notjustbikes

notjustbikes, 10 months ago to Amsterdam

I have serious issues with YouTube comments: they are used to spread so much misinformation and lies.

For example, for my latest video, many people have said that I am lying about emergency vehicles being able to go through the knip. Even though I literally SHOW FOOTAGE of emergency vehicles going through the knip.

This is a common lie being told about the project online.

But here's the problem ... 🧵

#Amsterdam #knip #weesperstraat

notjustbikes, 2 months ago to random

One of the most annoying things about being an English-language content creator are the Americans who insist that everything must be about them.

I can make a video that never mentions the US once, and I will get hundreds of responses about the US.

I will get people claiming that I'm wrong because of some issue unique to the US.

I will get Americans telling me that I have a moral responsibility to help them fix their cities, despite the fact that I'm not American and I don't live there.

notjustbikes, 10 months ago to random

After my last 2 videos, I've seen an increase in comments (especially on reddit 🙄) that my "tone" is driving people away, and that I'd be much more successful if I was nicer.

Coincidentally, I've also seen a huge bump in Patreon supporters this month.

I've had an increase in the absolute number of Patreon supporters, but I've also had many people increase their contribution amount, even though I provide no benefits to anyone who does that. 🤔

notjustbikes, 11 months ago to random

You can't post anything about good urbanism in the Netherlands, or really anywhere in Europe, and not have someone say it wouldn't work in the US or Canada because these countries are "too big".

Seriously, it's ridiculous how pervasive this excuse is.

And yet it's so stupid, right? People don't travel across the country every day, they travel within their city.

I really didn't want to, but I finally broke down and made a video about this. It had to be done.🤦‍♂️

https://youtu.be/REni8Oi1QJQ

notjustbikes, 8 months ago to Netherlands

The Netherlands is so beautiful 😍

#Netherlands #urbanplanning #uglyplaces #schiphol

notjustbikes, 5 months ago to random

My latest video is now live on YouTube! I visited the best* city in North America, and it was not what I expected!

Which is why it's the longest video I've ever made! :)

https://youtu.be/_yDtLv-7xZ4

• according to literally hundreds of people who have contacted me about Montréal over the past few years.

notjustbikes, 9 months ago to random

This is a very accurate simulator of Germany. 🇩🇪

notjustbikes, 3 months ago to random

I made the mistake of going on Twitter today to find a tweet. 😬

I'm glad Urbanist Twitter is not representative of actual urbanists, because it's basically just this. 😆

I will never understand the mentality of people who dislike a YouTuber and then rant about it for months on social media, instead of doing something sane like, say, watching something else, making the content they want to see, or maybe touching grass.

I genuinely think that too much social media rots people's brains.

notjustbikes, 9 months ago to random

2 bedrooms for only $1.8 million? What a bargain! Let's get two!

notjustbikes, 5 months ago to random

The number of people who don't get this joke is insane. It's about 15% of comments on the video right now.

I do not understand how anybody could think I'm serious here, but I've clearly overestimated the average YouTuber.

This actually really annoys me.

I want to be able to make silly jokes, and I don't want them to have to be spelled out and obvious. That ruins them.

I now understand why big YouTubers water down everything to the point of being homogeneous slop.

https://social.notjustbikes.com/@notjustbikes/111626044191052947

notjustbikes, 9 months ago to Trains

The departures board at Frankfurt airport includes high-speed trains as well.

Everything marked as terminal T is a train departure from the train station that is directly connected to the airport. They have Lufthansa flight numbers too!

#frankfurt #airport #trains

notjustbikes, 9 months ago to Netherlands

My latest video is now available to Nebula and Patreon supporters!

We've lived in the Netherlands for 5 years now, and in that time we've been to a lot of small cities and towns. It's really amazing just how good these places are!

Here's a look into what the Netherlands is like outside of Amsterdam.

#netherlands #urbanplanning #smalltowns

https://nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-even-small-towns-are-great-here-5-years-in-the-netherlands

notjustbikes, 7 months ago to random

I've made a very rough map of every street in Amsterdam that will be changing to 30km/h on December 8th.

The lines in green are changing from 50km/h to 30km/h.

Are there any surprises here for you?

I was surprised by Rooseveltlaan, for example. It's quite wide today!

