the US doesn’t need to do much to get that density in it’s urban cores. US cities were the better version of European cities up until the 50s. Given Europe doesn’t have many towers, if the US reintroduced no more than the previous mass they would already be denser than European CBDs by far. More than half of the suburbs are unsalvageable. Let them die. The density needed for keeping costs in the green is barely above 1.5 stories with moderate setbacks. It’s been done before and can be again.
Amsterdam (city centre) was originally built for pedestrians and slow horse-drawn vehicles. Then in the 60s-70s it was brutalised for the cars. Now it is recovering from that trauma.
@@miles5600 Old buildings were literally torn down to make space for cars and car parking. Most US cities were built way before the invention of the car!
I don't think US cities can implement something like this without first giving their public transit some major love. If people tried going car-free, the frustration of limited networks would likely reinforce their car-centric mindset.
Brussels gives people monetary incentive to + alternatives to not drive cars. Texas implements a hundreds of dollars annual tax on electric vehicles because they don't consume enough fuel. We are not the same.
Houston recently voted to entirely pedestrianise seven blocks of their Main Street downtown. They realised just how successful banning cars to make space for outdoor dining was during the pandemic and successfully voted to make that change permanent. It's a great step forward for such an infamously car-centric city.
Amsterdam was as car-centric as any US city not that long ago. It became the exemplar it is today as a result of switching its focus to serving people, not traffic, and making practical changes to support this goal. It is not the way it is “because it’s European” but because they made it happen. As for Brussels, although you did make the point that it was very car-centric until recently, you missed the chance to emphasis that it was so heavily addicted to cars that it was known as “the car capital of Europe”. If Brussels can change then *any* city *anywhere* can change: it just needs people to give a shit.
We are mostly Europeans over in America too! So I get what you're saying. My biggest issue with this sentiment in the West, is it usually openly excludes horses as a option. We have more trails than most cities still and can ride our horses if we wish, but it isn't the same now that millions have moved here in just a decade and don't want to walk in the heat here, we have a really good bus system, one of the best in America, and people still use it, but only if they have too, the waiting times of 15 minutes are still obnoxious. shade doesn't dissipate our urban heat island, cause we are also a desert. People care, but you have to care about them to. Or else you just seem/come across selfish by calling pointing a finger into the wind and calling 'those people' selfish... "just needs to give a shit" cause nobody cares but you and the trove of redditors like ya watching this video.... you can ignore race all you want, but anyone with a thorough mindset can also understand how non-car friendly many African cities are, but yet we don't model ourselves on them. Y'all drool of these ethnic microsoms of European homogeneity and wonder why they are so open to caring about each other, but when you tell White people they don't have self-determination in their own countries. you are going to in the reverse direction. you open the doors and ask foreigners to be the new city people and subsidize them to do it. Why would any American want this? All of that gumbo you reduce down to simple smears like 'waycist' are done and over. We are proud and open fascist, and only just beginning, we want nice cities, but for our own. I don't hate the 'others', I just genuinely LOVE my own, to want the best for them. You probably hate your own, and out've the idea you're 'hating hatred' itself, (Germans are bad cause hitler incarnate) you engage to be hateful against America and it shows. You are fine with hyperboles like 'heavily addicted' but take issue with "because it's European". choose a broad a smear to be okay with. no one is addicted to cars. they are necessity in many places whether you accept that or not. That is why they are everywhere in every country still. Vehicles won't be going away. If you care about inner city life, then make it comfortable for middle class White people to return and not be targeted by jewish anti-White propoganda taught in schools and make them targets for just being White people existing. Our hospitality has been abused time and time again. Government of TALK will give way to government of ACTION. THERE WILL BE BLOOD
@@smplfi9859 wow, are you okay? You sound like the singular embodiment of all the worst stereotypes of America: fragile, hate-filled, xenophobic, racist, homophobic, misogynistic, Trump-voting, anti-semitic, religious extremist…you are absolutely everything that is wrong with your country, rolled into one person. If the blood you promise will be spilled is yours, then that will certainly be a good thing.
Public transit in Brussels is really good and cheap. It is reliable and very comfortable to move around. The focus now is on reducing the amount of cars in the city and keep on improving slow-mobility (bycicles, e-scooters, ...)
Car utopia is the open road across the Midwest, miles and miles from anything remotely resembling a city. It can't be found in a city while car dependence prevails, because cars ruin everything there - especially the experience of driving. You have to make the alternatives better and the commuting by car worse before it starts to be a good place for driving, otherwise there will just be too much traffic, and "just one more lane" won't solve that.
This is only due to that fact that too many are driving them. In countries with low populations, city driving is no problem at all. We have excessive human population problems, not an excessive numbers of cars problem.
@@gregoryjames165you could fit the entire planet inside the state of Texas and we produce enough food yearly to feed everyone and then some. There is no overpopulation crisis, birth rates are below replacement in all OECD nations. It is principally a matter of distribution of wealth & development
Cities need to be centered on people, not cars. So much of what people complain about cities are a result of cars, especially cars from outside the city.
Newbury Street here in Boston *desperately* needs to become pedestrianized. It's a beautiful, historic street with plenty of shops and restaurants. Over the last few years, it's been turned pedestrianized on Sundays during the summer, and its' great. Normally, it's packed with cars (mostly parked cars), so the flow of cars is just terrible. It would be so much better without cars and I'd love to see you take a look at it!
Btw, Brussels has (relatively) really cheap transit as well. For 499€ (550 USD) you can get a pass that covers bus, tram, and metro rides for an entire year. It should also be remembered, Brussels is a really geographically small and dense city. Brussels Capital Region overall has 7,600 people/km2 (20,000/sq mi). And most of the central regions of the city have population densities of 15,000-20,000/km2 (40,000-51,000/sq mi). This is density comparable to Brooklyn. Over 1.2 million people live within 162km2 (63 sq mi).
@xt5181 it should not be free. I like a system that is well funded and modern. I am doubtful that the system would be adequately upkept and expanded if it had to rely solely on government funding. 499€ is quite cheap when compared to other cities of the same economic stature.
@@xt5181Imo it shouldn't be free. Don't forget that for students it's already almost free 1€ per month or 12€/year and for most people it's funded either partially or in full by their employer. With those categories alone, you get most transit users in Brussels. So cost is not really a barrier. We should also remember that transit is not unprofitable by nature. Technically speaking jumbo jets area form of transit for aviation (vs private jets). So are big cruisers vs yachts. They are both extremely profitable industries. Yet on ground we have made public transit unprofitable vs private cars by financing massively car infrastructures. Historically the first railways and transit were privately funded and very profitable. The Empains, Vanderbilts...were the Zukerbergs and Gates of their era. The car culture came. And we have made a 2 ton private car somehow cheaper to run than a 1000 rail car or a 100p bus. The solution here is not to make transit "free" (which will cost us a lot) but to defund car culture. We should also tax car drivers for their externalities (pollution, accidents, opportunity costs of car parking in the middle of our cities...). Transit will fund itself then.
Can't believe this channel only has 2.5k subs and 700 views on this video, the production quality is incredible. looking forward to more videos like this
I see mostly images from stock footage used in this video. Makes the video overall kind of generic. Nothing too special compared to other videos on urbanism.
Crazy to see my city, Cincinnati, on a vid like this. The city has its issues but that is something we are doing right. Road after road is being closed and used for businesses and so called 'microparks', an individualized closed road that has park and leisure features partly chosen by the businesses. Another interesting piece of pedestrian infrastructure in the city is the Purple People Bridge, a pedestrian only bridge that was turned from a car and rail bridge to what it is now in 2001.
OTR Resident here, it's weird that those parks aren't for the community, they're for businesses. I'm glad we have streets closed to cars but, they're not necessarily for "us." I'd love to see 13th and 14th closed to cars from Main to Broadway to give Ziegler park a safe buffer and make it feel more included into the community. Another thing is putting more traffic calming on main/mcmicken and vine north of liberty. It's like playing frogger even with a walk signal.
The US wasn't so car centric either. Dallas in 1939 looked more like NYC. ua-cam.com/video/fO9J91V_ETE/v-deo.html LA had an incredible streetcar system - ua-cam.com/video/AwKv3_WwD4o/v-deo.html America wasn't built for the car, it was bulldozed for the car. If you drive down a freeway in LA, that use to be a neighborhood. 14 lanes, miles and miles of midrise buildings torn for car convenience.
I think it helps that Brussels is perhaps the only car-centric city in Belgium. Ghent, Antwerp, Bruges, Ypres, Ostend, Dinant, etc. are more prototypically European in their scale, density and transit arrangement. And the rail connections between these cities is excellent. Additionally, Brussels has an excellent position on the rail corridor between Amsterdam and Paris. So, unlike American cities, Brussels is kind of an outlier within Belgium (and northwestern Europe). But if a random US city were to make such an initiative it wouldn't change the fact that a car would remain a good option when traveling beyond that city.
