Perhaps not, but y'all have some wonderful, inspirational lessons the rest of the world can learn from and in fact the Dutch Cycling Embassy has been coordinating with my city (Austin, TX) for over a decade. Thank you so much for tuning in. I really appreciate it. Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns If we can help,we are willing to share our knowhow.New Orleans,for example,wants to find a solution against the floods, just like us, and defend it self against it with our help.Belgium and Germany will not welcomes us with open arms if we have to give large parts of our country back to the sea for good.In my case,given the un-Dutch hilly area where I live in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands in the province of Limburg,I will want to keep my feet dry for a while.And still wants to keep the beach at a safe distance for so long as possible.
Thanks for the nice ride through my area, cruising most of it regularly. You noticed little boating activities, but in november most pleasureboat owners had them in winterstorage (like me for instance). Last sunday I cruised the Leiden canals and with 30C temperatures it’s a whole different story, canals crowded with motorboats, canoes, sups and so….Ohh and that ‘little enclave’ (at 40’) is my home village Voorschoten, home for 25k inhabitants. If I only knew you would pass by you could have an extra beer as a reward for your trip 😊
The first stretch came through the Leiden Science Park. With schools but mostly hospitals, and biomedical research centers. The first big building on the left, was the Leiden University Hospital. One of the main hospitals in the Netherlands.
@@ActiveTowns One thing I'm puzzled about -- and you're not the first UA-cam channel to do it -- is why first-time visitors think they're in the university area when they exit the train station. Do people not look at maps anymore? 😉
@@gerardhermus8297 That's so nice to hear! We are really excited. We have two short-ish visits planned this year, then we'll firm up our moving timeline.
@@velovoice47 I knew it was a "institution" of some sort, not surprised to learn it was a hospital and such. Funny we usually do look at the maps quite a bit on the train as we're making way from town to town, but this was at the end of Jordan's portion of the trip and since we were just exploring with no particular destination in mind, thus we were just following our nose, exploring (blindly). Hehe 🤣
So weird to see you suddenly cycle through the city I have been living in for the past 6 years! Actually fun to see that the industrial space which you passed before leaving Leiden has seen a major overhaul just before you left, with traffic calming and a wide seperate bikelane! It keeps enhancing :) I just wish they would remove parking on the canal side... I hope you enjoyed your short stay :P
Yeah, it's a classic scene! And this illustrates why it is so important to have facilities like wide pathways and, in this case, traffic-calmed, slow streets where people can comfortably ride side-by-side. Thanks so much for watching!
Great vlog, I am Dutch and saw the wind.Not always easy to biclyle on a relaxt way, working! Most of our country is flat, that helps, but the wind is nearly always here. I love my country, hope you had a good time. Tnx!
The "roundabout" you mention at 8:27 actually used to be a complete roundabout when I visited before, so this intersection layout is actually a new one to me too! The last time I visited was the august summer of 2019 - over 4 years ago, before the Covid Lockdowns meant I had to stay at home - and the layout was a completely circular protection roundabout system. I recognised the junction from the Café on the corner of the intersection, one I also visited when passing through. Interesting to see the new layout the City of Leiden decided to install!! Great video as always, John!
I'd seen the other superb videos with Jordan and asked myself if I could skip this one. I'm thrilled that I've viewed it. Stay through the artistic early segments until the last part, where the discussion strikes deep chords. Jordan's short bouts with discouragement are important to confront. I had the choice to stay and fight or move and delight. We moved to Paris, where there's increasing commitment to all ages and abilities. But then I realized that there's a middle ground between "stay or move". We resettled outside Paris, away from the affluence, where active infrastructure is relatively unsatisfactory. Jordan said: it "can't just be in rich neighborhoods". I find it rewarding to engage in the Good Fight for what Jordan terms as "respecting and upholding the dignity of human life". John insists on "encouraging stories of battles being won" and I can testify that an area John and I rode through, that looked impossible to fix, now has a beautiful bikeway 90% complete.
Thanks for a wonderful conversation! My mother grew up in that part of the Netherlands … the names of communities are familiar. This (the cycling) makes me wonder what life would have been like if my parents had not emigrated to Canada.
Thanks so much for watching and sharing your history and connection to this beautiful part of the world. I highly recommend visiting if you have the chance. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
You exited the Station on the secondary side. The 'University' is a university hospital, further down is the Bio-Science park. You turned right, heading back to the railway. Heading left at the roundabout gets you to Oegstgeest (Pretty town grown onto Leiden).
Again a very nice video of your last trip together in the Netherlands. Good to hear the things you both took from these trips. I also get how difficult it must be to see so much things that could be so much better but that development in the right direction is so slow. But one thing about the Netherlands: the weather that you experienced end October and beginning November was so beautifull but also so abnormal for my country. Maybe riding in the early dark with cold rain and wind makes it a little less tempting to move to the Netherlands .......
41:30 the houses on the other side of the canal “de Vliet” is a part of the town Voorschoten. This area was build in the early years of this century. The town itself originates in the Middle Ages. Actually the Romans called it “Forescate”. Lovely historical center and some large estates from the 17th & 18th centuries.
Cool! I'll need to explore that side on my next trip. Thanks so much for watching and for the comment. I hope you are enjoying the Active Towns Channel.
@21:00 and the bridge. That stretch is one way for card (in opposite direction for youl) and two way for bikes. So they need just separate bikes in your direction from cars and bikes in the opposite direction.
The big church surrounded by cobble stone streets is in fact an important landmark In American history. It´s the Pieterskerk (St. Peter's Church), and it's an important landmark related to the Pilgrim Fathers. When the English separatists moved to Leiden, they lived in the neighborhoods around the church. This film sure brought back memories... I grew up in Leiden city centre during the 70's and until the mid-80's. Knew the city like my back pocket, cycling around the city independently from 6 years old. Today's bike infrastructure did not exist back then! Now living in Sweden where bike infrastructure currently is a focus point of Stockholm for example.
Wow! Thanks so much for watching and sharing your memories. I do want to visit Stockholm one day soon to see how the cycle network is developing there. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
The roundabout you found so interesting is actually one of the busiest in town. This probably influenced it's design, half a roundabout means one less point of conflict. It has very very high traffic intensity, especially in rush hour. Traffic was actually quite moderate when you were there. Many high schools are nearby as well as university, the hospital, etc. As you analysed it is comparitively difficult to navigate.
North America certainly has a chance like the Netherlands did in the seventies. 54 years ago when i was born, the bike revolution already was taken place and therefore i didn't had to do anything personally.(i was to young anyhow) You are all pioneers and that is a hard job but you are all front runners with a big passion. Where freedom is wanted, there is also the resistance...you are all heroes to me!! 🌻 By the way , i love the ride through Leiden, it was a joy!!
The canal you are biking along is called De Vliet. Is was build in the 12th century and parts of it follow the same route as the canal that was build by the Romans. Historic territory 😊
It was so very cool. Thanks so much for watching and for this information. I really appreciate it, and I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
@@ohhi5237 The current canal was build in the 12th century. But before on that trac there was already at the same track a canal build by the Romans 50 AD en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossa_Corbulonis
@@ohhi5237Except this Roman canal was, as you can read on Wikipedia, literally dug around 50 AD under the direction of the Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. The project was mentioned by the historians Tacitus and Cassius Dio, who reported its length as 23 Roman miles etc. Do you have superior sources to dispute this?
