.
I live in Phoenix and it’s just like Houston. You have to drive everywhere, the public transportation sucks, etc. I’m moving out of this state luckily.
Which also forces elderly to drive cars when it's not safe for them to be operating a vehicle
i couldn't help but imagine how stranded anyone in a wheelchair must feel living in a city without sidewalks. also people with vision impairment, elderly people, and anyone who struggles with driving and can't walk across uneven ground like the grassy areas NJB was forced to walk along. it makes me so upset to think about how our society makes it exponentially harder for them to even exist.
@@picksey4736 well, even though wheelchairs are hard to use longer distances in US, most shops and business are made to be accessible to disabled and elderly, along with handicap parking. Also street crossings are typically very safe with lights and walking lanes, along with ramps. I know when I was living in Italy I struggled to get around even as a fit man with how uneven roads could be and stairs were horrible, and there simply weren't any crossing lights or ramps most anywhere.
Walking in the US feels like you're committing a crime because everyone looks at you from their cars like you're the weird one for using your feet.
YES!
People will assume you’re a criminal or lost your license!
It’s insane
Maybe you are just thinking too much about it? People generally look at all kinds of things and just because people look in your general direction doesn't mean they are thinking anything in particular about you. What makes you think anyone cares you are walking? I haven't had a car for over a year now and I walk and ride the bus a lot. I live in Ohio near Dayton and while my city has decent walking infrastructure plenty of places I walk outside of my city but close to it don't No one really cares. They most likely look at you to make sure they aren't going to hit you. When I was driving and saw someone walking I never once thought to myself, "you know that person is weird and probably is a horrible individual" lol!!! I mean what in the world would possibly make you think that people think you are weird for walking?!
In my city a huge percentage of travel can be enjoyed on foot or public transit.
People look at you like your homeless…don’t even get me started on how the homeless are treated here 😑
they are weird.
The lack of walking areas actually makes DRIVING much worse, because now traffic is crazy even in small towns, because of people driving half a mile to the store.
I can imagine
I would say vice verse. I am from Europe, and it is much easier to drive in Houston as at least people don't walk/run/cross the roads without looking around and trying to die in a car accident.
This reminds me of the time we had an exchange student from the US over here in Germany and he was literally in shock because people *walked places* and that we had sidewalks connecting businesses and shops.
When we first moved to Houston, my father was stopped by a cop when walking on a thin sidewalk and asked for identification. It's just not normal seeing people walk here. I've watched your video twice now, and love it every time I rewatch. Funny I recognize every areas you point out on the video. Very educational and reflective.
Wow. Imagine getting stopped by ca copper for walking. The states are absurd.
And everyone else thinks you're crazy for walking. We live in a crazy world where the normal are considered "crazy". Welcome to Houston (it is a great city, but it does have its flaws)!
Their excuse is for your "safety" I went through the same thing when I decided to walk home from school than taking the bus.
The cop was _"Why would you want to walk when the school bus can take you home!"_ I guess I couldn't have a choice and needed to be treated like a child at 16
@@link2442 Honestly, I'd argue that it's better to walk than take the bus. School buses often don't even have seat belts and kids miss their stop all the time, and kids have absolutely no control if the bus driver is bad at driving. If Houston was a little more pedestrian friendly and I was still going to high/middle school, and if my parents were cool with it, I'd rather walk home than ride in a sweaty bus or wait hours outside for my mom to pick me up from school.
@@link2442 The irony being that cop was probably holding up a lane of traffic to say it ain't safe to walk lol
As a teen growing up in Houston, I’ve never considered that everything described in the video is unusual or dangerous in any way, it’s just all I’ve ever known. I’ve always had to walk on grass, rocks, over railings, narrow strips of concrete across bridges, etc. Of course that’s just when I walk places, but I usually have to get somebody to drive me when I want to go someplace. And I guess it is surprising that my school is an hour and a half walk away considering I live in a rather densely populated suburban area. This video was very eye opening for me, great video Not Just Bikes!
Yeah if I walked to school it’d take about an hour and a half but driving is about 20 minutes😬 I live about 25 minutes from downtown houston and the last time I ever walked to school was in middle school because my school was in a housing community that had a lot of sidewalks. It’s literally be impossible to walk to my hs because there’s a giant freeway that cuts near it. Fun.
I grew up in Amsterdam and I had the exact opposite experience. As a teen I was lucky enough to get accepted into a very good school on the other side of the city and I biked there every day for 45 minutes. Now I take the train to go to college in a different city. It takes an hour and a half at most and costs me nothing because public transport is free for students. The ferry that connects my part of town to the rest of Amsterdam is free for everybody, which always confuses tourists. I guess I never realized how good I had it until I watched these videos and read your comment.
@@elmer4090 Ever since my grandparents took me to Germany when I was 16, I realized how much shittier my childhood was. It’s sort of a weird sensation since you sorta believe “america is a developed nation” until you go abroad and realize how much is yet to be done and how far we are from it. It is a desolating sensation, I have no hope for this country and believe the infrastructure will never be fixed, outside of maybe a few initiatives here and there that won’t go anywhere.
(Edit) Source: I also grew up in Houston
@@homedepot. same but i can bike it in 30
@@justpassinby4477 I traveled abroad to Berlin Germany last year for a fall semester, and compared to rural Vermont, they amount of freedom I had was incredible. I felt more at home when I was abroad than I did when I was actually home.
The quality of the walk is so important. It can make me feel like an intruder. The loud traffic, the hard pavement with little shade or greenery, even the rush of air as large vehicles go by. And how lovely to walk across a large asphalt parking lot! These have a big effect on my desire to walk.
4.9K car sellers disliked the video
Why would you want to walk to a place where you can only get the shopping done and that its 6-10km away from your house? The points of this vid are so stupid. American cities are made to hold huge populations in dispersed quiet residential areas. All the amenities you need to walk to are in the residential area, if you need anything else, you drive.
@@gabrielalbeldaochoa8234 It'd be nice if there was a grocery store about 5-10 minutes away that I can just go out for a quick walk to to quickly grab a couple of groceries as I need em
@@HyenaBlank that only happens in the centre of European cities and in small towns, if you live in the suburbs of any European city you are most likely not gonna have that advantage.
@@gabrielalbeldaochoa8234 Euopean Cities have no suburbs. That's the point.
My relatives came from Madrid to visit us in Oklahoma City they wanted to walk from the airport to our suburb which is like 35 minutes by freeway, they tried to walk and people were honking at them ,, then they sat in our front yard in a lawn chair and someone called the police on them
crazy
This happened to me just yesterday. Needed to go to Walmart. Only 0.8 miles away or 10 min walk.
But if I walked it meant I’d have to walk along highway 6 (like 6 lanes wide). So I opted for an Uber. For a 0.8 mile walk
Thats strange🤔:
In Tampa, Walmart stations their stores in walkable/bikable distances from neighborhoods, and most of ones i've seen are somehow connected to the bus lines....no in fact:
*One walmart sits north of a Tampa bus station* 🤣😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣
That's depressing
Hahaha single mother problems hahahahaha
That is wrong on so many levels. I agree that city planning like that is borderline criminal.
@@JuggaloBeats wrong. Don’t assume.
I live in Houston and I had a friend who had immigrated from Japan. She asked me why I drove to school since I lived 10 minutes away. I told her it’s because I didn’t want to cross 10 lanes of traffic with no sidewalk.
Japan is also 'hot AF'
@@douglasmcdonald501 Japan is hot...but it's not Houston hot
This. In [Tokyo], 90F is the hottest it'll ever get in the summer. In Houston, 90 is the standard for at least 8 months.
@@Raphie009 you talk about Japan as if it was a city like Houston.
True kids have to cross a entre high way if they walk to my school.
I've been to (and driven through) a lot of large and medium sized cities in the USA and I want to say 90% of them look just like this. All big and open and boring and pavement everywhere and hardly and trees. It really takes the fun out of traveling to a new place when you can't tell 1 city from the next and you don't dare try walking around.
Yes, I've driven across across the US 7 times. It really is a lot of the same thing over and over. It's so different from driving across Europe.
@@NotJustBikes Can you make a video about Atlanta
I agree with the sentiments here. But the narrative that ALL US cities are this way is an embellishment. There is no doubt the majority of US suburbs are this way but there are a lot of older cities that don’t follow this blueprint. My hometown of Chicago being one.
The real root cause for this is government policies that for years have favored the oil and auto lobbyists as a means of economic growth. Ensuring people HAD to buy cars and thereby gas as you stated. FWIW there is a lot of resistance to this idea now but certainly not enough. It is disappointing. But we still do have some amazing cities and urban areas in the US.
In my opinion every city and state i have been to has been different and had a different type of atmosphere.
@@pleasemisguideme345 yeah i agree. Im from south Louisiana , so chicago and most states like that are completely foreign to me
If Houston is widening the widest road in the US, they're doing something wrong!
What are you gonna do
You know what WIDE roads can actually have? " Drum roll" A Bus lane!
@@acdc5507 We can't have that! That would be giving subsidies to the poor! Instead let's add another car lane so I can drive my personal car on a publicly funded expressway into the city that subsidizes the infrastructure of the suburban neighborhood I live in!