Yes, Brussels has a well connected train-station. And then I remember public transit - not terrible per se, just a hassle with a stroller or luggage, and confusing as hell if you were not from Brussels. Plus cars, so many cars everywhere ! But not like LA, because LA has parking everywhere.
you mention Ypres as if it’s a place that has “seen the light”. But it still uses its public squares for parking (like Delft famously did until it reclaimed it for people only twenty years ago) and seems to not care to change that any time soon. And as for the claim that “American cities are so far apart you’d still need a car”, that’s just rubbish. Even in the Netherlands car ownership is still very common, with people using local options for local travel and then their cars for long distances - isolation of cities (less of an issue in reality than is the perception when people raise it in this context anyway) is an excuse, and not a good one. There is absolutely nothing about increasing local options such as walking/riding that prevents people from still owning/using cars if they want. The vast majority of journeys all people make are still within their own city, and the vast majority of those local journeys are less than five kilometres. Any variation of the argument “I need a car because our cities are so far apart” is just nonsense for the vast majority of people the vast majority of the time.
@@karlkoehler341well connected is an understatement. Brussel is the belgian mobility hub. Hence why the ring road there is so bad, if you have to go to the other part of Belgium you almost always have to pass it. Same for the trains, almost every train line stops in Brussels and also creates delays since all trains have to go over 6 tracks on the central station. Another fun fact about Brussels is that about 400.000 people commute daily from the other parts of belgium to work there.
@@dl4608 Ypres is just unforgivable. The center is so small and yet for some reason it has car parking in the center. All those cars could park next to the train station...
@@makisekurisu4674 i think we have good transit, but we still have rather wide roads, and we could have more transit/cyclist/pedestrian priority and cycling lanes/paths
Good video. I lived in Brussels for several months back in 1985. They had a good light rail (or "tram") system, that was both above/below ground. Plus, and extensive (and safe) bus network. And the city is easily as dense as London or Paris, in that sense, hard to compare with most US cities.
Manhattan is pretty dense. They could easily make half their streets car free and basically turn them into green extension of central park. There already is an extensive subway network in place. It's relatively easy to transform the island into a pedestrian and bicycle heaven. If Dutch business people can cycle to work then so can their New York colleagues. All they really have to do is cook up proper infrastructure guidelines. Bring in some Dutch engineers to make sure they don't make mistakes the Dutch have already made and learned from. And from then just follow the new guidelines whenever you have to do large maintenance. Time will do the rest.
Interesting. Belgium is very car centric by European standards. Lots of towns are just strips of houses along long roads and there exist shops that you can't even safely reach by bike or foot. And despite a very lively bike culture, there is relatively little bike infrastructure. They call it "Little America" sometimes for that reason. If Belgium can shift, they will be setting a very nice precedent.
Huh? In what country do you live? Very little bike-infrastructure? What about Flanders? That has very ellaborate bike paths, comparible with the Netherlands? It even has bike-highways that link together the Flemish cities?
@@dirkgonthier101 Okay I'm biased, being Dutch. You got me there. I know both Belgium and Germany have been building cycle networks that connect to the Dutch one. I guess I'm spoiled.
A few years ago I had to go to Brussels city center once a week, from The Netherlands. It was hell every time. I tried the TGV (high speed train) but it went wrong twice, once because a catenary cable breach and once the train had broken down and had to be towed back to Antwerp. Both times I would have come too late for the appointments, so I turned back to home. It was way longer than by car also, so after that I went by car. It was quicker in The Netherlands, but Belgium was a drag. First the ring road of Antwerp, always stuck in traffic, second ring road of Brussels was a drag and third the traffic in Brussels was a drag. Leaving the city took me the first time 2.5 hrs (I left the parking garage at 16:00) before I was on the ring road of Brussels and I was at home at 21:00. The next time I left at 15:00 and it took me about 1.5 hrs to reach the ring road and I was home at 19:30. The times after that I left at 14:00 and I was out of the city in 30 minutes, and I was home at 17:00. Traffic in Belgium is horrendous and in Brussels near impossible, so a change would be welcome. A transfer hub to public transport with lots of free parking at the ring road of Brussels would also be a huge improvement. Maybe they already have this, I haven’t been to Brussels in 4 years.
Usually the rail is quite reliable, I would say that you got quite unlucky. It's absolutely not faster by car, though. Both high-speed and IC trains are faster than taking the car between Antwerp-Brussels, or A'dam-Brussels. Indeed a lot has changed in four years. The central boulevard and adjacent streets have become entirely car free. In fact, it's the biggest pedestrian zone in Europe (and probably the world), after Venice. As you suggested, P+R parking on the ring would be a good solution for many people, and there are now several of those carparks. They are free to use for a day if you use public transport to continue your trip. On top of that, Brussels has invested a lot into public transport in recent years and the number of cyclists has exploded, in tandem with (mostly) good quality cycling infrastructure. The Region of Brussels is also trying very hard to install new mobility plans. However, as those have to be implemented by the municipalities, of which there are no less than 19 in Brussels, results and ambition vary. The City of Brussels has had a great success, while other municipalities have pulled back after not even trying properly due to loud protest of car-drivers. Old habits die hard and Brussels still has a long way to go, but it's incredibly encoring to see how much things have changed in the last five years alone.
@@DerUserAlex You’re right about the distance between Amsterdam Central Station and Brussels South Station, the TGV is much faster. But I don’t live near Amsterdam Central Station (I live 20km outside the city and we don’t have a train station, so I need to go by car to the nearest train station, take a sprinter train to Amsterdam Central, this will take me at least 1hr) and I don’t have to be near Brussels South Station. In Brussels I need two metro transfers or two tram transfers to arrive at my destination. So on both ends I need additional transport. That makes the journey longer by train than by car. If you don’t have traffic jams on the motorway that is (to avoid those, I depart at 05:00 to arrive at my destination between 08:00 and 08:30). And I have to take the first TGV train at 06:10 from Amsterdam Central to be on time in Brussels for my workday, so I need to take the first sprinter which will give me a 10min window for transfer at Amsterdam Central, so not much time, the chance of missing the TGV to Brussels it too big. It isn’t ideal, but overall the car is the better option for me.
There are now P+Rs on the ring road with free transfer to the metro, the problem is that there is none coming from Antwerp (or anywhere in the north of Brussels really). One car park is in the southwest of the city and the rest is on the southeast There’s a strong push to have more of those, and there’s a vague plan to build a “sneltram” along the A12 highway with P+Rs at each town, but because of local politics things aren’t moving, or at least not fast (until recently Flanders wasn’t interested in spending money on projects that would benefit Brussels, although the mentality has done a full U-turn recently and there’s massive investment in infrastructure around Brussels. Now it’s Brussels that’s lagging behind due to lack of coordination)
The "carrot" approach of incentivising car-free life with excellent and inexpensive public transport systems definitely helps, but there's also a legitimate place for the "stick". City authorities can't openly admit it, but a major part of traffic reduction strategy is to deliberately make driving in their city a living hell. For example, by taking a road that has two lanes on each side, that's already horribly congested, and making one lane on each side a bus and cycle only lane. Or by changing all 30mph streets to 20 mph. Drivers moan, complain, and bang their fists, but the city stick to their guns, and people become so sick of driving that they just stop. I hope I live to see the day when most cities just don't allow personal cars period, with the only vehicles permitted on the roads being buses, trams, licenced delivery vans, and personal mobility vehicles for those with physical disabilities preventing them from walking and cycling.
You forgot all the EU " dignitaries" and .....mmmm diplomats. yes the rest of us in overcrowded run down public transit or bike... which will be stolen by those more desperate or needing a new battery....
I prefer bicycles. Maybe if Ihad Jay Leno's money I would be more car-centric but maybe I would have a thousand bicycles in my collection instead of cars .
The real game changer is the federal mobility budget. Many many in Belgium have company cars as salary benefits. The government since not long allows employers to offer for the same cost of a company car a budget that can be used in many environment friendly ways instead. You can also pay your rent or house loan using said budget, at some conditions. Instead of having a company car I opted instead for paying my rent with it. The mobility budget of many is around 1000 euro hence a substantial amount. I really hope Belgium can change its car centric mindset. I think the mobility budget can really achieve this.
Creating pedestrian plazas is a wonderful idea but in my opinion locations need to be chosen very carefully. A large, concrete square that is on East and West axis will be a heat Island all summer and nobody will want to be there. For that matter 4:15 The one in Seattle WA seems to be a better choice than others in the US because of its shape and location. Also paving plazas with flat brick instead of plain concrete might sound like a costly choice but in my opinion it's the only way for a successful result.
You should check out Buchanan Street in Glasgow, Scotland. It was pedestrianised it in the 1970s. The city is the most like Brussels, and indeed a US city, in the UK.
Learn something about the structure of Belgium before you start to generalize. What Brussel does, is only applicable in Brussels. What Flanders does, is only applicable in Flandders. What Wallonia does, is only applicable in Wallonia. So, jumping from Brussels to Belgium in its whole, is something that is impossible to do. Certainly concerning competences that are given to our regions.
I like to walk! Today, I had to take an Uber back home because the streets turned into rivers after this Miami style storm. In order to make a city pedestrian friendly, blocking streets is not enough. In Taiwan, many buildings cover the sidewalk with their concrete awnings. They also have massive undeground centers that connect buildings. We have a long way to go to become biker and pedestrian friendly.