The cobble stones in the city centre of Leiden are also supposed to calm the cyclists, not only cars. The cobbles are pedestrianised zones where cycling is allowed but cycling or driving fast is discouraged. The roads with brick are way more comfortable and are supposed to carry cycling through traffic.
Yeah, I can see why cities would think they need to do this; however, it seems a bit short sighted, as it can be quite brutal for anyone in a wheelchair and many pedestrians with mobility issues. I do really mind riding on them too much every once in a while. Thank you so much for watching and for your contribution to the conversation. Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns That is a good point and I think that the strips of brick that you used in the video to cycle on are for people with mobility issues. The cobble stones are also a historic feature of certain areas, that might be the main reason to preserve them. When I was in Belgium a couple of years ago I noticed many of their inner cities using flattened cobble stones, that was way more comfortable to cycle on, that might be an idea for Dutch cities too.
So about the weird roundabout at 10:31 you should see it at 8:15 in the morning. Behind the white house are 4 highschools and they all start at 8:30 in the morning so this is to make the students coming from the west flow straight to school. Cars and busses going into the city center are jammed up and can take 10 minutes just to get through this roundabout.
Oh wow! That's interesting. Cycling definitely is the best way to get around town. Thanks so much for watching and providing this additional context. I really appreciate it, and I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
20:06 At the "this is so pleasant" you forgot to point out the multi story parking garage ;) located in a 8 story cork-screw underground. Deepest in Western Europe. Glass entrance building visible on the left. I think it's also worth mentioning that you exited the station on the "back side". At the front side you'd have seen a car-free station square, bus station, large bike parking.
Thanks! Yeah, we didn't realize that we exited the "backside" of the station until this video was published. Oh well, we'll have to go back to see the other side. I hate it when that happens. Hehe 🤣 Thanks so much for watching. Cheers! John
20:44 there's a one-way street sign right there on the bridge, with the 'except bicycles and mopeds' sign underneath. So... that's what's happening on that bridge. Cars in that direction are diverted to a much longer route to the centre of town that lies just ahead for those who travel by bike.
What you actually didn't even notice at 20:00 that small glass building to the left is actually the exit by foot of a 22m deep parking garage that can fit 525 cars. Before the parking garage was constructed that entire space used to be a parking lot, including the cycle path itself if memory serves me well.
I noticed that there's a lot of attention from this channel for the older Dutch cities and that the infrastructure there is compared to US cities and suburbs. Have you ever been to Almere? Built on reclaimed land, first houses were built in the 1970s and the whole city (infrastructure) was completely designed from scratch. Just like US suburbs. But then with fully separated car roads, bicycle streets and an extensive network of bus lanes for the first Dutch BRT system. The infrastructure makes it so safe, you're not even allowed to take your driver's exam in Almere (for real).
I'm planning on visiting Almere in June this year. I have profiled Houten. Here's that playlist of videos: bit.ly/Active_Houten Thanks so much for watching and for the recommendation. Cheers! John
So that old building in front of you when you were eating the sweet patatos was not an old school, but the Academy building of the oldest and very much respected Dutch university, Leiden University.
I'm a local Leiden omafiets rider... Next time you're here give me call and I show you around. Including my infamous Flashlight Nighttime Bike Ride.....
Leiden resident here. I live close to that street they were reconstructing with the view of the windmill. Have lived here for 28 years now and have always been carless. You will definetely have to return one day since you did miss most of our beautifull city (and best restaurants ;-)) Overall Leiden is great for riding your bike, allthough there are some improvements to be made here and there. I also ride alongside that canal quite often, there is a recreational area with a lake alongside it where I used to have a sailing boat and sometimes we ride to Delft or The Hague. It's a nice ride, but avoid it on sunny sundays because it can get too crowded with groups of race cyclist trying to weave through the crowds as fast a they can (but shoudn't...)
A few numbers might help to give some perspective. The Netherlands (~18 million inhabitants) is about the size of Virginia (~8.6 million), so has 2 times the population density. California (~40 million) is 4 times as big but again we have about 2 times the population density. Yes. The Netherlands is a densely populated country. This obviously helps with a dense cycling network, but the differences are not astronomical either. The route from Leiden to Delft is approximately 14 miles in the province of South Holland, an area of approximately 45x45 miles where 3.8 million people live. There are about 226 traditional windmills in that area, almost all of which are still capable of grinding
Love it! And at no point did said density seem stifling or scary, which many people in North America freak out about. Thanks so much for watching and for the fun stats. Cheers! John
Actually… California’s total land area is in the order of ten times that of the Netherlands. 400k square kilometers vs. 40k square kilometers. In reality California houses more than half of its population in two huge metro areas with significant densities and the other half in an expanse of landscapes dotted with a few rather sparsely populated towns and cities.
I used to live in Leiden in my childhood back in 1992, but now in Heerhugowaard- Dijk En Waard is where i live now. But Leiden back then was really nothing compared to this, Leiden has gone through quite a transformation in the years.
I have to agree with Jordan. We need to make better decisions in North America. In many European countries, and certainly the Netherlands, the decision was that we will provide many transportation options and owning a car is also optional. In North America, we have made the wrong decision that you must own and use a car to get around. It isn't healthy, it isn't efficient, and it leaves behind those for whom a car isn't an option because of finances, age, or disability. But it has certainly made General Motors and the oil companies happy. We must do better. Well said, Jordan. If it was easy to pull up stakes, I would probably move to the Netherlands, also.
You are doing great work to help make change happen in your community, Gary. Keep up the good work. It is paying off and will leave a legacy for future generations. Cheers! John
when will "we" start doing it "better" people have moved to europe, had children and their children had children and "we" are still praying to god hoping for someone to agree with our ideas?
There was a comment above that i liked a lot & wish to reply with here: "You are all pioneers and that is a hard job but you are all front runners with a big passion. Where freedom is wanted, there is also the resistance...you are all heroes to me!! 🌻" Not everyone can up stakes & move to the Netherlands. The country is simply too tiny for that. It also leaves behind the people that need walkability & proper cycling infrastructure the most, like those with disabilities, as mentioned towards the end of the video. I do feel that thanks to NJB & others more & more people know about good infra & if they show up to *demand* proper infra things can & WILL change. Imagine living a couple of decades from now & being interviewed by the then version of 60 minutes about what you've done to help that come about... 🙂 (For those that are really depressed & desperate, there is the DAFT.)
Again a nice video. This time about my place of origin. The large building that was described as uni-campus is in fact the LUMC or Leids University Medical Center. The hospital where I was born. When the video continues you see a above ground parking garage and even more parking. There you have entered the BIO Science Park. This is where a lot of medical research is taking place. There are 250 national and international companies dedicated to science and the advancement of t our human race. People from all over the Netherlands come there to do science stuff. That’s why it has a lot of parking is needed, even though ou came from a train station. Also we don't hate cars, we actually love them, and know we need to provide access for people with a car, because you can't bike everywhere. But we know there are better alternatives and if you put all the people you saw in those first 15 minutes in a car, Leiden would simply be congested, smelly and would have torn down a lot of very old buildings. Then Leiden would have lost its more than 1200 year old history to make room for cars, who would want that..? There where archaeological findings from as early as the stone age and Leiden played a significant part in the 80 year war with Spain, which led to the birth of our current country..
I believe that there are now quite a few places in the US that have reached critical mass for growing the 'streets are for people' mindset. New York being the biggest of them. Change will only accelerate from now on. Get a shared path next to the Appalachian Trail (1km or 1 mile out?) build US! Great for emergency vehicles, supplying the walking route with water and food and lost hikers too. It won't cost an arm and a leg. It will probably pay for itself in tourism in just a few years.