All the poor persons, who will be forced to find a new home now... In earlier times, this happened at such a high degree, only if an overmighty conqueror has attacked your country, and was slaying everyone on his way to the country-center !!!
I lived in Houston all my life, so I've never even known or thought about how this city is car dependent. It wasn't until I got into my first car wreck that I realized driving everywhere sucks and is dangerous. And this video opened my eyes even more on how this it's getting out of hand.
Yeah. I like houston, but driving does suck and public transportation is safer than driving a car on average!
Car dealerships have the city by the balls. They lobby so hard against public transportation and better infrastructure to get more people to buy cars.
That's not even including all the money they make after a hurricane or a bad storm.
Now all our roads and highways are wearing and tearing at an enourmous rate.
Soo much car theft too. Every minute I see a car with paper plates which a lot are fake according to the police.
@@fallinggravity9964 Yes! The fake paper plates, something has to be done about this..
if you can't even drive a car, what makes you think that you are intelligent enough to ride a bike, and not get hurt?
@@ericbuzard349
Sorry but what kind of backwards logic is that
"[These cities] weren't designed for the car, they were bulldozed for the car." Great line.
Is it any wonder? It's the home of the oil industry.
We need to spread all this knowledge!!
😂
@@lemonfish1890 Yes, it is true for Houston. The video was shot in the city of Houston, Texas. Most of Houston is not downtown.
@@lemonfish1890 That's true. It made me think of other cemented parts of Houston, though. If you look at a satellite image, you see a lot of land covered in concrete.
I had the same frustration when I, naively, tried to walk from the airport in San Diego to my hotel, just 500 metres. I crossed the oversized parking lot and ran into a bunch of uncrossable highways, it just wasn't possible, even though I could basically see the hotel. Went back to the airport to ask, they confirmed it wasn't possible and I had to take a shuttle bus 🙄.
That’s… that’s just dumb. Who would even design something like that I often wonder
Sounds like that scene in Planes Trains and Automobiles when Steve Martin's character had to walk across *a runway* to get from the rental car lot back to the terminal
SD Native, can confirm. The Airport might as well be on an island.
@@sebastianchampagne1318 to be fair, trying to get to and from Schiphol on bike or walking is… well, the last time I thought about it I got discouraged.
That said, if I wanted to get to Schiphol bike in tow I’d just take the train and come out of the underground station directly into the main hall.
OMG, same thing at Pittsburg airport. I was 3/4 of a mile away straight up impossible airport is surrounded by a Highway moat and a fence to boot. I called a shuttle
I am from and live in Houston and *everything* in this video is true. Also, drivers are absurdly aggressive and bad. I blame the cancerous growth of convoluted highways here getting people used to making last second lane changes and normalizing other bad driving behavior.
I'm a truck driver, and I could not have agreed more with your statement about American cities all looking the same.
Random question: what's a favorite of yours to drive through in terms of scenery?
@@Frichilsasta08 Honestly, Pennsylvania has had some of the most picturesque places I've been through.
The catch is, often the places with the nicest scenery are also the biggest pains in the ass to pilot an 18 wheeler through. Arkansas and Colorado also come to mind. Beautiful scenery, a hassle to drive through it in a big rig.
As far as cities, hard to beat Las Vegas as far cool looking buildings and whatnot to look at. It is Vegas, if they know anything, it's showmanship, even in their architecture.
Eh. Growing up in Miami… I disagree. I’ve lived in Miami, Boston, New York, Detroit and Atlanta. I just moved out here to Dallas Texas and it looks nothing like anything I’ve live in on the Eastcoast. It’s a culture shock to me honestly. Miami is the South just like Dallas… but these two cities are complete opposite.
@@WHYOSHO do you live in the city of Dallas? I've been a few times and it appears to be a placeyground for the wealthy. So many buildings and restaurants/bars.
I've seen pictures of many American and Canadian cities, and honestly... The only cities that stands out are Québec city and Montréal (and I live - and was born - in MTL, so I have a lot of love fot that city) because of their European style and the fact that they aren't as car centric as other towns.
As a Dutchie, I visited Florida some years ago. After checking in in our hotel, we went to the diner across the street (which was terrible to cross by foot). When we were finished at the diner, we decided to not go directly back to the hotel, but to make a little evening stroll (and get partially rid of the hamburger calories). When we walked next te the road, we noticed that the people in the cars where strangely looking at us. At some moment, even a lady in a car stopped next to us and asked if we where ok..! What??! Then we fullly realized how unusual pedestrians are in the US except in city centers or national parks.
I'm curious about the colour of your skin. Normally if you were black they probably would have called the police on you.
My Uncle went for a walk in the US once, got stopped by the police and driven back to the hotel.
@@rcmrcm3370 Part of me wants to guess that Max van Meerten is the whitest Dutchie/European ever enivisioned by man and that the people driving by were really confused by that. Probably not the case, but it's somehow fun to think about.
I had that sort of experience in Mountain View, CA. Got to my hotel, awful 5-minute walk to a diner, and a teenage girl looked at me from her car as though asking "What is he doing with his legs? Is he... commuting?!"
What?? I can't imagine anyone would have even glanced at you for walking, let alone pulled over. It must have been something else. Were you visibly on drugs? Bleeding? Bruised?
I’ve lived in Houston most of my life. I’m in a wheelchair. I don’t have a car. Getting a modifications for car (not the car just the modifications) can cost anywhere from $80,000-$100,00. Without insurance that’s nearly impossible. Public transit and paratransit is shit. So you could imagine how trapped I’ve felt here. I’ve experienced the sidewalk cutting off on me. At least for people that can walk, you can walk in grass or other terrain but as a wheelchair user I’ve been stranded when this happens. Houston you can do better!
Sometimes I wonder how the US expects people to survive. It’s becoming clear that they simply do not care about people. Someone could tell you “Oh just move!l But moving can be expensive and difficult, especially in your situation.
I hope things get better for you!
I know!! Wheelchair vans 40 000 to 100 000 dollars. And modifications cost 15 000 to 30 000 dollars.
Very expensive.
I'm not american, but can't you try suing your city under the Americans with Disabilities Act? Something something you feel discriminated against because your city isn't wheelchair accessible? heh
You should really move here in the Netherlands we are a weelchair friendly country our busses and trains have special places only for weelchair users.
Also why is everything in America so damn expensive? $80,000 that's insane.
@@DidierWierdsma6335 It doesn't cost 80,000$ for a car a paralyzed person can drive. That's just a lie.
I moved to Tokyo about two months ago, after living in the metro detroit area for my entire 30 years of existence. I can’t imagine going back to live in America. I absolutely love being able to walk everywhere/take trains and not have to worry about (or pay for) a car.
BRUHHH ON GOD!!!! Michigan (for the supposed motor state) is such ass for drivers. I can't wait to move to Japan too xD
I actually put your theory to the test. I moved to within 5 miles of where I worked in downtown Houston. I bought a bike and mapped out my route along buffalo bayou. I had bells, a flashing light, mirrors, etc. Within 2 months I got hit by a car, full speed, at an on ramp that is clearly marked a pedestrian crossing just before Christmas. It took me months of PT and pain killers just to get near normal.
If you want to bike in America, you either have to either own a $1MM apartment in a big city or plan your life around it in a small community. I've been to Amsterdam, Valencia, Vienna, París...they all got the bike thing on lock. This wasn't even my last experience with walkability. This even affects the livelihood of people I know. America needs to up it's game!
Oh side note, I actually walked that exact route before around Willowbrook so I know how it is in your shoes and it's terrifying. "Oh I'll just walk to the whataburger from the mall, no big deal..." Ah ha ha...oh boy.
Wait, were you actually cycling on that pedestrian crossing? Not sure about US regulations but in Europe you have to get off your bike and slowly walk with it to make a pedestrian crossing. For obvious reasons.
@@dubkds Naw, bikes here are kind of just expected to do whatever is best to keep themselves alive. Not many rules or infrastructure for them make any road here like the old chaotic mess they used to be for every mode of transportation, but instead just for bikes.
@@bigj3508 That is Willowbrook all day! I remember when Toys R us was there... when in traffic, I act like it is a video game and people are trying to hit me... CATCH ME Outside! .. there is a reason for all the ghost bikes... I am glad you healed up.
A cyclist getting hit in a pedestrian crossing. Don't see a problem here. Cyclists aren't pedestrians and shouldn't be using their areas.
It’s a huge business. Highway contracts are given to private companies making asphalt, concrete, steel, road signs and markers. Cars are expensive and support the financial industry (car loans), tire companies, Big Oil, and the insurance companies. All the while the average American gets more in debt (car payment, depreciation, insurance, accident costs) and more obese which leads to higher medical costs with no health insurance. It’s a big club and you ain’t in it!
Couldn’t have said it better myself
There is no such thing as "big oil"
Oil companies don't make even 1/10th of the money off oil, most of it goes to the government
You’re just regurgitating what you’ve heard. You can buy a used cheap car and eat healthy. Americans are lazy and like having a nice car to keep up with the neighbors.
The cities are fundamentally shaped wrong. No amount of frugality will make them more pleasant. You'll just be marginally increasing your life expectancy in the same depressing design.