I lived in Belgium (Liège) for a long time, and unfortunately I think the problem is that much of the rest of the country is very car-centric and that there are often not many viable alternatives (compared to neighbouring countries). For instance, trains between the bigger cities often run every hour (compared to every 15 or 30 minutes in the Netherlands). Also, local public transport to the main stations is pretty bad (mostly busses that get stuck in traffic or infrequent regional trains. Neither connect well to the intercity trains, making for long waits at the station). Add to that, that the average Belgian lives in extensive, relatively low density suburbs and that much of the country works in Brussels. So the problem is not so much transport in Brussels (which is true, has become a much nicer city since they started to make it car free), but rather the transport to and from Brussels (and other major cities). I can imagine that this has become much more difficult now for many people who commute there, and this will stay that way until the mobility problems in the rest of the country are solved too (though some Flemish cities have probably already addressed these problems, the suburbs in Flanders are even more extensive than in the Walloon Region). I'm not very familiar with the U.S., but can imagine that many regions have the same problems as described above, but much worse.
In the upper Midwest it’s really rough in the winter . At -30 with wind and a lot of snow . Bike travel is almost impossible December - March . Some cities in northern Wisconsin allow atv traffic Milwaukee has a bike parkway that runs the entire length of the metro and is widely used all summer
You should actually look at pictures of Amsterdam and it's infustructure journey from post ww2 till today! It's a shining example of how changing Infustructure can shape society and how the world "looks" at you.
Fuller street in Miami's coconut grove neighborhood was pedestrianized after a push by local urbanists. Now it's a fun hangout spot with great nightlife!
First: Invest in smart, safe, family, mobility friendly transportation. We can’t do anything without transportation and mobility first. Then we can talk bikes, etc.
The most important wake up call to both people and businesses in cities is that all that car infrastructure Does Not Benefit Them! As said in this vid most traffic is not from or to local destinations. They are not supplying your locals or shops but they are making your city noisier and uglier, and it COSTS YOU. It has also been shown again and again that local shops benefit from foot traffic waaaaay more than from car traffic. Car drivers don't window shop....... Any local council should realise that if they really serve their local people they should support alternatives to car traffic.
Cincinnati probably isn't the best example of a city reworking car infrastructure into pedestrian infrastructure. Very few spots are designed specifically for people and not cars.
My city puts in bike lanes that nobody uses. Then they create pedestrian walkways that nobody walks on. And a train system that few use. There are some mixed use areas of our metropolis but literally every person who lives in these buildings owns cars. In America we have things called bike racks too. That's a rack you put on your car for when you want to go biking. It's not a lack of infrastructure. It's not car companies. It's the people. Our bus systems is okay. We have park and rides where you drive to a giant parking ramp in the burbs and take an express bus to downtown. But many work from home now.
I lived in Brussels for six years (1978-1982 and 1987-89). I rarely drove, though I owned a car. Rue Neuve already existed. While I used both the Ceinture and Petit Ceinture, when necessary, I generally took the tram or metro or walked. If this plan doesn't even include Ixelles, I'm not certain how it will work. I generally lived in Woluwe Saint-Pierre and Etterbeek (and my parents were in Woluwe Saint-Lambert for a couple of years (1984-87)). Very few people I knew drove regularly, unless they lived in a different city -- my boss lived in Antwerp -- or in one of the suburban communs.
Ban petrol/diesel vehicles. Only allow electric vehicles. Make the middle of city pedestrians only. Walking is essential to good health. Slowly expand the pedestrian area.
One large downside: wealthy families with jobs and salary cars leave the city, leaving Brussels even more to the poor and jobless population. Some companies have left too. There is a reason NO other Belgian city has followed the exemple.😮😮
we don't have the transit structure to get rid of the car, I can do many things without one, but if I want to get places it starts gets harder to be impossible outside my urban area.
This video makes my head spin. I live in St Louis, without a car by trying to get by on public transportation and bike. St. Louis is going the wrong way and has been for years. We have a very limited light rail, only two lines and about 60 stations. Formerly we had a decent bus system as well, but for years it has been going through repeated and severe cutbacks in service and is now a mess. If you go out to wait for a bus, in the weather as there are very few bus shelters here, the bus you wait for may come, or it may not. Or it could go by late... or even way early. Further out in the 'burbs it is much worse, and St Charles County, which is third or fourth most populous County in the state with approaching a half million, has NO public transportation whatsoever! Billions being spent here on roads, primarily the Interstates and the secondary roads and city streets are in bad condition. There is NO chance for any of this to improve at all.
Hi from Montreal, Canada To change one need gov’t back up at all level. Federal for infrastructure, state or provincial in our case and municipal. Incremental steps must be taken. Have a look at our bike infrastructure in Montreal. We will have a new public transit called REM that is working and covering the south region of the Island of Montreal.
love the Cincinnati feature!! Cincinnati has done some good work with pedestrian streets in 3CDC developed areas (like over the rhine), BUT a far majority of the streets in the city center are horribly car-centric. I-71 & I-75 cutting through the northeast & west end of the city have forced its auto-centric design, and there just isn't much money to change it. Right now, the best we can do is implement a few speed bumps near crosswalks. But with that said, there is definitely a shift in thinking towards a more liveable city.
Your points are fair but the public transport is far from perfect. I can go the city from where i live (outside the city)in 30 min with a car. It takes 1 hour and a half with public transport. Also our tax is already high, yet they are asking more tax to be paid by ppl who have older cars to enter the city.
I think America´s solution to this cannot be just solved by removing all the cars from streets. Perhaps may have rethink how people walk and cycle around the city through vertical platform city design where cycling and walking is accommodated for . That also means you have more liberation for greenery on vertical platforms and stores and perhaps apartment complex buildings that are connected through other buildings where its needed. Vertical city planning is perhaps still concept that needs to be embraced for people to understand the many options of walking cycling and public transport without the need for a car.
On my latest visit to Brussels, I myself took a route straight through the city center instead of the ring road as Google Maps recommended me that bc the ring road was heavily congested 😸
The documentary unfortunately isn't accurate as to the state of affairs in Brussels. The mobility situation is still very concerning for Brussels residents. As some have highlighted the Good Move plan has hit against strong public opposition from car-loving residents leading to its cancellation due to weak politicians in many of the pilot neighbourhoods. Whilst there has been investments to improve infrastructure more green transport options, the modal shift just isn't happening fast enough.
You’re not going to convince a nation to sever a chunk of itself in the form of automobile industry and consumerism as a whole. Individual car ownership is good for the lobbyists and politicians, and therefore good for the economy, or something.
A lot of the comments here are correctly pointing to various differences between Brussels (as in this video) and American cities. Density, history, culture, etc. But there is one thing that Europe doesn’t have and it is instead endemic in the US: Legalized Corruption. Or Lobbying, for us Americans. Who killed the first electric cars in the 70s (beside abysmal design) ? The Oil Lobby. In conjunction with the Car Manufacturing Lobby. Who’s fighting against Urban Transit projects and upgrades? The Car Manufacturing Lobby with the Oil Lobby. Who’s fighting High Speed Train ? Oil Lobby together with Car Manufacturing Lobby. And so on. Certain Political decisions will always be extremely difficult in the US until we get rid of Lobbying. Neither side is immune to Lobbying. Red and Blue, even Independents. At Federal Level, State Level and City Level. Too many are interested in keeping us driving everywhere, stopping every possible alternative. Making it difficult to increase City densities, forcing new developments outside of cities. In most European countries, downtown Apartments are the most sought after, and prices decrease as you move out of the center of town. Some US downtowns are deserted and left to homeless and crime at night. I’m not saying that there isn’t crime and homelessness in downtown European cities. I’m just saying that in America that’s all there is downtown at night. Let’s get money out of politics in order to dream big
It could be done, but first you need to substantially upgrade local public transport and make the usage of bicycles very viable. That's what the Netherlands did, and the city centers of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and other Dutch cities have excellent public transport and reasonably safe areas to ride bicycles.
We absolutely love the video! We really need a smart move that can be simple like this (emphasizing pedestrians in cities) to change our current system, we would love to add this video to encourage more people. -Team Planet cents
Belgium is historically the home of a large percentage of the world’s greatest professional road cyclists. It is ironic that its capital was not bicycle friendly before the Netherlands.
That's right but that's all the difference between a "fietser" and a "wielrenner". Cycling is very popular in Belgium but mainly as a hobby, a recreational activity. At least until relatively recently. Brussels has been turning more and more bike friendly in the past 20 years and it's now reached a critical mass.
Car thieves Buying bike is cheaper after its stolen but finding a good car or same car as the stolen one is stressful and probably won't find it locally
I disagree that the US is a car utopia. It is extremely dangerous and expensive to drive here, traffic is horrible in most places, and we have incredibly poor infrastructure because there's too much to maintain. A car utopia would be where there is little traffic, smooth roads, and complete separation from pedestrians and other forms of transportation. The way to make that happen is get the majority of people out of their cars.
Many Belgians have a pretty car-centric mindset, which is paradoxical as they're also a great cycling nation, plus the country has good train services (excellen by US standards) and Brussels has a brilliant public transport system. It's a bit of a mystery to me.
@@robinp1273 Yes, company cars are almost an "institution" in Belgium and that's a large part of the problem. I understand the government has started reforming the system to make it less attractive for employees to choose company cars but the pace of change is still slow.