I'm going to get out to film the "before" case this week (and hopefully livestream the ride, too!)

notjustbikes, 9 months ago to random

My latest video is now live on YouTube.

After 5 years in the Netherlands we still love it here. Here are some examples of the great urbanism we've seen all over the country, even in towns and small cities.

https://youtu.be/ztpcWUqVpIg

notjustbikes, 10 months ago to modularsynth

I've been getting into eurorack synths recently, and the Unperson is one of the better YouTube channels I've found on the subject.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njmI8LF6EvQ

I suspect there's only a very small number of people in my audience who overlap with synth gear YouTube, but let me know if you have any other channels you'd recommend.

#eurorack #synth #electronicmusic #synthesizers

notjustbikes, 9 months ago to random

What makes some places great but others ... not? A "sense of place" is part of the reason.

https://youtu.be/AOc8ASeHYNw

notjustbikes, 10 months ago to random

Every time I try to book an international train in Europe it's full or near capacity. They sell out within days of becoming available.

Demand is way up, but supply has been the same for year. We need more trains!!

https://nltimes.nl/2023/07/21/international-trains-reaching-limits-railway-holiday-gains-popularity

notjustbikes, 6 months ago to random

I gotta say, as an immigrant, I am NOT feeling great about today's election results in the Netherlands.

And as a former resident of the UK, I clearly remember how Brexit was just a stupid joke made by a small party ... until it wasn't.

It's so frustrating to me to see the problems created by right-wing neoliberalism and then having people respond to that by moving further to the right. 😬

https://www.parool.nl/verkiezingen/live-verkiezingen-tweede-kamer-2023-pvv-veruit-de-grootste-in-eerste-exitpoll-met-35-zetels-23-00-uur-eerste-uitslag-amsterdam~bc486cfc/

notjustbikes, 11 months ago (edited 11 months ago) to random

After my last lifestream to the "knip" in Weesperstraat, several right-wing trolls were saying I was a lying WEF shill for "avoiding" the Kattenburgerstraat; the street with such crippling traffic due to the knip that the VVD are demanding an immediate stop to the 6-week project.

So this morning at rush hour I visited the Kattenburgerstraat and as it turns out, the right-wing press are lying.

Shocking, I know.

Here's my livestream of my visit to Kattenburgerstraat:

https://youtu.be/F7X7g4KPsFc?t=951

notjustbikes, 2 months ago to random

I've been rewatching some of my old videos for something I'm working on and wow ... they are boring as hell. I can't believe that my channel ever took off with these early snoozefest videos.

Even I need to watch them at 2x speed, and I made them!!

This one in particular, I remember being "emotional" and "edgy". Uh ... no. It's slow and monotone.

They're all like this. In fact, this one is better than most.

https://youtu.be/Ra_0DgnJ1uQ

notjustbikes, 7 months ago to random

There's some jerk with a bot reposting my Mastodon posts to Twitter.

If I wanted my content on there, I would post it myself. I don't. Take the hint.

Not to mention all the people tagging that account thinking it's me.

Of course, Xitter is so useless now that they won't get rid of unauthorized accounts.

If you're reading this on Xitter, tell the person who posted it to stop.

notjustbikes, 10 months ago to Germany

Some S-Bahn stations in Germany look so beat-up that you'd think they were abandoned.

#Germany #deutschland #publictransit #SBahn

Empty S-Bahn station
Tunnel under S-Bahn station with graffiti on the walls

notjustbikes, 3 months ago to random

There is no solution to car traffic, except viable alternatives to driving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHZwOAIect4

notjustbikes, 10 months ago to Amsterdam

What makes some urban places great but others ... not? A "sense of place" is part of equation.

To learn more, check out my latest video, now available on Nebula and Patreon.

And yes, I know I show Antwerpen and say Brugge. I'm going to fix it before release. 😂

#notjustbikes #urbanplanning #urbanism #Amsterdam

https://nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-designing-urban-places-that-dont-suck

notjustbikes, 6 months ago to random

Every time some holier-than-thou bike advocate is chastising me for "giving up" on North America and moving to Amsterdam, I check their profile and it'll show that they grew up in some shitty suburb or small town, and moved to one of the half-decent cities in North America.

Every. Fucking. Time.

They moved to a better city and it's fine, but somehow me leaving the continent is the worst crime imaginable.

It's so tiring.

Every urbanist moves if they're able to. At least I'm honest about it.