I bike to work and save a ton of money but the grid (or lack thereof) is unavoidable. It's better than driving, but nothing like well-designed cities for human feet.
@@victorkreig6089 Exxon made $300 billion in 2018. Try again, sweetheart :/
Car enthusiast here, despite the fact that I love driving and I love my cars (only one of them runs, the other one is my project car and former daily driver), I agree that the car-centric design of cities is miserable to exist in. Cars are meant for places that are low-density enough that public transit is too expensive. The enjoyment that I (and all other car enthusiasts) get from driving comes from empty roads where you can do what you want (within the constraints of safety), so car-focused urban areas are bad for everyone because no one enjoys driving in traffic. I'm from a rural area but go to college in suburbia in another state, and the juxtaposition of the driving experiences in these two environments makes me wish for better transit/bike options in dense areas, even though I would be the last person in the world to go carless.
The bottom line here is that no one wins from car-dependent city design, even someone who loves driving as much as I do.
As a fellow car enthusiast I wholeheartedly agree with you
It seems nicer to drive along too
Same here my man
furthermore, if *absolutely everyone* didn't have a car, they could easily relax emissions regulations cause there would be far fewer cars on the road! would make for much more interesting cars
@@sofielee4122 in the USA it would be unrealistic for everyone to go carless due to how big the US is making public transport unrealistic for most of the country
Galveston is one of the only cities in Texas where you can still go around without a car being an absolute necessity, theres always people walking on sidewalks and the streets never feel abandoned, there's always a store or people nearby. Its like a time capsule from what Houston once was.
I used to hitchhike (I wasn't homeless, just wanted to travel cheaply) and it meant I had to walk a lot through towns and cities in the US. I can't begin to tell you how many dangerous situations I got into because I just wanted to pass directly through a town. Dog attacks, cars brushing me, stumbling upon crack dens, slipping through mud or scratching myself through brambles. You'd think I was travelling through some mad max wasteland, but actually I was just trying to get from one store to another.
LOL I had to walk to a friends house to pick up my car after a house party (someone had to drive me home because I was too drunk) and I literally fell in a ditch/river. For reference it was a 15 minute drive at most but walking along the highway took 3 hours. I felt like Indiana Jones exploring through a jungle.
Dog attack are becoming a problem for because who knows if someone has a fence for the dog!
Live in florida for reference. I live in an apartment comunity, was walking to Publix that is just across the street and all of a sudden a PIT BULL charges at me, trying to play. It’s six in the morning however, and I’m trying to keep calm and show the dog I’m not about it. My heart fell to the floor. Stupid owners can’t keep their dogs on a leash.
LOL so true
Haha this is making me excited for my Europe trip, I’ve only been to cities in north and Central America and can’t even begin to imagine how life can be so different in Europe
Walking on the edge of many American business or loop roads feels like a revolutionary act. "Hi car dealership I'm just walking through your lot because you don't have a sidewalk"
I’m from suburban Houston and the most insane part is people will honk and yell at you for walking along the road. And you feel so out of place because there are hardly any sidewalks and you will be pretty much the only person you see walking.
@@LatestSquash Hey Joe if someone yells "loser" from their car at you as happens to me once a year yell back "Follower!"
@@jojo-gy9pp like they will hear you...
I’ve done this experiment while walking around in Atlanta. Lots of dangerous roadway walking conditions. Kind of shocked me since I grew up in Philadelphia where you can easily walk in Philly from one part of the city to another.
I’m a New Yorker so every time I’m out of the city and some place was within walking distance, me and my friends would just walk even if that meant walking on the roads. People would look at us like we’re crazy
I’ve been without a car in Houston for a couple of years now, I can definitely say it sucks. Especially the stigma and people looking down at you, it’s never easy to ask a person that you need a ride. You become an annoyance for people by either walking on the road or asking for rides. Hope something changes.
There’s metro buses, rails, and even bike rentals. If you live outside the loop Idk how you can go anywhere? Living inside the loop it’s a lot easier to navigate to places. Though; however, it’s a large city and even getting a simple non luxurious car helps a lot.
I would leave if you can. I’ve unfortunately been here for all my 40 years. It will only get worse and worse. Houston is and always will be nothing but cars and concrete. It’s so illogical and depressing. If I had the means to move to the rolling hills of another state I would in a heartbeat
I live in Downtown, it’s a fucking nightmare. Uber is a necessary evil.
u just hanging with the wrong ppl my boy
@@thistagworked I have a job, i dont have to spend a stupid ton of my hard earned money on a car when i can just take a tram, my bike or walk because i don't live in grey country. Some people don't have enough money when working either, students who don't want to take a huge loan or who's parents aren't wealthy.
I was once walking to Mc Donald’s as a teenager with my friends family and j walked across a stroad like I’d done many times. My friends dad got mad at us and told us to use the crosswalk from now on. On our way back, he narrowly avoided being hit by a car turning right on red. He never said anything about jay walking after that.
in a stunning turn of events, it's actually Houston who has a problem
clever!
hahaha well played
I wondered where the "Houston, we have a problem" comment would be! :D
Once they resolve the transportation issue, they will realize that Houston has another problem: terrible weather.
this is the best youtube comment I think I've ever read
I can't imagine what living in a place like this has to be like when you are a kid. You legit have to ask your parents or somebody to give you a lift everytime you want to get anywhere. Also this explains why the driving age is lower in USA than in most place in Europe I guess. Driver licence is basically like having an ID here. You just cannot function without it in a society
Currently experiencing this as a 16yo in rural USA. It honestly sucks and takes a toll on you until you get your license.
I live in Portugal. 21 and never even thought of driving a car. Why would I?
@@naxygene2269 People waste a lot of money on unnecessary shit. Specially when they are forced to do it, like the video showed. What I was implying is that I can go anywhere in my country without a car. And I most definitely do not need one to go about in my city as everything is close to everyone.
@@naxygene2269 id rather my taxes go to making my city walkable and enjoyable than wherever the fuck they're going now
Me and my family moved to Houston when I was around 8 year old. Before moving to Houston we lived in Gainesville, Georgia , it kind of had the same problems as Houston but in my memory it was really fun growing up. I remember that we could take a bus to the main area of the town and after that we could easily walk to the park, go to school, go to the grocery store, every thing was much closer to each other. Then when we moved to Houston and I literally couldn't go out side 1 because it was to hot or 2 there was literally no place to go because we didn't have a car. I'm 16 years old still living in the same neighborhood in Houston and honestly it really depressing growing up here. It feels like my teenage years are going to waist, and I'm barely learning how to drive and I don't feel safe driving on my own here because of crazy drivers and asking my parents to give me a ride is a no because my dad comes back from work @ around 7 and my mom can't drive. Living in Houston as a teen ( with no car and no driver license) is like living in a cage.
Living in Houston, the Parks and Rec line, “This city was planned?” gets a lot of mileage.
Oooh, I love it. D'you know which episode that's from?
@@catbeara Season 2, episode 5 - where the officials from Baroqua come to visit. “This city was planned? On the drive in, I saw a tattoo parlor, next to a school next to a Taco Bell. It looks like it was designed by a very stupid rodent.”
@@SamBrasher oh, thank you! 🥰
@@olegstacie Curious to know how a rural city with a population of 70k compares to cities with 2 and 10 million people? How totally innocent and genuine of you. Why don’t you look it up? Go ahead and format it like an email forward from the 90’s and you’ll be all set.
@ Man, that whole story is Texan! Just put “GUNS” on any sign and you’re bound to have all day foot traffic.
After coming to Hiroshima Japan I was surprised by how well the streets were designed for bikers, and walkers. Having grown up around Houston, and loving biking and to bike places I was very annoyed by how it was difficult to do even in residential areas. In Japan I have had a vastly better experience biking and walking to places I need to go without worrying about getting run over.
6:12 This is perhaps one of the most frustrating things about US infrastructure. A sidewalk can just.... end. Just like that. No warning, no way out, you are just dumped into the gutter on the street and expected to deal with it.
Same thing with bike lanes and bike paths. And often during road construction they only make temporary detours for cars and neglect bikes completely.
I've seen those near parks, how do parents with strollers deal that...idk.
@@Gerbera726 You tough it out and push your stroller hard through whatever is in front of you, if you can. I’ve dealt with this many many times. It sucks and has ruined cheaper strollers for me before. Or you can turn around and go back the way you came.
@@Gerbera726 Now you know why they sell strollers with big treaded wheels.
I've got an intersection down the road that has crosswalks (signals, painted lines, sloped curbs, the whole deal) but no side walks on either road for a least a mile both directions.
On a science channel that was talking up the benefits of self-driving cars, I pointed out that we needed to transition to walkable cities to solve the real problems with cars. I was told that to change American cities to be more walkable would be impossible, that they would need to demolish millions of homes. Turns out no, they're already demolishing houses and more for freeways.
@@vaibhavshirole You don't know what's in my head, and I don't know where you're getting your information from, so you're going to have to elaborate on both things that you said if you want to make an actual point.
I live in Seattle and we've made some of our widest streets walkable retroactively.
