probably the most similar place here in america is carmel indiana, a fast growing northern suburb of indianapolis. their longtime mayor did a trip to europe before entering office, and came to really enjoy the idea of roundaboutss, at a time when most americans were very skeptical of them. so when he entered office, one of his main initiatives was converting almost all major intersections in the city to roundabouts, an endeavor still in full swing today as they annex more land in the surrounding area. when INDOT upgraded us-31 in the area to a freeway, they even went so far as making all of the interchanges roundabout-based dogbones. i believe roughly 2% of all of the NATION’S roundabouts are in this city of 100,000 alone. and it paid off, carmel has some of the safest traffic in the nation.
You beat me to it! Yes and I believe it has even more roundabouts than Milton Keynes. I love Keystone and the roundabouts at the ramp interchanges and, pretty much everywhere!
@@clayton97330 yeah. Bend, OR has a lot of roundabouts. My parents live there and it is always a big shock driving there when I got to visit. I think Bend now has around 60 roundabouts, but I believe Carmel has well over 100.
@@iboKirby wow.. I didn't realize Bend had that many. If Carmel has just over a hundredish and has 2% of the nation's roundabouts, I'd think Bend must also be near the top of the list. Also a city of around a hundred thousand.
The really ironic thing about the Milton Keynes "Grid", is that the longest straight piece of road in the entire place, is also the oldest piece of road. It's the old Watling Street, a Roman road, dating back to AD47-8, with the actual age of the route being unknown, but likely over 5,000 years...
Milton Keynes, despite being relatively new, is surrounded by history. It was built on and around a lot of historic settlements; Wolverton, Stony Stratford, Bletchley, Milton Keynes Village and Newport Pagnell to name a few (Newport Pagnell even being mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1080AD). Right outside my front door there are ancient hedgerows that date back hundreds of years. There is plenty of character and history here, you just need to know where to look.
Hello Abhi, How is the housing situation in milton keynes ? Rented properties to be specific. And any idea about how difficult or easy to find housing for an international student in or around MK ?
So how do you like living in Milton Keynes? I suppose that also depends on if you've been there all your life or if you've lived another cities. I'm an architect and I was in London 1988 and I know a couple classmates who did their own trip there because of its being a planned city. As a fan of Brasilia and Canberra I would have gone with them if I had known more about it.
@@timmmahhhh can’t really compare it to anywhere cause i was born here, although since i do live in one of the old towns in mk, it does feel more lively than when i’m in the rest of the city
I was a resident in what is now the MK area since 1967 and saw the rise of the new city from its initial inception until I left in 2003. A good contemporary video here ua-cam.com/video/hCEUuH7_XoE/v-deo.html One striking feature of its early days was the national shortage of traditional building materials ( ironic since traditional brickworks were one of the areas largest and most air-pollutung industries ) leading to the use of what you might call 'experimental' building materials such as aluminium cladding, which, in subsequent years caused big problems relating to damp, mould and unhealthy living conditions in the thousands of new homes built to house the workers moving there from London and further afield. An early problem that arose was that the planners dream of social housing built adjacent to private sale homes, was that the 'experimental' building materials used in those early developments ( Netherfield, Bean Hill, Coffee Hall etc ) which caused damp/mould issues for the poorer members of society living there in cheap rented accomodation, meant that private developers didn't want to build close by those 'problem' areas, so they became social housing ghettos where problem tenants caused issues for the rest of the residents. But for me it was a good place to be, because as a just-married family man, it meant I could obtain rented housing relatively easily in one of the later-built developments which use more traditional materials which were.much more desirable and free from many of the issues I mentioned. Of course, the Thatcher government bought in the 'right-to-buy' your rented home at a big discount and people like me, before I had developed my career sufficiently to earn a salary sufficient to get a mortgage, were able to buy their home, sell it at a profit and buy more desirable property relatively close-by so children's schooling was not disrupted by uprooting completely. That's probably more than enough for a UA-cam comment !!
Great video and I find people that look down upon the city in the UK have just quickly driven through it’s very efficient road system. If they went off grid, they would find a city where in one walk you would pass roman villas, a Elizabethan manor, norman castle, Victorian viaduct, the last sighting alive of the princes of the tower, the location where Boudica died, the pubs which coined the term a cock and bull story, the location of superman film sets, home of the Bond cars, characters from Dickens novels, Queen, Bowie, Springsteen and MJ at the UK’s version of the Hollywood bowl, first multiplex cinema in UK, the oldest iron bridge still in use, where amazing grace was written, the home of the ww2 codebreakers, a international festival every 2 years, home of formula one champions, more trees than population of Netherlands and a cathedral made out of them, over 2000 listed buildings, the most green space in any UK city, no one ever more than half a mile from a park, first peace pagoda in western hemisphere, and a 2,000 year old road which splits the city between Viking and Saxon and yes concrete cows as well, but apparently Milton Keynes has no history or culture.
Not to mention the early stages of a river (the Great Ouse) that in prehistory you would have been able to sail all the way down to the lost region of Doggerland.
As a resident of Milton Keynes (moved from London) for the past 39 years, it is one of the best cities in the UK. Roads are H(horizontal) and V(ertical) and intersects at roundabouts where traffic is safe (provided you follow the Highway Code). Lots of greenery, Redways (walkways) connect the grids where they are designated as residential or as business related. Lovely walks along the canal. Best move away from London.
I live in milton keynes, it is a wonderful city that really encompasses what a city should be about, unique architecture, green space, and a good transport system. many people give milton keynes a lot of slack, but have never been and seen the amazing buildings!
The BBC produced an interesting documentary about the City a few years ago, lot of people moved out of London to live there. They even have delivery robots in certain areas delivering groceries. I have only ever been through the train or coach station. Like all cities some areas are nicer than others depending on the housing stock.