Since the pandemic, many outdoor spaces in the city I live in (in Western Massachusetts) have been introduced into the city. Even so, car centric planning continues to hamper its development, and prevents these spaces from really flourishing. For example, there is one street that does need not cars on it at all, and so in the summers one end of it is converted into an outdoor space for several restaurants and a cafe with a spot for bands to play in the center. And there is a lot of residential in the neighborhood as well. Obviously they need a parking lot for all there cars! Where is this parking lot?? Directly next to this outdoor public space at the end of this street. So this street is blocked off for public and pedestrian use. And is constantly clogged with cars still, right up to the public plaza. It's insane! It perfectly illustrates how unreasonable and cruel it is to expect even a small city (about 30,000 in population) to accommodate the cars of it's entire population within it's center. The parking lot needs to be removed and replaced with a park. But of course, how the people living there supposed to get around??? And what are they supposed to do with their cars??? We definitely need to rid ourselves of these metal monsters in our cities. But the process of doing so is going to take some time. I'm not sure many people in my city realize how crazy it is for the street to be clogged with cars still every summer. Or how much nicer the street could be if that parking lot weren't there at all.
good move got canceled in many communes of brussels (region) because they did it too quick (i think) and car driver got confused with directions changes. I have no idea if they plan to redo it and each time i try to have info on that i only find boomer being mad with the changes
I understood the American car culture back when it was unique. They had unique cars. Now it feels like it's the same friggin SUV everywhere in the world. Aren't they bored of them yet?
While Brussel's is fairly car oriented compared to the rest of Belgium/Europe as a whole, they are still changing their city on easy mode compared to just about any city in the US. Land use in Brussel's is just incomparably better than just about every US city. Not that the lessons of this video are invalid, I agree with everything you say. The US just has a far higher hill to climb to make the carfree lifestyle a mainstream possibility. Many places are already built in such a way that it likely will never be a possibility. We really ruined our country these past 80 years.
this is not going to work for all not everyone wanna ride a bike or walk ppl got problems or if there job is to far wt if you need to go in the middle of the night I dont think no-one will wait for a bus or bike at night for example but it can be benfical to some it really all depends on your lifestyle yes spaces like this are beautiful but we still needs both
Belgium never had a car culture. They had a bunch of cars yes but that doesn't make a car culture. The US is a huge country with everything spread out over vast distances. This made having a car not just a method of transportation but a way of life. Generally you can't get around if you don't have a car in the US. The urban density is not enough to support viable public transit.
Believe me, they definitely still have a car culture. The least we can do is advocate for alternatives until all our small wins compile into something worthwhile
Belgium is very much a car centric country. The biggest challenge it faces aren't the cities like Brussels where improving public transportation is a viable alternative. Its all the built up sprawl outside of the cities where everything is too spread out and densities too low to manage an efficient pt system. These areas remain strongly car centric and there is no easy fix for these areas.
5:12 Electric buses are a bad solution. They take long to charge, which reduces intervals. Their batteries need to be recycled. Trams and trolleybuses are better.
America is too capitalistic. The car industry lobbying will probably never let America convert into a pedestrian-friendly country. But I hope I am wrong.
Let's be realistic here. What makes you think 500 euro and an electric bike for one family is worth it to give up on your car? That kind of money is nothing in a town like Brussels. Plus the inconveniences that come with giving up on your car. I bet you don't know how often it rains in belgium, how many hills we have in Brussels, it is definitely not flat and even with an electric bike you sweat and then go to work or school. The public transport is extra full at the rush hours which is the most important period of the day. Do you think people choose to walk/bike in the rain or to squeeze in a tram every morning for at least 20-30 mins before work? Or go to work all sweaty because of the bike and not being able to shower for the whole day until they get back home? No, they are low-key forced by the new rules that make it so difficult and expensive to use a car when you wish to do so. I am not against a more people oriented city, I am just against the fact that you don't get a choice.
Being from BE as well and - to put some things in perspective - I'm a 63-old coot who has commuted like 20 years to BXL. To be honest, I'm thinking you're just being hilarious. Public transport is not at all perfect. It takes me just as much time to get f'rom where I live to my working environment. So, let me explain the 'Hilarious'-part because that may have sounded harsh. Simple example ... I do a commute of 5 to 6 hours every day in my car ... bored to hell and nothing I can do (about it). I do a 5 to 6 hours commute in a train ... I listen to music, I log on to my business account and get some work done (hey, tommorow's Friday, I can exit a few hours earlier ...). Owh, I and do take my E-bike to travel to the train station. Your attititude is one of the problems. Sorry, you won't like what I'm saying ... but ... you're adding to the problem with that attitude.
500 euros is still a bit of money, especially if its a low income household. you also save money because you don't need to pay for gasoline. Your comment shows that you don't ride bikes. The hills in Brussels are sometimes tough but manageable (trust me I've seen way worse). An e-bike is a godsend for hills and it makes the task 10x easier. I don't sweat when cycling, only if I go very quickly uphill but maybe its different for you depending on your fitness. If you do, you can always bring a spare shirt. Rain is also not an issue with the right equipment but i must admit it is not very pleasant. Public transport is not that bad, you're exaggerating. There are too many cars in Brussels. They are noisy, their exhaust gases are toxic for our citizens, they are dangerous, they take up space and their infrastructure is ugly as hell. The car is still king in Brussels in the present day. It is still the most convenient option by far, even with all the construction sites and goodmove. If you want to drive no matter what, fine good for you and nobody can stop you. Just dont expect the vast majority of people to bend over and make compromises for you.
hello, i live in belgium. Have you noticed that this experience is limited to 20 families who have to apply for it. In fact this is part of an inquiry lead by the "Région Bruxelles- Capitale"' which is a very small part of Belgium indeed, on the mobilities habits changes impacts ( and probably part of a communicatiion scheme) this is just a very small test and not a lawfully decision). Bruxelles stays far from being bike-friendly. Don't be abused.
Not really. Bad planning kills cities. Cars are completely fine, as long as there are alternatives. The main issue with american cities is not that they're car-centric, but that they're badly designed, even for drivers.
@@Mr-DNA_ Yes, bad urban design makes cities car-centric. That was the point of the video. Brussels is changing the design to allow other travel options. It is cars that create noise, pollution, and traffic congestion.
I am sick of all the bike promotion. Bikes SUCK in bad weather and when you want to be dress nicely. Yeah, bike lanes whenever there is enough space, but give me a break otherwise.
I don't think we should focus on living 100% car free, because that scares a lot of people. We should focus on reducing car trips. This avoids the "war on cars" accusations from right wingers who resist any effort that would result in less gasoline being sold.
Amsterdam wasn't always such a transit paradise
It has always been dense though and same thing goes for towns. They also have very old buildings which are rare in the USA.
the US doesn’t need to do much to get that density in it’s urban cores. US cities were the better version of European cities up until the 50s. Given Europe doesn’t have many towers, if the US reintroduced no more than the previous mass they would already be denser than European CBDs by far. More than half of the suburbs are unsalvageable. Let them die. The density needed for keeping costs in the green is barely above 1.5 stories with moderate setbacks. It’s been done before and can be again.
But it basically was outside a decade or two where even Holland sort of lost its way for a bit. Luckily that's well behind us.
Amsterdam (city centre) was originally built for pedestrians and slow horse-drawn vehicles.
Then in the 60s-70s it was brutalised for the cars.
Now it is recovering from that trauma.
@@miles5600 Old buildings were literally torn down to make space for cars and car parking. Most US cities were built way before the invention of the car!
I don't think US cities can implement something like this without first giving their public transit some major love. If people tried going car-free, the frustration of limited networks would likely reinforce their car-centric mindset.
Yeah, many US cities certainly have some ground to cover regarding transit network development.
Not to mention political will, @@shortcutdocumentaries
They have to tear down highways and create bus lanes
Brussels gives people monetary incentive to + alternatives to not drive cars. Texas implements a hundreds of dollars annual tax on electric vehicles because they don't consume enough fuel. We are not the same.
@ari-jv5oi no they don't you can just repaint a lane and suddenly it's a bus lane
Houston recently voted to entirely pedestrianise seven blocks of their Main Street downtown. They realised just how successful banning cars to make space for outdoor dining was during the pandemic and successfully voted to make that change permanent. It's a great step forward for such an infamously car-centric city.
I hate that fact that idea can be removed by some politician and maaaah freedom car voters.
Infamously (BIG) truck centric you mean
Amsterdam was as car-centric as any US city not that long ago. It became the exemplar it is today as a result of switching its focus to serving people, not traffic, and making practical changes to support this goal. It is not the way it is “because it’s European” but because they made it happen. As for Brussels, although you did make the point that it was very car-centric until recently, you missed the chance to emphasis that it was so heavily addicted to cars that it was known as “the car capital of Europe”. If Brussels can change then *any* city *anywhere* can change: it just needs people to give a shit.