Unfortunately here it seems like you can only get a raised walkway erected if someone dies in a car accident, but still it demonstrates that it's possible. Even if you only have a couple meters of sidewalk width, you can absolutely connect the two sides of the street with a raised walkway. In fact, with a little more space, you can have a helical ramp making it wheelchair accessible.
We've split the atom and connected the whole world. It's time we stop pretending that making public works and walkways for everyone is somehow impossible when so many people have managed to do so even in difficult conditions.
Being younger than 16 in Houston is like being under house arrest until you’re old enough to have a license.
Even then you have to dodge crazy drivers
This is one of the things that gets forgotten so often in this conversation. Walkable/bikeable neighbourhoods gives enormous independence to children and teenagers, which is extremely valuable to both them and their parents. The Dutch have the worlds happiest teens, largely because they get so much more independence than most places (I think NJB has a video on that). The youth don't get to vote either so they tend to get ignored in this whole urban planning conversation.
No skating! Mic'21
Working as designed. They don't want you taking the bus with the poors.
Not me when I was 14 15 I use to be everywhere on my bike
It’s infuriating and sickening how they destroy things for cars. It is just sick
As a teenager in Houston, even if I did try to sneak out of my house, I couldn’t have gone anywhere because my house was near the intersection of two major highways, meaning everything was designed for access by car
Ah that sounds horrible, I lived on a beach
YUP. I was gerrymandered into a school that was so incredibly far away that I was completely isolated growing up. Only child living off of a freeway, in an area that was split between three different suburbs. I just stayed home and hung out on Tumblr every day. So depressed.
Damn, I feel bad for you. I ive one or two blocks away from an interstate that cuts off my neighborhood from the rest of my city. But I can get around In my neighborhood.
Just walk it. I've straight up ran across i10 just to cross faster than crossing a underpass
@@assaultedpress bro 😂 that’s extremely dangerous. I’m an EMT for Houston and I can’t tell you how many autoped incidents I’ve seen on Houston freeways
I recently moved to Houston and decided to try running to my gym because it's only a mile or so away and holy shit, it took me like 30 minutes of running though parking lots and drainage ditches to avoid bridges on busy roads with no side walks and back tracking and literally having to side skirt through someone's yard to get there... like wtf
sounds like a nightmare
That sounds like a nightmare. You sure you need to live in Houston? 30 minutes of running for a location a mile away means you nearly got your workout done before you can get to your workout.
You know it’s bad when I feel the same way about Houston and I’ve only visited briefly maybe 3 times
ahahahahah LOL (laughing in European)
YES, I travel through Houston with no car I feel like a conquerer because I have to travel through Highways, Parking Lots and under bridges and then a small hill under a highway with trash thrown in the sides just to go home, Mind you it's a 15 min drive but walking?..... 🥲
It does beg the question: how much have car manufacturers spent on lobbying for regulations since the beginning of the twentieth century?
Probably only slightly more than they've spent denying climate change and denying the effects of leaded gasoline, I suspect.
@@NotJustBikes Ah yes, really doing their best to compete with the tobacco industry for being the biggest bunch of lying dicks. At least their jaywalking propaganda campaign was kind of clever and creative...
@@m.p.baldnessdyslexic88 So…. Berlin is nót in Germany?!? 😵💫
@@m.p.baldnessdyslexic88 well, who would've thought our car industry going bankrupt was actually beneficial in the long run.
@@wasneeplus well obviously, necessity is the mother of invention. And the good news, they don't have to invent it even, just copy best practice.
Five days in Paris convinced me that I have to get out of the US as fast as possible. Thanks for succinctly giving me the words to describe why.
and even then paris is pretty car-centric for european standards. now it's becoming much better for walking and biking because of new legislation, and even though it's still a far cry from somewhere like amsterdam it's infinitely better than many american cities
Paris convinced you?! I've been in many European countries and cities and Paris has BY FAR the worst drivers (or traffic design, not sure). But then I imagine Paris is much better than what you find in America, especially that the center of Paris is actually not that bad.
I live in Paris and it’s the worst for traffic (even though it’s getting better), you convinced never to step a foot in the US haha
@@jasonrodgers9063 "Waaa waaa you can't leave this shithole country, it's the best in the world waaa"
I remember a cultural shock, when I first arrived to the States from Asia, and my friend and I walked about 2 km to a small shop! We were the ONLY ppl walking on the streets!
On the other hand My son also has had cultural shock, when he visited Asia, and he saw ppl walking outside, he asked me: Why are they WALKING, is it a some kind of event or some celebration?
Where are you living in USA that seeing pedestrians walking on the sidewalks is unusual?!
My pedestrians are nothing special in my american city!
@@Anonymous-df8it If i remember my geography correctly: *Tampa, Florida is a part of USA,*
&
*it is normal to see pedestrians & cyclists on the sidewalks. Cyclists merging into car traffic undisturbed, or seeing children walk in the middle of neighborhood roads where traffic is calm.*
I was born in Australia, when I went to America, I wondered why women were carrying (tiny) babies in their arms on the street.
My friend said that they are too poor to buy a pram.
I was shocked, (a pram is a bit like an automobile, for the purposes of this video).
Yes, having a pram meant there would be place the mother could not go, like the bus and even every pavement which did not have a ramp, to get up and down.
Have A Nice Day.
@@YesYesYoureRight In my city, baby strollers (what we name "prams" here) are a normal sight whether they carry babies or domestic animals.
Most buildings, trams, & the buses in my city have wheelchair access ramps, automatic door buttons, wheelchair-only elevators & paraplegic bathrooms.
It's harder to find what's *not* wheelchair accessible in Tampa than what is.
Also, back on strollers, this the rules for strollers when inside the buses:
1. If the bus is crowded, then the stroller must be folded & stored on the cargo hold(just a rack on top of the RF fender)
2. If the stroller mustnt be folded, then it must be strapped in like a wheelchair
@@MainMite06 For reference I live in the second biggest city in Indiana behind Indianapolis.
You might see 1 pedestrian for every 500 or 1000 cars. The only time you see more is right when schools are letting out, though most kids are picked up in a giant line of cars that wrap around the building multiple times. You see people jogging etc in parks, but they generally drive their car there first. For most people they see the trails as primarily for leisure or exercise as opposed to actual transportation. As soon as a park is built the number one comment on the facebook page is people complaining there is no parking garage within 1 block. If I see another bicyclist on my commute I always nod or wave because it's such an unusual event. My Kroger grocery store removed it's only bike rack 3 years ago and has never put it back, so I always bring my bicycle inside. The bus schedules run only once per hour, are fairly limited in destination, don't run late enough, don't connect to the airport, and don't operate on sundays at all. We have a fairly extensive trail network (125+ miles) but much of it is also placed along rivers in designated flood zones and therefore during some of the year the trails are actually underwater and unusable. Also, because it primarily follows bendy rivers, the travel distance is unneccesarrily longer than if you were to take a more direct course on a straight street. Trail crossings with roads always give right-of-way to the automobile with no safe crossing. So for example if kids are using the trails, they have to judge whether or not they should jump across 4 lanes of traffic with 55 mph traffic from both directions that isn't supposed to stop.
In the late fall/winter, the number of walkers/cyclists decreases even further. Parking lots of businesses are plowed onto the sidewalks. Residents don't shovel their sidewalks even though they are required to. The pedestrian paths/shoulder on bridges are covered in hardened plowed snow/ice. The bus shelters are plowed full of snow drifts so you can't step inside.
This channel was actually what opened my eyes to urban planning just recently.
I've grown up in a sprawling stroad-filled city my whole life. My parents were neglectful of me, so I was pretty adjusted to walking throughout the suburbs and other awful areas. I thought it was normal to feel unsafe while walking!
It feels a bit like biting into the forbidden fruit to learn this, as I'm low income and cannot afford to live anywhere walkable. I'm stuck out in car hell.
But as an adult, I've had a chance to walk around Ybor City in Tampa as well as my own city's downtown proper. The difference is so palpable and so upsetting, and like you once did, I didn't understand why I did or didn't like it.
Notably, I spent a few months when I was 18 living in a rural town in Wisconsin. I lived on the main street of the town and being able to walk to get groceries or perform any basic functions was amazing.
Hopefully one day I'll be able to afford somewhere walkable. City centers anywhere are so much more expensive!
That's great! My target audience for this channel is "me, 20 years ago." I wish I knew this when I was younger, but now it looks like it's my destiny to ensure that other people learn it earlier than I did.
@@NotJustBikes I hear ya say this on the Small Towns podcast. I just wanted to let ya know how much this channel means to me, it's because of channels like yours and City Beautiful that I am pursuing a Master's degree in Urban Planning. Even tried to do it in the Netherlands, too, but for a series of complicated reasons, I am going to Norway instead. Hope to still get an internship in the Netherlands and be inspired by these cities in real life that you have brought to my attention. So thanks again and keep up the good work!
@@NotJustBikes Maybe in the future you could even do a video on some of the improvements happening in places like Norway. It ain't quite to the dutch level but cities like Oslo and Trondheim demonstrate you can have plenty of dedicated bike lanes despite very hilly terrain, so could be an interesting vid, since that is the biggest pushback I hear from many people regarding better bike infrastructure.