It's also one of the first place with automatic delivery robots, self driving cars and as someone who lived their for many years it's quite walkable. The center of the city has improved significantly as original the aim was to separate residential, commercial and industrial district but recently there has been a huge effort to increase residential development in the central commercial zone that has brought a lot more life to the area, i even own an apartment in the center. Good luck with collage
Thanks for covering this city. It’s always been a topic of interest for me ever since I first heard about it! I used to live in Bedfordshire and never would have visited Milton Keynes if it hadn’t been the location of the nearest IKEA. But when I did visit, I found it absolutely fascinating. I can’t believe that there was enough vision to imagine and plan a city of 250K people where there was once bean fields and the small villages of Middleton and Bletchley. I definitely noticed the prevailing British sentiment you mentioned about MK having no personality or defining characteristics (except trees and roundabouts). Three times MK tried to apply for its “letters patent” to be considered an official city, and was denied for no real reason except its lack of cultural significance. (It finally got its official city status in 2022. 🥳) I personally love the idea of a large city in the trees. I also love the sort of space-age, mid-century idea of creating efficient cities from the ground up. That’s just fascinating to me. And according to the history plaques in the large central shopping centre, the site for the city was chosen so that it would be equidistant from London, Birmingham, Oxford, and Cambridge, so that while it was building up, the residents could use it as a commuter town. I always thought Milton Keynes didn’t get the appreciation it deserved, so thanks for giving it a moment in the spotlight!
And, of course that IKEA was never meant to be in MK but in Northampton! For some weird reason Northampton turned the idea down so MK's gain. @@neuf1720
It meant that Crowley had been allowed to develop Manchester, while Aziraphale had a free hand in the whole of Shropshire. Crowley took Glasgow, Aziraphale had Edinburgh (neither claimed any responsibility for Milton Keynes, [1] but both reported it as a success). 1 Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient, healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing. - Good Omens
MK worked perfectly BEFORE the council introduced traffic lights in 2015. Now queues are worse. The council should switch off all traffic lights immediately. Otherwise the cycle tracks and walkways and green spaces are perfect! 💙💙💙 And Yankee boy, an American girl will always pick a Brit before an American boy, it’s because we are better x
Another group which looks down on MK is the football community. There are hundreds of videos regarding wimbledon and MK dons and 98% of football fans hate them
As a Brit, Milton Keynes is the butt of many jokes and oft derided as a carcentric place without history or culture (they infamously stuck up fake cows in the fields in the 80s), where souls go to die. It's improved alot since then, but would love to visit just to check it out. It is indeed unique in the UK.
The Concrete Cows weren't installed to try to fake anything, they were an installation by American artist Liz Leyh. Milton Keynes has numerous public works of art across the city and massive murals in various public buildings celebrating the history of the towns enveloped into MK, and MK itself with it's many landmarks from the Cathedral of Trees to the Point, MK Shopping Center to Willen Lake.
@@jaderowe7749no way is MK a tip. Certain areas are (Conniburrow, Fullers, Fishermead etc) but you get bad areas in most populated towns and cities. There are more green spaces in MK than most - we have more parkland than any city in the country & most of the estates are decent.
This seems like a great compromise between car-centric America and the typical Euro-town with streets designed for sedan chairs and nowhere to park. It's also a sizeable city, but it has a certain look and feel of rurality with plenty of nature.
In reality it works just like an American city, only with even less reasons not to drive. People in the US often drive because there are no alternatives. People in Milton Keynes drive everywhere, because it's so convenient.
Interesting to see an American perspective on Milton Keynes, I live local to the city and my work involves driving around Milton Keynes and many other local towns and cities, but no other city can you drive straight across it thru the centre in 15 minutes!
Stopped by here while I was in London. I’m from Phoenix, Arizona. Enjoyed it very much, did have a states vibe to it with the layout. Will gladly go back next time.
A lot of people seem to think it's "soulless" because when driving through along the H and V roads you're surrounded by trees and don't see 99% of the houses and estates. It's so green in much of the city you wouldn't know most of it exists unless you actually have reason to drive into an estate. Most people who go into the city only see the mirrored glass buildings in CMK and never see the parks, the old villages, the estates or the woods or lakes. If they actually spent any time looking around they would probably have a different opinion. Also, roundabouts work, you will never be stuck in traffic in Milton Keynes.
I love MK. Lived here most of my life. MK has something for everyone and it all seems to be on your doorstep. If you are fortunate to live in one of the upmarket villages or towns contained in MK, you really have it all.
The city centre is pedestrian friendly, but the vast spaces of the whole are less so, despite the pedestrians and bike underpasses. And the shopping centre was one of the early larger ones, so was popular due to the novelty factor, but better ones have developed since and MK is not so popular for shopping anymore,. OK for train connections and buses. All the New towns are a bit looked down on, not just a MK problem, and MK is not the worst of the newer New towns. Also (as you can see in the road signs) all the major roads have "H" and "V" numbers to help you find your way around, the numbers run in sequence (H being sort of east west horizontal, V being sort of north south vertical). MK is at one end of the middle part of the UK which has many warehouses, especially for retailers, due to good road connections. But not great rail freight connections (a better example is Daventry which has warehouses in a park called DIRFT Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal)
I live in MK and like it here and also agree with attributes given by others like "lifelessness", "where souls go to die", "no flair", "no culture", etc. Also low crime rate. Low noise in the suburbs. Close to nature. Must be hard for young people though. Also, from the position of a cyclist (excellent and safe cycling lane network, "red ways") this town looks totally different.
