Business Parks Suck (but they don't have to)

I can't keep up with the comments on this video; there are way more than usual. Clearly this video struck a chord with a lot of people, and it should! This wasn't an "act": my visit to this business park made me genuinely angry. When I came back from my meeting I wrote up this script and asked my editors to drop all other projects to get this out. I even hired a professional videographer to immediately go to Mississauga to film for me. The whole experience really seemed like a culmination of everything I've ever learned and experienced about cities. I can't believe how much of my life was spent in these shitty "non-places", stuck in traffic, or standing next to high-speed cars. It's bullshit. I am so sick of car-dependency-apologist who predictably trot out the same tired old disproven excuses and myths to resist building better urban places. If you've watched this whole video all the way through and you still don't "get it", then just stop watching. Because if this didn't convince you, then no video I ever make will ever convince you. Go watch something else. In conclusion, the way we build in North America is garbage, and we deserve better.

This is why (North-)American students love their College Campusses so much. It's the only walkable place on the continent.

That traffic light is smarter than the entire US Department of Transportation.

"If you love the Netherlands so much, move there!" "I did, and it's mostly great! We should make life better for people elsewhere by following the example of the best parts of it." "No, not like that."

As a european, the dutch traffic light system blew my mind. The fact that the lights are not on a strict timer, but they change as the current traffic demands, seems insane to me, even though it should be the most obvious and rational solution.

it's funny how walkable college campuses can be because they're designed for students without cars - best environment i ever worked in was when i was on campus at a university

The, "I'm not insane, everyone else is, I know I am right about this" feeling really came through in this, and I love it

I think you missed one big difference between the US and NL business-parks... The noise level difference... Because of the massively reduced volume of traffic, the NL business-park is actually a nice place to work, and even go outside with colleagues during lunch etc. You're able to have a conversation without having to yell over the traffic that is right next to your building. Workplace noise is a big stress-factor and detrimental to employee health (mental and physical).

"..it's when the people you're meeting ask how you got there and they don't look down on you for taking public transportation" oof I didn't think that was going to hit me as hard as it did. Thank you for all your work in making these informative videos!

I’m blown away with the way those traffic lights work

Of all the things in this, I think the thing that makes me angriest at American infrastructure is that goddamn stoplight. That. Fucking. Light. I have never, in my ENTIRE life as an American citizen, seen a traffic light that was a HUNDREDTH as responsive and well-suited to the flow of traffic as that. This entire country is built on cars, and our traffic light systems are GARBAGE compared to that. It's completely and totally normal for me to wait two or more minutes at a traffic light- one of the twenty I'll be encountering on any given trip- while there are literally no other cars around. None. Not even one. I will sit there at a red light, waiting, for two fucking minutes... For nothing. And our infrastructure is supposedly car-centric. No, at that point it's just garbage. It's not even car-centric. This fucking random traffic light at an office park in the Netherlands is better than literally any traffic light I've ever seen in DECADES, including multiple moves, plenty of travel, and more. We dedicate everything we've got to cars and we even get that so goddamn wrong that they're hellish to use and a complete clusterfuck!

"The public transport here is terrible." "How spoiled. You stupid spoiled baby. Just take some crippling debt and buy a metal carriage like the rest of us."

The fenced-off cut-through is by far the "funniest" bit of this. How true it is. The hostility is just breathtaking. Not only does it cut off a perfectly reasonable route it makes the place look even more like a dystopian hellscape for those that work there.

My “favorite” feature of US business parks (and really any area near a stroad) is the “fake-out” sidewalk. Where you’re walking along what appears to be a sidewalk that will take you to your destination, except that the sidewalk abruptly ends and there’s literally no way forward unless you walk in the street, or climb a 6 ft fence and walk in a ditch.

Does anyone else have to look away whenever NJB showcases train stations in the Netherlands in his videos? I can't even watch the footage of Dutch train stations without feeling bummed out and extremely jealous. My city discontinued its train services in 1978 because "the highway is quicker and cheaper than taking the train"

I've lived in the Netherlands my entire life and never realized this isn't normal. Genuinely feel bad for everyone having to go through miserable transport in places like that suburban Canadian city. I'm glad to see a different perspective on my country and I'm so lucky to have been born here!

"The weather sucks here but everything else is pretty great" - The Netherlands in one sentence 😂

At this point, America isnt even built for humans. The cars we drive live more comfortably then we do 😂

"that's none of your damn business" Did not expect the hostility right out of the gate lol 😂

I like how I always see Americans in the comments being amazed by the Dutch infrastructure but it also works the other way around. Every time I watch your videos I, as a European am amazed (and shocked) by how infrastructure works in the US. I can't imagine having to go everywhere by car, let alone have public transport like that.