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The Lively & Liveable Neighbourhoods that are Illegal in Most of North America

Not Just Bikes · explainer · Watch on YouTube

Transit, cities & urban planningSocial issues & culture

What it is

Not Just Bikes explains how small pockets of shops and restaurants inside residential Dutch neighbourhoods create liveliness and help reduce traffic. It argues this kind of mixed-use design has been illegal in most of the US and Canada for a century because of zoning, and should be brought back.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN commenters link it in zoning, housing and car-dependency threads as an accessible explanation of how single-use zoning and parking rules shape cities.

  • 5 people recommended it
  • 5 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2021, last 2024

What HN commenters said

  1. “I think these videos convey the idea well”

    Explains human-scale gentle density with walkable streets and a real city centre.

    rossng, 2021-04 · Recommendation · in “A billion for every chip-maker who 'makes in India,' sources say”

  2. “I encourage you to take a look at Not Just Bikes”

    Channel showing middle ground between NYC and American suburbs.

    benrbray, 2021-08 · Recommendation · in “Why are so many knowledge workers quitting?”

  3. “has a great video about this. Here he has taken Houston as an example.”

    Uses Houston to challenge the idea that medieval cities were designed for walking.

    stormgrab, 2021-10 · Recommendation · in “Amazon will allow many employees to work remotely indefinitely”

  4. “There are a few good videos on the subject”

    One of several videos on car-dependent suburban development.

    est31, 2022-05 · Recommendation · in “An autonomous car in SF blocked a fire truck responding to an emergency”

  5. “And watch some videos from this channel”

    Channel explaining parking minimums and single-family zoning.

    xputer, 2022-07 · Recommendation · in “Why we ignore thousands of daily car crashes”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: zoning, urban planning, netherlands, car dependency, walkable neighbourhoods

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