I hope you are right. By the way, have you seen this interview with Brent Buice about the East Coast Greenway trail from Maine to Florida? ua-cam.com/video/-TRpREH2LTA/v-deo.html Cheers! John
I think that less than 10% of students travel to uni per car. They almost all eighter live in the city and use a bike or they come by public transit. Public transportation is free for students.
Such an important factor. Can you imagine what the scene would be like if each student arrived by a single occupancy vehicle - like far too many places around the globe. Thanks so much for watching and for your contribution to the conversation. I really appreciate it and hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
41:31 Putin’s daughter Maria and her dutch boyfriend Jorrit Faassen actually used to live in a penthouse on the top floor of that tall building across the canal. Until a few years ago. In 2013 Putin was actually spotted in a local Albert Heyn.
@@ActiveTownsYeah. And definitely somewhat absurd. I find it hard to fathom Putin having something resembling an actual family life and perhaps even harder to imagine him giving his blessing to his daughter living here.
@@JulesStoop i cant image you going out and doing a social thing like buying food when you can uphold such discriminatory ideas about a person you never met
@@ohhi5237 😂Putin, whether he likes it or not, is a very public figure. His seclusion and near paranoid misanthropy as well as his hermit-like dedication to work are quite well documented. This image may be a caricature of reality, but it’s well within Putin’s power to create a different image for himself. The fact that he doesn’t, tells me he’s perfectly fine with my or anyone’s prejudice.
I do think you, Jordan and even Jason are sometimes missing the point. It is true that Amsterdam had to make choices, as many other cities did, but that doesn't mean that all bike infrastructure came from choices or even planning. Much of it is based on the past, a time before bicycles. For obvious reasons much of the transport was done via the water, goods and people. The canal you biked is there since 1638, alongside most if not all canals and rivers there was a path for horses to pull the ships in unfavorable wind conditions. In the same way much of the current infrastructure at small town or village level are just what used to be old connections from village to village, farm to farm which overtime became the current small roads of today. You could argue these were also planned which is true but not with a bicycle in mind. Other than that i do like your videos 😉
That's a really great point, and I can think of many examples here in North America along the canals, rivers, and their respective tow paths that date back to a time before the automobile and, yes, also the bicycle. Thanks so much for watching and for this helpful comment. Cheers! John
I think the key is that all places inherit physical conditions from prior generations, and then have decisions about what to do with that. North America also has a past, a time before bicycles-or cars. But we now have a century of overlapping decisions that fundamentally reshaped the continent in service of the car. It was a huge undertaking! We've not stopped at any point to rethink that revolution, in any meaningful way. All we did was find ways to make the car infrastructure even more intensive. We have thousands of years of human-scale settlements. We even had human-scale modern towns and cities (with the types of problems any city had) and then bulldozed them for parking lots and highways. So, while it's true that NL has geographically-specific infrastructure that predates the bicycle, keeping that intact to some degree (and finding ways to make it multifunctional!) has been a choice just as much as our decisions to declare the past obsolete. I see your point, but I don't actually agree that it is "the point." The Netherlands is the way it is both because of its past, and its climate/geography/economy, and also because of how it has chosen to evolve in the past century of huge technological shifts. Oversimplifying all this of course, but IMO that's a story that has relevance for every place.
@@ActiveTowns We don't have many canal opportunities in North America, but I understand the old Erie Canal is now a fun and excellent cycling opportunity as well as the B&O canal between DC and Pennsylvania. And the Cultural Trail in Indianapolis partially takes advantage of a planned canal from way back when. And of course we have the abandoned railways that are abundant in the States that are being converted to hiking and cycling trails. We just returned from the George S. Mickelson Trail in S.D. Perhaps the best way to see and enjoy the Black Hills and understand the geology, culture, and history of the Black Hills. Cheers!
I can totally understand Jordan’s reservations concerning the uphill battle against car-dependency in the States. When I was doing some fair amount of biking over there in the 1980s and 1990s I already had exactly the same feeling. So much work still has to be done. It’s almost blasphemous to have to report that a lot still needs to be done over here too. The developments in the world of cycling mobility is going so fast that even the top-notch infrastructure in the Netherlands is in some ways getting rapidly outdated 😮😮
Interesting. In my US city, the bicycle infrastructure is and has been outdated for a long time. But the attitude hear is we gave you a bike lane, now live with it. There doesn't seem to be much effort to study and improve.
Hehe, it's almost a good problem to have... need to update the facilities, again, because they are so well used in so many locations. 🤣 In all seriousness, one of the things I appreciate about the Dutch approach is that the cycle network is never done; there's a commitment to continuous improvement. Thanks so much for watching and for this addition to the conversation. I really appreciate it. Cheers! John
@@garyharty1902 ... now live with it! Haha, the irony is that some cyclists literally die because of this mentality/policy. Number 1, 2 and 3 of the traffic safety index should always be: fatalities are unacceptable. So when the cycling death rates are rising (as they are in the Netherlands) after decades of falling numbers, this is a very serious issue.
@@ActiveTowns True, but this recent development is slightly different. Our infrastructure built for decades for 'normal' fietsen no longer fits perfectly with the rapidly changing biking hardware with its inherent varying speeds. This is a seriously problem that is not easy to tackle and requires new in-depth study and new approaches.
Yep, and it's a good thing that the Dutch don't have to drive everywhere for everything all the time... having mobility options is what we are striving for here in North America. Thanks for watching!
If all infrastructure ppl in the US would spend two weeks in the NL with only a bike and a public transport card, things would move very fast in the US I am sure 😅
I definitely can't argue with that! I've actually documented several study tours over the years where North American city officials were exposed to the Dutch network approach to mobility. It's very eye-opening how powerful an experience this is. Here's a fun little video I put together from a 2019 study tour: ua-cam.com/video/sDbQswFWSPU/v-deo.html Thanks so much for watching and commenting. Cheers! John
Ha thanks! I am very interested in the topic. After studies in Delft I moved to Vaals, a village near both Germany and Belgium and also a great area for cycling as a sport. It made me realize the amount of work to be done even in Europe. On many rides with my German friends I find myself telling them that I wish the city planner in Aachen (Germany) would get out of their cars and ride across the border once in a while and then do the same in their own town. The good thing though is that I notice slow progression there too. Your work is so valuable to create awareness for the idiocracy of how societies design around the wrong metrics.
Sails are only used if there isn't enough wind, sometimes half sailed are used but if the wind is strong enough no sails are used. It's like the accelerator of a car.