Tbf I have never been there but pedestrian friendly is relativ I assume. A 10 min walk from building to building is still a 10 min walk regardless of if you walk through a green path or along a 6 lane major road. Still I imagine it's better than 90% of places in the US kek
The idea is you rarely need to walk across traffic. The redways are slightly away from the grid roads, connected by bridges or underpasses. This allows most of the grid roads to have a 60 or 70mph speed limit.
I stayed at a family member's place in a suburb of Milton Keynes during a UK trip in 2021. While I did not explore much of the city, I did go to an interesting Asian market thing that was under some elevated intersection.
The best city in the USA to live in is Carmel, Indiana. Traffic flows easily and relatively safer than most other cities because most of its intersections are roundabouts. It took me twice along to drive through town before the roundabouts than it does now. And living on one of the major throughofares close to a fire station, I don't hear the sirens as often as I did before the roundabouts. There aren't as many serious accidents with the roundabouts. Carmel is in the middle of an ongoing campaign to make all of its major intersections into roundabouts. Even the busiest street that was a state divided highway that had all of it's signal light controlled intersections changed to interchanges with on and off ramps connected to bow tie shaped double roundabouts on bridges over the main roadway. The city borders on the north side of Indianapolis.
I am not sure you have the planning history quite right as there was far more involved, but then its only a six minute video. There is actually a very interesting book by an American called Guy Ortolano, the book is called Thatcher's Progress, the title taken from a car journey by the then PM Margaret Thatcher around Milton Keynes on the day of her official visit in 1979. The guy next to Mrs Thatcher in the picture you used in the video was my boss! We have now been living in MK since 1979 and really like the place which is unique in so many ways. The planners were clever in incorporating all the existing villages and towns within the new city boundary as points of interest and the planning around them was done sympathetically to maintain the original character. The deviation from the American grid style was called a "Lazy Grid".
It’s interesting, I find this resembles a lot of mid-sized Canadian cities minus the roundabouts. Grid-like, but not rigid. Lots of green space. Tight, compact residential areas. Centrally located retail areas along major thoroughfares. It also seems to be the direction a lot of those cities are aiming for now, like Kitchener-Waterloo and their conversion of intersections to roundabouts, as well as new developments in London, Ontario.
No history and yet one sice of my family came here after 1066 Norman invasion to a place called Great Linford 🤣 there is tonnes of history here its just not reported on because people stuck on the new bits.
I live here. Was born here and agree about the soullessness. Some of us are trying to change that! The good thing is it's a nice place and the older parts do have some soul. The villages that surround it are old and have character.
How about that. Milton Keynes took the best of American planning and combined it with local priorities. Most cities over there are a nightmare to traverse. This city has a well designed grid with spacious leafy neighborhoods, dedicated retail/industrial areas and a road network that is efficient for moving people around by car (sorry urbanists- this is most people’s preferred mode of transportation). I love that they provide options to bike and walk separate to vehicular traffic, too. Add to all those positives that it’s only an hour and a half from London! Sounds like the only city in the UK that I might enjoy living in.
The good thing is, despite being designed as a car-city first and foremost, the centre still does a great job in catering for alternative modes of transport. Firstly, the wide spaces and underpasses segregated from the main roads you mentioned, which are perfect for walking and cycling (even wheelchairs can easily get around); now you can easily hire bikes and e-scooters to make the most of this. Secondly, the public transport integration is great, with a spacious railway interchange and the bus station right in front. Combine this with cheap fares on the bus to get you between the station and the shopping centre, so if you don't fancy the mile walk (despite being on a straight, wide and spacious boulevard) both ways, you can just walk one way and then hop on the bus on the way back, as single fares (just over a quid) are reasonable for this. Also, the width of the roads allow the perfect amount of space to build tram lines in the future, which I hope is the plan eventually.
Like your video and for the Buses they can safely go through these streets due to how European buses being smaller and turn tighter than an American and Canadian design buses. Put an XDE40 or XDE60 coach bus MCI D4520 in these streets you will have a problem with the turning radius. The execption here might be a US Spec Blue Bird All American FE which can turn European streets like this without a Problem. *Notes Blue Bird All American FE/RE are seen in US Military use in Europe Rhineland Palatinate West Germany Kaiserslautern Military Community*
Oh No. I am part of someone's crazy experiment. I knew there had to be a reason for me to be the way I am. Those big balls that prevent me from leaving the city are a pain.
Have a friend that used to live in MK, but he managed to escape. I remember my first visit to the (now) city centre, and thinking this is all wrong. The issue was it didn't feel like a city centre, it felt like an out of town shopping centre.
I was born in Aylesbury Bucks Hospital in 1971, lived in Bletchley till 1978 then moved to Neath Hill in 79......I am not impressed an American should be narrating a video like this.....Only someone who has lived here should be qualified to comment on how we lived....I have lived the MK dream....seen how it has grown from the 70s to nowadays
Milton Keynes is not the only "city of roundabouts". Carmel, Indiana, a northern suburb of Indianapolis, is also a city of roundabouts. It's got something like 105 rotaries so far. I'd like you to do a vid on it!
This guy would destroy Carmel in a video. I wouldn't want him to do one on Carmei. Carmel was my home till I moved to Ohio to live with my sisters after my wife died. I loved Carmel. I think it is the best place to live in the US. It doesn't compare to Milton Keynes as described this Beaver guy. Carmel is a far better place. Then again, this Geography Beaver doesn't have a clue about what he talks about in his videos and is giving Milten Keynes a critique it doesn't deserve.
So, the U.K. wanted to build an American (U.S.A.) style suburb, and are perplexed that it seams desolate. More people who don't understand the concept of irony.
