Germany's "Green" City (with more bikes than cars!)

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Older generations will complain that 'kids don't play outside anymore' and 'people aren't even having kids anymore' like they didn't design a world that is actively hostile to children

Man the quietness there is incredible. I dream of car free cities every time i’m woken up by the tire noise of someone driving by my window

As my father works as a city planner in Freiburg, i can confidently tell you that a big part of Freiburgs bike friendlyness comes from the fact that almost every city planner there is an avid bicycle fan and commutes to work by bike or tram. Definitly sending this video to my father!

I visited a friend in Freiburg back in 2011 and the first day that I went outside, I thought to myself “wow, is it a holiday today or something?” just because it was so quiet. But no, tons of people were out and going about their days. At first I attributed the quiet to the Black Forest absorbing all that extra sound. Took a while to notice there just…weren’t many cars!

seeing how what used to be parking lots was successfully turned into beautiful, usable, walkable areas is such a great example of what activism and proper city planning can accomplish in 50 years

That "terrible bicycle gutter" is nicer than anything in my city.

Maybe it's just me, but watching Freiburg's infrastructure just instills this sense of calmness and 'goodness' into my body, like seeing something you never knew you truly needed

As a Londoner I don’t really get a chance to use trams ever (Croydon absolutely does not count) but I’ve been living in Berlin this month and I’ve been blown away with just how often trams come, how fast they are, and how much of the neighbourhood they cover. I’m usually a fan of walking or I’ll pop on a bus or train to save time, but I’m finding myself going for the tram for how perfect it fits into the scheme of things. That and no matter what mode of transport I take it’s all included in the €49/ month deutschland ticket, I’m a happy camper

I was in Freiburg during a heat wave last summer , and people were having dinner, wine or coffee (all in real, non disposable dishes) while sitting on the ground with their feeet in the little canal stream. So nice.

The rule that new suburbs must be within walking distance of a tram stop is amazing. We need this so much in Australian cities! (where developers will make a random suburb with only car and (terrible) bus access. They sprawl their way too far into what was farm land. It’s sad)

As a wheelchair bound person from NL who visited Freiburg several times, l can totally agree; it is a very people friendly city in a beautiful part of Germany.

I've had the privilege of living in Vauban for 2 years (for cheap in student housing), and I now compare every city I go to with it. It's truly heaven. I don't know if I'll ever move back to Freiburg, but it changed how I view my surroundings. I lived there during the first few months of Covid as well, and it was genuinely the best place to live in Germany at that time. Uni was cancelled/online, you weren't allowed to meet more than one other household and so on. I lived there with my 5 roomies, so we were one big friend group counting as a household, and we would just go on little adventures into the black forest (which is 10 mins by foot away), cook together or just stroll through the area. During that time I made hiking my hobby and it ironically made me healthier mentally and physically than before covid. Where you live and your surroundings influence you heavily. I now live in Frankfurt and I have to actively seek out and maintain what was just second nature in Vauban.

Worth mentioning that Germany (currently) has a public transit ticket for 49 € per month (or less if you're a student). With this you can use all buses, trams and trains (except long-distance/high-speed trains like the one you see at 12:30) nationwide. If you have the time to ride the slower trains, you can just hop on the next train and go basically anywhere in Germany for no additional cost.

I live in America and my car has been in the shop for a while now. If I can't find a ride my only option is to walk. It has been so eye opening to see how poorly designed and filthy my city is. There are sidewalks that abruptly end either because they were built that way or because they are so old that they have just been consumed by nature. Bike gutters full of trash, leaves, sometimes flooded, and are also crumbling apart same as the sidewalks. There are buses in my town but they're hardly worth using. The closest stop to my house is 1.7 miles and in the entire 4 mile walk I see only 0 to 2 buses. Every bus stop besides the one right outside the Kum & Go is covered in trash because that's where the only public trash cans are but they probably only get emptied every few months. How is this the norm in America? We think of ourselves as the freest country on Earth, yet I have no choice but to own a car. Small business are being choked because people would rather get everything at once at Walmart. Everybody stays inside because there's nothing worth being outdoors for so there's not a strong sense of community here. I believe your channel really paints a picture of what a healthy city looks like and it's nothing like what I've seen here.

I was in Munich this summer and was shocked on how amazing the bike infrastructure is compared to Toronto. Also loved how the city centre was entirely pedestrian only. It was a huge breath of fresh air.

I was in Freiburg this summer. As a Dutchie (Leiden, also a historic university town) i can say it felt like home. A beautiful well organized city and the surrounding nature (Black Forest) is amazing. On a bike versus car perspective is Freiburg even further than a Dutch city like Leiden. Great stuff.

I was singing in Freiburg in Summer but stayed in a town in the forest. The quietness was the same in both places. My poor London brain couldn’t compute

Fantastic that two of my favorite YouTubers, NJB and Ashton should find each other. The story here is so interesting as Frieburg seems to have 'caught itself' before it went too far down the automobile rabbit hole. Here's hoping that Dutch-style protected bike lanes become more of a standard in the coming years. Also, as mentioned Ashton and the Black Forest Family channels have a TON of very high quality videos comparing a variety of topics from a North American and European perspective. Highly recommended.

That "totally insufficient" bike lane along the ring road would be an absolute dream here in Toronto.