It is a funny, how you both neglect a few points. First of making sure that everyone knows the rules of the road, secondly making sure people act accordingly. Things I have seen in North America, are things you will not see here, think about secure loads. (Let me ask you the most honest question, and hope I get an answer to it. How often, when you were driving on a freeway did you encounter secured loads vs unsecured loads ?? In The Netherlands, you do not see unsecured loads, why ?? Depending on your vehicle etc the fine starts at 250 Euro and can go up to, or be 2500 Euro [268 to 2681 USD]) In my opinion partipating is anticipating, and certain rules in the US are certainly not doing so, like "right on red". Red should be stop, no matter what. John, most water related activities are between April 1 and October 1. Winter season is in most cities (very few exceptions like Amsterdam) not a feasable time for water activities unless natural ice is thick enough for ice skating. So being there in November means no water related activity, unless ofcourse (search youtube for it) we talk about the "Nieuwjaars duik" (no not explaining that, you really need to search youtube, to see I am not lying about that one.). John, maybe I am mistaken, but I think you might need to take a look at the suspension on your Brompton as it seems to rattle quiet a bit !!! @Jordan, think starting small. There are, though I am not sure if also in Dallas, bike trains to schools. Start with that, it is a first step. You can evaluate after a few years, and take all parties into consideration. (The kids, the parents, the school the neighbourhood etc etc. Ask what they noticed, what they like to see improved, what they disliked etc. After a few years, people have ideas and can look past the prejudice of a car centric mindset. However if you take all groups int consideration, you can go to city/town hall and say, this is OUR experience, this is what the people want. Improving one neighbourhood at the time, is better as no improvement.) Jordan, the dignity of human life. First of the US is not Europe!! The Netherlands went pretty much the direction of the US until the 1970's, so expecting a change to the what is the current situation of mobility infrastructure is a dream, but not feasable in just a few years. Starting a change is a possibility. Here it started, mainly by Stop de Kindermoord. (Stop the killing of children) Nowadays if you look at the worlds happiness scale, you see that Children in The Netherlands are the happiest of the world. Many expats say, it is because of their independence. If that is true, it means the opposite of what is in the US, commonly known as "the soccer mom". Kids can use their bikes to go to any activity by themselves, including visiting friends, going to any sport they might play, etc etc etc. The dignity of human life is in part the mobility of children, but far more so their safety. As stated above Participation must also be Anticipation, so Right on Red is a huge NO NO. (And well if you read this far int the comment, see what I have said before.)
Good points. I rarely drive at all, but when I do, I only occasionally see unsecured loads. Yes! I despise motor vehicle "right turn on red" as this results in thousands of lives lost each year. Thanks so much for watching. Cheers! John
You have to be somewhat smart to be able to participate in Dutch traffic as a child? All those road signs that children have to learn to understand and know!
@@ActiveTowns No, as far as i recall, the apartment was sold & they bought a piece of land to build on, but it was never built upon, something something permits? Anyway, i think they moved to Austria(?) & later back to Moscow before the war. But this is from a very faulty memory...
Leiden, trots van Neerlands steden Parel van het Hollands land Stad van heden vol verleden Stad van werk met hart en hand Plaats van dromen en van daad Waar ieder blijft en niemand gaat Leiden stad van denken en doen Stad van mijn hart door nu en toen
2 way roundabouts are a disaster ! and by the way,not many dutch bikers obey the rules (i know as a dutchie ) you might think they are safe,but that is far from the truth bikers just take right of way and wont even look if there is a car coming but for foreigners it looks safe
Not quite a lost cause... there are many positive transformations underway, but it's hard to stay motivated and optimistic when you are in the fight surrounded by car-brain zombies fighting to keep the status quo of driving everywhere all the time. Thank you so much for watching. I do have many videos here on the channel profiling some of the good things happening here in North America and other cities around the globe. Cheers! John
It is a shame that you also see that the police do not enforce minor crimes because fewer and fewer people indicate which direction they are going at an intersection or roundabout. please people set a good example to the youth.
Oh wow... another one. Apologies for my stumbling over the Dutch language and place names. I hope you enjoyed the video in any case. Thanks for giving it a watch. Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns feel I have to apologize for my fellow Dutchman's bluntness here. Fortunately, not all of us are as "direct" - to use an often used euphemism - as this. Let me just say I thoroughly enjoy your videos. They really make me appreciate so many things I've always taken for granted.🙂
The Dutch "ei" and "ij" sounds do not exist in the English language, just like some other Dutch diphthongs and vowel combinations such as "eu", so it's not surprising that native speakers of English have real trouble pronouncing it. You've got a brain, right? Then use it. And I'm not even going to mention "manners"...
@@TonyKleinKr Thanks so much, Tony. As you can probably tell, I am now quite used to the "directness". If and when it crosses the line, I tell 'em to get lost. Hehe 😂There's far too much toxic snarkiness and negativity in the world. I really appreciate you tuning in and it makes me so happy to hear you are enjoying the content. Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns you're very welcome John. That said, this guy's reaction is totally uncalled for, and I truly admire your restraint responding to his remark . BTW, I just added a reply explaining why a number of Dutch vowel combinations are hard for English native speakers to pronounce.
Haarlem not Harlem, Harlem is located in Nieuw Amsterdam, Haarlem is located in my country ? Issues with Geography ? We Dutch are the best map makers in the world you want me to send you a map ?
Hehe 😅Yes, of course. Apologies for my stumbling over the Dutch language and place names. I hope you enjoyed the video in any case. Thanks for giving it a watch. Cheers! John
It's not our intention to be an example for the world.This is the best solution for our small country!❤👍
Perhaps not, but y'all have some wonderful, inspirational lessons the rest of the world can learn from and in fact the Dutch Cycling Embassy has been coordinating with my city (Austin, TX) for over a decade. Thank you so much for tuning in. I really appreciate it. Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns If we can help,we are willing to share our knowhow.New Orleans,for example,wants to find a solution against the floods, just like us, and defend it self against it with our help.Belgium and Germany will not welcomes us with open arms if we have to give large parts of our country back to the sea for good.In my case,given the un-Dutch hilly area where I live in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands in the province of Limburg,I will want to keep my feet dry for a while.And still wants to keep the beach at a safe distance for so long as possible.
@@erikloupias7642 Much appreciated!
Thanks, I start to appreciate I live in the best country in the world.
You are quite welcome! Thanks so much for tuning in. Cheers! John
Thanks for the nice ride through my area, cruising most of it regularly. You noticed little boating activities, but in november most pleasureboat owners had them in winterstorage (like me for instance). Last sunday I cruised the Leiden canals and with 30C temperatures it’s a whole different story, canals crowded with motorboats, canoes, sups and so….Ohh and that ‘little enclave’ (at 40’) is my home village Voorschoten, home for 25k inhabitants. If I only knew you would pass by you could have an extra beer as a reward for your trip 😊
Oh wow! That would have been fun. What a beautiful location. Cheers! John 😀
The first stretch came through the Leiden Science Park. With schools but mostly hospitals, and biomedical research centers. The first big building on the left, was the Leiden University Hospital. One of the main hospitals in the Netherlands.
Thanks! Yeah, that makes sense. The area sort of looks the part. Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns you’re welcome!
Well, hey. Leiden is the city my husband and I have decided to move to next year! We love it so I'm looking forward to hearing Jordan's thoughts.
Yay! Exciting 😀
I've moved to Leiden 20 years ago and haven't regretted it a single moment. I just love this city. Hope you will enjoy it as much as I :)
@@ActiveTowns One thing I'm puzzled about -- and you're not the first UA-cam channel to do it -- is why first-time visitors think they're in the university area when they exit the train station. Do people not look at maps anymore? 😉
@@gerardhermus8297 That's so nice to hear! We are really excited. We have two short-ish visits planned this year, then we'll firm up our moving timeline.
@@velovoice47 I knew it was a "institution" of some sort, not surprised to learn it was a hospital and such. Funny we usually do look at the maps quite a bit on the train as we're making way from town to town, but this was at the end of Jordan's portion of the trip and since we were just exploring with no particular destination in mind, thus we were just following our nose, exploring (blindly). Hehe 🤣
So weird to see you suddenly cycle through the city I have been living in for the past 6 years! Actually fun to see that the industrial space which you passed before leaving Leiden has seen a major overhaul just before you left, with traffic calming and a wide seperate bikelane! It keeps enhancing :) I just wish they would remove parking on the canal side... I hope you enjoyed your short stay :P
It was really a delightful, if much too short, visit to your fine city.