Find a Swedish girlfriend or boyfriend online. Once you have a relationship they'll give you a permanent residency within no time and with full access to the EU. No marriage required. Don't get me started on how this compares to the US immigration scheme which more reminds me of modern slavery. You need to get out of there lol
@@themartinandersson Does permanent residency without marriage apply to Finns as well? Or is this a Swedish thing only?
Funny thing about that stretch of Sidewalk you showed in Houston. They're now building TWO MORE LANES to "help combat traffic", instead of, you know, investing in Buses or SIDEWALKS.
Funny enough: *Tampa Florida has invested in more HART bus routes and has already constructed miles of sidewalks complimenting nearly every surface road and a few low-traffic neighborhoods*
@@MainMite06 tampa the birthplace of florida man?
@@grqfes I loved the 4.5 sidewalk along the Bay when I lived in Tampa. Running without worrying about cars, and watching dolphins jump out of the water was wonderful. 90+ degrees in December is why I am back in Houston.
Funnier still will be when traffic gets worse because of more cars due to more lanes.
You all keep calling Willowbrook Houston. I call that area South Tomball.
Dude the walk in Houston is insane.
Where are the sidewalks?
Where is vegetation?
Where are noise shields?
How the fuck did Americans manage to build a country where moving around without a car is actually next to impossible?
they spent all their money on israel, iraq, and ukraine
How? Zoning, convenience, weather.
I dont care if Texas has perfectly viable bike lanes and footpaths everywhere, I'm not biking or walking if I'm GOING somewhere, unless its incredibly close. The southern half of this state spends 75% of the year in 85+ temps and half of it over 90. Its 1am right now, and its still in the 80s with 74% humidity.
As an employer, I'm not at all interested in hiring people who need to take a shower when they get to work because they walked 6 miles in 95 degree heat at 8am. I'm also not keen on every day being an adventure of how fast I'll sweat through literally every piece of clothing I am in. I do that in Florida for a few weeks a year, I'm good. Give me cars with AC in this place any day of the week, and the advantage of being in the suburbs is free? Ill take it.
Tf is a noise shield?
Easy. We just buy cars. Not exactly rocket science. lmfao
@@Barraind.Faylestar I promise you people living in functional infrastructures don't generally walk to work, either.
14:40 I love how you used the Cities: Skylines demolition sound effect. Such a nice touch!
Was thinking the same thing lol
I recently downloaded CS again after watching some of Not Just Bikes videos to try creating some more friendly cities without using mods.
I see I didn't add nearly enough pedestrian pathing, and too many highways ....
@@Curt-0001 My first cities were so bad they were full of streets with dead ends, without any pedestrian paths and littered with multiple highways in the middle of the CBD. Good thing nowadays I typically don't put as many highways close to the city.
This is me when I went to the US. I was in a small city for 1 week and I decided, I wanted to go shopping and eat something. I saw a mall which was around 1km away so I wanted to walk there. At the hotel, I asked the receptionist about the mall and she said, yeah it's cool, let me call you a cab. I said, no it's ok I will walk there, I get to see the surroundings. She looked super strange at me and said that I cannot walk.
In my mind, I was wtf is she talking about, I thanked her for the help but I insisted that I will walk and left the hotel. 5 minutes later I was back and asked her if she can order me that cab because after I left the hotel and walked 2 minutes, there were no sidewalks, none, zero. My mind was blown. This was many years ago but I still think about it and I still cannot comprehend.
yup its that bad here 😭 the only walking I can do in southern U.S is to my school and to a nearby convenience store, and even then, that’s only because I live close by to a school.
Yep it’s hard being a caveman
@@maseay91 "walking is for cavemen" yeah no wonder yall mur!cans are fat ass, refusing to do physical activity as small as """walking"""
yeah no sidewalks. you just say f it and walk through grassy bits. their fault for making me stomp their grass, if it dies it dies. hah
@@rania6674 Same my school didn't even have a side walk until like 3 or 4 years ago. I had to walk on the side of the road to get home and risk getting hit by cars everyday because my school zone also had kids who shouldn't even have a license driving around and they didn't care to look out for pedestrians smh
Man I live in Houston and you have made me think about my life now.... I really actually wanna cry. I've had it hard. Houston streets made it harder, always having to deal with Metro. It is hard getting around without car. I've walked on those grass walkways on sides of streets, even on many fancier sides of town. Everything is good now though. I even have two kids now, and two cars.
I feel you. My kids and I walked, rode bikes, and took Metro buses for about five years because I couldn't afford a car when I was in college. It was very difficult and where I lived, worked, and shopped, my children's daycare, where I went to college, and where we went for entertainment all revolved around the Metro bus system. I spent countless days in the hot sun and humidity, exposed to the elements and air pollution while waiting for the bus. Houston's public transportation is very inefficient, confusing, and slow, requires a lot of planning and a very early departure to get anywhere on time. When we lived in Frankfurt, Germany, we didn't even need a car or have to know the bus routes or schedules because the buses, streetcars, and subways traveled in a mostly straight line and came about every 10-15 minutes. My life improved drastically when I was able to afford a bucket of bolts car and get a better job, make more money, have more options. I am sympathetic to people who still have to rely on Houston's public transportation.
@@troberson5501 all in all I think its a city that makes you strong lol
@@troberson5501 I hope you're doing well.
@@selveneleven Thank you so much I am. That part of my life was a real struggle but it paid off in more ways than financially. It made me a more patient, kind, tolerant, sympathetic person.
@@MrMacncheese1 Sounds more like it makes you used to poor living. There's nothing good about that
Okay I live in Houston. Have my whole life actually. And you’re completely right. When I got into a wreck and didn’t have my car for 3 months my whole life turned upside down it felt like. If I didn’t have the help from my family. I’d have lost my job and everything else I’ve worked so hard for just because I didn’t have a car to get anywhere.
Every so often I run across something on youtube that changes how I view the world. This was one of those videos. I've experienced this "walking in a driving city" numerous times but it never even occurred to me how absurd and wrong it is. Well done.
I live around Houston. It's pretty frustrating how many roads and neighborhoods have no sidewalks at all. Anybody walking, whether it's to get from point A to point B or to exercise, has to do it on the road, which isn't as safe. Even when there is a sidewalk, it eventually just STOPS, like that one did for you, and it's super narrow and close to the road.
The town I used to live in here in Tennessee installed sidewalks ONLY AT INTERSECTIONS. I was dumbfounded.
So true, Houston is in dire need of sidewalk regulations. There are so many safety issues even when there are sidewalks. To add to your list, you’ll see a random utility pole in the middle of the sidewalk, or the concrete has a six inch gap between each slab from tree roots.
Small town near Houston call kingwood, it has side walks everywhere except for the front of the town, where the Business areas are and food court’s are. When you do, walk you get a lot of shade and good scenery from nature
I grew up in a small city in the middle of the US. I always laughed at people who wanted better public transportation and never understood the argument, after all, cars are fine. Then I lived in NY for a few years and didn't own a car. I had a job that allowed me to travel to Europe. I absolutely fell in love with not having to have a car, with being able to walk everywhere or use public transportation. When I had to leave and move back to my hometown, I hated it. And there's not a day that goes by where I don't hate having to get into a car and drive. I think once people experience what it's like to live or visit somewhere where you don't need a car, they realize how much better it is. I miss it so much that I'm actually trying to save up and move over to Europe as soon as possible (for a variety of other reasons too of course), but just so I can get back out of this car culture.
@@katyar4883 wdym, you are putting down yourself he isnt saying anything negative about you
where in europe? i wanna move to tallinn or helsinki but the only problem is language for getting a job
could maybe move to france or belgium since im canadian so i had to do french, id love to live in switzerland but it seems wayy too expensive lol
I have the opposite experience.
Lived in inner city Boston till I was 19 and had no problems not having a car or license. Because of the military had to move to Texas. Fucking hate it here.
F.O we're full.
The public transportation in NY is so shoddy and run-down though that I'd rather drive a car.
I had 5 hours to kill once waiting for a bus in portland's airport and could not physically leave the airport on foot without either trespassing or walking on a road, its insane.
I've lived in Houston all my life, and I walked to and from high school a lot, and your walk sounded distressingly familiar to the many walks I've taken here in my life. And for the longest time I just thought that was normal, and that was just how walking places in a city was. You just...needed a car, and if you didnt have one you just had to learn how to balance on curbs and walk across areas not meant for pedestrians. When I studied abroad in Osaka my mind was like, blown. i could get all over the city on foot, it was amazing. i wish things were like that here. it's a shame there's a lot of people like me out there who spent like the first 20 years of their life not realizing how fucked up the walkability of their hometown was.
I'm glad you touched on the katy freeway, too - when I was growing up, there was a shopping center near my house that was actually fairly pedestrian friendly, and I used to walk there all the time. I remember one of those expansions to I-10 just completely bulldozing half the shopping center but forcing the entire center to move out, and for the longest time there was just this horrible ugly concrete slab there with nothing on it. They went and cut off several neighborhoods too it was wild. I remember being bitter about losing that shopping center for years as a kid.