We are mostly Europeans over in America too! So I get what you're saying. My biggest issue with this sentiment in the West, is it usually openly excludes horses as a option. We have more trails than most cities still and can ride our horses if we wish, but it isn't the same now that millions have moved here in just a decade and don't want to walk in the heat here, we have a really good bus system, one of the best in America, and people still use it, but only if they have too, the waiting times of 15 minutes are still obnoxious. shade doesn't dissipate our urban heat island, cause we are also a desert. People care, but you have to care about them to. Or else you just seem/come across selfish by calling pointing a finger into the wind and calling 'those people' selfish... "just needs to give a shit" cause nobody cares but you and the trove of redditors like ya watching this video.... you can ignore race all you want, but anyone with a thorough mindset can also understand how non-car friendly many African cities are, but yet we don't model ourselves on them. Y'all drool of these ethnic microsoms of European homogeneity and wonder why they are so open to caring about each other, but when you tell White people they don't have self-determination in their own countries. you are going to in the reverse direction. you open the doors and ask foreigners to be the new city people and subsidize them to do it. Why would any American want this? All of that gumbo you reduce down to simple smears like 'waycist' are done and over. We are proud and open fascist, and only just beginning, we want nice cities, but for our own. I don't hate the 'others', I just genuinely LOVE my own, to want the best for them. You probably hate your own, and out've the idea you're 'hating hatred' itself, (Germans are bad cause hitler incarnate) you engage to be hateful against America and it shows. You are fine with hyperboles like 'heavily addicted' but take issue with "because it's European". choose a broad a smear to be okay with. no one is addicted to cars. they are necessity in many places whether you accept that or not. That is why they are everywhere in every country still. Vehicles won't be going away. If you care about inner city life, then make it comfortable for middle class White people to return and not be targeted by jewish anti-White propoganda taught in schools and make them targets for just being White people existing. Our hospitality has been abused time and time again. Government of TALK will give way to government of ACTION. THERE WILL BE BLOOD
@@smplfi9859 wow, are you okay? You sound like the singular embodiment of all the worst stereotypes of America: fragile, hate-filled, xenophobic, racist, homophobic, misogynistic, Trump-voting, anti-semitic, religious extremist…you are absolutely everything that is wrong with your country, rolled into one person. If the blood you promise will be spilled is yours, then that will certainly be a good thing.
@@smplfi9859dafuq?
not "as" at all, the first bicycle movement there hails to the 70s as well
but now they banned cars out of more places yes
@@smplfi9859Take your meds
Public transit in Brussels is really good and cheap. It is reliable and very comfortable to move around. The focus now is on reducing the amount of cars in the city and keep on improving slow-mobility (bycicles, e-scooters, ...)
Car utopia is the open road across the Midwest, miles and miles from anything remotely resembling a city. It can't be found in a city while car dependence prevails, because cars ruin everything there - especially the experience of driving. You have to make the alternatives better and the commuting by car worse before it starts to be a good place for driving, otherwise there will just be too much traffic, and "just one more lane" won't solve that.
Car utopia is a wide open stroad lined with fast food drive ins and malls.
This is only due to that fact that too many are driving them. In countries with low populations, city driving is no problem at all. We have excessive human population problems, not an excessive numbers of cars problem.
@@gregoryjames165you could fit the entire planet inside the state of Texas and we produce enough food yearly to feed everyone and then some. There is no overpopulation crisis, birth rates are below replacement in all OECD nations. It is principally a matter of distribution of wealth & development
Cities need to be centered on people, not cars. So much of what people complain about cities are a result of cars, especially cars from outside the city.
You're channel is gonna be big. I was surprised to see you only have 2.62k subscribers.
Newbury Street here in Boston *desperately* needs to become pedestrianized. It's a beautiful, historic street with plenty of shops and restaurants. Over the last few years, it's been turned pedestrianized on Sundays during the summer, and its' great. Normally, it's packed with cars (mostly parked cars), so the flow of cars is just terrible. It would be so much better without cars and I'd love to see you take a look at it!
Btw, Brussels has (relatively) really cheap transit as well. For 499€ (550 USD) you can get a pass that covers bus, tram, and metro rides for an entire year.
It should also be remembered, Brussels is a really geographically small and dense city. Brussels Capital Region overall has 7,600 people/km2 (20,000/sq mi). And most of the central regions of the city have population densities of 15,000-20,000/km2 (40,000-51,000/sq mi). This is density comparable to Brooklyn.
Over 1.2 million people live within 162km2 (63 sq mi).
It's $127 in NYC... a month. So $1524 a year.
Wait
500€ for a year in just Brussels?
In my place u pay 600 Bucks a year for the entire country :0
@@xt5181 where do you live?
@xt5181 it should not be free. I like a system that is well funded and modern. I am doubtful that the system would be adequately upkept and expanded if it had to rely solely on government funding. 499€ is quite cheap when compared to other cities of the same economic stature.
@@xt5181Imo it shouldn't be free. Don't forget that for students it's already almost free 1€ per month or 12€/year and for most people it's funded either partially or in full by their employer. With those categories alone, you get most transit users in Brussels. So cost is not really a barrier. We should also remember that transit is not unprofitable by nature. Technically speaking jumbo jets area form of transit for aviation (vs private jets). So are big cruisers vs yachts. They are both extremely profitable industries. Yet on ground we have made public transit unprofitable vs private cars by financing massively car infrastructures. Historically the first railways and transit were privately funded and very profitable. The Empains, Vanderbilts...were the Zukerbergs and Gates of their era. The car culture came. And we have made a 2 ton private car somehow cheaper to run than a 1000 rail car or a 100p bus. The solution here is not to make transit "free" (which will cost us a lot) but to defund car culture. We should also tax car drivers for their externalities (pollution, accidents, opportunity costs of car parking in the middle of our cities...). Transit will fund itself then.
Pikes Place in Seattle, WA desparately needs to be closed off to cars. They get so much foot traffic to the street that it's a no-brainer.
I agree
Fellow Seattleite here. 100% yes. Why would anyone want to drive through that mess anyway? Makes no sense.
Can't believe this channel only has 2.5k subs and 700 views on this video, the production quality is incredible. looking forward to more videos like this
I see mostly images from stock footage used in this video. Makes the video overall kind of generic. Nothing too special compared to other videos on urbanism.
Crazy to see my city, Cincinnati, on a vid like this. The city has its issues but that is something we are doing right. Road after road is being closed and used for businesses and so called 'microparks', an individualized closed road that has park and leisure features partly chosen by the businesses. Another interesting piece of pedestrian infrastructure in the city is the Purple People Bridge, a pedestrian only bridge that was turned from a car and rail bridge to what it is now in 2001.
Is over the Rhine neighborhood in Cincinnati or Kentucky please?
@@enjoyslearningandtravel7957 It’s in Cincinnati, it’s the more northern part of the city center
@@grenograno4370 thanks for the info. I have to visit that part next time I visit my relatives nearby.
OTR Resident here, it's weird that those parks aren't for the community, they're for businesses. I'm glad we have streets closed to cars but, they're not necessarily for "us." I'd love to see 13th and 14th closed to cars from Main to Broadway to give Ziegler park a safe buffer and make it feel more included into the community.
Another thing is putting more traffic calming on main/mcmicken and vine north of liberty. It's like playing frogger even with a walk signal.
The US wasn't so car centric either. Dallas in 1939 looked more like NYC. ua-cam.com/video/fO9J91V_ETE/v-deo.html
LA had an incredible streetcar system - ua-cam.com/video/AwKv3_WwD4o/v-deo.html
America wasn't built for the car, it was bulldozed for the car. If you drive down a freeway in LA, that use to be a neighborhood. 14 lanes, miles and miles of midrise buildings torn for car convenience.
I think it helps that Brussels is perhaps the only car-centric city in Belgium. Ghent, Antwerp, Bruges, Ypres, Ostend, Dinant, etc. are more prototypically European in their scale, density and transit arrangement. And the rail connections between these cities is excellent. Additionally, Brussels has an excellent position on the rail corridor between Amsterdam and Paris. So, unlike American cities, Brussels is kind of an outlier within Belgium (and northwestern Europe). But if a random US city were to make such an initiative it wouldn't change the fact that a car would remain a good option when traveling beyond that city.
What? Belgium is still mostly a car country. Some cities did an effort, but overall it´s still pretty poor
Yes, Brussels has a well connected train-station. And then I remember public transit - not terrible per se, just a hassle with a stroller or luggage, and confusing as hell if you were not from Brussels. Plus cars, so many cars everywhere ! But not like LA, because LA has parking everywhere.
you mention Ypres as if it’s a place that has “seen the light”. But it still uses its public squares for parking (like Delft famously did until it reclaimed it for people only twenty years ago) and seems to not care to change that any time soon.
And as for the claim that “American cities are so far apart you’d still need a car”, that’s just rubbish. Even in the Netherlands car ownership is still very common, with people using local options for local travel and then their cars for long distances - isolation of cities (less of an issue in reality than is the perception when people raise it in this context anyway) is an excuse, and not a good one. There is absolutely nothing about increasing local options such as walking/riding that prevents people from still owning/using cars if they want. The vast majority of journeys all people make are still within their own city, and the vast majority of those local journeys are less than five kilometres. Any variation of the argument “I need a car because our cities are so far apart” is just nonsense for the vast majority of people the vast majority of the time.
@@karlkoehler341well connected is an understatement. Brussel is the belgian mobility hub. Hence why the ring road there is so bad, if you have to go to the other part of Belgium you almost always have to pass it.
Same for the trains, almost every train line stops in Brussels and also creates delays since all trains have to go over 6 tracks on the central station.