@@davidroddini1512 Nobody keeps moving, they stop when it says yield (even when there's room to enter it), and they speed through it like its a NASCAR track
That is because in most of America, roundabouts are a new concept, and there is a learning curve to drive them. When you have a city like Carmel, Indiana that built a lot of them quickly and has an ongoing program to make all of its signal controlled and four-way stop sign controlled intersections into roundabouts the time in the learning curve is shortened.
Milton Keynes is soulless because there are so few places of cultural significance outside of the centre. Most of it is endless neighbourhoods of very samey houses and flats. The pubs and shops are all in the original towns and villages from before the city was built, and if you live in one of the new neighbourhoods, you almost certainly get in your car to buy a bottle of milk or a loaf of bread. I reckon Milton Keynes COULD be fixed, if the entire centre was pedestrian or public transit only, and there were museums, bars and cinemas (etc) scattered around the outer rings.
I don't think MK is big enough to mandate cinemas in the suburbs. The drive to the centre is 15 minutes from most of the city given the lack of signals. Plus you need to have things to put into said museums.
@@idkatthispoint-s9s probably not a multiplex like the Cineworld, but a few single screens around would get good custom. And yeah, a city with so little history probably can't support many museums
I’ve heard some interesting descriptions of Milton Keynes. I can’t repeat any of them here. 😛 Thanks to all the roundabouts cars in Milton Keynes have distinctive wear patterns on their tires.
As a local lived in the next town north all my life the city is beyond grotesque, what this video fails to mention is how Milton Keynes and the forced investment in the city killed all surrounding towns of the character that had existed in them for centuries, all shops up and left to MK and it exists as a glorified shopping centre with the housing being nothing more than a space for London commuters who spend their own money in their place of work not their town hence the city lives off of leaching off the now dying towns of Northamptonshire Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire
Northampton, Bedford and Luton complaining that Milton Keynes is the cause of all their woes instead of the backwards nimbyism that stunts growth and innovation. Those Towns look for problems not to do something while Milton Keynes get on and finds the solutions, that's why it's now a city.
I live in Milton Keynes and agree that it's so plain and boring to look at it's depressing. Older areas are now run down and falling to bits and new areas have no personally or actractive design. The future of the city is bleak and it will never be a true city it'll alway be a concrete, flat and colourless place to live.
I wouldn’t have said Milton Keynes is known as a roundabout city - they’re pretty ubiquitous across the country- but more of an American city. It tried so hard to “develop” British urbanism but failed really, grid patterns have hardly been used since. I also wouldn’t look on it so favourably, the centre is hostile and needlessly spread out compared to the usual pedestrianised high streets of even small towns. Still, great video, I really enjoyed it.
Worst city for public transportation. No access to the universities around by bus or trams or any other method. Hardly anything fun to do around the city, ughhh
Hardly anything fun & worst for public transport? Are you serious? It has the usual things for a city like cinemas, restaurants, leisure centres, theatres, clubs & bars, so how about a snow ski slope, sky diving simulator, a choice of about 6 lakes (some with boating), skateboard park, ice rink, entertainment arena, outdoor kart track, equestrian centre. Is that not enough choice for you? It has an acceptable network of buses (which rarely get stuck in traffic) for its size but now also has e-scooters & e-bikes for hire.
@@TheRip72haha 😂 . None of that matters if the public transport significantly reduces after 8 PM AND almost non existent in the early morning . What if a person has to get from Bletchley to coach station let’s say in the morning at 7 . There’s no link 😂 . The open university has got one bus that comes once every hour during the day and none during the night . Imagine students who work late , complete their experiments late need to take a taxi . The amount of bicycle thefts are 50% higher compared to the latest police report. Nothing is good in this dystopian city except for the car centric infrastructure.
probably the most similar place here in america is carmel indiana, a fast growing northern suburb of indianapolis. their longtime mayor did a trip to europe before entering office, and came to really enjoy the idea of roundaboutss, at a time when most americans were very skeptical of them. so when he entered office, one of his main initiatives was converting almost all major intersections in the city to roundabouts, an endeavor still in full swing today as they annex more land in the surrounding area. when INDOT upgraded us-31 in the area to a freeway, they even went so far as making all of the interchanges roundabout-based dogbones. i believe roughly 2% of all of the NATION’S roundabouts are in this city of 100,000 alone. and it paid off, carmel has some of the safest traffic in the nation.
You beat me to it! Yes and I believe it has even more roundabouts than Milton Keynes. I love Keystone and the roundabouts at the ramp interchanges and, pretty much everywhere!
Sounds like a great idea for a Beaver Geography video **cough cough**
I haven't been there in some time, but Bend Oregon converted intersections to roundabouts and put them in at new intersections as the city grew
@@clayton97330 yeah. Bend, OR has a lot of roundabouts. My parents live there and it is always a big shock driving there when I got to visit. I think Bend now has around 60 roundabouts, but I believe Carmel has well over 100.
@@iboKirby wow.. I didn't realize Bend had that many. If Carmel has just over a hundredish and has 2% of the nation's roundabouts, I'd think Bend must also be near the top of the list. Also a city of around a hundred thousand.
Completely unrelated, but Milton Keynes is the home of the Red Bull Formula 1 team.
The really ironic thing about the Milton Keynes "Grid", is that the longest straight piece of road in the entire place, is also the oldest piece of road. It's the old Watling Street, a Roman road, dating back to AD47-8, with the actual age of the route being unknown, but likely over 5,000 years...
Thats fun to know..m
Milton Keynes, despite being relatively new, is surrounded by history. It was built on and around a lot of historic settlements; Wolverton, Stony Stratford, Bletchley, Milton Keynes Village and Newport Pagnell to name a few (Newport Pagnell even being mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1080AD). Right outside my front door there are ancient hedgerows that date back hundreds of years. There is plenty of character and history here, you just need to know where to look.