Thanks so much for watching.
Cheers!
John
You did a excellent job.
First class video showing a beautiful city.
Thank you very much!
I really appreciate you tuning in.
Cheers!
John
Good to see how the father protect his kid on the bike at (31:00) witch is completely normal but just good to see.
Yeah, it's a classic scene! And this illustrates why it is so important to have facilities like wide pathways and, in this case, traffic-calmed, slow streets where people can comfortably ride side-by-side. Thanks so much for watching!
Great vlog, I am Dutch and saw the wind.Not always easy to biclyle on a relaxt way, working! Most of our country is flat, that helps, but the wind is nearly always here. I love my country, hope you had a good time. Tnx!
Yay! Thanks so much for watching.
The "roundabout" you mention at 8:27 actually used to be a complete roundabout when I visited before, so this intersection layout is actually a new one to me too! The last time I visited was the august summer of 2019 - over 4 years ago, before the Covid Lockdowns meant I had to stay at home - and the layout was a completely circular protection roundabout system. I recognised the junction from the Café on the corner of the intersection, one I also visited when passing through. Interesting to see the new layout the City of Leiden decided to install!!
Great video as always, John!
Cool! Thanks 😀
I'd seen the other superb videos with Jordan and asked myself if I could skip this one. I'm thrilled that I've viewed it. Stay through the artistic early segments until the last part, where the discussion strikes deep chords. Jordan's short bouts with discouragement are important to confront. I had the choice to stay and fight or move and delight. We moved to Paris, where there's increasing commitment to all ages and abilities. But then I realized that there's a middle ground between "stay or move". We resettled outside Paris, away from the affluence, where active infrastructure is relatively unsatisfactory. Jordan said: it "can't just be in rich neighborhoods". I find it rewarding to engage in the Good Fight for what Jordan terms as "respecting and upholding the dignity of human life". John insists on "encouraging stories of battles being won" and I can testify that an area John and I rode through, that looked impossible to fix, now has a beautiful bikeway 90% complete.
Well said, @Mark Cramer. I had almost the same identical thoughts as I watched to video.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts & experience, Mark! 🙏 Well said!!
Thanks, Mark! And our ride video is coming up real soon. 😀
Thanks for a wonderful conversation! My mother grew up in that part of the Netherlands … the names of communities are familiar. This (the cycling) makes me wonder what life would have been like if my parents had not emigrated to Canada.
Thanks so much for watching and sharing your history and connection to this beautiful part of the world. I highly recommend visiting if you have the chance. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
20:25 20:27 20:28 22:03 😅😅
fun to see my old town from an foreign perspective
Yay! Thanks so much for tuning in. I hope you enjoy some of the other videos on the Channel as well. Cheers! John
You exited the Station on the secondary side. The 'University' is a university hospital, further down is the Bio-Science park. You turned right, heading back to the railway. Heading left at the roundabout gets you to Oegstgeest (Pretty town grown onto Leiden).
Yeah, definitely need to return for another visit
Again a very nice video of your last trip together in the Netherlands. Good to hear the things you both took from these trips. I also get how difficult it must be to see so much things that could be so much better but that development in the right direction is so slow.
But one thing about the Netherlands: the weather that you experienced end October and beginning November was so beautifull but also so abnormal for my country. Maybe riding in the early dark with cold rain and wind makes it a little less tempting to move to the Netherlands .......
Thanks so much! Yeah, really do know how lucky we were on this trip, as I can attest from many rides in the rain on past trips. Hehe 😂 Cheers! John
41:30 the houses on the other side of the canal “de Vliet” is a part of the town Voorschoten. This area was build in the early years of this century. The town itself originates in the Middle Ages. Actually the Romans called it “Forescate”. Lovely historical center and some large estates from the 17th & 18th centuries.
Cool! I'll need to explore that side on my next trip. Thanks so much for watching and for the comment. I hope you are enjoying the Active Towns Channel.
@21:00 and the bridge. That stretch is one way for card (in opposite direction for youl) and two way for bikes. So they need just separate bikes in your direction from cars and bikes in the opposite direction.
👍Makes sense. Thanks so much for watching. 🙂
The big church surrounded by cobble stone streets is in fact an important landmark In American history. It´s the Pieterskerk (St. Peter's Church), and it's an important landmark related to the Pilgrim Fathers. When the English separatists moved to Leiden, they lived in the neighborhoods around the church.
This film sure brought back memories... I grew up in Leiden city centre during the 70's and until the mid-80's. Knew the city like my back pocket, cycling around the city independently from 6 years old. Today's bike infrastructure did not exist back then!
Now living in Sweden where bike infrastructure currently is a focus point of Stockholm for example.
Wow! Thanks so much for watching and sharing your memories. I do want to visit Stockholm one day soon to see how the cycle network is developing there. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
The roundabout you found so interesting is actually one of the busiest in town. This probably influenced it's design, half a roundabout means one less point of conflict. It has very very high traffic intensity, especially in rush hour. Traffic was actually quite moderate when you were there. Many high schools are nearby as well as university, the hospital, etc.
As you analysed it is comparitively difficult to navigate.
Thanks so much for watching and for the helpful intel. Cheers! John
North America certainly has a chance like the Netherlands did in the seventies. 54 years ago when i was born, the bike revolution already was taken place and therefore i didn't had to do anything personally.(i was to young anyhow) You are all pioneers and that is a hard job but you are all front runners with a big passion. Where freedom is wanted, there is also the resistance...you are all heroes to me!! 🌻
By the way , i love the ride through Leiden, it was a joy!!
Thanks so much!
I'm striving to create and maintain the momentum with this content.
I really appreciate you tuning in.
Cheers!
John
The canal you are biking along is called De Vliet. Is was build in the 12th century and parts of it follow the same route as the canal that was build by the Romans. Historic territory 😊
It was so very cool.
Thanks so much for watching and for this information.
I really appreciate it, and I hope you are enjoying the Channel.
Cheers!
John
romans didnt build any canals, and def not this far north and not anywhere near 1200 either
@@ohhi5237 The current canal was build in the 12th century. But before on that trac there was already at the same track a canal build by the Romans 50 AD en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossa_Corbulonis
@@gerarddekoe4358 water builds canals, not romans, romans build bridges because they cant cross it otherwise
@@ohhi5237Except this Roman canal was, as you can read on Wikipedia, literally dug around 50 AD under the direction of the Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. The project was mentioned by the historians Tacitus and Cassius Dio, who reported its length as 23 Roman miles etc. Do you have superior sources to dispute this?
The cobble stones in the city centre of Leiden are also supposed to calm the cyclists, not only cars. The cobbles are pedestrianised zones where cycling is allowed but cycling or driving fast is discouraged. The roads with brick are way more comfortable and are supposed to carry cycling through traffic.
Yeah, I can see why cities would think they need to do this; however, it seems a bit short sighted, as it can be quite brutal for anyone in a wheelchair and many pedestrians with mobility issues.
I do really mind riding on them too much every once in a while.
Thank you so much for watching and for your contribution to the conversation.
Cheers!
John
It's also really good for drainage and more sustainable.