Another fun fact about Brussels is that about 400.000 people commute daily from the other parts of belgium to work there.
@@dl4608 Ypres is just unforgivable. The center is so small and yet for some reason it has car parking in the center. All those cars could park next to the train station...
Hope more people in Malaysia watch this video and be inspired; especially the government. 🥰
(fellow Southeast Asian) Singaporean here, Singapore could improve too:)
@@lheng2474isn't Singapore already perfect compared to usa
@@makisekurisu4674 i think we have good transit, but we still have rather wide roads, and we could have more transit/cyclist/pedestrian priority and cycling lanes/paths
Sadly Brussels is still very car centric, a lot of car lanes and shitty bike lanes.
Good video. I lived in Brussels for several months back in 1985. They had a good light rail (or "tram") system, that was both above/below ground. Plus, and extensive (and safe) bus network. And the city is easily as dense as London or Paris, in that sense, hard to compare with most US cities.
Manhattan is pretty dense. They could easily make half their streets car free and basically turn them into green extension of central park. There already is an extensive subway network in place. It's relatively easy to transform the island into a pedestrian and bicycle heaven. If Dutch business people can cycle to work then so can their New York colleagues. All they really have to do is cook up proper infrastructure guidelines. Bring in some Dutch engineers to make sure they don't make mistakes the Dutch have already made and learned from. And from then just follow the new guidelines whenever you have to do large maintenance. Time will do the rest.
Interesting. Belgium is very car centric by European standards. Lots of towns are just strips of houses along long roads and there exist shops that you can't even safely reach by bike or foot. And despite a very lively bike culture, there is relatively little bike infrastructure. They call it "Little America" sometimes for that reason. If Belgium can shift, they will be setting a very nice precedent.
Huh? In what country do you live? Very little bike-infrastructure? What about Flanders? That has very ellaborate bike paths, comparible with the Netherlands? It even has bike-highways that link together the Flemish cities?
@@dirkgonthier101 Okay I'm biased, being Dutch. You got me there. I know both Belgium and Germany have been building cycle networks that connect to the Dutch one. I guess I'm spoiled.
@@RedmarKerkhof Denmark is also catching up. With Copenhagen as most bikeable city, I've heard.
I'm Belgian and have never heard anyone call it "Little America" lol
A few years ago I had to go to Brussels city center once a week, from The Netherlands. It was hell every time. I tried the TGV (high speed train) but it went wrong twice, once because a catenary cable breach and once the train had broken down and had to be towed back to Antwerp. Both times I would have come too late for the appointments, so I turned back to home. It was way longer than by car also, so after that I went by car. It was quicker in The Netherlands, but Belgium was a drag. First the ring road of Antwerp, always stuck in traffic, second ring road of Brussels was a drag and third the traffic in Brussels was a drag. Leaving the city took me the first time 2.5 hrs (I left the parking garage at 16:00) before I was on the ring road of Brussels and I was at home at 21:00. The next time I left at 15:00 and it took me about 1.5 hrs to reach the ring road and I was home at 19:30. The times after that I left at 14:00 and I was out of the city in 30 minutes, and I was home at 17:00. Traffic in Belgium is horrendous and in Brussels near impossible, so a change would be welcome. A transfer hub to public transport with lots of free parking at the ring road of Brussels would also be a huge improvement. Maybe they already have this, I haven’t been to Brussels in 4 years.
Usually the rail is quite reliable, I would say that you got quite unlucky. It's absolutely not faster by car, though. Both high-speed and IC trains are faster than taking the car between Antwerp-Brussels, or A'dam-Brussels.
Indeed a lot has changed in four years. The central boulevard and adjacent streets have become entirely car free. In fact, it's the biggest pedestrian zone in Europe (and probably the world), after Venice.
As you suggested, P+R parking on the ring would be a good solution for many people, and there are now several of those carparks. They are free to use for a day if you use public transport to continue your trip.
On top of that, Brussels has invested a lot into public transport in recent years and the number of cyclists has exploded, in tandem with (mostly) good quality cycling infrastructure. The Region of Brussels is also trying very hard to install new mobility plans. However, as those have to be implemented by the municipalities, of which there are no less than 19 in Brussels, results and ambition vary. The City of Brussels has had a great success, while other municipalities have pulled back after not even trying properly due to loud protest of car-drivers. Old habits die hard and Brussels still has a long way to go, but it's incredibly encoring to see how much things have changed in the last five years alone.
@@DerUserAlex You’re right about the distance between Amsterdam Central Station and Brussels South Station, the TGV is much faster. But I don’t live near Amsterdam Central Station (I live 20km outside the city and we don’t have a train station, so I need to go by car to the nearest train station, take a sprinter train to Amsterdam Central, this will take me at least 1hr) and I don’t have to be near Brussels South Station. In Brussels I need two metro transfers or two tram transfers to arrive at my destination. So on both ends I need additional transport. That makes the journey longer by train than by car. If you don’t have traffic jams on the motorway that is (to avoid those, I depart at 05:00 to arrive at my destination between 08:00 and 08:30). And I have to take the first TGV train at 06:10 from Amsterdam Central to be on time in Brussels for my workday, so I need to take the first sprinter which will give me a 10min window for transfer at Amsterdam Central, so not much time, the chance of missing the TGV to Brussels it too big. It isn’t ideal, but overall the car is the better option for me.
There are now P+Rs on the ring road with free transfer to the metro, the problem is that there is none coming from Antwerp (or anywhere in the north of Brussels really). One car park is in the southwest of the city and the rest is on the southeast
There’s a strong push to have more of those, and there’s a vague plan to build a “sneltram” along the A12 highway with P+Rs at each town, but because of local politics things aren’t moving, or at least not fast (until recently Flanders wasn’t interested in spending money on projects that would benefit Brussels, although the mentality has done a full U-turn recently and there’s massive investment in infrastructure around Brussels. Now it’s Brussels that’s lagging behind due to lack of coordination)
The "carrot" approach of incentivising car-free life with excellent and inexpensive public transport systems definitely helps, but there's also a legitimate place for the "stick". City authorities can't openly admit it, but a major part of traffic reduction strategy is to deliberately make driving in their city a living hell. For example, by taking a road that has two lanes on each side, that's already horribly congested, and making one lane on each side a bus and cycle only lane. Or by changing all 30mph streets to 20 mph. Drivers moan, complain, and bang their fists, but the city stick to their guns, and people become so sick of driving that they just stop. I hope I live to see the day when most cities just don't allow personal cars period, with the only vehicles permitted on the roads being buses, trams, licenced delivery vans, and personal mobility vehicles for those with physical disabilities preventing them from walking and cycling.
You forgot all the EU " dignitaries" and .....mmmm diplomats. yes the rest of us in overcrowded run down public transit or bike... which will be stolen by those more desperate or needing a new battery....
Even before Good Move, (slightly) more than half of Brussels's households had no car at all. Great video.
I prefer bicycles. Maybe if Ihad Jay Leno's money I would be more car-centric but maybe I would have a thousand bicycles in my collection instead of cars .
The real game changer is the federal mobility budget. Many many in Belgium have company cars as salary benefits. The government since not long allows employers to offer for the same cost of a company car a budget that can be used in many environment friendly ways instead. You can also pay your rent or house loan using said budget, at some conditions. Instead of having a company car I opted instead for paying my rent with it. The mobility budget of many is around 1000 euro hence a substantial amount. I really hope Belgium can change its car centric mindset. I think the mobility budget can really achieve this.
The mobility budget is a massive failure. Less than 1% of salary car beneficials have shifted away from their car😅
Creating pedestrian plazas is a wonderful idea but in my opinion locations need to be chosen very carefully. A large, concrete square that is on East and West axis will be a heat Island all summer and nobody will want to be there. For that matter 4:15 The one in Seattle WA seems to be a better choice than others in the US because of its shape and location. Also paving plazas with flat brick instead of plain concrete might sound like a costly choice but in my opinion it's the only way for a successful result.
You should check out Buchanan Street in Glasgow, Scotland. It was pedestrianised it in the 1970s. The city is the most like Brussels, and indeed a US city, in the UK.
I'll check it out!
Learn something about the structure of Belgium before you start to generalize. What Brussel does, is only applicable in Brussels. What Flanders does, is only applicable in Flandders. What Wallonia does, is only applicable in Wallonia. So, jumping from Brussels to Belgium in its whole, is something that is impossible to do. Certainly concerning competences that are given to our regions.
I like to walk! Today, I had to take an Uber back home because the streets turned into rivers after this Miami style storm. In order to make a city pedestrian friendly, blocking streets is not enough. In Taiwan, many buildings cover the sidewalk with their concrete awnings. They also have massive undeground centers that connect buildings. We have a long way to go to become biker and pedestrian friendly.
I lived in Belgium (Liège) for a long time, and unfortunately I think the problem is that much of the rest of the country is very car-centric and that there are often not many viable alternatives (compared to neighbouring countries). For instance, trains between the bigger cities often run every hour (compared to every 15 or 30 minutes in the Netherlands). Also, local public transport to the main stations is pretty bad (mostly busses that get stuck in traffic or infrequent regional trains. Neither connect well to the intercity trains, making for long waits at the station). Add to that, that the average Belgian lives in extensive, relatively low density suburbs and that much of the country works in Brussels. So the problem is not so much transport in Brussels (which is true, has become a much nicer city since they started to make it car free), but rather the transport to and from Brussels (and other major cities). I can imagine that this has become much more difficult now for many people who commute there, and this will stay that way until the mobility problems in the rest of the country are solved too (though some Flemish cities have probably already addressed these problems, the suburbs in Flanders are even more extensive than in the Walloon Region). I'm not very familiar with the U.S., but can imagine that many regions have the same problems as described above, but much worse.