Hello Abhi, How is the housing situation in milton keynes ? Rented properties to be specific. And any idea about how difficult or easy to find housing for an international student in or around MK ?
@@shinoyvkutty4557 Did you get your housing sorted?
as a resident of milton keynes, thanks for covering this!
So how do you like living in Milton Keynes? I suppose that also depends on if you've been there all your life or if you've lived another cities. I'm an architect and I was in London 1988 and I know a couple classmates who did their own trip there because of its being a planned city. As a fan of Brasilia and Canberra I would have gone with them if I had known more about it.
@@timmmahhhh can’t really compare it to anywhere cause i was born here, although since i do live in one of the old towns in mk, it does feel more lively than when i’m in the rest of the city
@@mankyswan I understand, thanks.
I was a resident in what is now the MK area since 1967 and saw the rise of the new city from its initial inception until I left in 2003.
A good contemporary video here
ua-cam.com/video/hCEUuH7_XoE/v-deo.html
One striking feature of its early days was the national shortage of traditional building materials ( ironic since traditional brickworks were one of the areas largest and most air-pollutung industries ) leading to the use of what you might call 'experimental' building materials such as aluminium cladding, which, in subsequent years caused big problems relating to damp, mould and unhealthy living conditions in the thousands of new homes built to house the workers moving there from London and further afield.
An early problem that arose was that the planners dream of social housing built adjacent to private sale homes, was that the 'experimental' building materials used in those early developments ( Netherfield, Bean Hill, Coffee Hall etc ) which caused damp/mould issues for the poorer members of society living there in cheap rented accomodation, meant that private developers didn't want to build close by those 'problem' areas, so they became social housing ghettos where problem tenants caused issues for the rest of the residents.
But for me it was a good place to be, because as a just-married family man, it meant I could obtain rented housing relatively easily in one of the later-built developments which use more traditional materials which were.much more desirable and free from many of the issues I mentioned.
Of course, the Thatcher government bought in the 'right-to-buy' your rented home at a big discount and people like me, before I had developed my career sufficiently to earn a salary sufficient to get a mortgage, were able to buy their home, sell it at a profit and buy more desirable property relatively close-by so children's schooling was not disrupted by uprooting completely.
That's probably more than enough for a UA-cam comment !!
Milton Keynes looks like every Cities Skylines player's city
Definitely Biffa Plays Indie Games' cities
still a lot nicer than fricking portsmouth or southampton
Great video and I find people that look down upon the city in the UK have just quickly driven through it’s very efficient road system.
If they went off grid, they would find a city where in one walk you would pass roman villas, a Elizabethan manor, norman castle, Victorian viaduct, the last sighting alive of the princes of the tower, the location where Boudica died, the pubs which coined the term a cock and bull story, the location of superman film sets, home of the Bond cars, characters from Dickens novels, Queen, Bowie, Springsteen and MJ at the UK’s version of the Hollywood bowl, first multiplex cinema in UK, the oldest iron bridge still in use, where amazing grace was written, the home of the ww2 codebreakers, a international festival every 2 years, home of formula one champions, more trees than population of Netherlands and a cathedral made out of them, over 2000 listed buildings, the most green space in any UK city, no one ever more than half a mile from a park, first peace pagoda in western hemisphere, and a 2,000 year old road which splits the city between Viking and Saxon and yes concrete cows as well, but apparently Milton Keynes has no history or culture.
Not to mention the early stages of a river (the Great Ouse) that in prehistory you would have been able to sail all the way down to the lost region of Doggerland.
As a resident of Milton Keynes (moved from London) for the past 39 years, it is one of the best cities in the UK. Roads are H(horizontal) and V(ertical) and intersects at roundabouts where traffic is safe (provided you follow the Highway Code). Lots of greenery, Redways (walkways) connect the grids where they are designated as residential or as business related. Lovely walks along the canal. Best move away from London.
I live in milton keynes, it is a wonderful city that really encompasses what a city should be about, unique architecture, green space, and a good transport system. many people give milton keynes a lot of slack, but have never been and seen the amazing buildings!
The BBC produced an interesting documentary about the City a few years ago, lot of people moved out of London to live there. They even have delivery robots in certain areas delivering groceries. I have only ever been through the train or coach station. Like all cities some areas are nicer than others depending on the housing stock.
It's also one of the first place with automatic delivery robots, self driving cars and as someone who lived their for many years it's quite walkable. The center of the city has improved significantly as original the aim was to separate residential, commercial and industrial district but recently there has been a huge effort to increase residential development in the central commercial zone that has brought a lot more life to the area, i even own an apartment in the center. Good luck with collage
Thanks for covering this city. It’s always been a topic of interest for me ever since I first heard about it!
I used to live in Bedfordshire and never would have visited Milton Keynes if it hadn’t been the location of the nearest IKEA. But when I did visit, I found it absolutely fascinating. I can’t believe that there was enough vision to imagine and plan a city of 250K people where there was once bean fields and the small villages of Middleton and Bletchley.
I definitely noticed the prevailing British sentiment you mentioned about MK having no personality or defining characteristics (except trees and roundabouts). Three times MK tried to apply for its “letters patent” to be considered an official city, and was denied for no real reason except its lack of cultural significance. (It finally got its official city status in 2022. 🥳)
I personally love the idea of a large city in the trees. I also love the sort of space-age, mid-century idea of creating efficient cities from the ground up. That’s just fascinating to me. And according to the history plaques in the large central shopping centre, the site for the city was chosen so that it would be equidistant from London, Birmingham, Oxford, and Cambridge, so that while it was building up, the residents could use it as a commuter town.
I always thought Milton Keynes didn’t get the appreciation it deserved, so thanks for giving it a moment in the spotlight!