Same here. When I was younger, I thought owning a car and driving was great. After 20 years of driving in cities like Houston, and traveling around the world, I realized we were brainwashed into believing there were no other options in urban design.
@@sabinoluevano7447 Thats what i tell my friends and they think im crazy! vehicles are a money sink, thats all they are! they depreciate and ontop of that you have to maintain it. But ofcourse here in Houston its not like we have any other choice...
Was this Town and Country Mall that you ate talking about?
Perhaps join up with Geneva Marie and get at least footpaths. Few councillors and the city planner will want to defend wheelchair inaccessability. Ideally find some at the local veterans hospital as telling a veteran he must risk his life again just to get to the shops/hospital is a career killer and social pariah. Work from the city centre out. Contact some retail giants who want to greenwash and get them on-board. There is bound to be a few well off lawyers who want to do some good PR pro-bono work thats easier than working in the local prison.
@@uwe1996 No it was just a small neighborhood shopping center. There was a dance studio and a party store and a sandwich shop and a chinese restaurant among other things. All the walkways were outdoors. But don't get me started on Town and Country I'm still mad about what happened to that one too.
I'm a civil engineer in land development, and content like this is exactly what we need. It starts at the city planning level, because developers will always go with the cheapest option that makes them the most money, and we as the engineer are tasked with designing to the developers needs and meeting city requirements. If the city doesn't require bike lanes, for instance, the developers will fight tooth and nail to not include them.
And then welcome corruption and investor planning & building, instead of common sense planning & building. It happens all over the world in different ways and variables.
I have to think that it is the developers that are the main influence to do huge projects that spend a lot of government money, and in the process do nothing to address the problems and only make things worse. Spending billions to expand a highway and make traffic even worse than it was before is asinine. But we see that taxpayer $$$ is just a feeding trough for the big developers.
"developers will always go with the cheapest option that makes them the most money" Nail=Head
Just a caveat. Nonprofit and/or affordable housing developers often don’t fit this generalization. I agree that rules need to be in place so as to require developers to design and build a certain way. It’s difficult to expect developers to put in certain amenities that are not already in the vicinity. Why put in a bike lane if it doesn’t connect to other bike lanes?
City wins out though. If that's true govt workers received a bribe.
"Houston isn't even the worst city in this regard."
*Shows background of Phoenix*
Entirely fair.
ever since visiting more people-friendly cities, I can't help but be astonished every time I come back to Phoenix and notice just how massive the Valley actually is. you really can't walk anywhere here because it's just one absolutely gigantic suburbia from North Phoenix to South Chandler. I can't go virtually anywhere without getting on a highway!
South Florida is the same way save for one path cyclists can use to get from South Miami to Coconut Grove
@@jakejaramillo i've gotten lost in the suburbs here multiple times driving around. it's hell. you take one wrong turn and suddenly you don't know where you are, everything is the same, and you have no hope of ever finding your way back without gps. I've gotten lost in suburbs ALL around the valley (like 15 miles apart) and they literally are the exact same visually.
And then you get into a nice neighborhood and it's all cute little houses, nice stucco, some shops, even a sidewalk, then another 1.5 miles and you're in another shitty suburb and it's like you haven't gone anywhere at all.
As a Phoenician, I feel attack lol
Houston is not the worst by far. Baton Rouge makes Houston feel like pedestrian Shangri-La.
I agree with you a lot. I am from Russia. After getting married an American, I moved to Houston. I have never felt needs of car, or driving license bcs our public transportation is developed very well. And once I moved in this city , the first thing I noticed is how people are uncommunicative. The smile or nice fake “hiiiiii” doesn’t make them close. Everybody by themselves. I am 5 month here and can’t go out bcs feel weird. Staying at home all days and nights. This city is designed for roughly business ideas. Not for people to live, communicate, have a nice walk by the evening.
The worst disappointment I have even had about anything, bcs to get visa for this country cost me more than 10 years of my life.
Houston is a cultural desert. It's cheap, but that's about it.
Unfortunately yeah, our country is all about dehumanized efficiency.
Couldn't agree more.
As a disabled person who can’t drive that was born and raised in Houston, I cannot adequately articulate just how utterly trapped I feel in this city. I can’t even get my own groceries, man. Its like I’m not allowed to be an adult here because cars are *that* required for normal life. :(
not having a car in houston makes you feel like less of a person.
I know EXACTLY how you feel Bon Hill, because I am in the same situation, even though I don't live in Houston, but in the suburbs of metro-Detroit (Oakland County) which is basically the same in terms of the utter lack of options and infrastructure for those who cannot drive.
At least now, thankfully because of Instacart, Shipt, and other grocery delivery services I can get groceries even if/when I don't have family able to get them, or take me to get them. But for so many years, especially when I was living on my own (for a few years in my 20s when I was living in an apartment) it was PURE HELL.
Even though the closest grocery store at that time was about 2 miles away (at some point, after I had moved out of that apartment, a grocery chain opened a branch literally just across the street and a couple buildings down from the entrance to my apartment complex) because I couldn't drive, and there weren't sidewalks/bike paths the entire way and part of the way there, was a design similar to the situation (not a bridge, but some other obstacle, I can't recall what though, as its been 20 years) like to the guy in this video on that narrow stretch of road, that made it difficult if not impossible to walk while lugging even a rolling cart with groceries.
So my family who lived like 20 or 30 minutes drive away would have to come by once a week or once every couple weeks to drive me 2 miles away to the grocery store. Its RIDICULOUS!
How much time and gas wasted driving so much, just to take me to the grocery store, when a few bus routes or even just decent sidewalks could conserve that!
There's metro lift for that. You have to make appointments but it's there.
@Jeremiah Madsen and you would do what to fix it? Get mad bro. That's really helpful.
@@danielmellott7754 you know NOTHING about what you're talking about!
Do you have ANY idea HOW IMPOSSIBLE it is to even GET appointments for that??
I'm not in Houston, but SE. Michigan, and our service like that requires people to:
1.) Call 2 days in advance for an appointment (so forget if you need to go somewhere urgently at the spur of the moment!)
2.) They start taking reservations at 7AM sharp, but EVERY TIME I call, at 6 : 59 I get a recorded message that the office is closed and to call back at 7 AM, and when I dial the phone the second the digit on the clock turns to 7 AM, I get a message saying that I'm the 10th or 15th or 20th, or 25th caller in the line and a representative will get to me when the next one is available. Then I am on hold for the next 20, or 30 or 40 minutes. and by the time I get a human on the phone to book an appointment, they say, "Sorry we're all booked for that day, Try calling back tomorrow"
Then the same thing happens the next day, and the next, and the next and on and on!
So for you to suggest that as a viable alternative to DECENT public transit, walkability and bike paths is outrageous and offensive!
I cannot believe I lost a huge document I was working on, just to read such an asinine comment!!! 🤬🤬🤬
The obvious cut in "dont you think this guy would appreciate a sidewalk" fucking killed me
That and the " there is even people walking on google earth" or whatever he said LOL
I wish he was joking. This is exactly what most of America looks like. Just lanes and lanes of endless road system and bulk buy stores.
Yes it’s very sad, it’s one giant strip mall.
Yeah and since you cant really go anywhere fun, alot of adventures and hang out time with my friend was spent at walmart or hangout in parking lots. Like if we were bored we would go to walmart since it was the easiest and fastest to get to.
How people even meet each other and start dating in those conditions?
This footage could be literally anywhere. It could not even be Houston haha
No. Most of America is rural.
This is a damm good video. I lived 2 years in Dubai, and I used to laugh at Ferraris and Lamborghinis being drove at 5 kms per hour most of the time because of traffic when these cars are designed to go 200 km per hour. When I visited Amsterdam on a business trip I loved that city with all its bike and pedestrian culture. But my reality is that I am stuck in El Salvador, where most people dream about visiting Dubai instead of Amsterdam.
For me, as a person who's lived his entire life in the Netherlands and as never been outside of Europe, it is completely impossible to imagine what it would be like to not be able to walk everywhere. Last year I went to the zoo with my brother in a city we both didn't really know. At the train station we met up and just walked to the zoo, about 20 minutes or so. After that we walked to the city centre to have dinner, about 40 minutes. It was absolutely no problem at all as there was a sidewalk everywhere.
You are right, it is indeed a crime to design cities like Houston.
@@kenbrown2808 "because we have so much space to sprawl into." no. older citis were denser
Love your wondrous Roller Coaster Tycoon videos my man.
For me it was the same until I went on holiday to Florida in December of 2019. We wanted to get a gift for a friend so we tried to walk to a boardgame shop there, about 2km and it just wasn't possible. The sidewalk ended and knee high grass began with no alternative. Also traffic light stood on green for what felt like minutes at a time. (I also missed the ticking our pedestrian traffic lights usually make so you don't have to actually see the light to know it's green). Before Florida I went to multiple other cities in Europe and usually we could walk everywhere or take public transit easily. In the Florida we HAD to rent a car to get anywhere, or be driven everywhere by Uber.
haha hoi marcel :P
One other aspect of this you didn't get into in this video but definitely could: One group of people that are necessarily without cars is children under age 16. So that means if children in stroad-infected suburbia want to go *anywhere*, they have to have a parent around to drive them.