There are plenty alternatives, just no motivation to use them as driving is so cheap and easy
In the upper Midwest it’s really rough in the winter . At -30 with wind and a lot of snow . Bike travel is almost impossible December - March .
Some cities in northern Wisconsin allow atv traffic
Milwaukee has a bike parkway that runs the entire length of the metro and is widely used all summer
You should actually look at pictures of Amsterdam and it's infustructure journey from post ww2 till today! It's a shining example of how changing Infustructure can shape society and how the world "looks" at you.
Just stop the crazy tax advantage of company cars, even for private use. Lower tax rates instead.
Fuller street in Miami's coconut grove neighborhood was pedestrianized after a push by local urbanists. Now it's a fun hangout spot with great nightlife!
First: Invest in smart, safe, family, mobility friendly transportation. We can’t do anything without transportation and mobility first. Then we can talk bikes, etc.
The most important wake up call to both people and businesses in cities is that all that car infrastructure Does Not Benefit Them! As said in this vid most traffic is not from or to local destinations. They are not supplying your locals or shops but they are making your city noisier and uglier, and it COSTS YOU.
It has also been shown again and again that local shops benefit from foot traffic waaaaay more than from car traffic. Car drivers don't window shop.......
Any local council should realise that if they really serve their local people they should support alternatives to car traffic.
Cincinnati probably isn't the best example of a city reworking car infrastructure into pedestrian infrastructure. Very few spots are designed specifically for people and not cars.
Amsterdam didn't start out as a pedestrian utopia either! They made a big push in the 1990s to take their city back from the car.
My city puts in bike lanes that nobody uses. Then they create pedestrian walkways that nobody walks on. And a train system that few use. There are some mixed use areas of our metropolis but literally every person who lives in these buildings owns cars. In America we have things called bike racks too. That's a rack you put on your car for when you want to go biking. It's not a lack of infrastructure. It's not car companies. It's the people. Our bus systems is okay. We have park and rides where you drive to a giant parking ramp in the burbs and take an express bus to downtown. But many work from home now.
I lived in Brussels for six years (1978-1982 and 1987-89). I rarely drove, though I owned a car. Rue Neuve already existed. While I used both the Ceinture and Petit Ceinture, when necessary, I generally took the tram or metro or walked. If this plan doesn't even include Ixelles, I'm not certain how it will work. I generally lived in Woluwe Saint-Pierre and Etterbeek (and my parents were in Woluwe Saint-Lambert for a couple of years (1984-87)). Very few people I knew drove regularly, unless they lived in a different city -- my boss lived in Antwerp -- or in one of the suburban communs.
Ban petrol/diesel vehicles.
Only allow electric vehicles.
Make the middle of city pedestrians only. Walking is essential to good health.
Slowly expand the pedestrian area.
One large downside: wealthy families with jobs and salary cars leave the city, leaving Brussels even more to the poor and jobless population. Some companies have left too. There is a reason NO other Belgian city has followed the exemple.😮😮
we don't have the transit structure to get rid of the car, I can do many things without one, but if I want to get places it starts gets harder to be impossible outside my urban area.
A perfect example in brussels is the “anspachlaan” it was a busy street in the center of brussels and now its a huge pedestrian area
Exactly, I expected to see it in this video as a prime example (huge difference before & after), weird that they didn't show it.
Copenhagen was one of the first to make a central street pedestrian 50 years ago
Minneapolis, Mn has had a vehicle free street for decades. Nicolett Ave.
This video makes my head spin. I live in St Louis, without a car by trying to get by on public transportation and bike. St. Louis is going the wrong way and has been for years. We have a very limited light rail, only two lines and about 60 stations. Formerly we had a decent bus system as well, but for years it has been going through repeated and severe cutbacks in service and is now a mess. If you go out to wait for a bus, in the weather as there are very few bus shelters here, the bus you wait for may come, or it may not. Or it could go by late... or even way early. Further out in the 'burbs it is much worse, and St Charles County, which is third or fourth most populous County in the state with approaching a half million, has NO public transportation whatsoever! Billions being spent here on roads, primarily the Interstates and the secondary roads and city streets are in bad condition. There is NO chance for any of this to improve at all.
Belgium also pays their citizens to drive with the salary cars and fuel cards
Hi from Montreal, Canada
To change one need gov’t back up at all level. Federal for infrastructure, state or provincial in our case and municipal.
Incremental steps must be taken. Have a look at our bike infrastructure in Montreal. We will have a new public transit called REM that is working and covering the south region of the Island of Montreal.
love the Cincinnati feature!! Cincinnati has done some good work with pedestrian streets in 3CDC developed areas (like over the rhine), BUT a far majority of the streets in the city center are horribly car-centric. I-71 & I-75 cutting through the northeast & west end of the city have forced its auto-centric design, and there just isn't much money to change it. Right now, the best we can do is implement a few speed bumps near crosswalks. But with that said, there is definitely a shift in thinking towards a more liveable city.
Your points are fair but the public transport is far from perfect. I can go the city from where i live (outside the city)in 30 min with a car. It takes 1 hour and a half with public transport. Also our tax is already high, yet they are asking more tax to be paid by ppl who have older cars to enter the city.
I think America´s solution to this cannot be just solved by removing all the cars from streets.
Perhaps may have rethink how people walk and cycle around the city through vertical platform city design where cycling and walking is accommodated for . That also means you have more liberation for greenery on vertical platforms and stores and perhaps apartment complex buildings that are connected through other buildings where its needed.
Vertical city planning is perhaps still concept that needs to be embraced for people to understand the many options of walking cycling and public transport without the need for a car.
In Antwerp you can't drive anymore in the city only if you live or work there
On my latest visit to Brussels, I myself took a route straight through the city center instead of the ring road as Google Maps recommended me that bc the ring road was heavily congested 😸
Loving your content and presentation.
My only complaint is your obsession with eating, and sleeping instead of creating more videos. Get it together.
😂😂😂
😂
The documentary unfortunately isn't accurate as to the state of affairs in Brussels. The mobility situation is still very concerning for Brussels residents. As some have highlighted the Good Move plan has hit against strong public opposition from car-loving residents leading to its cancellation due to weak politicians in many of the pilot neighbourhoods. Whilst there has been investments to improve infrastructure more green transport options, the modal shift just isn't happening fast enough.
You’re not going to convince a nation to sever a chunk of itself in the form of automobile industry and consumerism as a whole. Individual car ownership is good for the lobbyists and politicians, and therefore good for the economy, or something.
To have less cars you need good public transport, and US does not have it anywhere, because it was designed for having a car
Excellent. I'd love to see my growing town adopt this mindset.
A lot of the comments here are correctly pointing to various differences between Brussels (as in this video) and American cities. Density, history, culture, etc. But there is one thing that Europe doesn’t have and it is instead endemic in the US: Legalized Corruption. Or Lobbying, for us Americans. Who killed the first electric cars in the 70s (beside abysmal design) ? The Oil Lobby. In conjunction with the Car Manufacturing Lobby. Who’s fighting against Urban Transit projects and upgrades? The Car Manufacturing Lobby with the Oil Lobby. Who’s fighting High Speed Train ? Oil Lobby together with Car Manufacturing Lobby. And so on. Certain Political decisions will always be extremely difficult in the US until we get rid of Lobbying. Neither side is immune to Lobbying. Red and Blue, even Independents. At Federal Level, State Level and City Level. Too many are interested in keeping us driving everywhere, stopping every possible alternative. Making it difficult to increase City densities, forcing new developments outside of cities. In most European countries, downtown Apartments are the most sought after, and prices decrease as you move out of the center of town. Some US downtowns are deserted and left to homeless and crime at night. I’m not saying that there isn’t crime and homelessness in downtown European cities. I’m just saying that in America that’s all there is downtown at night. Let’s get money out of politics in order to dream big
It could be done, but first you need to substantially upgrade local public transport and make the usage of bicycles very viable. That's what the Netherlands did, and the city centers of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and other Dutch cities have excellent public transport and reasonably safe areas to ride bicycles.
We only need to convert 1% of roads to bike lanes.
We absolutely love the video!
We really need a smart move that can be simple like this (emphasizing pedestrians in cities) to change our current system, we would love to add this video to encourage more people. -Team Planet cents
Belgium is historically the home of a large percentage of the world’s greatest professional road cyclists. It is ironic that its capital was not bicycle friendly before the Netherlands.
That's right but that's all the difference between a "fietser" and a "wielrenner". Cycling is very popular in Belgium but mainly as a hobby, a recreational activity. At least until relatively recently. Brussels has been turning more and more bike friendly in the past 20 years and it's now reached a critical mass.
@@majy1735 That’s great. In the U.S. many people drive like they are on an F1 course.