I lived in Peterborough for three years and the only reason my family visited MK was the IKEA.
And, of course that IKEA was never meant to be in MK but in Northampton! For some weird reason Northampton turned the idea down so MK's gain. @@neuf1720
It meant that Crowley had been allowed to develop Manchester, while Aziraphale had a free hand in the whole of Shropshire. Crowley took Glasgow, Aziraphale had Edinburgh (neither claimed any responsibility for Milton Keynes, [1] but both reported it as a success).
1 Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient, healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing.
- Good Omens
I'm looking forward to season 2
Love your videos !!! This one is a very interesting one !! Keep up your great work !
MK worked perfectly BEFORE the council introduced traffic lights in 2015. Now queues are worse. The council should switch off all traffic lights immediately. Otherwise the cycle tracks and walkways and green spaces are perfect! 💙💙💙
And Yankee boy, an American girl will always pick a Brit before an American boy, it’s because we are better x
No it's not because Brits are better. It's cos Americans have romanticised the British accent and culture to it's limits.
@@idkatthispoint-s9s except it’s not. You’re just pikeys who have been left out in the sun too long! 😂
Another group which looks down on MK is the football community. There are hundreds of videos regarding wimbledon and MK dons and 98% of football fans hate them
The franchise currently playing in Milton Keynes. They are not the real Dons.
As a Brit, Milton Keynes is the butt of many jokes and oft derided as a carcentric place without history or culture (they infamously stuck up fake cows in the fields in the 80s), where souls go to die. It's improved alot since then, but would love to visit just to check it out. It is indeed unique in the UK.
It's far from soulless . Mk born and bread .
Milton Keynes is a tip, sure. But ‘no history’ is just wrong 💀 it wernt Barron land before it became MK
Fuck you man, the concrete cows are iconic
The Concrete Cows weren't installed to try to fake anything, they were an installation by American artist Liz Leyh. Milton Keynes has numerous public works of art across the city and massive murals in various public buildings celebrating the history of the towns enveloped into MK, and MK itself with it's many landmarks from the Cathedral of Trees to the Point, MK Shopping Center to Willen Lake.
@@jaderowe7749no way is MK a tip. Certain areas are (Conniburrow, Fullers, Fishermead etc) but you get bad areas in most populated towns and cities.
There are more green spaces in MK than most - we have more parkland than any city in the country & most of the estates are decent.
This seems like a great compromise between car-centric America and the typical Euro-town with streets designed for sedan chairs and nowhere to park. It's also a sizeable city, but it has a certain look and feel of rurality with plenty of nature.
In reality it works just like an American city, only with even less reasons not to drive. People in the US often drive because there are no alternatives. People in Milton Keynes drive everywhere, because it's so convenient.
Interesting to see an American perspective on Milton Keynes, I live local to the city and my work involves driving around Milton Keynes and many other local towns and cities, but no other city can you drive straight across it thru the centre in 15 minutes!
Many people have told me the greatest quality of Milton Keynes is that it's easy to drive out of it (and to a better city). I agree
Stopped by here while I was in London. I’m from Phoenix, Arizona. Enjoyed it very much, did have a states vibe to it with the layout. Will gladly go back next time.
A lot of people seem to think it's "soulless" because when driving through along the H and V roads you're surrounded by trees and don't see 99% of the houses and estates. It's so green in much of the city you wouldn't know most of it exists unless you actually have reason to drive into an estate. Most people who go into the city only see the mirrored glass buildings in CMK and never see the parks, the old villages, the estates or the woods or lakes. If they actually spent any time looking around they would probably have a different opinion.
Also, roundabouts work, you will never be stuck in traffic in Milton Keynes.
For the first International video this is a pretty good one
Finally a UK video.
I've seen LOTS of them in my country, they're called "Rotundas".
I love MK. Lived here most of my life. MK has something for everyone and it all seems to be on your doorstep. If you are fortunate to live in one of the upmarket villages or towns contained in MK, you really have it all.
It wasnt made wavey😂. It was lined up with the sun
The city centre is pedestrian friendly, but the vast spaces of the whole are less so, despite the pedestrians and bike underpasses. And the shopping centre was one of the early larger ones, so was popular due to the novelty factor, but better ones have developed since and MK is not so popular for shopping anymore,. OK for train connections and buses. All the New towns are a bit looked down on, not just a MK problem, and MK is not the worst of the newer New towns.
Also (as you can see in the road signs) all the major roads have "H" and "V" numbers to help you find your way around, the numbers run in sequence (H being sort of east west horizontal, V being sort of north south vertical).
MK is at one end of the middle part of the UK which has many warehouses, especially for retailers, due to good road connections. But not great rail freight connections (a better example is Daventry which has warehouses in a park called DIRFT Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal)
Perhaps Milton Keynes could buy London Bridge from Lake Havasu City, AZ…
I live in MK and like it here and also agree with attributes given by others like "lifelessness", "where souls go to die", "no flair", "no culture", etc.
Also low crime rate. Low noise in the suburbs. Close to nature.
Must be hard for young people though.
Also, from the position of a cyclist (excellent and safe cycling lane network, "red ways") this town looks totally different.
Can you make a video on the strokes? (I know you dont really make videos on bands but it would be cool)
I second this idea, love the band and I’m sure he can spin it into a geography thing in a way
Me,a f1 follower: *ah yes,RED BULL* 😂
Tbf I have never been there but pedestrian friendly is relativ I assume. A 10 min walk from building to building is still a 10 min walk regardless of if you walk through a green path or along a 6 lane major road. Still I imagine it's better than 90% of places in the US kek
I wonder why you used "kek"
The idea is you rarely need to walk across traffic. The redways are slightly away from the grid roads, connected by bridges or underpasses. This allows most of the grid roads to have a 60 or 70mph speed limit.
