![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Someone on a Discord server claimed that the Youtube channel Not Just Bikes (urbanist issues, from the POV of a Canadian who moved to Amsterdam) doesn't do education or advocacy, just "circlejerking". This pissed me off, so I made a list of some things I've learned (or might have, if I hadn't known them already) from the channel:
raised crosswalks exist
Dutch cities were going all-in on cars until the 1970s, then changed course [ok, I already knew that, but many wouldn't]
The Dutch didn't have some massive expensive program to rebuild everything, instead they upgraded their design standards so streets become safer 'for free' when they get resurfaced periodically.
Even their newly small towns and suburbs are cool (or especially newly built ones, because of those standards)
Bike paths are often used by the disabled in mobility scooters, along with bike alternatives like handcycles (also, handcycles exist)
General Motors had propaganda in 1954, documented congested highways and rush hour even then.
How the Tories sabotaged Toronto's politics by jamming a bunch of suburbs in.
Design elements of intersection safety.
Cargo bikes/bakfiets.
What Swiss trains are like.
What various Swiss cities look like to a visitor.
What Dutch business parks are like (way better than ours)
How the Dutch driving is more pleasant (because you're sharing the road with fewer cars)
how much cars contribute to urban noise
concept of stroads [I knew this already directly from Strong Towns, but a lot of people got it from NJB's Strong Towns videos]
raised crosswalks exist
Dutch cities were going all-in on cars until the 1970s, then changed course [ok, I already knew that, but many wouldn't]
The Dutch didn't have some massive expensive program to rebuild everything, instead they upgraded their design standards so streets become safer 'for free' when they get resurfaced periodically.
Even their newly small towns and suburbs are cool (or especially newly built ones, because of those standards)
Bike paths are often used by the disabled in mobility scooters, along with bike alternatives like handcycles (also, handcycles exist)
General Motors had propaganda in 1954, documented congested highways and rush hour even then.
How the Tories sabotaged Toronto's politics by jamming a bunch of suburbs in.
Design elements of intersection safety.
Cargo bikes/bakfiets.
What Swiss trains are like.
What various Swiss cities look like to a visitor.
What Dutch business parks are like (way better than ours)
How the Dutch driving is more pleasant (because you're sharing the road with fewer cars)
how much cars contribute to urban noise
concept of stroads [I knew this already directly from Strong Towns, but a lot of people got it from NJB's Strong Towns videos]