It's basically designed to be anti-social.
I literally grew up in the radius of the featured part of Houston and that is literally exactly how it is. I wrote a long reply about it as a top-level reply to this video.
I wasn't even allowed to ride my bike outside of my subdivision (which of course, was cul-de-sac'd to hell) until 13. Even then there was nowhere to go outside of going from one subdivision to another. Contrasted to when I got my first car, and I could finally drive to the mall or the stores.... Only 1 kilometer away from my home.
@@monkeyhihi sounds like a prison.. in my Dutch childhood my bike was a ticket to freedom
@@chilanya it felt like (and was) freedom comparatively. I was able to make it to my best friends house a few miles away..... But that was about it. Nothing like the Dutch experience.
Yeah, my childhood in suburbia was incredibly boring. It was difficult to do anything interesting, even after-school high school activities.
@@spencershao7940 It's no wonder suburbia and Dystopian movies look so similar. The depressingly sterile homes lined up perfectly in what success ought to look like, according to whatever ruler of power.
Until the end I didn't realize how incomplete that Houston walk was without a ford mustang deafening you with that ripping farting sound while still failing to accelerate away fast enough.
That ain't no Mustang buddy. Pretty sure it's a Dodge
@@OnionChoppingNinja Exactly, a Dodge Challenger
That’s a challenger
accelerating hard, until he hits the brakes hard at the next traffic light. That's the way those guys drive.
@@martian9999 those guys always got something to prove: and that something is being the first one to hit a red light.
Yup, I’m born and raised of Houston, we are all very proud of our city but no one has ever acknowledged the dangerous and expensive hellscape that is our city’s design 😩 I’ve since moved away to a much smaller city and get to avoid the driving stress that comes from living in Houston 😊
Not only can you not walk in Houston, the Houston drivers also make driving extremely dangerous
Where did you move to ?
Yep even as a teenager I’ve seen people texting and driving and quite often I’d flip them off as my parents pass them I’m hoping people drive better in the Midwest so
For those people who have never been to a major urban center in texas, you just simply can't grasp how epic the urban sprawl is. It took us an hour to get across the city and that was us moving at a steady clip.
Probably longer than that. It takes over an hour to cross metro Detroit at 70mph and that is a smaller city
Lol both are small come to la southern California
It takes at the most 2 hours to go from Fort Worth's western suburbs to Dallas' eastern suburbs at 65 mph on a normal day with traffic.
It's because texas has the room. It's 3x bigger than the UK with a third of its population.
@@MrTD714 Houston is bigger, fun fact for you.
I hope more and more people won't be able to "unsee" that horrifying contrast between hostile and livable cities.
Agreed. I was redpilled by Strong Towns. I will never look at suburbia the same way ever again.
@@NotJustBikes Based and Strongtowned
@@NotJustBikes I would highly recommend James Howard Kunstler's "The Geography of Nowhere," if you haven't read it already.
@@alexdobma4694 you can either take the strongtownpill or the stroadpill
like 1000
9:36 - I'm an Urban Planner and I say you are spot on. It is the most obvious thing. Design roads with footpaths, plant beautiful trees, and separate cycling. The costs to include these are quite minimal. The community gain outweighs the costs.
agree except locate the footpaths far enough away from the road or highway so the traffic noise is minimized - realizing you cannot stop that noise entirely even miles away from the traffic.
It isn't rocket science, but when I see some bike paths, I would better use road. Here in my country, trend is just cut space from road and paint bike path there, but you are going next to parked cars so you have riding cars on left side and parked cars on right side and you are still in stress that someone opens door and hit you, I really don't like this, better paint it on side walk if it's wide enough or don't do it at all.
@@Pidalin Denmark?
@@marwintalens7066 Czechia, we copy everything from Austria or Germany, even stupid ideas :-)
Sounds like the heights, garden oaks, oak forest, you know Houston
I live in Houston without a car and you are correct. Houston planners hate pedestrians. We simply don't exist in this city, crossing the street is so dangerous and scary just as you stated that most people run for their lives and get killed anyway. The city doesn't care about people it never did. I'm getting out of here asap.🙏
When I was a kid I was a mile from our library “downtown”. My mother was busy working two jobs, and we lived in low income housing. Everyday, after school, my sister and I would make the treacherous journey across a sidewalk-less bridge, just to get to basic services necessary for doing homework: books, internet, and tutoring.
Everytime I think about it, I think about how incredibly dangerous that was. Cars would speed by 2 children at 45 mph on the icy roads of winter in Minnesota.
It’s a miracle there was never an accident
I’m 15 and every week I have football and wrestling practice and I have to walk home and I have to cross a main road which is always scary to me because I hate how drive can still turn even if the light is red. One of those days I was walking home the thing that let you know you can walk showed the walking person but I wasn’t able to cross the road cos few cars were turning and that made me realized how stupid the rule is
Sorry man English is not my best and I’m not good at writing with proper punctuation and stuff
@@worstgamer1162 The solution is simple:
Right turn signals. If there is no cross traffic on the pedestrian/bike crossing, cars get a green light to turn.
This works for left turns as well, as a signal with an arrow means you have free way through the crossing, no waiting for cross traffic that also has a green light.
Often the arrow is only green/yellow, because you are allowed to turn right on normal green as well, but in that case the pedestrians and bikes have right of way as you are turning and crossing their way. (Rather: You have to yield, there is no right of way in Sweden.)
@@57thorns thanks but man I be scared whenever I’m about to cross the main road😂 also the walk sign was shown but cars still kept going and I had to wait couple of more minutes
@@worstgamer1162 It is still dangerous to cross the road, but at least pedestrians are protected by the law, it is _always_ the drivers fault when an accident occurs, unless the pedestrian is extremely reckless or the circumstance make it an unavoidable accident.
this is quickly becoming one of the most important introductory video essays on the internet. will continue to point people here whenever possible.
did not expect to see you here, love ur music!
Fancy seeing you here
Easily one of the best ways to get people angry at their city design. I'm addicted to this channel.
I just stumbled upon this channel and it is amazing how it basically summed up everything I hate about most North American cities that I never even knew.
Not having sidewalks is pure insanity.
now that's a surprise, meeting you here. Love your work, and thanks for publicly commenting on this
“This…is fundamentally wrong. Nobody should have to own a car just to participate in society. And designing a city that way on purpose…is criminal.” Exactly. Even your pauses…are true!
Why, these city planners are college graduates! They have degrees! They’re educated! They have vision! They are our experts!...now, we discover they’ve been criminal? I’m shocked! Shocked!
We're all too busy thinking that we're the envy of the world to realize just how far behind we have fallen. I'm embarrassed and ashamed.
Too bad we can't trust city planners or our representatives in the city council. I feel like they're living in a parallel world while there are plenty of examples around the world to learn from.
@@sprague49 A lot of city planners *want* better cycling infrastructure and more walkable cities. They present designs all the time when redevelopment is proposed. but they are often hamstrung by coffers, politicians, city council members, and the citizens themselves. Many citizens get into NIMBYism every time a sensible road diet plan is presented. This just happened for the 2nd time in a few years about a road diet plan for Central Ave. in Phoenix. It's currently considered a "bike boulvard" but is a high speed arterial with zero bike lanes. It's totally laughable that this road has signage calling itself the "Sonoran Bikeway", lol. The road diet was killed again because of citizens complaining that it would cut into their commute times. Drivers almost always win. Citizens commonly vote against their own best interest. And city council members are frequently corrupt. Let's not throw well meaning people in city planning departments under the bus so eagerly.
ok
As someone born and raised in Houston, it was surreal seeing the Willowbrook area, a place I went to probably hundreds of times, in your video. It really is awful, though. I have a relative with severe ADHD who doesn’t feel like they would be a safe driver and has (responsibly) decided not to get their license but now how are they going to get to work?? It’s a nightmare.
Also, it’s worth mentioning that transportation insecurity is a big issue here. There are entire charities whose sole purpose is to help people get rides to doctor’s appointments. Food insecurity is on the rise because people can’t get to grocery stores. Lack of transportation = lack of access to so many other necessities
I expected to become a UX Designer designing digital Interfaces - but thanks to NotJustBikes and spending a few years in The Netherlands I now want to improve the UX of cities 🤷🏽♂️. A life changing channel - and a life changing country to live in.
It's a tough battle with a lot of entrenched structures keeping car-dependency in place. UX design is a lot easier, but maybe less world-changing. :)
I studied Urban Design and now I'm an UX designer :D There is a lot of things in common between the two!!
Excuse me, but what is "UX design"?
@@Jai-xn8is User Experience design, basically how human-friendly something is
That's awesome! City planning is way out of my field, but watching this channel has encouraged me to leave Houston and suburbia for the Nederlands. I love the in-depth analysis explaining what I've always felt or navigated in Houston, and it sounds really exciting to try something more designed for people than cars.
I was born and raised in Houston, and I’m still here. I’ve experienced everything mentioned in this video, and more. I’m extremely lucky to live in one of the oldest streetcar suburbs, where I can bike to anywhere I need to go. When I venture out of this comfort zone, I’m disgusted and terrified. The pockets of sanity are surrounded by the hellscape we’ve created for The Car.