@@ActiveTowns That is a good point and I think that the strips of brick that you used in the video to cycle on are for people with mobility issues. The cobble stones are also a historic feature of certain areas, that might be the main reason to preserve them. When I was in Belgium a couple of years ago I noticed many of their inner cities using flattened cobble stones, that was way more comfortable to cycle on, that might be an idea for Dutch cities too.
@@janthijs8806 no its just newer and cheaper
Nice, at 5.28 the white house where I lived 35 years ago.
Oh wow! Very cool. Thanks so much for watching. Cheers! John
So about the weird roundabout at 10:31 you should see it at 8:15 in the morning. Behind the white house are 4 highschools and they all start at 8:30 in the morning so this is to make the students coming from the west flow straight to school. Cars and busses going into the city center are jammed up and can take 10 minutes just to get through this roundabout.
Oh wow! That's interesting. Cycling definitely is the best way to get around town. Thanks so much for watching and providing this additional context. I really appreciate it, and I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
20:06 At the "this is so pleasant" you forgot to point out the multi story parking garage ;) located in a 8 story cork-screw underground. Deepest in Western Europe. Glass entrance building visible on the left.
I think it's also worth mentioning that you exited the station on the "back side". At the front side you'd have seen a car-free station square, bus station, large bike parking.
Thanks! Yeah, we didn't realize that we exited the "backside" of the station until this video was published. Oh well, we'll have to go back to see the other side. I hate it when that happens. Hehe 🤣 Thanks so much for watching. Cheers! John
20:44 there's a one-way street sign right there on the bridge, with the 'except bicycles and mopeds' sign underneath. So... that's what's happening on that bridge. Cars in that direction are diverted to a much longer route to the centre of town that lies just ahead for those who travel by bike.
Thanks so much for watching and for contributing to the conversation. Much appreciated. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
20:47 It is a one way street for cars. (in the other direction) So, the cars were already in a single file before the bridge.
Cool! Thanks for watching and for the clarification. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
What you actually didn't even notice at 20:00 that small glass building to the left is actually the exit by foot of a 22m deep parking garage that can fit 525 cars. Before the parking garage was constructed that entire space used to be a parking lot, including the cycle path itself if memory serves me well.
Cool! Thanks so much for pointing that out and watching the video. I really appreciate it. Cheers! John
I noticed that there's a lot of attention from this channel for the older Dutch cities and that the infrastructure there is compared to US cities and suburbs. Have you ever been to Almere? Built on reclaimed land, first houses were built in the 1970s and the whole city (infrastructure) was completely designed from scratch. Just like US suburbs. But then with fully separated car roads, bicycle streets and an extensive network of bus lanes for the first Dutch BRT system. The infrastructure makes it so safe, you're not even allowed to take your driver's exam in Almere (for real).
I'm planning on visiting Almere in June this year. I have profiled Houten. Here's that playlist of videos: bit.ly/Active_Houten Thanks so much for watching and for the recommendation. Cheers! John
So that old building in front of you when you were eating the sweet patatos was not an old school, but the Academy building of the oldest and very much respected Dutch university, Leiden University.
Cool! Thanks.🙏
I'm a local Leiden omafiets rider... Next time you're here give me call and I show you around. Including my infamous Flashlight Nighttime Bike Ride.....
Cool! Sounds fun. Will do. Thanks so much for watching. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
Leiden resident here. I live close to that street they were reconstructing with the view of the windmill. Have lived here for 28 years now and have always been carless. You will definetely have to return one day since you did miss most of our beautifull city (and best restaurants ;-)) Overall Leiden is great for riding your bike, allthough there are some improvements to be made here and there. I also ride alongside that canal quite often, there is a recreational area with a lake alongside it where I used to have a sailing boat and sometimes we ride to Delft or The Hague. It's a nice ride, but avoid it on sunny sundays because it can get too crowded with groups of race cyclist trying to weave through the crowds as fast a they can (but shoudn't...)
Thanks so much for watching and for the fabulous information. Much appreciated. Cheers! John
Leiden is still under construction. ua-cam.com/video/Q7hnWKfRk3A/v-deo.html
A few numbers might help to give some perspective.
The Netherlands (~18 million inhabitants) is about the size of Virginia (~8.6 million), so has 2 times the population density.
California (~40 million) is 4 times as big but again we have about 2 times the population density. Yes. The Netherlands is a densely populated country. This obviously helps with a dense cycling network, but the differences are not astronomical either.
The route from Leiden to Delft is approximately 14 miles in the province of South Holland, an area of approximately 45x45 miles where 3.8 million people live. There are about 226 traditional windmills in that area, almost all of which are still capable of grinding
Love it! And at no point did said density seem stifling or scary, which many people in North America freak out about. Thanks so much for watching and for the fun stats. Cheers! John
Actually… California’s total land area is in the order of ten times that of the Netherlands. 400k square kilometers vs. 40k square kilometers. In reality California houses more than half of its population in two huge metro areas with significant densities and the other half in an expanse of landscapes dotted with a few rather sparsely populated towns and cities.
try ny state
I used to live in Leiden in my childhood back in 1992, but now in Heerhugowaard- Dijk En Waard is where i live now.
But Leiden back then was really nothing compared to this, Leiden has gone through quite a transformation in the years.
It was really quite charming. Bummed we didn't have more time to check it out and stay awhile.
its just as small as in 92 tho
Leiden is a University town. City centre is flooded with students (incl. living)
I’ve lived in a couple of different University towns over the years.
I have to agree with Jordan. We need to make better decisions in North America. In many European countries, and certainly the Netherlands, the decision was that we will provide many transportation options and owning a car is also optional. In North America, we have made the wrong decision that you must own and use a car to get around. It isn't healthy, it isn't efficient, and it leaves behind those for whom a car isn't an option because of finances, age, or disability. But it has certainly made General Motors and the oil companies happy. We must do better. Well said, Jordan. If it was easy to pull up stakes, I would probably move to the Netherlands, also.
You are doing great work to help make change happen in your community, Gary.
Keep up the good work. It is paying off and will leave a legacy for future generations.
Cheers!
John
@@ActiveTowns Thanks, John
when will "we" start doing it "better"
people have moved to europe, had children and their children had children and "we" are still praying to god hoping for someone to agree with our ideas?
There was a comment above that i liked a lot & wish to reply with here:
"You are all pioneers and that is a hard job but you are all front runners with a big passion. Where freedom is wanted, there is also the resistance...you are all heroes to me!! 🌻"
Not everyone can up stakes & move to the Netherlands. The country is simply too tiny for that. It also leaves behind the people that need walkability & proper cycling infrastructure the most, like those with disabilities, as mentioned towards the end of the video. I do feel that thanks to NJB & others more & more people know about good infra & if they show up to *demand* proper infra things can & WILL change. Imagine living a couple of decades from now & being interviewed by the then version of 60 minutes about what you've done to help that come about...
🙂
(For those that are really depressed & desperate, there is the DAFT.)
Again a nice video. This time about my place of origin. The large building that was described as uni-campus is in fact the LUMC or Leids University Medical Center. The hospital where I was born. When the video continues you see a above ground parking garage and even more parking. There you have entered the BIO Science Park. This is where a lot of medical research is taking place. There are 250 national and international companies dedicated to science and the advancement of t our human race. People from all over the Netherlands come there to do science stuff. That’s why it has a lot of parking is needed, even though ou came from a train station. Also we don't hate cars, we actually love them, and know we need to provide access for people with a car, because you can't bike everywhere. But we know there are better alternatives and if you put all the people you saw in those first 15 minutes in a car, Leiden would simply be congested, smelly and would have torn down a lot of very old buildings. Then Leiden would have lost its more than 1200 year old history to make room for cars, who would want that..? There where archaeological findings from as early as the stone age and Leiden played a significant part in the 80 year war with Spain, which led to the birth of our current country..