I'm 59 and lived in NYC. I haven't owned a car since I got my driver's license. Reason? Parking just sucks here.
Car thieves
Buying bike is cheaper after its stolen but finding a good car or same car as the stolen one is stressful and probably won't find it locally
I'd love to see it in the US.
I disagree that the US is a car utopia. It is extremely dangerous and expensive to drive here, traffic is horrible in most places, and we have incredibly poor infrastructure because there's too much to maintain. A car utopia would be where there is little traffic, smooth roads, and complete separation from pedestrians and other forms of transportation. The way to make that happen is get the majority of people out of their cars.
Well car topia would be dealing with traffic as the name suggests car utopia
Many Belgians have a pretty car-centric mindset, which is paradoxical as they're also a great cycling nation, plus the country has good train services (excellen by US standards) and Brussels has a brilliant public transport system. It's a bit of a mystery to me.
Big part of it: company cars. Many people get a car and can use it for free, unlimited, because it is taxed less than giving a higher salary.
@@robinp1273 Yes, company cars are almost an "institution" in Belgium and that's a large part of the problem. I understand the government has started reforming the system to make it less attractive for employees to choose company cars but the pace of change is still slow.
just found ur channel on my algo and i watched the video the whole way through. 😄
I hope you enjoyed it!
Since the pandemic, many outdoor spaces in the city I live in (in Western Massachusetts) have been introduced into the city. Even so, car centric planning continues to hamper its development, and prevents these spaces from really flourishing.
For example, there is one street that does need not cars on it at all, and so in the summers one end of it is converted into an outdoor space for several restaurants and a cafe with a spot for bands to play in the center. And there is a lot of residential in the neighborhood as well. Obviously they need a parking lot for all there cars! Where is this parking lot?? Directly next to this outdoor public space at the end of this street. So this street is blocked off for public and pedestrian use. And is constantly clogged with cars still, right up to the public plaza.
It's insane! It perfectly illustrates how unreasonable and cruel it is to expect even a small city (about 30,000 in population) to accommodate the cars of it's entire population within it's center. The parking lot needs to be removed and replaced with a park. But of course, how the people living there supposed to get around??? And what are they supposed to do with their cars???
We definitely need to rid ourselves of these metal monsters in our cities. But the process of doing so is going to take some time. I'm not sure many people in my city realize how crazy it is for the street to be clogged with cars still every summer. Or how much nicer the street could be if that parking lot weren't there at all.
good move got canceled in many communes of brussels (region) because they did it too quick (i think) and car driver got confused with directions changes. I have no idea if they plan to redo it and each time i try to have info on that i only find boomer being mad with the changes
America should give put stimulus checks to people that don't drive i am 31 and never drove or had license
Great video, very interesting to Belgium change
I understood the American car culture back when it was unique. They had unique cars.
Now it feels like it's the same friggin SUV everywhere in the world. Aren't they bored of them yet?
If this plan is successful, Brussels might be nice for once.
While Brussel's is fairly car oriented compared to the rest of Belgium/Europe as a whole, they are still changing their city on easy mode compared to just about any city in the US. Land use in Brussel's is just incomparably better than just about every US city.
Not that the lessons of this video are invalid, I agree with everything you say. The US just has a far higher hill to climb to make the carfree lifestyle a mainstream possibility. Many places are already built in such a way that it likely will never be a possibility.
We really ruined our country these past 80 years.
this is not going to work for all not everyone wanna ride a bike or walk ppl got problems or if there job is to far wt if you need to go in the middle of the night I dont think no-one will wait for a bus or bike at night for example but it can be benfical to some it really all depends on your lifestyle yes spaces like this are beautiful but we still needs both
Belgium never had a car culture. They had a bunch of cars yes but that doesn't make a car culture. The US is a huge country with everything spread out over vast distances. This made having a car not just a method of transportation but a way of life. Generally you can't get around if you don't have a car in the US. The urban density is not enough to support viable public transit.
Believe me, they definitely still have a car culture. The least we can do is advocate for alternatives until all our small wins compile into something worthwhile
Which is exactly why the US needs more and faster PASSENGER trains.
The create urban density the US needs to abolish parking minimums and convert surface parking lots into mid-rise mixed use residential neighbourhoods.
Belgians very much have a car mindset.
Belgium is very much a car centric country. The biggest challenge it faces aren't the cities like Brussels where improving public transportation is a viable alternative. Its all the built up sprawl outside of the cities where everything is too spread out and densities too low to manage an efficient pt system. These areas remain strongly car centric and there is no easy fix for these areas.
5:12
Electric buses are a bad solution.
They take long to charge, which reduces intervals.
Their batteries need to be recycled.
Trams and trolleybuses are better.
Way forward 👍
Well made video, thank you for sharing your ideas! 😊
America is too capitalistic. The car industry lobbying will probably never let America convert into a pedestrian-friendly country. But I hope I am wrong.
Nothing will change until the old people die off and we address lobbying
Great video!
Brilliant 🎉🎉🎉🎉
This is why living in France and Belgium is a lot better!
Fr*nce 🤮🤮 you can't compare those two countries
LA is prime for this. They’re making a huge investment in transit, but people need to actually start using it.
Agreed, they have to convince people that transit can be used instead of driving
Have you ever considered that people might simply prefer driving over transit?
@@Mr-DNA_ who wants to drive in a crowded city? 💀
Being in rual area is something but city or suburbia, do they drivers like pain and suffering?
@@Mr-DNA_that's what causes traffic jams and burns a hole in your wallet
I don't mind either. @@makisekurisu4674
Let's be realistic here. What makes you think 500 euro and an electric bike for one family is worth it to give up on your car? That kind of money is nothing in a town like Brussels. Plus the inconveniences that come with giving up on your car. I bet you don't know how often it rains in belgium, how many hills we have in Brussels, it is definitely not flat and even with an electric bike you sweat and then go to work or school. The public transport is extra full at the rush hours which is the most important period of the day. Do you think people choose to walk/bike in the rain or to squeeze in a tram every morning for at least 20-30 mins before work? Or go to work all sweaty because of the bike and not being able to shower for the whole day until they get back home? No, they are low-key forced by the new rules that make it so difficult and expensive to use a car when you wish to do so. I am not against a more people oriented city, I am just against the fact that you don't get a choice.
Being from BE as well and - to put some things in perspective - I'm a 63-old coot who has commuted like 20 years to BXL. To be honest, I'm thinking you're just being hilarious. Public transport is not at all perfect. It takes me just as much time to get f'rom where I live to my working environment.
So, let me explain the 'Hilarious'-part because that may have sounded harsh. Simple example ... I do a commute of 5 to 6 hours every day in my car ... bored to hell and nothing I can do (about it). I do a 5 to 6 hours commute in a train ... I listen to music, I log on to my business account and get some work done (hey, tommorow's Friday, I can exit a few hours earlier ...).
Owh, I and do take my E-bike to travel to the train station.
Your attititude is one of the problems. Sorry, you won't like what I'm saying ... but ... you're adding to the problem with that attitude.
500 euros is still a bit of money, especially if its a low income household. you also save money because you don't need to pay for gasoline. Your comment shows that you don't ride bikes. The hills in Brussels are sometimes tough but manageable (trust me I've seen way worse). An e-bike is a godsend for hills and it makes the task 10x easier. I don't sweat when cycling, only if I go very quickly uphill but maybe its different for you depending on your fitness. If you do, you can always bring a spare shirt. Rain is also not an issue with the right equipment but i must admit it is not very pleasant. Public transport is not that bad, you're exaggerating. There are too many cars in Brussels. They are noisy, their exhaust gases are toxic for our citizens, they are dangerous, they take up space and their infrastructure is ugly as hell. The car is still king in Brussels in the present day. It is still the most convenient option by far, even with all the construction sites and goodmove. If you want to drive no matter what, fine good for you and nobody can stop you. Just dont expect the vast majority of people to bend over and make compromises for you.
It looks like its too late.
hello, i live in belgium.
Have you noticed that this experience is limited to 20 families who have to apply for it. In fact this is part of an inquiry lead by the "Région Bruxelles- Capitale"' which is a very small part of Belgium indeed, on the mobilities habits changes impacts ( and probably part of a communicatiion scheme) this is just a very small test and not a lawfully decision). Bruxelles stays far from being bike-friendly. Don't be abused.
Cars Kill Cities
Not really. Bad planning kills cities.
Cars are completely fine, as long as there are alternatives.
The main issue with american cities is not that they're car-centric, but that they're badly designed, even for drivers.
@@Mr-DNA_ Yes, bad urban design makes cities car-centric. That was the point of the video. Brussels is changing the design to allow other travel options. It is cars that create noise, pollution, and traffic congestion.
I am sick of all the bike promotion. Bikes SUCK in bad weather and when you want to be dress nicely. Yeah, bike lanes whenever there is enough space, but give me a break otherwise.
I wish I lived in a civilized develop nation
I don't think we should focus on living 100% car free, because that scares a lot of people. We should focus on reducing car trips. This avoids the "war on cars" accusations from right wingers who resist any effort that would result in less gasoline being sold.
So much for vanlife...
hey i live in belgium, i want my money
oh buffy you and your husband travel the hershey highway
😂😂😂 now they say they civilized
*cyclable
Remove cars? Wow.
😀