Similar for me. Also born and raised in one of the more walkable parts of Houston and when I visit my family there I still walk to nearby businesses. Some local restaurants, it is faster (and better exercise) to walk over and pick up the food than to wait for it to get delivered.
Of course, the outer parts the city are, buy and large, exactly the same and exactly as shown in this video. And, even if "walkable" parts of the city still have a lot to be desired. There are no bike lanes to speak of. Traffic signals to cross arterials are not frequent enough. Sidewalks still abruptly end when the street crosses railroad tracks, just like they did 30 years ago.
And then, there's the cultural aspect. In April for example, I called up a local Wallgreens to schedule a COVID test and asked whether it was ok if I showed up on foot, as I didn't have a car at the time, and the website wasn't clear. After about 20 minutes of waiting on hold, I got back the reply: "no car, no test". I ended up having to go somewhere else for the test that charged twice as much (but covered by insurance), but was willing to see patients that arrive by walking. U.S. car dependency and the U.S. medical system all experienced at once.
And, of course, when the COVID vaccine opened up to all adults, the first place available was in the middle of unwalkable sprawlsville. I borrowed my parents' car and got the shot. But I couldn't help thinking how people without cars were supposed to get it and how long they were going to have to wait.
@@ab-tf5fl Not in Houston but I experienced similar issues dealing with getting the vaccine. Had to wait a few extra weeks to find a shot that was within the city limits and was accessible by bus. I've never taken an actual COVID test because every place that offered one was inaccessible.
What suburb?
Let me guess - The Heights?
@@SurpriseMeJT They must mean either The Heights or Montrose.
100 years ago Los Angeles and San Diego were served by trolly cars on rails throughout and car ownership was unnecessary. The trolly companies were bought out by oil and tire manufacturers and the rails ripped out. Now it’s virtually impossible to live in these places without a car.
Even LA is more walkable than this.
They owned horses and carriages untill they discovered cars. So trollys were like buses only they needed tracks and were horse drawn till they converted to a engine
@@dianne57m.shifthappens73 In fact, they were electrified from the beginning in 1891.
Houston 1.0 had electric rail bus system. Then the oil/auto industry took over and ruined it. We have a small Light Rail for over 10 years that only access downtown to midtown and now a little north of that. Pretty sad, but maybe in a few more decades they'll get it running everywhere. I'll probably be gone or dead by then.
Happy that you pointed that out. When I was a kid, I pointed to a large concrete pylon in the middle of the Maumee river. My father said it was the remains of the trolley bridge that ran from Toledo, Ohio through Maumee and over the river to Perrysburg, Ohio. It made me quite sad when I found out that these trolley companies were bought and shut down to “encourage” the purchase of automobiles and oil products.
Houston is absolutely BRUTAL to everyone who doesn’t drive. Their bus service is beyond awful - and that ‘improved’ service has been the most convoluted confusing mess. Only reason ridership increased was temporary free fares. But even WORSE than H-town are the small towns around it … Humble, Kingwood, Woodlands, Katy - all of them are either drive or stumble through the ditches. So glad I don’t live there anymore
“Houston is a hellscape.”
“Yeah, but at least our-“
“And I’ve had better brisket in New York.”
Brutal.
Literally said ow when he said that
Lived here for 6 years and I have never seen a city so poorly designed
are you just gonna sit there and let your brisket get insulted?? what's wrong with you??
same thing that's wrong with most, the food isn't worth fighting over right?? LMAO!!! [i'm joking sheesh]
Better brisket?
not south carolina brisket? he's he mistaken?
Have you ever considered giving a TED talk? I feel like your story and relationship to Urban Planning could be particularly powerful, especially at this moment when, for example, the U.S. is allocating massive spending for urban reform. More people need to challenge the ways in which they live their lives, and voices like yours need to be amplified!
I completely agree
Hopefully not a TEDx though
I also wish he does a TED talk on improving Urban Planning.
@@AskRemy I'd imagine what a PR disaster that was. Podcasts are honestly better.
As someone who's lived in Houston since 86, I was prepared to be angry when I clicked on this, but nah, you're right. You summed up so many of the thoughts I've had while driving and getting by in this city, trust me --- I've talked to friends about this too, we're all frustrated with how much of this city is laid out and thanks to TH-cam and a lot of these "walking tour" videos of different cities like Tokyo and Seoul (and of course traveling around ourselves), we're hyper aware of just how stunted Houston is in its reliance on stroads. I wish people who were in charge could watch this video and get their minds changed, but what I really suspect is happening is that everyone here knows this is horrible, but oil/gas influence is far reaching in this city and really shaped the way it was restructured over time, and those attitudes have been burned in by now into a sheltered, get in truck, drive to store, drive home, leave me alone attitude. It's become the mentality here.
There are newer developments in the surrounding Houston area that are called "town centers" which aim to replicate the street/pedestrian experience, but those are very expensive to live in (also expensive for retail to lease the spaces below the apartments). I dunno man, I'd like things to change in Houston but its such a massively big city, with so many endless parking lots --- the money and will it would take to restructure these things seems unlikely to emerge.
What is unfortunate is that the USA is the richest place in history, but it could all be undone with the current mindset. The economy is having problems because of these issues, its not just car reliance, it is a lot of everything. The US and Canada need to fix this, Fracking buys you time, but we need a different mindset. The problem is that large amounts of money is required and many people with lots of money do not do much about the problem. Bill Gates, Dave Ramsey and Jeff Bezos have no clue that this is a problem and are helping make it worse. Anyways, here are these videos for thought, they are depressing but I feel the need to share.
th-cam.com/video/Q1ZeXnmDZMQ/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/bnKIVX968PQ/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/qSKSjsBv7uQ/w-d-xo.html
drivers are ego-maniacal suburbanites so I say let's use their ego against them. Remove all soundproofing from cars and watch how fast things change when their little comfort is impacted
Have you ever worked in an industrial setting? None this pedestrian/cyclist nonsense works except for bureaucratic drones who want to live in hives.
@@curtislowe4577 Except he showed a literal industrial estate in the Netherlands in the video and it works for them, but keep making excuses.
@@curtislowe4577 What kind of industrial settings are we talking about, they were all originally serviced without the car in mind. The advocation is not to eliminate the car, although that may happen inevitably, but to change the required usage. It is not just the industrial parks that will be gone, it will be all those 'cool' bank towers too, in fact, all the skyscrapers might become ghosts of the past.
I know this is an old video, but man is it prescient! My poor mother is legally blind, 92 years old, but otherwise in great health. She loves to walk. Sadly, after my father passed recently, she and we have come to recognize how shitty living in suburbia is when you are utterly trapped in your own home when you can't drive on your own. She is immensely frustrated and angry at her current situation. Although she does have private transport twice a week, and two of her kids (inc. me) take time away from work to get her to inflexible appointments, etc, it's still a little prison-esque for her. I do not want to be in the same situation when I'm retired. great video!
Me as a fellow Houstonian: I have never been more offended with something I agree with
what a heel of a place you live in mate
I'm from McAllen, Texas. It's just like Houston. You NEED a car. There is no public transportation, and street streets are designed for cars only.
Bruh dead ass I was getting mad asf watching this video dawg😂 but I agree too😂
I feel you bro lol
He's right but that barbecue take deserves a slap in the face. This man has sinful tastebuds
My husband had a coworker killed when crossing the street while in Houston on a business trip, so this video resonates with me.
What, he had his coworker killed? Surely, this must be illegal ... even in the US.
@@peterjaspers606 nah, Its completely legal. Just look at how healthcare companies are allowed to overcharge for stuff like life saving medicine and procedures.
@@peterjaspers606 If you want to get away with murder in the US you just have to do it with a car. It's ruled an accident nearly always.
@@peterjaspers606 no it isn't. they even made a whole show to teach people how to get away with killing people
@@peterjaspers606 It probably was just a tragic accident. From the minimum description here we don't know anything about the situation. Was the car speeding? Did the car fail to stop for a stop sign or red light? Did the coworker cross at an intersection? Were they in a cross walk? Did they have a light to walk? Was it dark? Was it raining? If the driver stopped at the scene, did their best to get help for the injured coworker, cooperated with police and first responders, etc. it's extremely unlikely they will get charged if they weren't violating a traffic law.
Or are you implying the husband just shoved the coworker into traffic to execute them? lol
Wonderful video! You're inspiring me to explain why I became an urban planner. Houston is not on my list of reasons why (haven't visited, and trip was canceled due to COVID), but Los Angeles IS on my list. Keep up the great work! Love the channel!
Hey, long time viewer of yours! Don’t go to Houston, it’s terrible and has no redeeming qualities lol
Strong towns are extremely important for banks and creation of debt .. criticizing debt and usury is extremely ANTI-SEMITIC.
@@cinemaparadiso5402 Where's this convoluted horseshit coming from lol
Please do!
I grew up on suburban Long Island. The main drag is an uncrossable-to-pedestrians state route flanked by low-rise buildings and parking lots for nearly its entire length. It's soul-crushingly dismal. I describe Los Angeles as if my hometown metastisized into a sprawling cancer consuming thousands of square miles.