Yay! Thanks so much for watching and for this fabulous contribution to the conversation. Cheers! John
I believe that there are now quite a few places in the US that have reached critical mass for growing the 'streets are for people' mindset. New York being the biggest of them. Change will only accelerate from now on. Get a shared path next to the Appalachian Trail (1km or 1 mile out?) build US! Great for emergency vehicles, supplying the walking route with water and food and lost hikers too. It won't cost an arm and a leg. It will probably pay for itself in tourism in just a few years.
I hope you are right.
By the way, have you seen this interview with Brent Buice about the East Coast Greenway trail from Maine to Florida?
ua-cam.com/video/-TRpREH2LTA/v-deo.html
Cheers!
John
Horseshoe roundabout? They didn’t have to do a full roundabout bc of the bi-directional bike paths.
I like it. That's work. Cheers! John
I think that less than 10% of students travel to uni per car. They almost all eighter live in the city and use a bike or they come by public transit. Public transportation is free for students.
Such an important factor. Can you imagine what the scene would be like if each student arrived by a single occupancy vehicle - like far too many places around the globe. Thanks so much for watching and for your contribution to the conversation. I really appreciate it and hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
car parking is for teachers not students ;)
@@ohhi5237 Nah, many profs also use a bicycle:
ua-cam.com/video/kdT0oiYmmkc/v-deo.html
41:31 Putin’s daughter Maria and her dutch boyfriend Jorrit Faassen actually used to live in a penthouse on the top floor of that tall building across the canal. Until a few years ago. In 2013 Putin was actually spotted in a local Albert Heyn.
Interesting.
@@ActiveTownsYeah. And definitely somewhat absurd. I find it hard to fathom Putin having something resembling an actual family life and perhaps even harder to imagine him giving his blessing to his daughter living here.
@@JulesStoop stop reading fox new war propaganda then
@@JulesStoop i cant image you going out and doing a social thing like buying food when you can uphold such discriminatory ideas about a person you never met
@@ohhi5237 😂Putin, whether he likes it or not, is a very public figure. His seclusion and near paranoid misanthropy as well as his hermit-like dedication to work are quite well documented. This image may be a caricature of reality, but it’s well within Putin’s power to create a different image for himself. The fact that he doesn’t, tells me he’s perfectly fine with my or anyone’s prejudice.
I do think you, Jordan and even Jason are sometimes missing the point. It is true that Amsterdam had to make choices, as many other cities did, but that doesn't mean that all bike infrastructure came from choices or even planning. Much of it is based on the past, a time before bicycles. For obvious reasons much of the transport was done via the water, goods and people. The canal you biked is there since 1638, alongside most if not all canals and rivers there was a path for horses to pull the ships in unfavorable wind conditions. In the same way much of the current infrastructure at small town or village level are just what used to be old connections from village to village, farm to farm which overtime became the current small roads of today. You could argue these were also planned which is true but not with a bicycle in mind. Other than that i do like your videos 😉
That's a really great point, and I can think of many examples here in North America along the canals, rivers, and their respective tow paths that date back to a time before the automobile and, yes, also the bicycle. Thanks so much for watching and for this helpful comment.
Cheers!
John
I think the key is that all places inherit physical conditions from prior generations, and then have decisions about what to do with that. North America also has a past, a time before bicycles-or cars. But we now have a century of overlapping decisions that fundamentally reshaped the continent in service of the car. It was a huge undertaking! We've not stopped at any point to rethink that revolution, in any meaningful way. All we did was find ways to make the car infrastructure even more intensive. We have thousands of years of human-scale settlements. We even had human-scale modern towns and cities (with the types of problems any city had) and then bulldozed them for parking lots and highways.
So, while it's true that NL has geographically-specific infrastructure that predates the bicycle, keeping that intact to some degree (and finding ways to make it multifunctional!) has been a choice just as much as our decisions to declare the past obsolete. I see your point, but I don't actually agree that it is "the point." The Netherlands is the way it is both because of its past, and its climate/geography/economy, and also because of how it has chosen to evolve in the past century of huge technological shifts. Oversimplifying all this of course, but IMO that's a story that has relevance for every place.
@@ActiveTowns We don't have many canal opportunities in North America, but I understand the old Erie Canal is now a fun and excellent cycling opportunity as well as the B&O canal between DC and Pennsylvania. And the Cultural Trail in Indianapolis partially takes advantage of a planned canal from way back when. And of course we have the abandoned railways that are abundant in the States that are being converted to hiking and cycling trails. We just returned from the George S. Mickelson Trail in S.D. Perhaps the best way to see and enjoy the Black Hills and understand the geology, culture, and history of the Black Hills. Cheers!
@@garyharty1902 Sounds like a fun trip! 😀
I can totally understand Jordan’s reservations concerning the uphill battle against car-dependency in the States. When I was doing some fair amount of biking over there in the 1980s and 1990s I already had exactly the same feeling. So much work still has to be done. It’s almost blasphemous to have to report that a lot still needs to be done over here too. The developments in the world of cycling mobility is going so fast that even the top-notch infrastructure in the Netherlands is in some ways getting rapidly outdated 😮😮
Interesting. In my US city, the bicycle infrastructure is and has been outdated for a long time. But the attitude hear is we gave you a bike lane, now live with it. There doesn't seem to be much effort to study and improve.
Hehe, it's almost a good problem to have... need to update the facilities, again, because they are so well used in so many locations. 🤣
In all seriousness, one of the things I appreciate about the Dutch approach is that the cycle network is never done; there's a commitment to continuous improvement.
Thanks so much for watching and for this addition to the conversation.
I really appreciate it.
Cheers!
John
Car-brain illness.😉
@@garyharty1902 ... now live with it! Haha, the irony is that some cyclists literally die because of this mentality/policy. Number 1, 2 and 3 of the traffic safety index should always be: fatalities are unacceptable. So when the cycling death rates are rising (as they are in the Netherlands) after decades of falling numbers, this is a very serious issue.
@@ActiveTowns True, but this recent development is slightly different. Our infrastructure built for decades for 'normal' fietsen no longer fits perfectly with the rapidly changing biking hardware with its inherent varying speeds. This is a seriously problem that is not easy to tackle and requires new in-depth study and new approaches.
Robotic mowers: the latest in sheep-replacing technology. Local origins? I bet they contain something similar to a 'Leyden jar'.
Hehe 😂 Perhaps. Thanks so much for watching. Cheers! John
The Netherlands has the highest car density of Europe, so yes there are lots of cars in the NL.
Yep, and it's a good thing that the Dutch don't have to drive everywhere for everything all the time... having mobility options is what we are striving for here in North America.
Thanks for watching!
If all infrastructure ppl in the US would spend two weeks in the NL with only a bike and a public transport card, things would move very fast in the US I am sure 😅
I definitely can't argue with that! I've actually documented several study tours over the years where North American city officials were exposed to the Dutch network approach to mobility. It's very eye-opening how powerful an experience this is. Here's a fun little video I put together from a 2019 study tour: ua-cam.com/video/sDbQswFWSPU/v-deo.html
Thanks so much for watching and commenting.
Cheers!