I like the feel of Milton Keynes, lots if greenery, great parks and shopping
I’d get dizzy
If u keep driving in circles, I think u are using it wrong 😁
My favorite city in UK❤
I stayed at a family member's place in a suburb of Milton Keynes during a UK trip in 2021. While I did not explore much of the city, I did go to an interesting Asian market thing that was under some elevated intersection.
The local market. Best place for all your Asian needs
The best city in the USA to live in is Carmel, Indiana. Traffic flows easily and relatively safer than most other cities because most of its intersections are roundabouts. It took me twice along to drive through town before the roundabouts than it does now. And living on one of the major throughofares close to a fire station, I don't hear the sirens as often as I did before the roundabouts. There aren't as many serious accidents with the roundabouts. Carmel is in the middle of an ongoing campaign to make all of its major intersections into roundabouts. Even the busiest street that was a state divided highway that had all of it's signal light controlled intersections changed to interchanges with on and off ramps connected to bow tie shaped double roundabouts on bridges over the main roadway. The city borders on the north side of Indianapolis.
Thanks for talking about my country 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
I heard the architect designed it in City Skylines before trying it out in real life Ah Wear Wokedge Ah wear Wokege
I am not sure you have the planning history quite right as there was far more involved, but then its only a six minute video. There is actually a very interesting book by an American called Guy Ortolano, the book is called Thatcher's Progress, the title taken from a car journey by the then PM Margaret Thatcher around Milton Keynes on the day of her official visit in 1979. The guy next to Mrs Thatcher in the picture you used in the video was my boss! We have now been living in MK since 1979 and really like the place which is unique in so many ways. The planners were clever in incorporating all the existing villages and towns within the new city boundary as points of interest and the planning around them was done sympathetically to maintain the original character. The deviation from the American grid style was called a "Lazy Grid".
It’s interesting, I find this resembles a lot of mid-sized Canadian cities minus the roundabouts. Grid-like, but not rigid. Lots of green space. Tight, compact residential areas. Centrally located retail areas along major thoroughfares. It also seems to be the direction a lot of those cities are aiming for now, like Kitchener-Waterloo and their conversion of intersections to roundabouts, as well as new developments in London, Ontario.
City designed by Biffa Plays Indie Games
No history and yet one sice of my family came here after 1066 Norman invasion to a place called Great Linford 🤣 there is tonnes of history here its just not reported on because people stuck on the new bits.
I live here. Was born here and agree about the soullessness. Some of us are trying to change that! The good thing is it's a nice place and the older parts do have some soul. The villages that surround it are old and have character.
Rome, Georgia here; I love roundabouts! We definitely need more hreremn
If you're looking for another interesting city outside of the USA check out Chandigarh in India.
And.. lol about the two words that should never be said together.. 😄
And Tony says Brasilia is another good one..
How about that. Milton Keynes took the best of American planning and combined it with local priorities. Most cities over there are a nightmare to traverse. This city has a well designed grid with spacious leafy neighborhoods, dedicated retail/industrial areas and a road network that is efficient for moving people around by car (sorry urbanists- this is most people’s preferred mode of transportation). I love that they provide options to bike and walk separate to vehicular traffic, too. Add to all those positives that it’s only an hour and a half from London! Sounds like the only city in the UK that I might enjoy living in.
Of course driving is most people's preferred mode of transport if it has been prioritised over other modes of transport...
The good thing is, despite being designed as a car-city first and foremost, the centre still does a great job in catering for alternative modes of transport. Firstly, the wide spaces and underpasses segregated from the main roads you mentioned, which are perfect for walking and cycling (even wheelchairs can easily get around); now you can easily hire bikes and e-scooters to make the most of this. Secondly, the public transport integration is great, with a spacious railway interchange and the bus station right in front. Combine this with cheap fares on the bus to get you between the station and the shopping centre, so if you don't fancy the mile walk (despite being on a straight, wide and spacious boulevard) both ways, you can just walk one way and then hop on the bus on the way back, as single fares (just over a quid) are reasonable for this. Also, the width of the roads allow the perfect amount of space to build tram lines in the future, which I hope is the plan eventually.
Your videos are very entertaining!
Everyone forgets this but evelyn de rothchilds had a part to play in milton keynes design
The grid design came from Europe!🇪🇺 Hundreds of years ago.
It looks like a B grade Cities Skylines creation.
More parkland than any other City in UK
Like your video and for the Buses they can safely go through these streets due to how European buses being smaller and turn tighter than an American and Canadian design buses. Put an XDE40 or XDE60 coach bus MCI D4520 in these streets you will have a problem with the turning radius. The execption here might be a US Spec Blue Bird All American FE which can turn European streets like this without a Problem. *Notes Blue Bird All American FE/RE are seen in US Military use in Europe Rhineland Palatinate West Germany Kaiserslautern Military Community*
0:33 you should have change the BG of Earth to the UK
Oh No. I am part of someone's crazy experiment.
I knew there had to be a reason for me to be the way I am.
Those big balls that prevent me from leaving the city are a pain.
Have a friend that used to live in MK, but he managed to escape. I remember my first visit to the (now) city centre, and thinking this is all wrong. The issue was it didn't feel like a city centre, it felt like an out of town shopping centre.
I was born in Aylesbury Bucks Hospital in 1971, lived in Bletchley till 1978 then moved to Neath Hill in 79......I am not impressed an American should be narrating a video like this.....Only someone who has lived here should be qualified to comment on how we lived....I have lived the MK dream....seen how it has grown from the 70s to nowadays
✵ {Brief Video Description}
Also known for its concrete cows!
My home town ❤
Milton Keynes is not the only "city of roundabouts". Carmel, Indiana, a northern suburb of Indianapolis, is also a city of roundabouts. It's got something like 105 rotaries so far. I'd like you to do a vid on it!
This guy would destroy Carmel in a video. I wouldn't want him to do one on Carmei. Carmel was my home till I moved to Ohio to live with my sisters after my wife died. I loved Carmel. I think it is the best place to live in the US. It doesn't compare to Milton Keynes as described this Beaver guy. Carmel is a far better place. Then again, this Geography Beaver doesn't have a clue about what he talks about in his videos and is giving Milten Keynes a critique it doesn't deserve.
And Al Ain , UAE, Abuja, Nigeria are both based on MK.
Thanks
Appreciate that Clayton!
Oooooo we going international are we?
I have a feeling this one's going to get a lot of clicks, Beaver.
I’ve been there and thought it was ugly and too modern but the fact that is has a lot of woodland is pretty cool
So, the U.K. wanted to build an American (U.S.A.) style suburb, and are perplexed that it seams desolate. More people who don't understand the concept of irony.
Roundabouts are only good if people actually know how to navigate one.
Whenever I see one here in America, NO ONE uses it right.
What do you mean “no one uses it right”? We just use it “differently than Europe does”. 😜
@@davidroddini1512
Nobody keeps moving, they stop when it says yield (even when there's room to enter it), and they speed through it like its a NASCAR track
@@TheSkyGuy77 That’s “differently than Europe” right? 😜
I would say that the vast majority of people in my city use roundabouts correctly. Yes, there are many who don’t but it is nowhere near a majority.
That is because in most of America, roundabouts are a new concept, and there is a learning curve to drive them. When you have a city like Carmel, Indiana that built a lot of them quickly and has an ongoing program to make all of its signal controlled and four-way stop sign controlled intersections into roundabouts the time in the learning curve is shortened.
{Brief video description}
Now that we've *GONE*
any juicers?
Milton Keynes is soulless because there are so few places of cultural significance outside of the centre. Most of it is endless neighbourhoods of very samey houses and flats. The pubs and shops are all in the original towns and villages from before the city was built, and if you live in one of the new neighbourhoods, you almost certainly get in your car to buy a bottle of milk or a loaf of bread.
I reckon Milton Keynes COULD be fixed, if the entire centre was pedestrian or public transit only, and there were museums, bars and cinemas (etc) scattered around the outer rings.
I don't think MK is big enough to mandate cinemas in the suburbs. The drive to the centre is 15 minutes from most of the city given the lack of signals. Plus you need to have things to put into said museums.
@@idkatthispoint-s9s probably not a multiplex like the Cineworld, but a few single screens around would get good custom. And yeah, a city with so little history probably can't support many museums
I’ve heard some interesting descriptions of Milton Keynes. I can’t repeat any of them here. 😛
Thanks to all the roundabouts cars in Milton Keynes have distinctive wear patterns on their tires.
Lol this isn’t related but my geography teacher showed this
pure hellhole
As a local lived in the next town north all my life the city is beyond grotesque, what this video fails to mention is how Milton Keynes and the forced investment in the city killed all surrounding towns of the character that had existed in them for centuries, all shops up and left to MK and it exists as a glorified shopping centre with the housing being nothing more than a space for London commuters who spend their own money in their place of work not their town hence the city lives off of leaching off the now dying towns of Northamptonshire Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire
Northampton, Bedford and Luton complaining that Milton Keynes is the cause of all their woes instead of the backwards nimbyism that stunts growth and innovation.
Those Towns look for problems not to do something while Milton Keynes get on and finds the solutions, that's why it's now a city.
You live in Northampton & you find MK "beyond grotesque"?. That's funny because Northampton has far less going for it.
POV: xqc playing cities:skylines
I live in Milton Keynes and agree that it's so plain and boring to look at it's depressing. Older areas are now run down and falling to bits and new areas have no personally or actractive design. The future of the city is bleak and it will never be a true city it'll alway be a concrete, flat and colourless place to live.
Big up my city ❤😂
I hate Milton Keynes, just go to 19 Swanson Drive and look at the state of it
I wouldn’t have said Milton Keynes is known as a roundabout city - they’re pretty ubiquitous across the country- but more of an American city. It tried so hard to “develop” British urbanism but failed really, grid patterns have hardly been used since.
I also wouldn’t look on it so favourably, the centre is hostile and needlessly spread out compared to the usual pedestrianised high streets of even small towns. Still, great video, I really enjoyed it.
i live there
it is an imitation of the worse aspects of US motor cities
What did you say after acknowledging me? Was that about me?
No lmao some dude bought the $25
@Beaver Geography yeah I didn't do so....yet.
Worst city for public transportation. No access to the universities around by bus or trams or any other method. Hardly anything fun to do around the city, ughhh
Hardly anything fun & worst for public transport? Are you serious?
It has the usual things for a city like cinemas, restaurants, leisure centres, theatres, clubs & bars, so how about a snow ski slope, sky diving simulator, a choice of about 6 lakes (some with boating), skateboard park, ice rink, entertainment arena, outdoor kart track, equestrian centre. Is that not enough choice for you?
It has an acceptable network of buses (which rarely get stuck in traffic) for its size but now also has e-scooters & e-bikes for hire.
@@TheRip72haha 😂 . None of that matters if the public transport significantly reduces after 8 PM AND almost non existent in the early morning . What if a person has to get from Bletchley to coach station let’s say in the morning at 7 . There’s no link 😂 . The open university has got one bus that comes once every hour during the day and none during the night . Imagine students who work late , complete their experiments late need to take a taxi . The amount of bicycle thefts are 50% higher compared to the latest police report. Nothing is good in this dystopian city except for the car centric infrastructure.
First