John
Ha thanks! I am very interested in the topic. After studies in Delft I moved to Vaals, a village near both Germany and Belgium and also a great area for cycling as a sport. It made me realize the amount of work to be done even in Europe. On many rides with my German friends I find myself telling them that I wish the city planner in Aachen (Germany) would get out of their cars and ride across the border once in a while and then do the same in their own town. The good thing though is that I notice slow progression there too. Your work is so valuable to create awareness for the idiocracy of how societies design around the wrong metrics.
@@MM-ih4rj Cool! Thanks so much... and I love that, " the idiocracy of how societies design around the wrong metrics," I may have to borrow this. 😅
Don't think the windmill was actually working. There don't seemed to be any sails on it.
Sails are only used if there isn't enough wind, sometimes half sailed are used but if the wind is strong enough no sails are used. It's like the accelerator of a car.
@@Aviopic Thank you Willem. I didn't think there was much wind as a looked, but you could be right.
😀
It is a funny, how you both neglect a few points. First of making sure that everyone knows the rules of the road, secondly making sure people act accordingly. Things I have seen in North America, are things you will not see here, think about secure loads. (Let me ask you the most honest question, and hope I get an answer to it. How often, when you were driving on a freeway did you encounter secured loads vs unsecured loads ?? In The Netherlands, you do not see unsecured loads, why ?? Depending on your vehicle etc the fine starts at 250 Euro and can go up to, or be 2500 Euro [268 to 2681 USD]) In my opinion partipating is anticipating, and certain rules in the US are certainly not doing so, like "right on red". Red should be stop, no matter what.
John, most water related activities are between April 1 and October 1. Winter season is in most cities (very few exceptions like Amsterdam) not a feasable time for water activities unless natural ice is thick enough for ice skating. So being there in November means no water related activity, unless ofcourse (search youtube for it) we talk about the "Nieuwjaars duik" (no not explaining that, you really need to search youtube, to see I am not lying about that one.).
John, maybe I am mistaken, but I think you might need to take a look at the suspension on your Brompton as it seems to rattle quiet a bit !!!
@Jordan, think starting small. There are, though I am not sure if also in Dallas, bike trains to schools. Start with that, it is a first step. You can evaluate after a few years, and take all parties into consideration. (The kids, the parents, the school the neighbourhood etc etc. Ask what they noticed, what they like to see improved, what they disliked etc. After a few years, people have ideas and can look past the prejudice of a car centric mindset. However if you take all groups int consideration, you can go to city/town hall and say, this is OUR experience, this is what the people want. Improving one neighbourhood at the time, is better as no improvement.)
Jordan, the dignity of human life. First of the US is not Europe!! The Netherlands went pretty much the direction of the US until the 1970's, so expecting a change to the what is the current situation of mobility infrastructure is a dream, but not feasable in just a few years. Starting a change is a possibility. Here it started, mainly by Stop de Kindermoord. (Stop the killing of children) Nowadays if you look at the worlds happiness scale, you see that Children in The Netherlands are the happiest of the world. Many expats say, it is because of their independence. If that is true, it means the opposite of what is in the US, commonly known as "the soccer mom". Kids can use their bikes to go to any activity by themselves, including visiting friends, going to any sport they might play, etc etc etc. The dignity of human life is in part the mobility of children, but far more so their safety. As stated above Participation must also be Anticipation, so Right on Red is a huge NO NO. (And well if you read this far int the comment, see what I have said before.)
Good points. I rarely drive at all, but when I do, I only occasionally see unsecured loads. Yes! I despise motor vehicle "right turn on red" as this results in thousands of lives lost each year. Thanks so much for watching. Cheers! John
I wonder what Manhattan could look like, if it was bike oriented.
A lot like Amsterdam. 😁
@@ActiveTowns *New* Amsterdam! 😛
North America sees cycling as a recreational activity not transportation. Going to take a lot to change that vision for the mainstream.
Which is precisely what Marcus and I talk about on the bike. Thanks for tuning in. Cheers! John
You have to be somewhat smart to be able to participate in Dutch traffic as a child? All those road signs that children have to learn to understand and know!
🙌
Someone is looking happy at 37.34🙂, and 41.18 is the area where Putin's daughter used to have an apartment (maybe still has)
That's what I hear.🤫
@@ActiveTowns No, as far as i recall, the apartment was sold & they bought a piece of land to build on, but it was never built upon, something something permits?
Anyway, i think they moved to Austria(?) & later back to Moscow before the war.
But this is from a very faulty memory...
Leiden, trots van Neerlands steden
Parel van het Hollands land
Stad van heden vol verleden
Stad van werk met hart en hand
Plaats van dromen en van daad
Waar ieder blijft en niemand gaat
Leiden stad van denken en doen
Stad van mijn hart door nu en toen
It was indeed a pleasant but brief visit. 🙂
Those crossings with the white stripes (zebrapad) are for pedestrians to cross with preference so cyclists have to stop Jordan!
👍
2 way roundabouts are a disaster !
and by the way,not many dutch bikers obey the rules (i know as a dutchie )
you might think they are safe,but that is far from the truth
bikers just take right of way and wont even look if there is a car coming
but for foreigners it looks safe
Thanks so much for watching and contributing to the conversation. Much appreciated. Cheers! John
Looks like you have no clue where you are going :D
Yeah, pretty much. Just sort of wandering around.
Seems like cycling is a lost cause in America..... 😢
Not quite a lost cause... there are many positive transformations underway, but it's hard to stay motivated and optimistic when you are in the fight surrounded by car-brain zombies fighting to keep the status quo of driving everywhere all the time.
Thank you so much for watching. I do have many videos here on the channel profiling some of the good things happening here in North America and other cities around the globe. Cheers! John
psychopath🚴♀🚴♂🚴
😂
It is a shame that you also see that the police do not enforce minor crimes
because fewer and fewer people indicate which direction they are going at an intersection or roundabout.
please people set a good example to the youth.
Thanks for watching and commenting. I really appreciate it. Cheers! John
And it is Leiden not Laiden, you got eyes right ? Then use them !
Oh wow... another one. Apologies for my stumbling over the Dutch language and place names. I hope you enjoyed the video in any case. Thanks for giving it a watch. Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns feel I have to apologize for my fellow Dutchman's bluntness here. Fortunately, not all of us are as "direct" - to use an often used euphemism - as this. Let me just say I thoroughly enjoy your videos. They really make me appreciate so many things I've always taken for granted.🙂
The Dutch "ei" and "ij" sounds do not exist in the English language, just like some other Dutch diphthongs and vowel combinations such as "eu", so it's not surprising that native speakers of English have real trouble pronouncing it. You've got a brain, right? Then use it. And I'm not even going to mention "manners"...
@@TonyKleinKr Thanks so much, Tony. As you can probably tell, I am now quite used to the "directness". If and when it crosses the line, I tell 'em to get lost. Hehe 😂There's far too much toxic snarkiness and negativity in the world. I really appreciate you tuning in and it makes me so happy to hear you are enjoying the content. Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns you're very welcome John. That said, this guy's reaction is totally uncalled for, and I truly admire your restraint responding to his remark . BTW, I just added a reply explaining why a number of Dutch vowel combinations are hard for English native speakers to pronounce.
Haarlem not Harlem, Harlem is located in Nieuw Amsterdam, Haarlem is located in my country ? Issues with Geography ? We Dutch are the best map makers in the world you want me to send you a map ?
Hehe 😅Yes, of course. Apologies for my stumbling over the Dutch language and place names. I hope you enjoyed the video in any case. Thanks for giving it a watch. Cheers! John